Researcher

Today was kind of a crazy day.  I met with a professor early to work on one of my exam questions, then with a friend who is also a grad student to chat over coffee.  I then had to walk in the rain all the way to Tuttle (a small hike) to print my posters for a conference I am attending next weekend, only to find out that I should have emailed the files to them.  Then, I had to go home and grab a bite to eat before I went out into “the field” to interview a teacher.

The interview was in a nearby suburb, and it felt really nice to just be in a school again.  I miss it.  It felt like, I don’t know, regular… like I was in the real world.  I’m so used to reading theory all day and taking classes where we argue about power, that it was nice to be in the real world for a minute.  And guess what?  The walls of the school were lavender!  It was also nice to talk to a teacher for a while and listen to his thoughts about technology.  It’s funny now, being a researcher and all (I think I can say that), that while listening to this teacher talk, I don’t just nod and smile and share my own stories too.  Instead I listen carefully, encourage him to say more about juicy tidbits that are rich with future insight, all the while my brain is going a mile a minute interpreting what he says through the lens of several different theories.  It’s exhilarating in the nerdiest sort of way.

Two funny stories from the last two days that I have to share:

1) I went to Target yesterday to return a dress and as I was walking by the card aisle, there was a little boy about 4 or 5 picking up all of the cards that play music, opening them and then dancing to each song.

2) Today, I get an email from my sister-in-law with coupons for a FREE bag of Doritos EVERY MONTH for the REST OF THE YEAR!  Haha!  Does she know me or what?  Thanks, Jess!