I breathed a big, fat sigh of relief today after handing this baby in....my FINAL assignment of the semester! Whew! Let summertime begin!
Showing posts with label class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label class. Show all posts
day 260
I spent alllll day in my favorite study locale - Jason's Deli! Studying isn't so bad in their cute study lounge, and with the all-you-can-eat salad bar at my disposal for the day! (Oh, and the free ice cream is pretty nice too!)
day 255
Today was the official last day of classes! Somehow I still have a million and one things to do before the semester is over, but it still feels good to be finished with the actual going to class part of the semester!
My favorite class this semester was definitely my Principles & Methods of Teaching class with Dr. Bote. I'm so excited to have her again next semester! Anyway, the last slide that she left us with on her powerpoint said (in case you can't read it on this terrible picture)..
"I'm on the road to becoming a teacher who..."
We all had to go around and finish that statement.
Aren't you dying to know my answer?? Some people took my ideas before she got to me, so my final response was:
"I'm on the road to becoming a teacher who students remember for the rest of their lives."
day 248
Today I spent a majority of my time working on a final project for my "Principles and Methods of Teaching" class. It's a "digital evidence" assignment, which will sometime in the near future become a part of my "digital portfolio" that I use to showcase my work when I apply for jobs! (eeek! did I really just say that?)
Anyway, I made a website for this project...check it out if you want to!
www.misslevine.weebly.com
day 200
Happy Day 200!! I'm so glad you're here to celebrate with me :)
I have a giant sociology midterm tomorrow, so I spent part of the day studying here in the beautiful CSPAC (Performing Arts) Library. It's so much quieter than McKeldin, and there are just rows and rows of single cubicles so there's nothing to distract you! Somehow I always manage to find something to distract me anyway, but I definitely get more work done here than anywhere else!
day 199
Today I had a meeting where I was told, "Next year will be the best and the worst year of your life." grrreaaatttt!
It was a meeting about the logistics of our senior year "Blocks Methods" and Senior Internship program. I'm torn between being incredibly terrified (of student teaching, of waking up before 7 every day, of GRADUATING!) and being extremely excited (for student teaching, for graduation, for finally getting to be a teacher!). I think for now the excited feeling is winning the battle, but check back in with me in a few months and see what I say then!
day 185
Today in my Principles and Methods of Teaching Class, we talked about something that sort of blew my mind. (I took a picture of the thought in my notebook, since I think after yesterday, I've taken enough creepy classroom pictures for the week!)
Our professor pointed out that the kids who we'll be teaching will be starting kindergarten in 2013, graduating from high school as the class of 2025, and will be retiring in 2075. The main question of the class was, how can we prepare students for the world they'll be a part of when we have no idea what that world will be like? I had never really thought about it, but it's kind of a crazy thought.
day 184
Today was my first exam of the semester. It was in Ed Psych, and I creepily took a picture during the test which is probably so illegal, but whatever. Hopefully I did well...
day 159
I sneakily took this picture from my seat in Ed Psych today. I looove this class. The professor, Patricia Alexander, is amazing. She's a distinguished researcher in the Human Development department, she wrote the textbook that our class uses, and she's already had to miss one of our 4 lecture periods to fly to New York and speak at the Gates Foundation. I've gotten the impression that she's kind of a big deal.
On the first day of class, she surprised us (and kind of freaked us out) by knowing every single student's name. She must have studied the pictures and committed them all to memory - but it's a 200 person lecture! I couldn't believe it.
But on top of all of that, she's hysterical. She's so fun to listen to, and I can only imagine that she has a ton of interesting stories to tell from her past. The other day she told us, "You guys have to call me Dr. Alexander. I make my undergraduates and my ex-husbands call me Dr."
Anyways, I'm rambling. But I love this class and love this professor, so I'm hoping these are both signs that there's an A in store for me at the end of the semester!
day 157
So maybe the 2nd week of classes is too late to be organizing all of my folders and binders and notebooks for my classes, but like Emily said, "better late than never!" I'm shocked it took me this long, since school supplies are approximately number 4 on my list of favorite things in the world (I'll have to publish that list sometime in the near future...). Anyway, aren't my folders pretty? Don't they scream, I'm going to get straight a's this semester? We'll see :)
day 152
I'm determined to actually do all of the assigned reading for my history class this semester, so I spent some of today's snow day reading up on Lincoln's Inaugural Addresses and South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession. (The class is called Constitutional History of the United States from 1860 - Present.) It's all a lot more interesting than I thought it would be - I think that if I can keep up with everything, I'll really enjoy the class and learn a lot.
day 109
tonight i spent the happiest hour with kristen after our "worst-class-to-ever-exist" (aka EDMS410) final. see ya never Dr. Alvestad!
day 100
Today was the start of the last week of classes - aka the last time I will EVER have to sit through my 3 hour Monday class again. Words can't describe how much I hated this class - I dreaded it every week. An outrageous amount of work, coupled with a less-than-average teacher (and that's being generous) makes for a terrible class, hence the burning of the papers after I was finished.
I swore I'd never do something like this again after I got in big trouble in 7th grade. It was the last day of music class and as we were walking out the door I made a spectacle of throwing my binder into the trash can and letting everyone know how happy I was the class was over. Little did I know the teacher could see me - she proceeded to tell me I was disrespectful and to "have a little more tact." Oops! This time I waited until I was home to burn the papers and celebrate, but man oh man I don't think I've ever been happier to be done a class than I was with this one!
(oh and for the record, I'm not a pyromaniac...I really just burned this one paper for effect - I didn't set a bonfire up in the living room or anything)
day 74
wondering about that boring, ugly picture up there? that's my schedule for next semester!
today was my designated registration day for spring semester 2011 (!?!) classes.
also, as an education major, it's my last semester registering for a full load of classes.
next year both of my semesters are already laid out for me with a schedule packed full of student teaching and methods classes.
so here's what my classes look like for next semester:
- Instruction for Creating Skilled and Motivated Readers
- Principles and Methods of Teaching in Elementary Schools
- Educational Psychology
- Honors Seminar
- and two of these 3 classes (depending on which wait lists I get off of!):
- Family Demography
- Creative Writing
- Constitutional History of the United States
day 73
Every Tuesday I sit in this lecture hall for an hour and 15 minutes, and often times wonder why I even bother coming. Most of the things we do in lecture are pretty pointless, and I'm pretty sure that none of it will even end up on the final.
As you can see, some of the other people in my class must have thought the same thing - look at all of the empty seats!
day 61
As an assignment for my media literacy class, I went to the Holocaust Museum on Friday. I knew that it was going to be an emotional experience, but I had no idea how intense it would actually be. Sadness aside, it was a really well-done museum, and I'm glad I went.
The picture is of Maggie and Ashley, my companions for the day, in front of the Washington Monument. It was such a beautiful day - I need to spend more time exploring the city!
day 50
This was my view for about 5 hours today - from a table in the library. I had a midterm today and two papers due Thursday - yuck! At least they repainted the second floor so it's doesn't feel like you're in an institution anymore...
day 36
On Mondays I have an Honors Education Seminar from 4:15 - 6:15, and I'm obsessed with it. We talk about educational policy, which has pretty much turned into research and an ongoing conversation about what's going on in the world of Education today. Every time I leave that class I feel so sure that I picked the right career. I feel proud of my choice, I feel discouraged by everything that's working against the education system, I feel inspired and hopeful that I can make a difference. (That's a lot of feelings for 2 hours...)
Today we had a speaker - the superintendent of PG County School System. He gave us so much valuable information and gave us a printed version of his PowerPoint, so my notes (above) are just snippets of things he said that really struck me. Here's what a few of them say, in case you can't see.
"WHAT IF... every student was told it was their role to prepare him or herself for college, and every school adopted this as their vision?"
"teaching does not equal students learning"
" low performing doesn't equal low ability"
"kids don't care that you know until they know that you care"
day 24
No picture for Wednesday, but that was on purpose! For my Journalism class, we were given the challenge to go 24 hours without ANY form of media/technology. No phone, computer, newspaper, ipod, camera - nothing. It was hard - but not as hard as I thought it would be! We had to post on our class blog about our experience during our 24 hours, so I thought I'd paste the last part of my post on here for you to read in lieu of a picture to look at :)
I was so happy to wake up this morning and turn my phone on and reconnect to the world. I was able to complete the challenge with out any major psychological consequences, and I drew two major conclusions from my experience.
1) Obviously, like Michael said, we rely too much on technology. We're overstimulated because there is just SO much information and media being thrust upon us 24/7. I went a day without seeing anyone's status updates or reading a single e-mail and I lived to tell the tale. The fact that I woke up happier and well-rested after not using my computer before bed was just proof that I probably rely on technology a little too much.
2) Given all of that, I think that this challenge was a little unrealistic and drastic. In today's world, it's not feasible to completely cut out every form of media from our day-to-day lives. Though there are some forms of media that we rely on too heavily (i.e. Facebook, texting, etc...) there are others that have significantly improved human communication. It seems silly to assume that we could or should go for any length of time without contacting other people - just because it's possible to last 24 hours doesn't mean we should.
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