Back at work.

Fast forward to six weeks into the 2012-2013 school year.  Back in the groove.

My IRE Program is going well!  (Oh, yes, AP Calculus is going well also.)  The students enjoy Mondays as we see a new 'critter' for the week.  The fact that *I* took the pictures seems to intrigue them--and surprise them!

Other than yoga classes a couple years ago, I haven't been in the position of learner in quite some time.  We forget what that feels like; the triumphs, the nervous anticipation, the dread, the excitement.  Will I do well?  Will I make a fool out of myself?  Will it be fun?  Will it be awful?  All of those emotions and more pop up when we are uncertain about what we are doing and how to do it.  As adults, we are generally masters of our domain and it is easy to forget the myriad of emotions all of our students experience every school day.  This was a nice reminder. A needed reminder.

In fact, I'll go so far as to suggest all educators need to put themselves in the position of learner from time to time.  Not in your subject area, not an education course....something entirely new or unfamiliar that will stretch your capabilities and test your mastery.  We ask this of our students daily, why do we not ask it of ourselves?  We should.  It is far too easy to forget what it is like to be in our student's shoes.

That would be my advice to future applicants of the Teacher Creativity Grant.....put yourself out there.  Learn a new skill.  It will help you connect to what is going on in the student's mind better than any workshop. 

Personally I plan to continue underwater photography.  I'm only getting started! 

Oh yes. MUCH better.

Amazing what a little instruction can do for you.  You may have some success trying to figure things out for yourself, but working with someone who actually knows what they are doing makes for far superior results!

This little guy, called a nudibranch, is at best one quarter of an inch long.  You have to know where to look for them (be taught to find them), and then figure out (be taught) what camera settings to use in order to actually get a picture of them.  The lighting has to be right, and positioning.....you'd never get these results on your own.

I have over 800 images that I am looking forward to putting together into a comprehensive movie/show.  The plan is to show the island of Cozumel both above and below the water, in all its glory.

To my surprise, I have thought of my students more than I thought I would this summer.  Being in the role of learner has been very different for me...and enlightening.  Hopefully this has reminded me of what it is like to be on "the other side of the desk" and to be more tolerant.  Learning new skills can be frustrating and exhilarating.

More narrative will be written when I am back in the states.  For now, I leave you with one final image.

A quick update.

The bulk of this narrative will be completed once I am back in the states, but at my age I was afraid I would forget some of my thoughts over time.  Senior moments and all.

I am learning a lot and I love to dive.  That said, I am surprised to find myself sometimes having to drag myself out of bed.  Ugh, do I really want to go dive?  Once I am on the boat and in the water, I am good to go.  But even as much as I love it, there are some days you just don't feel it.  I have to remember that even my best students will have off days.  As do I.

One day last week I did not take my camera.  It IS work, and I thought, hey, I will just dive and enjoy myself.  I felt like a kid who didn't do their homework! Then once we were in the water, the currents were so strong that I couldn't have taken pictures if I WANTED to...and I felt like a kid who didn't do their homework and got away with it.

The formal photography course is this weekend.  We should see better pictures later!

Busy busy busy.

Seahorse on Punta Tunich

I take my Rescue Diver course next week, and immediately thereafter take the Photography class.  In the meantime, I have been trying to teach myself to use the camera.  The results have been not unlike the results I see when students think they can teach themselves math....in other words, really hit or miss with the misses far outweighing the hits.

Again, much like math, there are so many variables with using a camera underwater.  Lighting is a biggie, as is white balance and focus and just trying to stay STILL long enough to take a picture with the water currents pushing you onward.  It is far more difficult than it looks, and far more difficult than I imagined.  I'm looking forward to sitting down (swimming down) one on one with a professional to actually be TAUGHT what to do!

Three days ago I took the ferry from Cozumel over to the mainland and then a shuttle bus to Cancun.  There I rode a small boat out into the open ocean for about 45 minutes in order to snorkel with the whale sharks.

Whale sharks are technically FISH; the largest fish in the world.  They look like sharks but are filter feeders. They eat plankton, like whales...hence the name.  These creatures are often the size of a school bus, but very gentle.  Swimming with them was amazing and awe-inspiring.  You have to swim like mad to keep up.  I have video I shot and a video a boat mate took of me swimming along side of one.  They are just so beautiful and graceful for such a large beast.  Once I transfer the videos to a smaller format, I will post them!

Advanced Open Water. Check.

I finished my first course today! The dive shop will send in my paperwork, and I will get a certification card mailed to my home in the States.

The first dive was a Fish ID dive. I had a slate and pencil and listed the fish and creatures I saw and their approximate numbers. By the time I was finished I had over twenty listed; and I'm sure there were numerous species I missed! That was a fun dive on a pretty, pristine reef here, called San Juan.

Dive two was on a reef that really doesn't have a name, but does have, in addition to a reef with oodles of critters, a large, flat, area where I could do my navigation skills.

The Navigation Dive took quite a bit of work! Not the dive itself, but just preparing for it. My new dive computer has a digital compass; it's MUCH different from a regular compass. I rewatched the online course about my computer, but I was still confused. I watched it several times in fact, with my computer in my hands, and STILL couldn't figure it out. I was getting really frustrated.

And to make things even more hair-pulling, the manual is only on a CD-rom. Great, but I only have my iPad and netbook here, neither of which has a disc drive. Argh! I explained my dilemma to a friend who bought the same computer after I got mine, and he saved the day! He downloaded the manual on his computer and converted it to a PDF file and emailed it to me. Success! From there, figuring out the compass feature was not too difficult.

Once again, the parallel to my classroom made me smile. What seemed to be a relatively simple task required a lot more work, background research, and help from friends than I ever thought it would. The key, it seems, is to persevere.

I had to take said compass and swim a square and a triangle. I gotta say, teaching math made this a breeze (once I knew how to work the darned compass). The square was just perfect, and I counted kick cycles to make sure each side was the same length. My instructor followed behind me with some line and marked each side and corner so we could assess it when I finished. The triangle was not quite isosceles, but really close! Hey, he didn't specify, so I went with an acute triangle!

I learned a lot in doing this course. Although I had theoretically "done" all the types of dives required (save for the navigation), being taught by a professional gave me insight into things that aren't in the AOW book and the one on one instruction was fantastic.

There is an argument for smaller class sizes in there somewhere...

I.Have.Homework.

Wow.

It's been a while since I have been "on the other side of the desk," so to speak.

Today I did two dives towards the Advanced Open Water certification. One dive was the Deep Dive; I had to perform a skill at depth (100 feet), and do a variety of pre-dive checks and post-dive reflections. Included in the post-dive is a written Knowledge Review, which is my homework.

So I learned quite a few things today. First I had to learn to tie a bow knot; this is what I had to do at depth! I also did a little math. ;-). Performing a skill at depth shows that you are not suffering from (or perhaps you are) nitrogen narcosis, or that you aren't "narced.". It is best described as feeling somewhat drunk, and your small motor skills can suffer. Tying the knot shows that you are ok. Passed that one.

At the end of the dive, my instructor Miguel made me launch my safety sausage. I've never done this! Panic. Well, not panic, but definitely unease. I ask my students to do something new almost every day...I bet some of them feel this same panic. How awful! This was followed quickly by dread when Miguel informed me I am going to have to deploy my sausage (a surface marker buoy so boats can spot you to pick you up or not run you over) each and every dive! Seriously? Ugh.

I know it will make me a better diver. It really will. Doesn't mean I'm going to like it, but I will grit my teeth and do it. I will master it, I WILL, but the parallel between this and my classroom just screamed at me.

The second dive was the Drift Dive specialty; every dive in Coz is a drift dive, as the waters run from south to north though the channel that separates Cozumel from the mainland. Had to deploy that darned sausage again.

On the plus side, I saw so many great things...nudibranches, a seahorse, a baby trunkfish, among others.

Gotta go. I have homework to do.

Back in the water.

When it has been three months since your last dive and you are getting used to new gear, that first back roll off the boat into the water isn't without a few butterflies in your stomach.

But may I say the new computer is AMAZING. I love how I can see not only all the basic information needed, but also how many minutes I have left to dive, whether that is due to air consumption or no decompression limits (NDLs). It performed flawlessly, as did everything else and both dives were great.

Dive One was at Palancar Gardens; I've dived it plenty, but today the visibility (vis in diver speak) was somewhat lacking for Coz, where typical vis is 80+ feet. I'd put today's vis at 60 or so. A host of characters waiting for us today; us consisting of myself, my neighbor Chuck, and another couple I have dived with before on live aboard dive boats, Ric and Kayte. My favorite dive master, Pedro Pablo, was our DM today. Pedro brings a special zen to diving and he can find everything you want to see under water!

The characters were legion. Two free-swimming nurse sharks, two turtles, and numerous lobsters (one the size of a cocker spaniel puppy) were there, along with a spotted moray eel, a large crab, and my personal favorite, a Splendid Toadfish. If you want to see a Splendid Toadfish, you have to come to Cozumel, because they only live here. Once I learn to use the camera, I will post more toadfish than you'd care to see.

Dive Two was at a dive site called Delila. Always full of fish and creatures, Delila didn't disappoint. Along with yet another shark and two more turtles, there were nine squid! You don't see those often, so that was a treat.

Tomorrow starts coursework for my Advanced Open Water certification. I don't think I've been a student in this sense since maybe 2005. AP or IB training isn't the same; I'm proficient at what I do, so additional training is just building on a 15 year foundation. I've just been putzing about enjoying the scenery as a diver; I've not had to really work hard or put myself out in a while.

This will be different.