I went back to work on April 19, and was excited to return as the director of the Child Development Center, especially without having any classes to teach for the remainder of the semester. I still had my interim director handling the day-to-day responsibilities and I had the time to really get things rolling for next Academic Year's hiring and orientation. Then the new dean (who just started in April) came on and decided that the center needed continuity of leadership and decided that to provide the continuity, my interim director should stay on for academic year 2010-11, temporarily, while a task force examines what kind of administrator the CDC should have (faculty vs. non-faculty). I cannot even begin to describe my intense frustration and upset. I had my dream job, paused to have a baby, and poof, it was gone. What is frustrating is that this decision has nothing to do with my performance - I had worked my behind off right up until the day before Logan was born. I worked hard to make sure that there was a seamless transition between me and my interim director for my maternity leave. I didn't do anything to deserve losing the position. And the dean continues to remind me that this is just "temporary" decision and makes it sound like I'm crazy for thinking that she pulled the rug out from under me. Yeah, temporary with the potential to be permanent if the task force decides to not have a faculty director anymore. I'm not sure how that is supposed to make me feel any better. Also, I have been told that I am not being punished for having a baby and taking my leave. Um, okay, then would this have happened had I NOT had a baby?
A common question that I keep hearing when discussing this crappy situation is "How on earth is this even legal? You went on maternity leave, came back and you don't have the same job." I am told that yes, it is (unfortunately) legal. The Director position is not really my "job", but rather an "at will appointment" under my faculty position. My official position is "Assistant Professor of Psychology and Child Development", which is a faculty position. I was given assigned time out of my faculty work load to serve as the director (50% of my time) at the pleasure of the president - my salary and faculty designation stayed the same. In any other job, this seems like it would be a violation of the Family Leave Act, because in terms of my job duties and authority, the faculty position and faculty + director position are not equal, but after speaking with my union rep, my case probably wouldn't hold water because my pay and primary job title remained the same. I am now the owner of about 200 useless business cards that label me as the Director. Plus, I haven't had the appointment for 12 months.
The side effect is that I would have to revert back full time teaching (rather than 50% teaching, 50% director). I am not willing to do that again. I resigned from the university instead. I loved the director 50% much more than my teaching. Over the last four years, I've become increasingly more aware that being a tenure track professor at CSU Stanislaus is simply unsustainable with the course load, plus research and extensive committee responsibilities. I did almost nothing other than work during the last 4 years. I worked evenings and weekends and still couldn't get ahead. I even worked during the summer when I wasn't being paid to work, to try and get ahead. The only difference is that when I was the director of the center during Spring 2008 (as interim), and Summer/Fall 2009/Winter 2010, I was actually enjoying the work I was doing, which made the sacrifices of fun-time, family-time, and my sanity worth it. I was also more productive in my work during my time there, even making more progress toward tenure than when I was teaching full time. While a part of me will miss the prestige of academia, I think that leaving academia was the best decision for me and for Lance, RJ, and Logan. I will have more time to spend with them and will get to enjoy our happy little family for once.
What does the future hold? First, I will finish up the semester, helping my colleague gear up for the next academic year (there is a LOT to do to get ready). My last day is June 2 and I'll probably stop by graduation on June 4 with the kiddos to see some of their teachers graduate. Then I will be a stay at home mom for a while with RJ and Logan, at least until Logan weans from daytime nursing - which if we follow RJ's timeline will be about February or March. I will look for director positions in the Bay Area, or look into starting my own independent Laboratory Preschool. I might teach a course online for CSU Stanislaus too - I left a door open for doing that, so I could bring in a little money, but not need childcare. I clearly don't have all the answers yet, but I feel confident that this opens more doors for me than it closes.
Showing posts with label CSU Stanislaus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CSU Stanislaus. Show all posts
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Child Development Center Orientation Week 2009
As most of you know by now, my job description has changed a bit now that I'm the director of the Child Development Center. One of the things that I'm now responsible for is the annual orientation for Child Development Center staff. This orientation is one week chock full of ice breakers, team building, safety and health training, learning about CDC policies, learning about licensing requirements, as well as academic preparation for curricular and lesson planning activities. Each day the teachers are required to attend from 8-5 with an hour lunch break. This means that Chris, my assistant director, and I were working days even longer than that to prepare and to organize such an event!
We managed to pull it off, although I did amass a good amount of notes on things to change for next year. I don't think I did too bad for my first orientation though. I managed to add a Dean's welcome and a 1/2 day of icebreakers and team-building to the usual fare. What I am most proud of though was my makeshift spiderweb. Those readers of our blog who went to Challenge Camp will know what I'm talking about, but for the rest of you, it's a series of ropes fashioned into a people sized spider web. The goal is to get the whole group THROUGH the spiderweb to the other side without touching any of the edges. My big goal for the orientation was to establish whole-center teamwork amongst the administration, the office staff, and the teacher-interns. The best way that I know to establish this is to do a series of activities that push people out of their comfort zone, build trust with one another, and then work together to solve a problem. So my dad (who was RJ's babysitter for the week) and I stretched out yarn all over the living room to build a spiderweb that could be attached to our playground structures the next day. Lance initially thought I was insane for trying to do this, but it ended up working out quite well. My dad and RJ secured the web between the swings and a tree and voila! a people-sized spiderweb was created! I even submitted a picture of the activity for the College newsletter. Next year, I hope to actually purchase the rope and webbing professional version rather than doing it with yarn.
RJ also had an interesting week during orientation. He had been sharing a babysitter with his good friends Daisy and Alison over the summer, but since his summer babysitter is one of my teachers, and thus required to be at orientation, we clearly weren't going to be able to use our normal care. So...lucky for us, Grandpa was able to come for the week and help with RJ duty. This meant that RJ and Grandpa were pulling long hours just like Mommy! I think that Grandpa was quite exhausted by chasing RJ around all day, but definitely enjoyed getting to spend all that time with him.
RJ benefited as well by learning some new vocabulary words and phrases such as:
"Ready Spaghetti?" - to which RJ responded, "I no spaghetti, I RJ!!"
"Nudnik" - Grandpa defined this as a term of endearment he learned from his grandparents, meaning goofball, but Merriam & Webster seems to think that he was calling RJ a pest all week. I think I'll stick to Grandpa's definition since its nicer and RJ likes to use the term (he now calls Grandpa a nudnik over the phone).
RJ really enjoyed showing Grandpa his school and the many waterfowl on campus. One day they brought crackers on their walk and got swarmed by ducks and geese. RJ is STILL fearful of the ducks!
AND, Grandpa figured out what was wrong with the adult toilet at the center (you have to hold it down to flush it for longer than anyone wants to - and the facilities people kept telling us that "that's just the way the toilet is" and wouldn't fix it).
It was a hectic week, but I think a great start to the semester for the teachers.
We managed to pull it off, although I did amass a good amount of notes on things to change for next year. I don't think I did too bad for my first orientation though. I managed to add a Dean's welcome and a 1/2 day of icebreakers and team-building to the usual fare. What I am most proud of though was my makeshift spiderweb. Those readers of our blog who went to Challenge Camp will know what I'm talking about, but for the rest of you, it's a series of ropes fashioned into a people sized spider web. The goal is to get the whole group THROUGH the spiderweb to the other side without touching any of the edges. My big goal for the orientation was to establish whole-center teamwork amongst the administration, the office staff, and the teacher-interns. The best way that I know to establish this is to do a series of activities that push people out of their comfort zone, build trust with one another, and then work together to solve a problem. So my dad (who was RJ's babysitter for the week) and I stretched out yarn all over the living room to build a spiderweb that could be attached to our playground structures the next day. Lance initially thought I was insane for trying to do this, but it ended up working out quite well. My dad and RJ secured the web between the swings and a tree and voila! a people-sized spiderweb was created! I even submitted a picture of the activity for the College newsletter. Next year, I hope to actually purchase the rope and webbing professional version rather than doing it with yarn.
RJ also had an interesting week during orientation. He had been sharing a babysitter with his good friends Daisy and Alison over the summer, but since his summer babysitter is one of my teachers, and thus required to be at orientation, we clearly weren't going to be able to use our normal care. So...lucky for us, Grandpa was able to come for the week and help with RJ duty. This meant that RJ and Grandpa were pulling long hours just like Mommy! I think that Grandpa was quite exhausted by chasing RJ around all day, but definitely enjoyed getting to spend all that time with him.
RJ benefited as well by learning some new vocabulary words and phrases such as:
"Ready Spaghetti?" - to which RJ responded, "I no spaghetti, I RJ!!"
"Nudnik" - Grandpa defined this as a term of endearment he learned from his grandparents, meaning goofball, but Merriam & Webster seems to think that he was calling RJ a pest all week. I think I'll stick to Grandpa's definition since its nicer and RJ likes to use the term (he now calls Grandpa a nudnik over the phone).
RJ really enjoyed showing Grandpa his school and the many waterfowl on campus. One day they brought crackers on their walk and got swarmed by ducks and geese. RJ is STILL fearful of the ducks!
AND, Grandpa figured out what was wrong with the adult toilet at the center (you have to hold it down to flush it for longer than anyone wants to - and the facilities people kept telling us that "that's just the way the toilet is" and wouldn't fix it).
It was a hectic week, but I think a great start to the semester for the teachers.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Dr. Cheryl DeLancey's Child Development Center Director Cool Dream Job
If anyone was paying attention to our blog inactivity or my facebook ranting about grading, you probably already know that April through June has been a little hectic. One reason for that was my teaching load. I was teaching the normal amount of courses, but the combination of the courses was bad. I was teaching a lecture course, a lab course, and a writing proficiency course that was also a research seminar. It amounted to a lot of grading and a lot of student contact. Another reason is that I presented at a conference in Denver at the beginning of April and that put me behind in all the grading. (More on the Denver trip will be posted soon!)
And lastly, during the last month of classes, my colleague decided to resign from her position as the director of the Child Development Center (effective July 1) and asked me if I was interested in the position since I had filled in for her when she was on maternity leave last year. My only worry was that I might have been TOO enthusiastic in saying yes since this has been my dream job since my days at the Children's School at Carnegie Mellon. I spent many many hours working as a teacher's aide and a researcher at the Carnegie Mellon Children's School, which was the laboratory preschool for the Psychology Department. Dr. Sharon Carver, the director of the Children's School, was my honors thesis advisor and while I shifted gears toward studying emotions in graduate school, there was a part of me that had always wanted to get her gig and go back to educational research.
So, as I was trying to get through my final crunch time for grading, I was also having extra meetings with the Child Development committee, the Department Chair, and the Dean to gain their support to be appointed as director AND having to keep it a secret from several people who I really wanted to tell. I did gain that support, and therefore didn't have to apply or compete for the position. If, for example, my department chair didn't provide support, then the position would've had to be announced and there would've been an application process with other applicants. But, luckily, all the people who needed to be supportive were, so I was vetted and the only candidate. On June 5, I had my appointment letter in my hand and happily signed it and have spent June transitioning into the position. As of July 1, I am the Director of the Child Development Center at CSU Stanislaus and I couldn't be happier. RJ (and Lance) helped me move into my new office on July 3:
This job is perfect for me. I will still teach college students as a tenure track professor, but only one class a semester. I love to teach and a single class will be more manageable. In addition to that single class, I will also teach the instructional component of the internships that take place at the Child Development Center and I'll still have all the research and service/committee requirements as before. However, since I will be actively involved in working with the preschool teachers on curriculum and techniques, I will have an easier time gathering data than I did before. I will also have considerable management and administrative duties. Under my managament, I have an administrative coordinator (i.e. secretary) who schedules my meetings with students and directs my phone calls as well as handling the office tasks and our purchasing and financial records, and I have an assistant director who handles much of the day to day aspects of the center, such as child enrollment and registration, as well as support for the teachers on the floor. My favorite perk is that on occasion, my responsibility will be to go into the classroom and play with the preschoolers and infants to provide the teachers with potty breaks and improve our ratio for on-campus walks. Yes, that means that I will get to hang out with RJ sometimes during the day. :)
One downside is that I am working 4 days a week this summer in order to get up to speed and to also make sure that I get some writing done for submissions to journals. Even though I'm not at a research university, I still need to publish something (or at least submit) or I will "perish". So, I'm not spending as much time with RJ as I had hoped, but I'm seeing him more than I did during the school year, and hopefully, with this position, I will get to see him more when the school year starts up too. Next summer, when I'm up to speed and have more of a publication buffer, I will get to work a little less. I think the time investment is worth it! After all, I am finally doing something that I have wanted to do for just over a decade and faculty directors of university lab schools are a very very very rare breed indeed, so I am very, very, very, lucky to have landed this position!
And lastly, during the last month of classes, my colleague decided to resign from her position as the director of the Child Development Center (effective July 1) and asked me if I was interested in the position since I had filled in for her when she was on maternity leave last year. My only worry was that I might have been TOO enthusiastic in saying yes since this has been my dream job since my days at the Children's School at Carnegie Mellon. I spent many many hours working as a teacher's aide and a researcher at the Carnegie Mellon Children's School, which was the laboratory preschool for the Psychology Department. Dr. Sharon Carver, the director of the Children's School, was my honors thesis advisor and while I shifted gears toward studying emotions in graduate school, there was a part of me that had always wanted to get her gig and go back to educational research.
So, as I was trying to get through my final crunch time for grading, I was also having extra meetings with the Child Development committee, the Department Chair, and the Dean to gain their support to be appointed as director AND having to keep it a secret from several people who I really wanted to tell. I did gain that support, and therefore didn't have to apply or compete for the position. If, for example, my department chair didn't provide support, then the position would've had to be announced and there would've been an application process with other applicants. But, luckily, all the people who needed to be supportive were, so I was vetted and the only candidate. On June 5, I had my appointment letter in my hand and happily signed it and have spent June transitioning into the position. As of July 1, I am the Director of the Child Development Center at CSU Stanislaus and I couldn't be happier. RJ (and Lance) helped me move into my new office on July 3:
This job is perfect for me. I will still teach college students as a tenure track professor, but only one class a semester. I love to teach and a single class will be more manageable. In addition to that single class, I will also teach the instructional component of the internships that take place at the Child Development Center and I'll still have all the research and service/committee requirements as before. However, since I will be actively involved in working with the preschool teachers on curriculum and techniques, I will have an easier time gathering data than I did before. I will also have considerable management and administrative duties. Under my managament, I have an administrative coordinator (i.e. secretary) who schedules my meetings with students and directs my phone calls as well as handling the office tasks and our purchasing and financial records, and I have an assistant director who handles much of the day to day aspects of the center, such as child enrollment and registration, as well as support for the teachers on the floor. My favorite perk is that on occasion, my responsibility will be to go into the classroom and play with the preschoolers and infants to provide the teachers with potty breaks and improve our ratio for on-campus walks. Yes, that means that I will get to hang out with RJ sometimes during the day. :)
One downside is that I am working 4 days a week this summer in order to get up to speed and to also make sure that I get some writing done for submissions to journals. Even though I'm not at a research university, I still need to publish something (or at least submit) or I will "perish". So, I'm not spending as much time with RJ as I had hoped, but I'm seeing him more than I did during the school year, and hopefully, with this position, I will get to see him more when the school year starts up too. Next summer, when I'm up to speed and have more of a publication buffer, I will get to work a little less. I think the time investment is worth it! After all, I am finally doing something that I have wanted to do for just over a decade and faculty directors of university lab schools are a very very very rare breed indeed, so I am very, very, very, lucky to have landed this position!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
End of the Semester Countdown Update
One more week until I convert from our grueling school schedule to "RJ Time". A bulk of my grading is complete, but here's what I have left this week.
CDEV 3140 (Human Development I):
Post Final Grades TODAY!
CDEV 3180 (Early Social & Emotional Development):
Post Final Grades TODAY!
CDC Internships:
Grade Final Portfolios
Grade stray assignments
Compute Final Grades and Post
Clean Center with inordinate amounts of diluted bleach (with plenty of ventilation) TODAY!
The load is getting lighter!
CDEV 3140 (Human Development I):
Post Final Grades TODAY!
CDEV 3180 (Early Social & Emotional Development):
Post Final Grades TODAY!
CDC Internships:
Grade Final Portfolios
Grade stray assignments
Compute Final Grades and Post
Clean Center with inordinate amounts of diluted bleach (with plenty of ventilation) TODAY!
The load is getting lighter!
Monday, May 19, 2008
End of the Semester Countdown
I cannot even begin to express how much I am looking forward to the end of the semester and my summer off with RJ. I took on the directorship at RJ's school and I'm loving it, but it does take time away from my teaching and grading. I'll recap on that experience when I'm officially done, but for now, I just wanted to share that the end of the semester, along with the end of my second year as a professor, is finally in sight. Here's what I have left:
CDEV 3180: Early Social and Emotional Development
- Last Lecture TODAY (Monday May 19)!
- Exam 3 (Wednesday May 21)
- Grade 33 4-6page papers
- Grade exam
- Assign Grades
CDEV 3140: Human Development I: Childhood
- Exam 2 (Tuesday May 20)
- Grade exam
- Assign Grades
CDC Internships
- Grade late lesson plans and weekly evaluations
- Look over Portfolios Due on May 28
- Assign Grades
- Final Exam: Cleaning the whole center with inordinate amounts of bleach Wednesday May 28
Directorship:
Start hiring process for next year
Then I attend Graduation on May 30 and hopefully I will be done by then! Wish me luck.
CDEV 3180: Early Social and Emotional Development
- Last Lecture TODAY (Monday May 19)!
- Exam 3 (Wednesday May 21)
- Grade 33 4-6page papers
- Grade exam
- Assign Grades
CDEV 3140: Human Development I: Childhood
- Exam 2 (Tuesday May 20)
- Grade exam
- Assign Grades
CDC Internships
- Grade late lesson plans and weekly evaluations
- Look over Portfolios Due on May 28
- Assign Grades
- Final Exam: Cleaning the whole center with inordinate amounts of bleach Wednesday May 28
Directorship:
Start hiring process for next year
Then I attend Graduation on May 30 and hopefully I will be done by then! Wish me luck.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Hard work = Trips to see Friends!
One of the perks of academia is that if you are lucky enough to find time to do research, you can sometimes find conferences near your friends across the country. Sometimes if you look really hard and decide that you're a workaholic, then you can find two.
In my job however, we can only get significant funding toward travel if we are presenting something - so this year I submitted abstracts for two separate conferences and I had a student submit an abstract as well. I basically wanted to ensure that I got to go somewhere to see my friends this year. I really only expected one of the three abstracts to get accepted, but apparently, I'm awesome and all three did. This is why I've been so busy this March! So we had quite the travel itinerary to fit in visiting with friends, 3 conference presentations (one of which was my student's presentation, and involved my guidance of course), and of course keeping RJ on a reasonable schedule.
The first conference was the International Association of Laboratory and University Affiliated Schools (NALS) in Providence, RI.
And the second conference (immediately following the first) was the Conference on Human Development in Indianapolis, IN.
The timing of these conferences were also good in that they were the week following spring break and Caesar Chavez day (March 31). This meant that since I'd have to miss the whole week of classes anyway because of the conferences, we could leave early to make sure that we had a weekend to visit with our friends, who we really really really miss!
Here was our Itinerary:
Friday March 28 - Fly to Boston (get delayed at JFK and get to Jeremy & Sharona's around 11 or so - instead of 9 or so, vow never to fly through JFK again since we haven't NOT been significantly delayed there)
Saturday March 29 - Heather & Steve hosted the "Midget Party" so that RJ could meet all his little friends and we could catch up with our friends and note how our conversations have changed since becoming parents. RJ was very excited to see all the other babies and even got to borrow his buddy Jace's crib for a nap and high chair for dinner. As you can see, the two were fast friends!
Sunday March 30: We spent some time teaching RJ about big kid toys at Uncle Sully's place. He was particularly fond of the stressball-esque brain and Sully's streamer.
He was not as fond of Shaun's dancing turtles - only the one that looked like a fraggle didn't scare him.
We also went for a walk with Lilia and Jeremy to visit with Jordi & Jen (who as of last night was in labor!). RJ got to give a cloth diaper demonstration for Jordi & Jen and meet their cats!
Monday March 31: We went to Brandeis to show off RJ. He was a big hit! We then met up with Michele in Allston and met up with more friends (Craig, Alyssa, Brian, Otte, Eva, Michele, and Galen) in Harvard Square.
Tuesday April 1: Grammie Carola Day! My mom flew in from Buffalo for a day (it's a lot easier to come to Boston than San Francisco for a day)! We went to brunch, then for tea at the Boston Public Library, where we also spent some time playing in the children's library. After driving Grammie to the airport, we drove down to Providence and checked into our hotel, then joined Koos, Stef, & Xander for dinner, and then I worked with my student on her presentation when we got back.
Wednesday April 2: NALS Conference Day 1. Myra presented her project and received lots of good feedback about her project. RJ got to meet my undergraduate honors thesis advisor, Sharon Carver. We drove around the state of RI looking for Rhode Island College (where the conference was being held) and then Lance and RJ drove around the state again looking for Koos & Stef's again. After the conference, Josh, Rachel, and Zach had dinner with us and Koos, Stef, & Xander.
Thursday April 3: NALS Conference Day 2. I presented my research, and actually had a great time doing so! I got some great feedback about it as well. Then RJ had lunch with Stef and Xander, while Lance met with Koos and his colleagues about a possible project. We spent the evening with Koos, Stef, & Xander. RJ has his first diarrhea poo (yuck), which we originally thought was teething related because shortly after his poo, we noticed that his second tooth had cut through! He now has his two bottom middle teeth!
Friday April 4: NALS Conference Day 3. Myra and I went to the conference and then Lance and I spent the afternoon with Stef and Xander before heading to the Providence airport. We were delayed for a bit there, and then got ridiculously delayed at Dulles on our way to Indianapolis. We didn't reach the hotel until almost 3 am. At least we didn't have to pay for a rental car because they were closed by the time we landed and we took a cab instead (which ended up being cheaper anyway). As it turns out, cabs have the latch system, so the car seat was no big deal.
Saturday April 5: CHD Day 2 (Day 1 was Friday, but I did not attend because I was still at the NALS conference). Lance, RJ, & I had lunch with Joe, my graduate school advisor. Then I presented my poster, and we were picked up by Heather and Iris. Iris made us a wonderful pot roast for dinner that night!
We spent the rest of the weekend visiting with them and their dog Gabby. RJ loved Gabby and of course, Gabby's toys, including her rawhide stick! Don't worry, we didn't let him chew on it!
Sunday April 6: We spent the day with Heather, Iris, & Gabby and then headed to the airport to start our return trip home.
*Note* Due to our crazy schedule, we repeatedly forgot the camera or remembered it, but forgot to take pictures. So, if you have any photos from our trip and haven't already posted them somewhere, please send them our way!!! With that said, you'll notice that we used one of Heather & Steve's photos here. Just wanted to give credit where credit was due.
In my job however, we can only get significant funding toward travel if we are presenting something - so this year I submitted abstracts for two separate conferences and I had a student submit an abstract as well. I basically wanted to ensure that I got to go somewhere to see my friends this year. I really only expected one of the three abstracts to get accepted, but apparently, I'm awesome and all three did. This is why I've been so busy this March! So we had quite the travel itinerary to fit in visiting with friends, 3 conference presentations (one of which was my student's presentation, and involved my guidance of course), and of course keeping RJ on a reasonable schedule.
The first conference was the International Association of Laboratory and University Affiliated Schools (NALS) in Providence, RI.
And the second conference (immediately following the first) was the Conference on Human Development in Indianapolis, IN.
The timing of these conferences were also good in that they were the week following spring break and Caesar Chavez day (March 31). This meant that since I'd have to miss the whole week of classes anyway because of the conferences, we could leave early to make sure that we had a weekend to visit with our friends, who we really really really miss!
Here was our Itinerary:
Friday March 28 - Fly to Boston (get delayed at JFK and get to Jeremy & Sharona's around 11 or so - instead of 9 or so, vow never to fly through JFK again since we haven't NOT been significantly delayed there)
Saturday March 29 - Heather & Steve hosted the "Midget Party" so that RJ could meet all his little friends and we could catch up with our friends and note how our conversations have changed since becoming parents. RJ was very excited to see all the other babies and even got to borrow his buddy Jace's crib for a nap and high chair for dinner. As you can see, the two were fast friends!
Sunday March 30: We spent some time teaching RJ about big kid toys at Uncle Sully's place. He was particularly fond of the stressball-esque brain and Sully's streamer.
He was not as fond of Shaun's dancing turtles - only the one that looked like a fraggle didn't scare him.
We also went for a walk with Lilia and Jeremy to visit with Jordi & Jen (who as of last night was in labor!). RJ got to give a cloth diaper demonstration for Jordi & Jen and meet their cats!Monday March 31: We went to Brandeis to show off RJ. He was a big hit! We then met up with Michele in Allston and met up with more friends (Craig, Alyssa, Brian, Otte, Eva, Michele, and Galen) in Harvard Square.
Tuesday April 1: Grammie Carola Day! My mom flew in from Buffalo for a day (it's a lot easier to come to Boston than San Francisco for a day)! We went to brunch, then for tea at the Boston Public Library, where we also spent some time playing in the children's library. After driving Grammie to the airport, we drove down to Providence and checked into our hotel, then joined Koos, Stef, & Xander for dinner, and then I worked with my student on her presentation when we got back.
Wednesday April 2: NALS Conference Day 1. Myra presented her project and received lots of good feedback about her project. RJ got to meet my undergraduate honors thesis advisor, Sharon Carver. We drove around the state of RI looking for Rhode Island College (where the conference was being held) and then Lance and RJ drove around the state again looking for Koos & Stef's again. After the conference, Josh, Rachel, and Zach had dinner with us and Koos, Stef, & Xander.
Thursday April 3: NALS Conference Day 2. I presented my research, and actually had a great time doing so! I got some great feedback about it as well. Then RJ had lunch with Stef and Xander, while Lance met with Koos and his colleagues about a possible project. We spent the evening with Koos, Stef, & Xander. RJ has his first diarrhea poo (yuck), which we originally thought was teething related because shortly after his poo, we noticed that his second tooth had cut through! He now has his two bottom middle teeth!
Friday April 4: NALS Conference Day 3. Myra and I went to the conference and then Lance and I spent the afternoon with Stef and Xander before heading to the Providence airport. We were delayed for a bit there, and then got ridiculously delayed at Dulles on our way to Indianapolis. We didn't reach the hotel until almost 3 am. At least we didn't have to pay for a rental car because they were closed by the time we landed and we took a cab instead (which ended up being cheaper anyway). As it turns out, cabs have the latch system, so the car seat was no big deal.
Saturday April 5: CHD Day 2 (Day 1 was Friday, but I did not attend because I was still at the NALS conference). Lance, RJ, & I had lunch with Joe, my graduate school advisor. Then I presented my poster, and we were picked up by Heather and Iris. Iris made us a wonderful pot roast for dinner that night!
We spent the rest of the weekend visiting with them and their dog Gabby. RJ loved Gabby and of course, Gabby's toys, including her rawhide stick! Don't worry, we didn't let him chew on it!
Sunday April 6: We spent the day with Heather, Iris, & Gabby and then headed to the airport to start our return trip home.
*Note* Due to our crazy schedule, we repeatedly forgot the camera or remembered it, but forgot to take pictures. So, if you have any photos from our trip and haven't already posted them somewhere, please send them our way!!! With that said, you'll notice that we used one of Heather & Steve's photos here. Just wanted to give credit where credit was due.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Yet another hat to wear....
So not only am I a mommy, a wife, and a professor; but I am also going to be the Acting Director of the Child Development Center on campus (a.k.a. RJ's school) while the director is on maternity leave. I'm barely juggling my other responsibilities, but in a moment of ambition and dreaming, and apparent insanity, I volunteered to take this on without being asked. Why?
First, it is exactly the type of job that I've wanted since I was an undergrad. My honors thesis advisor, Dr. Sharon Carver was the director of The Children's School at Carnegie Mellon, in addition to her appointment as a Professor in the Psychology Department, for which the school was a laboratory. The Children's School was the laboratory preschool and kindergarten on campus in the Margaret Morrison building where I worked as a work study student during my undergrad years. I loved that she could run the school and get to teach at the college level. Her research was based on the learning environment - and it was her research that got me interested in pursuing a research-based PhD rather than a clinical PhD.
Second, I was really interested in helping Jennifer (the current, very pregnant director of RJ's school) improve the Child Development Center in terms of its thematic curriculum (one of my research interests) and making the school easier to conduct research in.
and Third, who wouldn't want to be in charge of her son's school?
I saw Jennifer's pregnancy and maternity leave as an opportunity to get a taste of what my "dream job" was like for a semester, without making the long-term commitment. So in addition to teaching two classes (Human Development I and Early Social & Emotional Development), I will also be taking over as director when Jennifer goes into labor or the first week in April, whichever comes first! Starting on Wednesday (the first week of the Spring Semester), I will be transitioning in as she is transitioning out.
Stay tuned for more thoughts as my experience unfolds... hopefully I'll have time to blog!
First, it is exactly the type of job that I've wanted since I was an undergrad. My honors thesis advisor, Dr. Sharon Carver was the director of The Children's School at Carnegie Mellon, in addition to her appointment as a Professor in the Psychology Department, for which the school was a laboratory. The Children's School was the laboratory preschool and kindergarten on campus in the Margaret Morrison building where I worked as a work study student during my undergrad years. I loved that she could run the school and get to teach at the college level. Her research was based on the learning environment - and it was her research that got me interested in pursuing a research-based PhD rather than a clinical PhD.
Second, I was really interested in helping Jennifer (the current, very pregnant director of RJ's school) improve the Child Development Center in terms of its thematic curriculum (one of my research interests) and making the school easier to conduct research in.
and Third, who wouldn't want to be in charge of her son's school?
I saw Jennifer's pregnancy and maternity leave as an opportunity to get a taste of what my "dream job" was like for a semester, without making the long-term commitment. So in addition to teaching two classes (Human Development I and Early Social & Emotional Development), I will also be taking over as director when Jennifer goes into labor or the first week in April, whichever comes first! Starting on Wednesday (the first week of the Spring Semester), I will be transitioning in as she is transitioning out.
Stay tuned for more thoughts as my experience unfolds... hopefully I'll have time to blog!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Adventures of a Working Mom: RJ's First Day of School
Well, I'm not crazy about my new station in life as a "working mom". I much preferred being a "stay at home mom" this summer. Life was a lot less hectic, and I got more sleep, and well it's a lot more fun to play with RJ than planning and delivering lectures and attending faculty committee meetings and writing my review portfolio (more on that later).The First Week of Classes
Classes started on 9/5. However, the Child Development Center, where RJ will spend his mornings while Momma is in class, didn't open until 9/10, which added a whole new level of complexity to my first week back since I had RJ a lot more than I normally will and hence didn't really get a good start because I was basically getting the bare minimum done and not getting ahead at all. Lance took Tuesday and Friday off and watched RJ while I was in meetings and class, between which I breastfed. Then Erika watched RJ for a few hours on Wednesday and Thursday when I was in class. It was hard to fit feedings in around all those beginning of the semester faculty meetings, especially since RJ usually takes about 40 minutes - 1 hour to eat (mostly because he likes to nurse). Last week we were not on a schedule at all, so he would be ready to eat when I wasn't or wouldn't be ready when I was. I really prefer feeding on demand, but it's a little too hard with having a real world schedule.
The Schedule
So this week we're trying to establish the following schedule, and so far, RJ has been fairly cooperative.
5am - Cheryl wakes up, pumps, showers, and gets dressed and ready for the day and runs around packing up any of RJ's stuff that she forgot to the night before. Lance either sleeps if RJ is asleep, or keeps RJ distracted until it's time for feeding.
6:15 - Lance changes RJ's diaper and gets him dressed for the day.
6:30 - Cheryl attempts to eat a bowl of cereal while feeding RJ
7/7:15 - Cheryl and RJ leave
8ish - Cheryl drops RJ off at the CDC
8:30 - Cheryl pumps
9:30 - RJ drinks 4 ounces of previously frozen boobie milk at school
10:30 (MWF) Cheryl pumps
11:10 (TR) Cheryl pumps
12:30 - Cheryl picks up RJ and feeds him
1:30 (TR) Cheryl takes RJ home
1:30 (MF) Erika watches RJ
2:00 (W) Erika watches RJ
3:30 - Cheryl feeds RJ or if she has meetings, Erika feeds RJ 4 ounces of frozen boobie milk and Cheryl pumps between meetings
4:00 (W) Erika leaves
4:30/5 - (MF) Erika leaves
5 - Cheryl and RJ leave school
6:30pm - 5am RJ is fed on demand - but we try to feed him one last time before bed at about 10/10:30 - he usually likes to eat every two hours after his 6:30 feed until he goes to sleep. Once he's asleep I only feed him when he wakes up - which is still variable - or 6:30am if he wakes up between 5 and 6:30.
This schedule seems to be working so far. It's not perfect, but it does minimize how much I have to pump in order to keep RJ exclusively breastfed like he is at the moment and I'm not away from him all day long. (It's hard enough not being with him in the mornings and MWF afternoons!)
Keep the boobie milk flowing!
Why don't I pump more and see RJ less during the day(and hence get more done)? The first reason is that fresh breastmilk is better than frozen, so if I can feed directly, I will. The second reason is that RJ's saliva actually tells my breasts what he needs most, so the milk is dynamic to meet his ever changing needs. The third reason is that RJ is better at getting his fill from my breasts than the breast pump. We've determined that RJ eats about 4 ounces a feed, but in a pumping session, I usually only get 3 ounces at best, but I'm getting better. So I've determined that I need to pump twice in the morning when he's at school, eating once, to replenish the supply. This also means that I do get a little surplus in case he goes through a growth spurt and needs two feeds or more than 4 ounces at a feed at school (I give them 8 ounces of frozen milk every morning).
The CSU Stanislaus Child Development Center ("The CDC")
The CDC is a great place for young children. It's run by the Child Development Program that I teach in, and one of my colleagues is the director of the center in addition to her workload as a professor (she does have a reduced course load to allow time for running the CDC). It is one of a kind in that all of the teachers are students working on their degrees. In fact, along with their paid "internships" as teachers, their CDC experience is also a course, where their assignments are their weekly lesson plans and the state-required assessments of the children. The positions are very competitive, so I know that RJ has top notch care. In his classroom there is at least a 3:10 teacher:child ratio maintained at all times. The school also serves as a lab for the university. Many courses (including mine) require observations of the children from the observation booth (which parents also have access to). And some lab courses require that students enter the classroom and work with the children, performing assessments or experiments to aid in their understanding of child development. These students, along with students earning fieldwork credit increase the ratio even further.
RJ is the youngest in his infant/toddler class, with the next youngest being 9 mos. old and the oldest are 2 years old.
RJ's First Day of School
RJ had his first day of school on Monday. He seems to really like school and he has responded well to his teachers, who all adore him. This picture is of RJ on his very first day with Krishawn, his head teacher on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. He behaved very well, and even gave Krishawn a spit-free day (we have them from time to time - but they're not common, especially when he sucks down a bottle!). He even managed to come home in the same outfit he started out in, despite the fact that he did not give Krishawn a poo-free day.He was happy when I picked him up and Krishawn told us that he really enjoyed watching all the other children play and enjoyed falling asleep in the snugli on their walk. It certainly won't be long until he's playing right with the other children, and he will learn so much from them! The other children are all very interested in their littlest playmate and seem to be playing very nicely with him when he's accessible. All in all, I think RJ will really enjoy being at the CDC, and I will tolerate being at work and look forward to being a stay-at-home-mom again next summer!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
All work and no play has made Cheryl insane
I don't know whether it's my sudden lack of pile of portfolios, papers, and exams to grade or pregnancy hormones, but since I finished grading my last portfolio (about 10 minutes ago), I've been pretty much giggling uncontrollably with a goofy smile on my face while Lance looks at me like I'm a circus monkey.
I think it's relief. I made it through my first year as a new professor, and I managed to finish the semester BEFORE going into labor! Ah if only I could celebrate with some tequila...well in a few weeks maybe I can have a delayed celebratory sip.
Now let the nesting begin!!
I think it's relief. I made it through my first year as a new professor, and I managed to finish the semester BEFORE going into labor! Ah if only I could celebrate with some tequila...well in a few weeks maybe I can have a delayed celebratory sip.
Now let the nesting begin!!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
End of the Semester Countdown
I really really really really can't wait for this semester to end. I don't know what I was thinking teaching 4 classes rather than 3 this semester. The extra money for the 4th class will be nice once I get it (they don't pay us until the grades are in for extra courses), but it's just exhausting and stressful. This is why you haven't heard from me in a while!
But the end is near. At this point, I have 22 portfolios, 8 research papers, 33 Cognitive Development finals (which I proctor on Tuesday), and 24 Social-Emotional Development finals (which I proctor on Wednesday) still left to grade. I hope to be completely done with all my grades turned in by June 1. Then I can focus completely on nesting and Nugget's impending arrival! Or maybe I'll just rest up for birthing the little one! I certainly need it after my first year of being a professor. I'd probably need it even if I wasn't 37 weeks pregnant!
But the end is near. At this point, I have 22 portfolios, 8 research papers, 33 Cognitive Development finals (which I proctor on Tuesday), and 24 Social-Emotional Development finals (which I proctor on Wednesday) still left to grade. I hope to be completely done with all my grades turned in by June 1. Then I can focus completely on nesting and Nugget's impending arrival! Or maybe I'll just rest up for birthing the little one! I certainly need it after my first year of being a professor. I'd probably need it even if I wasn't 37 weeks pregnant!
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Funny things that professors say...
Usually all the "fun" job-related posts come from Lance. After all - he has mandated screenings of movies such as "Meet the Robinsons" and he gets to play with Shrek all day long. But, even in my more mundane job teaching college students about Child Development, occasionally something fun comes along to share with you all.
Last week, I was teaching my Developmental Assessment class all about Standardized testing, and the various types of standardized testing that exist. We were talking about Screening and Diagnostic testing, and primarily the differences between the two. Like any good professor, I was giving them well-known examples of such tests. One frequently used diagnostic test used in special education is the "Woodcock-Johnson-III", which, if you're interested measures "general intellectual ability, specific cognitive abilities, scholastic aptitude, oral language, and academic achievement." So I ask (since many of my students work part-time in classrooms or have taken a break from work to continue their education), "Are any of you familiar with the Woodcock-Johnson-III?" And the response I got was a bunch of giggles AND one student, who I now have much admiration for, blurted out, "Wow, that's three for three!" and then any hope for serious conversation was of course temporarily suspended.
Once my classroom settled down and we could talk more seriously about the test (although we all had to refrain from referring to the test by name in order to prevent any further giggle outbreaks), we began talking about how to interpret the results and to be careful about how we use the results, when I, clearly not thinking straight, used the following phrase. "We really need to be careful about who administers the tests, because usually so much is riding on the Woodcock-Johnson that it can change the whole course of a child's educational opportunities." And of course, the class erupts again, and I snarked, not realizing what I said yet, "really? the name of the test is still funny?" and got the response from one student who could barely contain her giggling, "No, you just said that a lot was riding on it." This of course led to even more of a giggle-eruption.
Anyway, needless to say, I really appreciate these students much more now that they've revealed that they're just as immature as my dear friend Grundle.
Last week, I was teaching my Developmental Assessment class all about Standardized testing, and the various types of standardized testing that exist. We were talking about Screening and Diagnostic testing, and primarily the differences between the two. Like any good professor, I was giving them well-known examples of such tests. One frequently used diagnostic test used in special education is the "Woodcock-Johnson-III", which, if you're interested measures "general intellectual ability, specific cognitive abilities, scholastic aptitude, oral language, and academic achievement." So I ask (since many of my students work part-time in classrooms or have taken a break from work to continue their education), "Are any of you familiar with the Woodcock-Johnson-III?" And the response I got was a bunch of giggles AND one student, who I now have much admiration for, blurted out, "Wow, that's three for three!" and then any hope for serious conversation was of course temporarily suspended.
Once my classroom settled down and we could talk more seriously about the test (although we all had to refrain from referring to the test by name in order to prevent any further giggle outbreaks), we began talking about how to interpret the results and to be careful about how we use the results, when I, clearly not thinking straight, used the following phrase. "We really need to be careful about who administers the tests, because usually so much is riding on the Woodcock-Johnson that it can change the whole course of a child's educational opportunities." And of course, the class erupts again, and I snarked, not realizing what I said yet, "really? the name of the test is still funny?" and got the response from one student who could barely contain her giggling, "No, you just said that a lot was riding on it." This of course led to even more of a giggle-eruption.
Anyway, needless to say, I really appreciate these students much more now that they've revealed that they're just as immature as my dear friend Grundle.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD) Conference
Some of you might wonder what goes on at a professional conference while many of you might have an idea since you've been to conferences in your own fields. Either way, I figured that I'd talk about what my conferences are like in case you're curious.
As an academic, part of my job is to stay abreast of new research and techniques being used in my field and also to be engaged in my own "cutting edge" research. Most of the time one can keep up reasonably by reading the recent research reports, but even then, some articles take well over a year to be printed. And before they're accepted, there's probably a year or two between when the data was actually collected and the article is even accepted to a journal. So, that's really where conferences come in - you get a slightly quicker turn around time on acceptance AND unlike journal articles, you can present pieces of research that are in progress, and you can submit preliminary data in liu of having your complete data set. So by the time the conference rolls around, those people who had preliminary data accepted are going to be presenting their full data, sometimes only a month (or a few days) after data collection is finished! So you really do get to see what people in the field are working on at the moment - and you get to talk to them one-on-one at poster sessions (which are condensed presentations of studies that are literally in the form of a big poster put up on a tack board) or ask questions at paper symposium talks where they verbally present their research (usually using powerpoint as a visual aid). The only drawback of conferences, or at least in the case of SRCD, is that it's HUGE and you can't possibly hit everything you want to, and a full day of information can lead to quite a case of sensory overload (particularly just walking into a huge room filled with over 200 posters!).
This year I didn't present anything - since I pretty much exhausted my dissertation data between my conferences in Louisville and Melbourne last year and don't have data yet for the project I'm working on now.
As it's name suggests, the Society for Research on Child Development Conference, has a really broad focus on the many different facets of Child Development and Developmental Psychology. I tend to try to find the sessions that focus on Emotional Development and Gender Stereotyping in Children, but this year I also was drawn to a lot of the infant research and parenting socialization research as well (surprise, surprise!).
Also, I was lucky enough to be able to attend this year's Teaching Institute on Developmental Science, which was a fabulous experience. The Teaching Institute was actually a special pre-conference which focused on how to teach development to both undergrads and graduate students. Being new to the teaching game, I was incredibly excited about all the information that was presented. Now I just need to find the time to implement all these fantastic ideas!
So, all in all, I learned a ton at this conference, even though my brain was all cloudy from the cold I had!
As an academic, part of my job is to stay abreast of new research and techniques being used in my field and also to be engaged in my own "cutting edge" research. Most of the time one can keep up reasonably by reading the recent research reports, but even then, some articles take well over a year to be printed. And before they're accepted, there's probably a year or two between when the data was actually collected and the article is even accepted to a journal. So, that's really where conferences come in - you get a slightly quicker turn around time on acceptance AND unlike journal articles, you can present pieces of research that are in progress, and you can submit preliminary data in liu of having your complete data set. So by the time the conference rolls around, those people who had preliminary data accepted are going to be presenting their full data, sometimes only a month (or a few days) after data collection is finished! So you really do get to see what people in the field are working on at the moment - and you get to talk to them one-on-one at poster sessions (which are condensed presentations of studies that are literally in the form of a big poster put up on a tack board) or ask questions at paper symposium talks where they verbally present their research (usually using powerpoint as a visual aid). The only drawback of conferences, or at least in the case of SRCD, is that it's HUGE and you can't possibly hit everything you want to, and a full day of information can lead to quite a case of sensory overload (particularly just walking into a huge room filled with over 200 posters!).
This year I didn't present anything - since I pretty much exhausted my dissertation data between my conferences in Louisville and Melbourne last year and don't have data yet for the project I'm working on now.
As it's name suggests, the Society for Research on Child Development Conference, has a really broad focus on the many different facets of Child Development and Developmental Psychology. I tend to try to find the sessions that focus on Emotional Development and Gender Stereotyping in Children, but this year I also was drawn to a lot of the infant research and parenting socialization research as well (surprise, surprise!).
Also, I was lucky enough to be able to attend this year's Teaching Institute on Developmental Science, which was a fabulous experience. The Teaching Institute was actually a special pre-conference which focused on how to teach development to both undergrads and graduate students. Being new to the teaching game, I was incredibly excited about all the information that was presented. Now I just need to find the time to implement all these fantastic ideas!
So, all in all, I learned a ton at this conference, even though my brain was all cloudy from the cold I had!
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