One class down! Took the Spanish exam Monday night and feel I did well. Three scores in the 90s means that with this one being respectable too, I should have an A for my first class back from the dark side. I'm happy to report that achieving that short-term goal has left me ready to continue to succeed and feel the satisfaction of being productive. I started 3 classes and things are going to get a bit more hectic for the next 5 weeks. A personal finance class from Valpo, Basic Econ and PE from Lakeland. These classes aren't particularly difficult but two of them are online and having never taken online classes before, this is already becoming a learning experience for me. I think overall it is a good thing as it is forcing me to learn to manage my time so that the decently heavy work-load is completed while I put in my 30+hrs at work each week.
Me gusta la clase de Espanol. Mi Profesor de Espanol fue muy interesante, dificil, y divertido.
I've been playing a fair amount of tennis the last three or four weeks and it's been really good to be active on a regular basis. A few of the days I've played for as much as three hours, not realizing the time had gone by only to feel exhausted and get some of the best sleep of recent memory. Restful sleep has been hard to come by with one major aspect of my life being far from how I wish it could be. But alas, when you've made the mistakes I've made...things going as well as they are in all other aspects is plenty to rejoice about.
I'm very much so looking forward to a week vacation in about a month for a family reunion in WV and a mini reunion with just my parents and their kids' families present at a lake house in MD. Getting away from here and relaxing with family is what the doctor has been ordering.
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
June 29, 2011
June 9, 2011
So this is what it is like...
Upon completion and posting of this post, I will be tucking myself into freshly washed and straightened sheets. The temperature has dropped 30 degrees during the course of the day to be at a comfortable lower 60s range after 24 hrs of unbearable heat for early June. Should be a great night of sleep and one that is much needed after 3 nights in a row of post 1:30am bedtimes. I am certainly not complaining about the bedtimes...I just think it's worthwhile to note that with an open shift on Monday and those three late nights, I'm resting at around 4 and a half hours per night for sleep.
Two nights were spent with a good friend that I haven't spent time with nearly enough lately. Trips to Wal-Mart, a gas station, and watching a movie while talking about anything and everything was a great way to relax this week. All you can eat wings with the best friend up from Louisiana and another good friend made for another good night.
Totally aced my first Spanish test on Tuesday too! 94.5! The class is quite tough, but the type of tough where I am absolutely amazed at how much Spanish I know in 3 four day weeks. 2 more weeks to go, and a lot of material to learn before the next test on this coming Tuesday. Looks like a few hours this weekend will be spent memorizing lots of stem-changing verbs and irregular verbs as well as learning to converse about plans for the future and invitations. Oh yeah, and all the stuff one can talk about when la familia is brought up in conversation.
I've truly been blessed to have Prof. Marcos as my first professor back from my dark days. The work ethic and study methods I'm developing now have the potential to carry me through my remaining schooling. Not only that, I am in it to learn this time, not just to pass classes. What a novel concept!
Two nights were spent with a good friend that I haven't spent time with nearly enough lately. Trips to Wal-Mart, a gas station, and watching a movie while talking about anything and everything was a great way to relax this week. All you can eat wings with the best friend up from Louisiana and another good friend made for another good night.
Totally aced my first Spanish test on Tuesday too! 94.5! The class is quite tough, but the type of tough where I am absolutely amazed at how much Spanish I know in 3 four day weeks. 2 more weeks to go, and a lot of material to learn before the next test on this coming Tuesday. Looks like a few hours this weekend will be spent memorizing lots of stem-changing verbs and irregular verbs as well as learning to converse about plans for the future and invitations. Oh yeah, and all the stuff one can talk about when la familia is brought up in conversation.
I've truly been blessed to have Prof. Marcos as my first professor back from my dark days. The work ethic and study methods I'm developing now have the potential to carry me through my remaining schooling. Not only that, I am in it to learn this time, not just to pass classes. What a novel concept!
June 1, 2011
Multiple Guess
I haven't thought about educational philosophy and such for quite some time, but as I've resumed being a student...it's been on my mind. Specifically, I've been questioning the American educational norms once again. I'm not for standardized testing...for fairly standard reasons. I also have come to question the validity of basing grades on Multiple Choice style testing. My Spanish Professor brought to my attention a few days ago that Multiple Choice testing tests for recognition rather than for knowledge...an idea I have now digested. If one is to actually use the information they are being taught...one needs to KNOW it not merely RECOGNIZE it. Multiple choice can be a crutch of sorts, both for students and for teachers. As a future teacher, I will have to pick the times to administer these recognition tests wisely. Certainly we want graduates to know what we teach them, not just to be able to pick it out of 4 unrelated answers.
Taking this idea further, I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to learn Spanish with a professor who is intent on my KNOWing Spanish. I feel like the study habits/active classroom habits I've been lacking my whole schooling career are being fine-tuned for me to actually stay motivated and interested in the material of this and future classes. All in all...schooling is still a good front.
Taking this idea further, I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to learn Spanish with a professor who is intent on my KNOWing Spanish. I feel like the study habits/active classroom habits I've been lacking my whole schooling career are being fine-tuned for me to actually stay motivated and interested in the material of this and future classes. All in all...schooling is still a good front.
May 24, 2011
Heat
I came back from class today, took a walk, and then sat down to eat popcorn popped in our new popcorn popper and watch the remainder of the Heat-Bulls game. After watching that game, I have a few frustrations to get off my chest. The NBA sucks. In what league is it a good decision to have a player that has gone 4 for 4 in a quarter, hitting two 3s, and elect to not give him the ball at all in the last 2 minutes of said quarter and instead have LeBron James dribble the ball for 20 seconds before forcing an awful shot in the final 4 seconds of the shot clock? In what league is it wise to have Carlos Boozer on a fairly good shooting night and elect to not give him the ball on your potential game winning 8 second possession at the end of regulation? Instead, you elect to have Derrick Rose attempt to dribble on the much taller and stronger LeBron James and then, after the drive attempt fails, attempt a fade away jumper from 20 ft away? This is only done in a league of superstars...regardless of who is hot and who is open...the game is always decided by whether the superstar makes his last second shot. 47 minutes of hard work are thrown away by having the other team know exactly what is coming and go completely away from the game plan that worked for 47 minutes. No one else has been Michael Jordan...LeBron isn't, Derrick Rose isn't...it's time to play the team sport, basketball.
ON a brighter note, the class that I had returned home from went by extremely quickly for being a 2hr and 40 minute class. In two short class periods, we've learned all the pronunciation rules and how to say hi, how are you, some responses, what's up, delighted to meet you, good morning/afternoon/evening, what's your name, my name is..., see you later, until tomorrow, and ask about work, school, and where someone lives. We've also learned to tell time, and I have to study the numbers from 1 to 999 and try to be somewhat comfortable with them before 6 tomorrow so I'd best head toward bed. 7-3 tomorrow at McD's and then a few hours to study before my 6 o'clock class.
ON a brighter note, the class that I had returned home from went by extremely quickly for being a 2hr and 40 minute class. In two short class periods, we've learned all the pronunciation rules and how to say hi, how are you, some responses, what's up, delighted to meet you, good morning/afternoon/evening, what's your name, my name is..., see you later, until tomorrow, and ask about work, school, and where someone lives. We've also learned to tell time, and I have to study the numbers from 1 to 999 and try to be somewhat comfortable with them before 6 tomorrow so I'd best head toward bed. 7-3 tomorrow at McD's and then a few hours to study before my 6 o'clock class.
Elementary Spanish
I have decided this Spanish course is going to be fun. It's definitely going to be more of a challenge than I was anticipating from a community college class, but the professor is an effective teacher and really wants his students to leave his classes with the ability to speak the language as well as reading, writing, and listening. This is a big difference from my high school German experience where I got A's but didn't speak the language very well. Spanish is such a practical language to know here in the states that I look forward to forming the foundation for hopefully continuing to learn it.
On an unrelated subject, the Big Bang Theory is the most hilarious show on TV now and perhaps is the most hilarious one that I've seen in general. The season finale was no exception. I've watched it 3 times with 2 different people and by myself. The tv show has a direct line to my humor much like the movie Zombieland.
Despite not being a smoker, I have a desire to own a Zippo lighter as a friend bought one a few days ago and they are fun to play with. Not an important detail, but hey, I post what I want and you have the option to read or not, right? These lighters are fun to flip open and closed and are wind resistant, which would have been handy for my purposes a few nights ago at the breakwall.
On an unrelated subject, the Big Bang Theory is the most hilarious show on TV now and perhaps is the most hilarious one that I've seen in general. The season finale was no exception. I've watched it 3 times with 2 different people and by myself. The tv show has a direct line to my humor much like the movie Zombieland.
Despite not being a smoker, I have a desire to own a Zippo lighter as a friend bought one a few days ago and they are fun to play with. Not an important detail, but hey, I post what I want and you have the option to read or not, right? These lighters are fun to flip open and closed and are wind resistant, which would have been handy for my purposes a few nights ago at the breakwall.
May 17, 2011
Direction
As I've informed most of my readers already, I still have schooling to finish. I've lied to everyone, including myself about this...and now I've quite possibly ruined the most important relationship I had and have certainly damaged the rest of them. On top of that, I am left holding the bag of not being ready to hold a "real" job yet and needing to finish my education.
A big leap was made today. I am officially readmitted to Valpo where I'll finish up my remaining credits with 12 credits this summer at a local community college (already registered), and 13 at VU in the fall online...and now that I'm readmitted, I can find the classes to register for.
A big decision looms after this...I must decide whether to finish my schooling completely by getting my certification work done, or to apply for jobs to become a teacher without a license in the state of Ohio and work for Alternative Licensing (4 years teaching in Ohio while working on the coursework to get my real license).
Just wanted to catch everyone up and blanketly apologize for lying to all of you.
A big leap was made today. I am officially readmitted to Valpo where I'll finish up my remaining credits with 12 credits this summer at a local community college (already registered), and 13 at VU in the fall online...and now that I'm readmitted, I can find the classes to register for.
A big decision looms after this...I must decide whether to finish my schooling completely by getting my certification work done, or to apply for jobs to become a teacher without a license in the state of Ohio and work for Alternative Licensing (4 years teaching in Ohio while working on the coursework to get my real license).
Just wanted to catch everyone up and blanketly apologize for lying to all of you.
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