The Jumping Off Point

I am seriously thinking of removing this blog from the intertubes. I’m not updating, as the 1 of you may have noticed, and I’m not sure that this space is useful. I’m not required to publicly reflect as I finish my EdS and work is such a mess that it’s really not appropriate for me to air that dirty laundry here.

I like the idea of having a place to keep a portfolio, but I’m also not sure that it’s really necessary. Most of what’s in my portfolio will be hard to link to in a few months because the content is going to move to a protected environment and the public won’t be able to see it.

The space will probably linger for a little longer as I dither and try to decide what I want to do with the existing content.

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In other dirty laundry news, work continues to be a very odd place, indeed. We’re about to move into our extension period (tomorrow). I’m finished with all of my contracted work (have been actually) and the future is murky. We have some specific things we’re supposed to complete over the next three months, but the way I tend to work means I’ll be done in late July.

A co-worker has been stranger than usual and actually asked me if it would be OK if she took a few days off. We still have a supervisor. That was a weird moment. It wasn’t the first and won’t be the last, I’m sure.

Well, apparently we have a three-month extension to take us to September 30th. It will be interesting to see what our contract letters say later this month. I assume the September 30th date will be in bold.

I’m not really sure what this does for anyone except it gives the organization that is taking over enough time to create positions, advertise, interview and hire employees. For me it means a salary and benefits for three more months which is a good thing. But, as far as what the extension does for work to be done and training to be delivered, I’m just not sure that it’s going to be very effective. Shouldn’t there already be a plan in place for what’s going to happen over the next three months?

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I am taking three online classes in this first summer session and the content is interesting but the delivery piece is crazy. I have something due every two days in one class and the other two classes have overlapping due dates as well. I’m keeping ahead of the game but I feel like work is getting in way of school and that’s just a silly feeling.

Last night I had to do work at home because our internet connection at work has been about as good as dial-up over the last several days. That hour or two of work killed the rest of the evening for school work. A girl needs to eat dinner and hang out a little before bed. I often wonder how people with children and no spouse put themselves through school. I suppose they give up on the idea of sleep for several years.

The semester is officially over as of last Friday when I turned in my last assignment. This semester was just fine and dandy when it came to the demands of school work. There was only a bit of time there at the end that I felt overwhelmed and that was probably more about me than it was about the work. I took a couple of days off from work and ended up getting a huge portion done.

The summer session begins later this month. The tuition has been paid so I just need to wait for the spring semester to officially close out and then I can get my feet wet with the new courses.

Work is still a nightmare of indecision on the part of the organization that pays our grant. They are so unprepared to take over our function and yet seem completely unworried. Who lets weeks go by without meeting a deliverable? They’ve advertised some of the positions they’ll need but no curriculum development jobs have been posted and some of the training delivery infrastructure jobs haven’t been posted. For me, employment there is not an option. Who knows how they’ll get several buildings closed and equipment moved/disposed. They have until June 30th. Time’s slipping into the future, guys.

The rumor mill still keeps the idea of an extension afloat, but I’ve just accepted that June 30th is the end. I’m looking for other work, but I’m worried about how employers will feel about the fact that I have a year left of school and that makes my schedule a bit difficult. Naturally, I get my work done, but a new employer doesn’t know that about me.

It’s a stressful time, but I’m trying very hard to remain positive. Not every day brings me success with that. But it helps that I’m whittling down my leave balance so at least some of those projects I’ve put off over the semester will be taken care of now.

Now, we’ve known this for some time, but the official announcement that our organization will be shutting its doors has finally been published. Even though we knew this was coming and we’ve been dealing with this inevitability for months, something about that announcement has really set folks off. The volume of recycle/trash has risen tremendously.

I suppose it is natural to want to purge an office full of paper at a time like this. “Who are these people taking away our funding and why should I help them transition” is one rally cry, and the other involves words I’d rather not put on my blog. For me, there’s one program area that began my ride back in 1998 and I made the decision today to not throw away some critical information. I burned it on a CD and contacted someone who will need it in the months to come. It feels a little cold war without the elaborate drop system. She and I are going to meet on Friday and I’ll pass it along to her. I just couldn’t stop helping.

Some of the impulse to take those pieces of information and share them comes from the way a co-worker has been acting. In times like these you really learn a bit about others. She’s turned into the “every woman for herself and screw the rest of you” person on the team. I just can’t go there. There’s nothing to be gained from behaving like that and until I’m toting my box of personals out to the car on June 30th, I’ll keep helping folks whether it’s passing on a few critical files, sending job openings that I think others would be interested in, or finding some tools that folks can use to brush-up on their computer skills.

Just because we’re in a bad place at work doesn’t mean I have to be in a bad place in my own head and heart.

School starts again next week and I have to say I’m more than looking forward to it. I’m doing an internship as part of my studies this semester and it is coincidentally at work. How convenient. I’m creating an online course which is what I would have worked on for the next few months anyway, but this time I’m paying attention to a semi-rigorous instructional design model. I’m also going to keep a running journal of the work I do on the course as a reflective piece.

The bonus for the organization is no matter how hard we tank, this course will be worked on and I’ll do a very good job. Since its an online course, I disclosed that the work will be for a grade to our elearning guru. He told me if I didn’t get an A he’d take it personally. I told him if I didn’t get an A I’d fall into an existential funk. Boy would that make me question what is that I’m supposed to be doing.

I’m taking a two-credit online course on software evaluation and a classroom course on evaluation. There seems to be a theme, wouldn’t you say? Everything I’m taking from here on until graduation is focused on what I want to be when I grow up. Knowing what sorts of software are available and the most appropriate for a project is a good skill to have and I feel like I can never learn enough about evaluation, in general.

This summer I’m taking 3 online courses and each of those is also focused on things I find quite relevant…digital audio, digital video and instructional media. I am already looking forward to those classes and we haven’t even started the spring semester.

We’ve had some scary news lately at work and we’re waiting to hear more in the coming weeks. More news that is, it could be good news! Stay Positive. Stay Positive. Stay Positive.

We’re grant-funded and it should come as no surprise to anyone who has looked through this blog that the relationship my organization has with it’s grant payer hasn’t always been smooth. In the last couple of years, though, things have gotten much better. We have a new director and she’s all about collaboration.

The problem we have now, which is really a problem everyone seems to be facing, is that we’re under more scrutiny than ever and our funding is in danger of being cut. As in we won’t be around come July 1st. The grant payer has an option on the table to take our function back in-house after 20 years.

Of course, I’ll be sad if this happens. We do good work here and there are some really bright folks who come in every day and create/deliver interesting training on what can be boring material (policy training can be interesting, really). It will also feel like the last 20 years weren’t good enough…when, naturally they have been. But, that feeling of letdown will be there anyway.

The news is also a klaxon for me to get off my butt and do what I really want to do which is finish my EdS and start working for a university in career development. I really hope I can help others teach better by using technology and other methodologies. I feel like that is something that makes so much sense for where I’ve been headed all along. Training, technology and making both accessible. These are a few of my favorite things.

Our local NPR station runs a piece called Nonsense at Work on Mondays. Based on my recent experience working in a team for a school project, I found the advice/comments on Monday’s show particularly of interest. It’s about what happens when a team has very strong members and members who are weak. Instead of the strong members bringing up the level of work, Mr. McIntosh posits that the level is brought down.

The show’s archives are here. You are looking for episode #448.

It’s a short piece and I recommend listening to it.