I love where I work... and the people I work with!

I'm called a "visiting scholar" at the Social Development Lab located at the C.A.S.T.L. (Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching & Learning), a part of University of Virginia's Curry School of Education.  I did earn my doctorate at UVa, but I do not consider myself a "scholar."  You should meet the true scholars I work with!  In fact, please DO meet them...  you can check out our website! (They were gracious enough to include me as one of them).  

My daily routines involve reading the articles they've published and submitted, and creating ideas for disseminating their findings to teachers, in ways and sources that invite teachers to take a look.  My desk and bookshelf reside in "the inner sanctum" where we work quietly on our own projects.  To talk with each other or to talk on the phone, we move into another room to allow each other maximum opportunity for deep thought!  (Okay, you guessed it, I'm learning to think more deeply!).  I attend their weekly "data" meetings, bi-weekly writing meetings, and and an occasional run for lunch to the best gourmet gas station this side of the Mississippi!  

Holly, one of the doctoral students, hosted us for burgers and dessert at her new home, where we enjoyed talking and eating in the back yard as the golden-orange oak leaves fluttered to the ground. Tashia just returned from Hawaii where she trained some educators in the use of CLASS, a measurement of positive classroom interaction.  Eileen was just notified that she'll be receiving a prestigious research award at the upcoming NCTM conference.  Carol is processing data from interviews with teaching coaches and sharing some really cool stuff she's learning from that.  Ross has taught his son that "correlation does not equal causation," which 4-yr.-old Mikey will recite upon request! Allison makes the most marvelous snicker doodle cookies, as well as some amazing statistical analyses. Julie is the research lab manager, and just happens to have taken the only photos of me that I care to let people see! She and Michelle, work magic with numbers and computer programs, day in and day out.

Sara, my "boss," is at least young enough to be my youngest little sister...  but what she's accomplished already in her life blows me away!  She introduces herself as an "extreme" mother (like extreme sports) rather than a single mother, because, she says, "that's what it's like!" She has two incredibly bright children, whose father passed away two years ago from Leukemia. I am constantly amazed by Sara's ability to explain things with vivid analogies and metaphor.  I look forward to meeting with her... having her all to myself, every two weeks, and she inspires me to work hard to prepare for those meetings.

I have enjoyed the opportunity to attend Sara's class on social & emotional development, and will continue to do so every chance I get.  I attended Carol Tomlinson's "Curriculum for Gifted" class last week, and will go again today.  What a treat...  that really takes me back to the magic Carol worked in my brain (heck... in my life) when I was her doctoral student.  And next week, I'm attending Susan Mintz's class on instructional models...  she's a co-author of the book we use at UVU, and she was my mentor when I was a doctoral assistant, back in the day.  Next week I plan to get together with Marcia Invernizzi and Mary Abouzeid, who turned me into the Words Their Way geek that I am.

All in all, I keep pinching myself...  am I really here?  Is this a dream?  No, my friends, it is a dream-come-true!