Visit to D's class

I had the opportunity to visit D's class for the first time this year. I was in her class once a week last year, because of helping with AR reading, but this year there haven't been many chances to go. Her teacher wanted me to come and talk about something that I teach in my big freshman intro course, so I set up a tour in Google Earth and brought in some maps. It was great fun and the kids asked really funny questions. Most of them had never seen Google Earth before, so they were really impressed. At the end of the time, the teacher let the kids ask me questions. Since they knew that I teach at Small College Town U, some asked me if I knew their parents ("Do you know Deborah who works at SMCU?") and others asked how long I had taught there and how long I would be teaching there and what I teach. It was pretty fun. It was also interesting to see what the kids' level of understanding is on some of these topics. I don't think they have had much exposure to maps and satellite images by this age, so it's all new to them. 

I took a long lunch break when I got home and am just firing up my other computer (PC) to do some research work. I think I will probably take tomorrow off completely (it IS spring break!) I'll see how much I get done today, though.