There was one summer in my past when I randomly searched for lakes within a one hour's drive from Wahpeton (ND), and after discovering that there were quite a few, I went on a quest that summer to kayak on as many of them as possible. I think I ended up floating on at least fifteen lakes that summer, and I might've been able to paddle on more if we hadn't had a sweet old Saint Bernard at home, missing her human companion... Once Saint Sadie left us in the fall of 2018, I used the next summer to take myself somewhere on my own retreat, to get away from "it all" and to kayak on bodies of water beyond the hour zone. That meant, in 2019, I ended up outside of Duluth. The rental cabin was teeny tiny, and it had the ability to be a boat house - that's how much on the water it was. Well, I had brought my own "watercraft," and the entry point to the lake was the dock. There wasn't a shoreline, there wasn't sand, there weren't even slippery rocks...

Tomorrow, around 3pm CST, I’ll be giving possibly one of my last solo presentations for a while. Here’s the abstract/proposed thing: “Exploring the Intersection of Ungrading and Gamification: A Case Study with Diesel Technician Students” Gamification and ungrading are two popular teaching strategies that have gained traction in recent years. While they are typically used separately, this session explores their combination and implementation in a writing course meant just for diesel tech students at a community college. The presenter will discuss how the course structure was built around contests with judges, and how the winners were rewarded with extra points that could be used to bypass certain assignments. Through this unique approach, the presenter observed much more critical thinking on the part of the students’ when considering audience, as well as higher student motivation and engagement and increased focus on learning (winning).