Well, that was fast.

Posted June 2, 2015 by Alison Mitchell

I just submitted the final assignment for LIS-505, Reader’s Advisory.  Hurrah!

LIS-505 was a two-week class, and by that I mean a full three-credit class jammed into two weeks.  We read eight novels from different genres, about 20 articles on different aspects of reader’s advisory, book selection, leading discussion groups and genre fiction, completed three assignments and gave an in-class presentation.  I’m not going to lie — it was a lot of work in a short period of time.  But it was fun work, interesting work, and I enjoyed the professor, classmates, readings and assignments.

I did not enjoy the timeframe so much.  It turns out that I really like to take my time with assignments.  I guess I knew this, but taking a two-week class really made it clear.  Usually, I write a first draft well before the assignment is due, and revise it considerably until the day before the due date, and then try to submit early, which is essentially impossible in a two-week timeframe.  However, every once in a while it’s good to work outside my comfort zone!  This certainly accomplished that!

The schedule was also tough on my family.  As I seem to write almost every blog post, I have two young children and spend a lot of time taking care of them (making lunches, driving them to and from school and gymnastics and softball and friends houses, finding art supplies, threading needles, doing laundry, breaking up fights… the list is long and varied).  In order to take this class, I had to arrange alternate pickups and have someone else keep them until 6pm for two whole weeks, which was a lot for my kids.  (As she was falling asleep the night before my last class, my exhausted eight-year-old said “Mama, can you please pick us up tomorrow?”)

Still, it was only two weeks, and it was worth it to take this particular class.  I’ll consider taking another short course if I’m truly passionate about the subject matter.  Now, on to summer!