At the end of a full day . . .

As I sit at my desk looking out at campus I am amazed by the swarm of Asian beetles that have chosen to make our bank of windows their temporary home.  I only hope they don't find their way in!  The trees are taking on their autumn colors and the late-afternoon sun gives them great highlights.

This morning was filled with three meetings.  The first was a teleconference with our Iowa Department of Education representatives, Mary Beth and Sue.  Our task was to put together a half hour introductory session about the grant for the October 21 IACTE Conference in Ames.

As I was leaving my office to go to Bartlett Hall I noticed a woman coming down the hall looking at room numbers.  Soon I recognized her as Ana Housel, a friend from my graduate school days!  What a pleasure to see her again!  She had heard I was on campus and brought me an "office warming" gift of a plant.  This is the first time in many years I have had an office with sunlight to have a plant so it is very appropriate.  What a wonderful and thoughtful gift.  It sure looks nice, too.  Thank you, Ana!

Next I met with Christie in the Office of Sponsored Programs.  She also introduced me to some of her staff with which I will consult.  It is their role to assist with all the details of grant programs and it is here that I will turn with many of my early questions.  All I have to remember is 4-3-2-1. It is also here that it sunk in that my title "Program Manager" truly means that I am a manager. (A what?!  Celina, help!)  After hearing it described that way for the third time, an uneasy feeling came over me and I exclaimed, "but I am an educator".   Sigh.  Guess I will learn to be both.  Two books loaned to me to read are:  "You're in Charge-Now What?" and "The Accidental Leader". 

Then the rest of the TQP (Teacher Quality Partnership) Team (Mary, Nadene, Dan) joined me in a meeting at the Office of Sponsored Programs with Christie, Paul and Anita.  Here we talked about the Logic Model, using TQP to build capacity, operationalizing the elements of effective instruction, documenting our process, whether or not we will be at the table for TPAC, process evaluation, our elevator speech, PAIT, a potential Brown Bag Lunch, and using social media to stay transparent.

For the afternoon Dan and I worked on a visual way of making sense of the goals and objectives for the grant and I went over to get my UNI ID card.  On the way back I stopped in to talk with Jane and Beth from yesterday.  They both made me feel welcome to the campus and we have vowed to find time to have lunch soon.

My mind is full and there will be more to learn tomorrow~