Activity 1.1 (Introduction)

Hello! My name is Tori Norris, which is a newly acquired last name (previously it was Forncrook) since I recently married into it. The new name rolls off the tongue a little easier, which is good for my students, but I do miss the uniqueness aspect. I'm originally from Oregon, spent my first 30 years of life there, then moved to Northern California for a couples years, then to Texas to pursue my Master's degree, and found my way to Owensboro, KY in 2007 when I accepted a teaching position at Owensboro Community & Technical College. I taught Communication classes full time for the first 5 years and last August switched over to full time Psychology which I previously just taught one or two sections as an overload. 

This is my first class back in the grad school saddle. I'm planning to pursue my PhD in Communication Studies (specializing in Instructional). I say planning mainly because I haven't been officially accepted, or applied, to the program. I decided back in March that it was time to jump on the higher education bandwagon after completing my 2nd promotion track to Associate Professor. This is what I want to do when I grow up. I guess that means that I'm grown up then. I also turned 40 last Thursday, on the 23rd of May, and I guess that would also count towards being grown up. I think I will always feel younger than my biological age, although I'm sure many would say the same.

What turns me on??? I've asked my students this very same ice breaker question and thought of so many ways that I would answer. Now's my chance!!! My husband’s blue eyes, his hugs, when he grabs my hand, oh wait you probably want to hear other things too. I recently got into running and I find that I feel really good after a run, most of the time. Teaching turns me on, a lot actually. Food!!! I enjoy cooking, most of the time, but mainly trying new food genres and dishes. Honestly I like a lot of things, experiencing the novel but also the simplicity of predictability tuirns me on.

My summer has started off pretty busy with May being the month of vacations. I just got back, yesterday actually, from a week-long trip to Covington & Cincinnati. Part of it was for a work conference but we decided to stay a few extra days and take in the sights, and we took in many. I have a device that tracks my steps and within 6 days we walked 45.56 miles!!!! This week we are at home and then this Sunday June 2nd we head down to New Orleans. I'm merely tagging along while my husband attends a really cool Microsoft conference called Tech Ed (he's in the IT department at the same college). I'll be taking in the sights as much as possible during the 5 days that we are there. The rest of the summer will be spent learning what looks to be like a ton of great stuff in this class, I'm also teaching an online General Psychology, and will be working on building course material for my Fall classes since I just adopted two new books which basically means I’m revamping everything. 

As you can tell, I like to talk, or rather type, well both actually. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone in the class and learning….. A LOT!!