Teaching for Life, Part II

In an earlier blog, I posted about my first semester in the classroom. I am now well underway into my 2nd semester of teaching and I feel like I'm really starting to come into my own. Yesterday, I was reflecting back on my first semester of teaching the Accounting 200 class. I couldn't help but find it amazing that I had been up in front of a class of 75-100 students three days a week at 8am.* There I was teaching an amazing group of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (ok, this "bright-eyed, bushy-tailed" part is a stretch) students the ins and outs of accounting.

Reflecting back on the memories of my first semester of teaching seemed absolutely surreal to me...and not for the reason I would have expected. You see, there were times during the semester when I couldn't believe that I was standing in front of such a large "audience". I would flash back to my junior year of high school when a shy, quiet, skinny cross-country runner stood in front of his high school to give a "Vote for Matt Hoag as your ASB Treasurer" speech (Side note: I was the only person running, so the speech was a formality). At the time, I preferred very much to operate behind the scenes. It's not that I wasn't social. I'm certainly an extrovert now, so I had to have been back then. I must have been an extrovert in a bit of a shell. Well, long story short. I won in my "campaign" for ASB treasurer (again, no competition, so this should not be a real shocker) and shipped off to Leadership camp. Surrounded by a bunch of loud, energized, hyper "super-leaders" I felt a bit gun-shy at first. But, by the end of the week I was firmly out of my shell and I haven't looked back since. So, I always believed that any surreal feelings about teaching in a University would be along the lines of "I can't believe that shy high schooler really did this teaching thing!!" Instead, I was shocked when the surreal feelings I felt yesterday was more along the lines of "What the heck took me so long?!?"

The college classroom is where I belong. While the first semester was not without some emotional ups and downs, the second semester finds me much more acclimated to the classroom. I love being able to share my passion and excitement for learning and life with my students. I get such a high out of being in front of the class and I really enjoy challenging myself day-in and day-out to be a better teacher/mentor/advisor. This semester I have two sections of a business capstone course, which I lead on Friday afternoons. Yesterday, I covered a morning section for one of the other instructors who had to be out of town so I found myself in the classroom from 10am until just after 5pm (Note: I was supposed to be done at 4:30pm but for the second straight week I found myself staying after to chat with and mentor my students). I was completely exhausted but it was that good kind of exhausted. I am in my element when I'm in the classroom. I can't get enough of it and most importantly I could not be happier that I am well on my way to fulfilling my life's calling; Professor Hoag has a nice ring to it.

I received my evaluation scores from my accounting class a few weeks ago. There were times when I flat-out dreaded getting my scores. I was sure they were going to be low. There were so many things I knew I could have done - should have done - better. I realize now that I was being ridiculously hard on myself. It was my first semester and I have a lot of "growing" to do for sure in improving as a teacher. In the end, the scores were certainly not high. My class did not do particularly well overall, so that really shouldn't be much of a surprise. But, I did score highly in two areas that really stood out to me, "enthusiasm" and "availability of extra help when needed".

I know that I will make lots of improvements in my lectures (both style and content) as I gain experience. But, I pride myself in being approachable and enthusiastic about what I'm doing and I am so happy that this was visible to my students. Teaching is going to be such an incredible life journey for me and I am so happy that the journey is now well underway!

(*depending on the day, my "official" class size was 120 at the start of the semester and 109 at the end)

Voice of an Angel?

Cara and I just returned from church this morning at the Catholic "Center" here on campus. We both love going to church and feel like it's such a good way to start our Sundays together. So, we are trying our best to make it part of our routine (which is tough given that it largely hasn't been for either one of us since our days at Gonzaga). The upcoming Lenten season definitely provides a great opportunity to make weekly mass a regular part of our lives.

One of my favorite things to do at mass is sing. Those that know me well, know I really do like to sing (I find myself undeniably drawn to karaoke bars). So at church I really like to belt out the songs and make my voice heard. Today at church - when we all exchanged the "sign of peace" handshakes with each other - the lady in front of me commented, "you have a really lovely voice." I was flattered and I probably turned a little bit red. But nonetheless, it was a nice compliment. What makes this seemingly inconspicuous compliment truly noteworthy was that it wasn't the first singing compliment I had received at St. John XXIII. In fact, the last time Cara and I attended mass (three weeks ago) the lady in front of us said to me at the end of mass, "I just wanted to let you know that you have a gorgeous voice!"

Different lady. Different description. Same gist. Now, I am rather proud of my voice. I know I don't have any Grammy's waiting for me, but I do enjoy singing and sharing my voice with the world. But, I find it humorous that I've received only one other such compliment on my voice (not including family/friends) at mass in over 20 years of being a mass-goer.

So, has my voice improved considerably with age? Or is it perhaps the close seating quarters at the University church space? Maybe it is the sweet Southern hospitality and personalities thatU make Southern folk more outgoing in doling out praise to strangers? Or, perhaps the acoustics are really just superb in St. John the XXIII?

I'm stumped. What do y'all think?

Weekend Shenooligans

In an earlier post, I talked about all of the fun and adventure Cara and I had in store for us last weekend. And then I fell off the map. Hopefully none of my adoring fans thought the weekend left me lying in bed recovering from exhaustion. Certainly not the case! In fact, it was a perfect dose of fun and adventure. Now, let me tell you about it.

On Friday, Cara and I went to the Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts concert at Thomson-Boling Arena (where we'll watch our #11 Zags battle the Vols in a few short months!!). We got all "gussied up" as Cara would call it and headed to the concert which started at 8pm. Of course, we left at about 7:45 figuring traffic wouldn't be too bad. We were mistaken. There was a steady stream of last minute concert-goer traffic so we were about 20 minutes late and missed some of Taylor Swift's set. I must admit, she puts on quite a show. Her stage presence is fun - very light-hearted - and her songs are kinda catchy. Some of them are even pretty good -- "Love Story" is my fave. Wow - just now I saw a bit of my manhood disappear in admitting that. I'm sure it's at some bar sipping whiskey, watching sports, and soaking up some classic rock; recovering from the Taylor Swift-ness I just ambushed it with!

Okay, so now that the cat is out of the bag - I'll move on to my review of Rascal Flatts. I like some of their songs - "Here's to You" is one of my all-time favorites. You can bet your britches I danced, rocked and bounced along when they played that one. Otherwise, I spent most of their set thinking about how badly my feet and legs hurt from standing the entire time (we were in the General Admission "Bob Your Head"section. That's either a sign that (a) I'm getting old and crotchety, (b) Rascal Flatts does not put on a great show, or (c) both. I think the answer is (c). The other day at the doctor's office I was writing my age as 26 on all the forms. Clearly, I seem to have forgotten my recent birthday (August 25th) which I share with Sean Connery, Rachel Ray, Regis Philbin, and Elvis Costello among others. Newsflash: I am now 27. I write that more to hammer it into my own head than to broadcast it worldwide. The reality is, 27 is not THAT old.

So, Rascal Flatts must not put on a great show. And that's a fact. I think they are worth seeing once - concerts are a fun experience. And they do have a few songs that really get the crowd enthused. But, overall their show seemed to be low on energy, a bit fake, and the bad kind of cheesy that leaves a bad taste in your mouth (e.g., not good cheesy - which is something I have made into an art form as is clearly evidenced in the photograph to the right!). Also, Rascal Flatts makes full and blatant use of text messaging during their shows - they must get some serious revenue from the text messaging service they use because they had the whole arena texting. Before the show you could text a message to have it shown on the arena jumbotron and you also had a chance to win backstage passes after the show. Cara and I both texted and neither one of us won, nor did we see our respective messages displayed in the arena. What we did get was enrolled into the Rascal Flatts text message fan club - so we've been receiving sporadic, gimmicky, and annoying text messages from Rascal Flatts telling us about other offers and chances to win tickets. Annoying! About halfway through the show, Joe Don told the concert goers to text him at his special text number for a special gift. Cara did that - and to this day still hasn't received her gift. And if he thinks singing a special song was the special gift, well than I got the special gift too without having to text him...so ummm...yeah. Kinda lame. The icing on the cake? The encore consisted of two songs complete with confetti and balloons. Two songs?!? Balloons and Confetti?!? What kind of a lame-o encore performance is that?? By that point I was just wishing we were in the car headed home. But, don't let my cynicism fool you - Cara and I had fun and I'm glad we went. I just wouldn't do it again for Rascal Flatts. For Taylor Swift? Maybe. Just don't go telling anyone I said that. My manhood has taken enough of a blow with this blog already.

On Saturday Cara and I got up and did some serious cleaning and reorganizing to make ready for my old roommate Quinn to stay the night with his fiancee Deborah, who were coming into town for the UT vs Alabama game (which has come to be known as the Third Saturday in October, down here in SEC football country). The two met while in the MAcc (Masters in Accounting) program at UT and are getting married next May 2nd. I am honored to be a groomsmen in their wedding.

On an unrelated note, I'll have to try and get some good pictures of the reorganized house up soon. It looks pretty good. Cara and I are going to try and tackle some interior painting this weekend. She's even started with the blue tape. Wish us luck! And you can count on a few pictures and a blog to keep you updated on that excitement...whoo hoo!

Quinn and Deborah arrived around 4pm with Deb's adorable little Maltipoo, Snuggles. Snuggles and I had quite a bond back in the day, so it was a nice little reunion. It was awesome to see Quinn and Deborah too! After catching up for a bit at the house, we all headed out to a pre-game tailgate across the river from Neyland Stadium. The evening could not have been nicer! Sipping whiskey and coke, a few cold beers, and eating some delicious bbq with friends and foe alike (Deborah is a huge Alabama fan...grrr!!) was the perfect way to prepare for the big game. And for Cara, it was her first experience with Tennessee footbal. See Cara's take on the game in her earlier blog. As the game drew near, we got in line for the water taxi that would ferry us across the river for the game. Due in part to misjudgment by us and conservative passenger limits (only 19 people at a time, no ifs, ands, or buts!), we waited for 45 minutes to board the water ferry. The game started to the roar of the crowd. We waited. But, we didn't let the wait dampen our spirits. Cara and I kept each other warm and the the evening was too perfect to be stressed. When we finally did board the water ferry to head across the river, it was really starting to get cold and Cara and I were both excited to get into the stadium for some SEC football! The water taxi ride was brief and afforded us an awesome view of the Henley Street bridge, which they had all lit up in orange and white for the big game. All in all, a pretty impressive sight, wouldn't you say? The view from our seats wasn't bad either. Well...unless you count the way the Vols played. They got manhandled by the visiting Crimson Tide, much to the satisfaction of the houndstooth cap wearing, cigar smoking Alabama fans in front of us. The final score: Alabama 29, Tennessee 9. BOOO!!! Behold a photo montage of the game (the stadium, the 'Bama fans, the halftime show, and a picture of Cara and I - blog storyline follows below):





As the closing seconds ticked off the clock, Cara and I had the distinct honor of hearing firsthand one of the more hated traditions in all college football - the dreaded Rammer Jammer cheer. That video is from the game. I did not shoot it. But, you can tell how loud and boisterous the visiting 'Bama fans are. There were quite a few of them still there celebrating as the dejected Tennessee fans streamed from the stadium. I can tell you one thing -- I will ALWAYS root against Alabama after hearing the Rammer Jammer in Neyland Stadium. Go Vols! "It's great to be a Tennessee Vol!" After the game, we all hit Cool Beans (a local watering hole) for a few drinks and then headed home, thoroughly wiped out from an eventful day.

Cara and I woke up the next morning and had brunch with my buddy Adam and his wife, Katie. We went to the Crown and Goose and the food was awesome. The mimosas weren't too bad either. Or, are they called molasses? Marmelade? Adam couldn't seem to get it right. We all had a great time visiting and were sad to see the time come for Adam and Katie to head back to their cabin (they were staying in the Smokies for their one year wedding anniversary). Overall, Cara and I had an incredible weekend. My fantasy football team (Westbrook's Walking Wounded) even managed to pull out a big victory and the high score for the week, which was a big step in securing my team a trip to the Fantasy FB playoffs. On that note, I've ranted, rambled, and raved for far too long by now. It's time for me to get back to course prep. I'm taking the afternoon at home to get some errands done around the house and also to get some research done! Wish me luck!!

Teaching for Life

Now that my dad is showing me up in the blogging department, I figured it was about time for me to hop to it and post a blog.

My semester of teaching has really been an awesome experience -- but, it has certainly been busy too! My Accounting 200 students had an exam last night and of course the week or so leading up to the exam was filled up with tutoring, getting make-up exams sorted out, and all sorts fun administrative mumbo jumbo. On top of that, my BA353 section (where I'm a "business coach") had their Business Plan presentations last Friday (10/24). These count for 25% of their grade in the course so I also had my hands full in the week leading up to the big day to say the least. All in all, I had an extremely busy week and a half to two weeks that is just now starting to simmer down to a low boil...just in time for me to prepare for my 1st early-stage dissertation presentation next Friday.

I'm still struggling in some ways to find my niche in the classroom. I absolutely love teaching, but I still feel like I don't have an identity. I imagine that will develop over time. I get a rush of adrenaline from standing in front of the classroom and I especially enjoy working through problems with students one-on-one or in small group settings in my office. But at the same time, I feel majorly bummed when my students struggle and I take poor exam scores way too personally - it's hard not to have a vested interest in how my students perform. After the first exam, I spent hours examining and analyzing the test scores. I compared my students scores to the scores of students in other sections. I talked to classmates, professors, and even my parents about the emotions that flared up in response to having my students struggle with the material. And at the end of the day, I beat myself up quite a bit over things I could have done to better prepare my students for the exam. With the exam results from the second exam looming, I fear I may be headed down a similar path if my students do not perform up to their expectations.

The ups and downs of the semester have me feeling like I'm on a roller coaster at times. To compensate for the bummed out times, I pour a lot of time into teaching - a whole lot more than my allotted 10 hours a week for Accounting 200. This leaves me shortended on research and feeling a little bit anxious and uneasy about the prospect of trying to juggle all of the academic expectations in the future. I suppose that is part of the learning curve that I must follow - I certainly am learning a lot about myself and the nuances of teaching this semester. And I certainly do not ever plan to stop trying to learn, grow, and develop myself -- it is why I find the academic lifestyle so appealing in the first place.

At the end of the day - this has been one of the more challenging semesters I've faced in the Ph.D. program. I must say I'm more than little bit surprised about that -- I thought my Fall 2007 semester with Economics, Math Economics, and Multivariate Statistics would continue to reign supreme atop my heap of most challenging academic semesters. But, this semester has been surprising -- emotional, energizing, stressful, and all-in-all pretty amazing compressed into a few short months. I love the journey that I am on and most importantly, I have wonderful family and friends who love and support me every step of the way. I would be remiss if I didn't give Cara a big "shout-out" too...she has been such a wonderful strength and support for me in these emotional months. Thanks sweetheart -- I love you more than words.