Last quarter nearly killed me (due to a lot of personal things unrelated to UCR) and this one looked like it might be even worse – far worse. One of those personal matters disappeared yesterday and has now given me quite a bit more breathing room (there are still several very stressful things going on). Hopefully, I’ll be able to rid my plate of several of those in the future.

Tonight began our second week of courses and, once again, I’ve got a simply brilliant set of professors (they’re all absolutely wonderful). While I’m already behind (especially due to the personal crises that have been going on), I’m sure I’ll now be able to catch up before it’s too late. Fortunately, I ordered my books for this quarter very early and already have a head start with a couple of them. With luck, I’ll get caught up on my reading this weekend (only nine books, so far and a few million journal articles).

All of my classes appear to be very interesting and I’m looking forward to cramming my feeble brain with a lot of new material. Unlike last quarter, where most of my courses helped to bring me up to speed on some of the latest research and current pedagogical practices, my courses this quarter seem as if I’ll be covering a lot of material that will be completely new to me – something I’m sure I’ll enjoy (as long as I can keep up).  Topics include a course on autism (an area that I have only a limited understanding), qualitative research, and multicultural education. In two of my courses, I already know that I’ll get to focus on policy – a matter which I hold very near and dear to my own heart (well, that’s a bit of an understatement).

It’s already late and I haven’t slept in weeks so I’ll try to write a bit more within the next few days. Off to bed. . . 🙂