This morning I had to wake up *very* early to go to U of R. I haven't had an early Saturday morning class in almost a year, so it was like old times. It was even more like old times when I had to go to the same classroom that I spent so many Saturday mornings and Thursday nights in. I presented on the paper we wrote for AERA, which was actually pretty fun.

I showed "I'm Just a Bill," so that the class had a good background to what I was going to talk about, and then I gave my presentation. It was my AERA presentation, but I didn't rush through it, because I had the time. I made sure that I was clear on some points, since they are supposed to be learning about policy and may not have been familiar with the topic.

After I spoke, I asked them for questions. They did not have very many. Instead, they got stuck on what our cohort asked about..."How long did your dissertation take to write?" This launched Dr. M into this long explanation of how to pick ones chair and the rest of ones committee. After that, he had to give them some things to discuss in order to get them thinking. It took them a while, but they finally got into the discussion. It was hard for them to discuss at first, but once they brought it out of the theoretical into the practical, they could talk. Rebeccah had come to hear me present, and she was able to answer some questions about community college and higher ed. So that was really helpful.

Overall, it was a good time. Their cohort seems really nice and knowledgeable. One of them even has a newcomer program at his school. We are going to have to interview him or at least get an in for an interview with someone at his school (once we are going to write the book).

It also made me think that I would really enjoy teaching at the university level. And teaching teachers, not necessarily teaching math. When is life finally going to give me a break and make it happen???