I taught Spanish all day yesterday, then left in a hurry to feed and water horses and make my way (slowly and painfully) to Lincoln. It’s a drive of about five hours, but trips take me longer because I don’t “drive like an idiot.” I generally obey the speed limit and try to go easy on my poor car.
A drive like that gave me plenty of time to think. Not always a good thing. My main fuel on the drive was coffee, so you can imagine I was in need of a rest stop or two along the way. I (briefly) considered stopping at a rest area, but I’ve seen too many episodes of Criminal Minds for that!
I made the necessary stops for fuel (for me and my car) and arrived (later than I had hoped) at the hotel. All this in the name of continuing education. The whole trip was for a final face-to-face meeting for the UNL Foreign Language Assessment class I have been taking this semester.
The class was full of great information, and I can use the units I created to improve instruction, so it was well worth the work. It was also an awesome experience to collaborate with like-minded professionals. Making contacts is the key to exchanging information and improving instruction. We all spent a long day collaborating and sharing. The meeting was over by 2:15, and I was fortunate enough to have been able to follow Brenda to get back on the interstate. (I say “fortunate” because I can get misplaced in a paper bag. Brenda was staying at the hotel as well, so I made it to the meeting because of her.)
For some reason, I didn’t sleep very well last night, but I was glad I was mentally alert enough to make it home at a reasonable hour. It sure feels good to be home again.