Teaching

I'm into my second week of teaching. I have to say I never realized the amount of additional work it takes to take your own knowledge and convey it into an organized and understandable format for others. So far I have the "new teacher syndrome": I talk way too fast and I don't give the students enough time to write down what I say.

So far some more experienced teachers have let me know that rambling is normal for a new teacher. They suggested that I make myself write down everything I say to slow myself down, some recommended that I count to ten after each statement to allow for the students to take notes.

Right now I'm all about the powerpoints for cool diagrams and charts, and I'm using chalk! For someone who has been a student for so long (24 years of my life), sometimes I just find myself in amazement that I'm the one in front of the class spouting ideas for others to learn.

Amazed....

Blindsided

I just found out last Wednesday that one of our professors isn't coming back this fall and that I've been tapped to teach one of his classes - Remote Sensing of the Environment. The course is an undergraduate/graduate level mixed course, and I have had 5 days to prepare.

Wow.

I have never taught a university level course, nor have I ever been a TA or graded papers or the like, but I do use Remote Sensing on an almost daily basis in my research. So at least I have that.

And, some of the professors who had previously taught the course were nice enough to provide me with their course materials so I can use their notes and powerpoint presentations to craft my own.

When I was asked to help bail out the dept., my boss said "You look like a deer caught in the headlights"

Well, I did feel like a deer caught in the headlights... but I'm better now.

There's nothing like sailing into unknown waters to bring out the exhilaration that is life.

Class starts in a half hour... here I go...

ArcGIS Server up and running

fter slogging along with ArcGIS Server, I finally have it installed and running a web service.

I went ahead and took an Agricultural NonPoint Source Pollution study (AGNPS) I did on the Rock Creek watershed in Seneca County Ohio and published it in our new ArcGIS server.