Tonight is the parent talk at camp. The parent talk is designed to help students realize what parents are going through and hopefully mend relationships. It is an intersting talk for kids and staff to go through. I know this was an emotional time for me last time I went through this.
I can see the emotions on some kids faces and it is amazing, how SueprCamp can change lives in ten days.
This piece makes me think about my own parents. I have so many issues with them. Although I lvoe them both, I feel like things could have gone way different in my life. I will not go into details because of time constraints, but times like this I think of the ... interesting times at home, and wonder... what it would have been to have parents who liked each other or at least talked.
I wonder what it would be like to have both parents on time to an event, to have all of my family at one event and not have to run interference. It would have been interesting, but it has shaped me into the person that I am today. For this I dont know if I am greatful or sad. But I have learned many lessons.
It will take me a long time to marry, for I dont want it to be the wrong person. It wil take me a long time to have kids, still worrying whether my partner is the right one and if I am going to mess up my kids. So many questions that I wanted answered when I was little that ring in my head. It should be intersting.
Right now I am focusing on NYC and moving. I still dont have a bus ticket, altough there is a bus that will take me to NYC straight from campus here which is nice.
Time to head back to session. Night yall...
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
hello from camp
Hey y'all. I hope you are all doing well.
Its day six around here. We are fast approaching the end of camp and we are finally running at full speed. I can finally upload videos, which is part of my job. And the store is running smoothly for the most part.
I am getting excited about moving to the city, although it does not seem real that I will not be returning to Eugene come the end of camp. One other person from here lives in the city, she lives in Brooklyn, so at least I will have a contact in the city. Mom is still looking for a ticket to come out and help me find an apartment which is exciting. I cant believe that I leave for the city in... 17 days. 17 days and counting.
Hope yall are enjoying your summer and don't be afraid to email. erickson.annie@gmail.com
Its day six around here. We are fast approaching the end of camp and we are finally running at full speed. I can finally upload videos, which is part of my job. And the store is running smoothly for the most part.
I am not making as good of friends here as I did with Bri last time I was at camp, but I expected it because of the distance between the staff and myself, seeing how I am the only person on campus with my job.
I am getting excited about moving to the city, although it does not seem real that I will not be returning to Eugene come the end of camp. One other person from here lives in the city, she lives in Brooklyn, so at least I will have a contact in the city. Mom is still looking for a ticket to come out and help me find an apartment which is exciting. I cant believe that I leave for the city in... 17 days. 17 days and counting.
Hope yall are enjoying your summer and don't be afraid to email. erickson.annie@gmail.com
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Longer blog
So it has been a long day here at camp. Today we did some more bonding as a staff. Then I got the chance to work on my store. I opened all my boxes, folded and hung up t-shirts, and took inventory. After a long day of work, including more games with the TL's my store is looking good and I am super excited.
This should be an interesting camp. I am super excited about most people here. The other few that I am worried about it is just because they are over the top in what I see as a not so positive way or not all the way into camp. We shall see how it works out. As for home, it seems that Jazz and Suzie are getting along just fine. Not without supervision yet, but doing good.
Here to prove it.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
alive
Just wanted to give a quick update.... lights out was one minute ago. Im alive, today was a LONg day of ropes course. i rocked the high beam that was like 50 feet off the ground. i also did the high trust fall, which honestly wasnt as high as last time i did it. i miss everyone back home but im loving my camp peeps.... tiem for sleep. leave a comment so i know who's reading.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
long days
It has been a couple of long days. Between the move yesterday and good bye's today its been a long couple of days.
To recap. Yesterday I moved out of my apt in Eugene. Suzie and I were out of the house by 12:15 pm yesterday. Pretty good for a goal of noon. (the only reason we didnt make it was I needed newspaper to put under the bug bombs...) We headed to Eric's house, AKA Suzie's summer home. She will only be there until I can find a place in NYC. After dropping off the Suz, I headed to Sunnyside to drop off my big tv to my little bro's mom (we have different moms). After that I headed to my mom's house on the mountain to do some luggage shuffle. I had some she's taking and she had some I am taking. After talking wtih mom for a while and mkaing sure all the plans for Vegas were in place I was off again. This time down tot he water front in Portland to hang out with David and his parents. What a novel idea, a 23 year old who still likes to hang out wiht his parents. After a wonderful fireworks display (iI forgot how wonderful fireworks are in person) David and I headed to our dear friend Monica's apartment to hang out and crash.
To recap. Yesterday I moved out of my apt in Eugene. Suzie and I were out of the house by 12:15 pm yesterday. Pretty good for a goal of noon. (the only reason we didnt make it was I needed newspaper to put under the bug bombs...) We headed to Eric's house, AKA Suzie's summer home. She will only be there until I can find a place in NYC. After dropping off the Suz, I headed to Sunnyside to drop off my big tv to my little bro's mom (we have different moms). After that I headed to my mom's house on the mountain to do some luggage shuffle. I had some she's taking and she had some I am taking. After talking wtih mom for a while and mkaing sure all the plans for Vegas were in place I was off again. This time down tot he water front in Portland to hang out with David and his parents. What a novel idea, a 23 year old who still likes to hang out wiht his parents. After a wonderful fireworks display (iI forgot how wonderful fireworks are in person) David and I headed to our dear friend Monica's apartment to hang out and crash.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Leaving....
Today I am leaving Eugene. After five years in Eugene, enjoying friends, family and classes I move away. I wanted to take time to say thank you to all of you out there who have made an impact in my life.
Housing has been a HUGE part of my life. From meeting Eric, to being able to go to camp because housing was paid for. The main office, I will never forget! I have loved working in the main office of housing, although sometimes boring, it has paid for lots of things and I dont think I would have made it these last two years without Janice. Janice, thanx again for everything. You have no idea how much you mean to me.
Eugene-ians, education girls. I cant believe it's over. I am so glad that we became friends (and reconnected). You girls are special. I cant wait to swap teaching stories with you guys in the future. Hey, maybe I will move back at some point right!?! We shall see.
To everyone out there reading this, thank you. You know what you mean to me (or at least I hope you do...) Please, keep in touch. I cant wait to see you again.
Housing has been a HUGE part of my life. From meeting Eric, to being able to go to camp because housing was paid for. The main office, I will never forget! I have loved working in the main office of housing, although sometimes boring, it has paid for lots of things and I dont think I would have made it these last two years without Janice. Janice, thanx again for everything. You have no idea how much you mean to me.
Eugene-ians, education girls. I cant believe it's over. I am so glad that we became friends (and reconnected). You girls are special. I cant wait to swap teaching stories with you guys in the future. Hey, maybe I will move back at some point right!?! We shall see.
To everyone out there reading this, thank you. You know what you mean to me (or at least I hope you do...) Please, keep in touch. I cant wait to see you again.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Another milestone.. they keep coming
This weekend was another milestone. (apparently my fingers think it should be milestone rather than milestone...) I got a tattoo. I am super lazy and without pictures, so you can see the pictures on Eric's blog Unpublished Art. They are GREAT pictures. Including me wincing in pain, yes it HURT!!! And the final product minutes afterward.
Now, I can say I have a tattoo. That means I am ready to move to NYC right!? I'm a real New Yorker now: I have a tattoo and an iPod. NYC here I come.
10 days till Vegas
14 till camp training starts
42 days till I arrive in the city!!
WATCH OUT NYC... HERE I COME!
Now, I can say I have a tattoo. That means I am ready to move to NYC right!? I'm a real New Yorker now: I have a tattoo and an iPod. NYC here I come.
10 days till Vegas
14 till camp training starts
42 days till I arrive in the city!!
WATCH OUT NYC... HERE I COME!
Friday, June 22, 2007
A JOB!!!
That's right... I got a J O B!! Must mean Im an adult. WRONG.. never. ok seriously. I will be the technology teacher for the 2nd through 4th grade at PS/MS20 in the Bronx. Thats right. Technology. Im going to be the CRAZY teacher that drives her COW around the halls, coming in to teach random lessons here and there. I am so excited. I hope to know each and every child in 2nd through 4th grade. I will not have my own classroom but we shall see how that goes.
Im going back and fourth about it. I am super excited to get to teach technology to both students and other teachers, but at the same time I realized that I will not have my own classroom, which means I have no need for a classroom library right now. I am also going thought the usual issues of, is this right for me. Am I making a huge mistake going into teaching? Should I go into office work and be some one's right hand? It would be easy, I wouldn't have to learn how to spell. Would be WAY easier. I have the experience... who would kill me? EVERYONE! But I could do it.
We shall see. As for now I have accepted the job with PS 20 and we shall see how it goes. Ill learn a lot about computers that's for sure. I hope they have macs, but I don't think so. Creativity time if they do not...
going insane.. someone help....
Im going back and fourth about it. I am super excited to get to teach technology to both students and other teachers, but at the same time I realized that I will not have my own classroom, which means I have no need for a classroom library right now. I am also going thought the usual issues of, is this right for me. Am I making a huge mistake going into teaching? Should I go into office work and be some one's right hand? It would be easy, I wouldn't have to learn how to spell. Would be WAY easier. I have the experience... who would kill me? EVERYONE! But I could do it.
We shall see. As for now I have accepted the job with PS 20 and we shall see how it goes. Ill learn a lot about computers that's for sure. I hope they have macs, but I don't think so. Creativity time if they do not...
going insane.. someone help....
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Back from NYC and graduated
Ah... how much I love Oregon.. ok .. not really but I am glad to be back and less stressed. Last week was a LONG week traveling and interviewing. Then making sure I was back and ready for graduation on time. Yeah... long week. Further details you ask...ok.
Sunday, I flew to NYC on a red eye flight, only getting at most, four hours of sleep. Then picking up my very heavy luggage I treked into the city. An air train, two subway trains, a wrong platform and a two block walk I was at my hostel. It only took 3 hours. But on this trip I found my first nice New Yorker. After standing and watching about a million wrong trains go by, this very nice old man asked where I was going and pointed me in the right direction. Great.. 2 hours and I already lost. O well. back on track I was. After finding out I couldnt check into my hostel until four (it being 10 am) I locked up my stuff, grabbed only the essentials and headed out for a day in the city. Hitting Central Park first, I couldn't help but feel at home in the trees and kids playing. Reminded me of some of the parks in Oregon, minus the creepy people. Being noon on a Monday the park was full of people running and playing tennis, rather than bums and people asking for money. When playing in the park was done, I found myself a first New York hotdog from a vender. It was ok... too much sourcrout, but still good from a stary-eyed country girl (jk)! The rest of the afternoon I played 'walk til I am tired then hop on the subway and ride for a while.' This game is fun, especally when you are SUPER lost and have no idea where you are minus the subway stop that happens to be on the corner. Just for future reference, an unlimited metro card cannot be used again or 20 minutes after you use it so make sure its the right stop before you enter!
That was all on Monday!!! After sleeping a good 12 hours, I got up and started to get fancy for my trip to the career fair. With the fair being WAY up in the middle of nowhere in the Bronx I wanted to make sure I got there early. And boy did I. I was at the fair at 2pm... it was to start at three... o wait. not till 4. So I was there two hours early..o well. After a short speech of, this is what you should and shouldn't say, off we went. Of course I was sitting on the wrong side and ended up going in last, but I hit the ground running, after ten minutes I was in my first interview. The first interview I had went ok. It was all of ten minutes long (they aparently do things fast there) and I set up a demo lesson in the school. Thursday 9am. Interesting... off and running again. After looking around to see what there was, I saw a table that said TECHNOLOGY. That's the table for me I said. After about 20 minutes in line I was next. I sat down and introduced myself (I forgot that part last time) and bosted my technology experiences and how much I was excited to move to the big city. With my 'unique' experiences in technology the principal asked me back for an interview at the school. 'Which works better, Friday or Monday," she said. Umm...with college graduation looming that Friday I stated that I would not be in town and had another interview on Thursday. So she set me up with her assistant principal for the next day (without the assistant principal knowing). After that I waited another 30 minutes in a line to be cut off with only two people in front of me. Seeing as how this was the first table to leave and it had already been an hour and a half, I decided that was it for the day, I wouldn't be able to fit more in this trip anyway.
So, bright and shiney early Wednesday morning I headed up to have my frist interview. Without being able to actually talk to the assistant principal like I was supposed to I showed up anyway, hoping it has just been a SUPER busy morning and they still wanted to interview me. I got the standard, why NYC questions, along with the 'its going to be hard' speech. All of this I realize, but she wanted for me to have an experience in a NYC classroom before I was locked in forever, at her school or another schoool. I stayed at the site for over two hours. Having a fifth grade teacher show me the ropes, between meeting all the VERY friendly teachers, to students that were eager to find out what I would be teaching. It was AMAZING! These kids were so full of like, so excited. I really like that school and I couldnt ask for much more. The only down fall for this school is the lack of technology but that can be fixed! The rest of the day was spent on more tourist stuffs... Staten Island Ferry, World Trade Center, stuff like that. It was fun but tiring. As I drug myself back to hostel to change, Niki, a german student, came into the hostel room. A Very nice girl she is, she had a ticket to that night's comedy show off broadway. Being the go getter that I am, I said SURE! Only here for one more night might as well enjoy it right!?! Sweet. Off we went to our comedy show and enjoyed it. Although it was NYC I had people with Oregon stories approaching me (wearing my ORegon hoodie and all). It was way fun. Now all I had to get through was my impending demo lesson.
Again up bright and shiney early, I packed up all my stuff, put it into a locker and headed on the subway, sure of where I was going. Well.. of course I was super sure of where I was going. I had looked everything up perfectly. Well, when you look up schedules for NYC busses make sure you know which way to go. After wasting an HOUR I finally realized I went the wrong way on the bus and had ended up totally no where NEAR the school I needed to be at in an hour. Good thing I left early. So, catching the bus back to the subway station, I found the bus going the RIGHT way and walked off the bus with only minutes to spare. Right into the demo lesson I went. Highest fifth grade class, idioms I had chosen. Why? not sure, just wanted to teach something that I could do quickly with no resources. After the lesson, which I felt went ok, I had my interview with the principal, math and literacy coaches and what would be my mentor teacher. Man did I FRY in the interview. They sure did grill me up pretty well. I was done. At least this is what I felt like. I didnt know what 'balenced literacy was' and I didnt connect my idioms to anything. My defence was, with the proper materials and support from collegues that lesson would have gone a lot better, but with the lack of that in NYC I did the best I could. Is my best good enough, we'll see on Friday. After I found my way back to the bus after the interview I decided to check out Times Square and did a little shopping. AFter a long day, that was just starting, I decided to head to the airport even though I was SUPER early. O well right? Time to decompress. I was at the airport by 2, had lunch, and waited for my flight that was an hour late, at 730. Getting home safe I realized I love Oregon, but I am ready to move on.
So, Friday I will know about my demo lesson and I am not sure when I will hear about the other one. WE shall see... back to the drawing board if I do not get them.
ps... oregon educated people are not that bad...
Sunday, I flew to NYC on a red eye flight, only getting at most, four hours of sleep. Then picking up my very heavy luggage I treked into the city. An air train, two subway trains, a wrong platform and a two block walk I was at my hostel. It only took 3 hours. But on this trip I found my first nice New Yorker. After standing and watching about a million wrong trains go by, this very nice old man asked where I was going and pointed me in the right direction. Great.. 2 hours and I already lost. O well. back on track I was. After finding out I couldnt check into my hostel until four (it being 10 am) I locked up my stuff, grabbed only the essentials and headed out for a day in the city. Hitting Central Park first, I couldn't help but feel at home in the trees and kids playing. Reminded me of some of the parks in Oregon, minus the creepy people. Being noon on a Monday the park was full of people running and playing tennis, rather than bums and people asking for money. When playing in the park was done, I found myself a first New York hotdog from a vender. It was ok... too much sourcrout, but still good from a stary-eyed country girl (jk)! The rest of the afternoon I played 'walk til I am tired then hop on the subway and ride for a while.' This game is fun, especally when you are SUPER lost and have no idea where you are minus the subway stop that happens to be on the corner. Just for future reference, an unlimited metro card cannot be used again or 20 minutes after you use it so make sure its the right stop before you enter!
That was all on Monday!!! After sleeping a good 12 hours, I got up and started to get fancy for my trip to the career fair. With the fair being WAY up in the middle of nowhere in the Bronx I wanted to make sure I got there early. And boy did I. I was at the fair at 2pm... it was to start at three... o wait. not till 4. So I was there two hours early..o well. After a short speech of, this is what you should and shouldn't say, off we went. Of course I was sitting on the wrong side and ended up going in last, but I hit the ground running, after ten minutes I was in my first interview. The first interview I had went ok. It was all of ten minutes long (they aparently do things fast there) and I set up a demo lesson in the school. Thursday 9am. Interesting... off and running again. After looking around to see what there was, I saw a table that said TECHNOLOGY. That's the table for me I said. After about 20 minutes in line I was next. I sat down and introduced myself (I forgot that part last time) and bosted my technology experiences and how much I was excited to move to the big city. With my 'unique' experiences in technology the principal asked me back for an interview at the school. 'Which works better, Friday or Monday," she said. Umm...with college graduation looming that Friday I stated that I would not be in town and had another interview on Thursday. So she set me up with her assistant principal for the next day (without the assistant principal knowing). After that I waited another 30 minutes in a line to be cut off with only two people in front of me. Seeing as how this was the first table to leave and it had already been an hour and a half, I decided that was it for the day, I wouldn't be able to fit more in this trip anyway.
So, bright and shiney early Wednesday morning I headed up to have my frist interview. Without being able to actually talk to the assistant principal like I was supposed to I showed up anyway, hoping it has just been a SUPER busy morning and they still wanted to interview me. I got the standard, why NYC questions, along with the 'its going to be hard' speech. All of this I realize, but she wanted for me to have an experience in a NYC classroom before I was locked in forever, at her school or another schoool. I stayed at the site for over two hours. Having a fifth grade teacher show me the ropes, between meeting all the VERY friendly teachers, to students that were eager to find out what I would be teaching. It was AMAZING! These kids were so full of like, so excited. I really like that school and I couldnt ask for much more. The only down fall for this school is the lack of technology but that can be fixed! The rest of the day was spent on more tourist stuffs... Staten Island Ferry, World Trade Center, stuff like that. It was fun but tiring. As I drug myself back to hostel to change, Niki, a german student, came into the hostel room. A Very nice girl she is, she had a ticket to that night's comedy show off broadway. Being the go getter that I am, I said SURE! Only here for one more night might as well enjoy it right!?! Sweet. Off we went to our comedy show and enjoyed it. Although it was NYC I had people with Oregon stories approaching me (wearing my ORegon hoodie and all). It was way fun. Now all I had to get through was my impending demo lesson.
Again up bright and shiney early, I packed up all my stuff, put it into a locker and headed on the subway, sure of where I was going. Well.. of course I was super sure of where I was going. I had looked everything up perfectly. Well, when you look up schedules for NYC busses make sure you know which way to go. After wasting an HOUR I finally realized I went the wrong way on the bus and had ended up totally no where NEAR the school I needed to be at in an hour. Good thing I left early. So, catching the bus back to the subway station, I found the bus going the RIGHT way and walked off the bus with only minutes to spare. Right into the demo lesson I went. Highest fifth grade class, idioms I had chosen. Why? not sure, just wanted to teach something that I could do quickly with no resources. After the lesson, which I felt went ok, I had my interview with the principal, math and literacy coaches and what would be my mentor teacher. Man did I FRY in the interview. They sure did grill me up pretty well. I was done. At least this is what I felt like. I didnt know what 'balenced literacy was' and I didnt connect my idioms to anything. My defence was, with the proper materials and support from collegues that lesson would have gone a lot better, but with the lack of that in NYC I did the best I could. Is my best good enough, we'll see on Friday. After I found my way back to the bus after the interview I decided to check out Times Square and did a little shopping. AFter a long day, that was just starting, I decided to head to the airport even though I was SUPER early. O well right? Time to decompress. I was at the airport by 2, had lunch, and waited for my flight that was an hour late, at 730. Getting home safe I realized I love Oregon, but I am ready to move on.
So, Friday I will know about my demo lesson and I am not sure when I will hear about the other one. WE shall see... back to the drawing board if I do not get them.
ps... oregon educated people are not that bad...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
NYC traveler
Hey yall. (if anyone reads this) Im writing from my hostel in nyc. the hostel is nice, ten girls to a very small room but there is plenty of space in my locker for everything. its day two of four and i am super sore from walking EVERYWHERE yesterday. i played walk around until i got tired then hop on the subway to a different part of manhatten.
i am LOVING nyc. it is so refeshing to see diversity. there was more color on the frist subway that i was on yesterday than there is in ujean! jk.. but close. i am quickly becoming adjusted to walking and riding the subway. today i try my hand at the bus for my interview. wish me luck. time to look up info for my interview. ill let you know how it goes.
i am LOVING nyc. it is so refeshing to see diversity. there was more color on the frist subway that i was on yesterday than there is in ujean! jk.. but close. i am quickly becoming adjusted to walking and riding the subway. today i try my hand at the bus for my interview. wish me luck. time to look up info for my interview. ill let you know how it goes.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
End of an Era
Tomorrow will be the end of an era. I am finishing my degree tomorrow. Well, finishing the classes for my degree tomorrow. After five years in college I will be done. It is hard to imagine what life will be like without college. What will weekends be without the fear of homework looming over me?
All week I have been stressing about stuff that is happening this week. Frist off, capstone presentations, the presentation of my masters thesis (capstone), were a joke. The professor didn't watch any of them, no other facilty (except one education and our tech teacher) showed up to watch, and people sat down and read their PowerPoint slides to us. This was a big let down to me, but also a big stresser off of me. I have finished one class and am in my one of my last grad classes. Within the next few hours I will be done with classes as a grad student. Craziness
Tomorrow I will be going back to my student teaching class for the lsat time tomorrow. Life is pretty crazy. I am going to miss those kids, I am going to miss my teacher but I am excited that she wants to do pin pals. I really want to do epin pals, aka email pin pals. Google is GREAT for this because of the conversations aspect.
When thinking of my job in housing it has been interesting. I started training my replacement this week. It has been great to see that people in housing keep saying "replace you, i did not think that was possible." means people actually Love me in housing. It means I have done a good job overall in my job. Hopefully that transfers over to the real world and my classroom. I REALLY need to get a letter of rec from my boss.
It has been an interesting and good experience in college. I feel like, instead of gratudaiton, this weekend going to NYC is going to be the ending of college and the starting of my new life. We shall see....
Off to listen in my last class.
All week I have been stressing about stuff that is happening this week. Frist off, capstone presentations, the presentation of my masters thesis (capstone), were a joke. The professor didn't watch any of them, no other facilty (except one education and our tech teacher) showed up to watch, and people sat down and read their PowerPoint slides to us. This was a big let down to me, but also a big stresser off of me. I have finished one class and am in my one of my last grad classes. Within the next few hours I will be done with classes as a grad student. Craziness
Tomorrow I will be going back to my student teaching class for the lsat time tomorrow. Life is pretty crazy. I am going to miss those kids, I am going to miss my teacher but I am excited that she wants to do pin pals. I really want to do epin pals, aka email pin pals. Google is GREAT for this because of the conversations aspect.
When thinking of my job in housing it has been interesting. I started training my replacement this week. It has been great to see that people in housing keep saying "replace you, i did not think that was possible." means people actually Love me in housing. It means I have done a good job overall in my job. Hopefully that transfers over to the real world and my classroom. I REALLY need to get a letter of rec from my boss.
It has been an interesting and good experience in college. I feel like, instead of gratudaiton, this weekend going to NYC is going to be the ending of college and the starting of my new life. We shall see....
Off to listen in my last class.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Life is a changin.....
O man. Again its been a while. I have been very busy. If you don't remember I am finishing up my degree here at U Oregon. I am less than 4 weeks away from being unofficially done (assuming I pass everything). In 4 weeks and 4 days I will be offically done and walking across a stage that says I am DONE!!!
Today is a mile stone in my education career. I am sitting next to my final capstone paper. For those of you who do not know what a 'capstone' is, it is the final paper at the end of my Master's Degree. The topic of the paper the Digital Divide. I finished the paper today. It's done. It ended up being 18 full pages, 24 with all the extra stuff. I am so excited it's done. Now all I gotta do is do the presentation.
This means it's basically over. College is just about done... I am not sure how I feel about this. In three weeks I will be in NYC interviewing for jobs. I am starting to freak out.. that's all. So freaking close, what if I don't get a job while I am there in June? What happens if I get a really bad apartment? What if I cant pay my bills?
I guess I am one step closer. One step closer to being an adult, one step closer to being done wiht school and one step close to being a REAL teacher.... I am not to sure about this.....
Today is a mile stone in my education career. I am sitting next to my final capstone paper. For those of you who do not know what a 'capstone' is, it is the final paper at the end of my Master's Degree. The topic of the paper the Digital Divide. I finished the paper today. It's done. It ended up being 18 full pages, 24 with all the extra stuff. I am so excited it's done. Now all I gotta do is do the presentation.
This means it's basically over. College is just about done... I am not sure how I feel about this. In three weeks I will be in NYC interviewing for jobs. I am starting to freak out.. that's all. So freaking close, what if I don't get a job while I am there in June? What happens if I get a really bad apartment? What if I cant pay my bills?
I guess I am one step closer. One step closer to being an adult, one step closer to being done wiht school and one step close to being a REAL teacher.... I am not to sure about this.....
Friday, May 04, 2007
Long time no see...
Its been about a month since my last post, and what a month it has been.
First, I am at the half way point of my last term in graduate school. How crazy is that? As it is, I am having issues writing this because my brain is fried. I am currently doing many projects at the same time while working and trying to have a life.
Many projects. Right now I am trying to survive my many classes, between the class that never actually meets, to the class where I am basically dictating what I want and the professor says how high? My capstone class never meets, and if we do we turn stuff in and leave. This is fine with me because it is all about being there if we need questions, and if we dont have them? Sweet..we leave. In my tech class we have been living in SecondLife which is something that I do not really like. I have a distaste for the program because delving into this is hard because it has no practical applications in my classroom. I want to learn about emerging technology but I also want it to be applicable to my classroom and my future students. I told the professor this and wam! the next class was totally different and we did not even go near SecondLife. I am a happy camper and I am trying to be a nice person who is not critical of the class all the time. Look at me. Go me.
As for work. Work is going well. I love my job. But there are some other things that are coming into play right now. I found out that the 4-6 week lay out for a sub licence in Oregon went down to 4-6 days. I love my job at housing, but I am wondering how much more money I could have made had I gone the sub route. Sarah made 600 this week... I make that in like 5 weeks. Sad times. We shall see. But, I have also not been working on relationships with teachers because I am not sticking around. Which is probably a mistake but o well.
When it comes to having a life it's totally different when I want to have a life. I currently have two: a weekday life and a weekend life. I have my weekday life where I come home, sit on my ass and pretend to do something. On the weekend I am usually seeing Eric. Either here in Eugene or in Portland. It seems that my weekends are limited quickly coming to an end. I have a limit of weekends left which is weird to me.
Although all this stuff is going on I have had some interesting event happen this week. The first of which was my car got stolen Monday morning. That's right, walk out to go to work and its GONE!!! Called the cops, file a report and went to work on the bus. On my way to class just hours later the cops called because they found my car. They very nicely gave me a ride to my car and it was ok... minus the radio and all the contents of the car. The second weird thing was the crazy lady. In walking around campus today, for work, and accidentally ran into a lady when I turned around. I admit we hit pretty hard, it gave me a fat lip. I apparently hit her really hard in her head... it happens we all think right? No... she took it as OMG I am going to die and have a concussion. She insisted on getting my information incase I caused something to her. I told her my name and gave her my cell phone. Then she insisted on calling my cell phone to make sure I gave her the correct information. Of course I did. I am an honest person, but serious? We freaking walked into each other. All I could think of on my way home was that she's gunna call me in six months and tell me I caused 30,000 dollars worth of medical bills (did I fail to mention that she informed me that she was in a car accident last year and knows what a concussion is) and I caused them all and need to pay for them. Needless to say it's been a weird week.
That is all for now I guess minus the NYC update to follow.
* NEW YORK UPDATE
I am headed to NYC on June 10th, landing on the morning of the 11th. This will be a four day trip of Annie in NYC all alone. I will be attending a career fair in the Bronx on June 12th. The extra two days after the career fair are to make sure I can do extra interviews, school visits and demo lessons if needed. There are some different things that I am going to need....
List of what I need
*demo lesson ideas
*at least two interview outfits that can transform into three
*portfolios
*toiletries
*credit card!
If you want to know more about my flight or specific information let me know.
I will keep you up to date.
First, I am at the half way point of my last term in graduate school. How crazy is that? As it is, I am having issues writing this because my brain is fried. I am currently doing many projects at the same time while working and trying to have a life.
Many projects. Right now I am trying to survive my many classes, between the class that never actually meets, to the class where I am basically dictating what I want and the professor says how high? My capstone class never meets, and if we do we turn stuff in and leave. This is fine with me because it is all about being there if we need questions, and if we dont have them? Sweet..we leave. In my tech class we have been living in SecondLife which is something that I do not really like. I have a distaste for the program because delving into this is hard because it has no practical applications in my classroom. I want to learn about emerging technology but I also want it to be applicable to my classroom and my future students. I told the professor this and wam! the next class was totally different and we did not even go near SecondLife. I am a happy camper and I am trying to be a nice person who is not critical of the class all the time. Look at me. Go me.
As for work. Work is going well. I love my job. But there are some other things that are coming into play right now. I found out that the 4-6 week lay out for a sub licence in Oregon went down to 4-6 days. I love my job at housing, but I am wondering how much more money I could have made had I gone the sub route. Sarah made 600 this week... I make that in like 5 weeks. Sad times. We shall see. But, I have also not been working on relationships with teachers because I am not sticking around. Which is probably a mistake but o well.
When it comes to having a life it's totally different when I want to have a life. I currently have two: a weekday life and a weekend life. I have my weekday life where I come home, sit on my ass and pretend to do something. On the weekend I am usually seeing Eric. Either here in Eugene or in Portland. It seems that my weekends are limited quickly coming to an end. I have a limit of weekends left which is weird to me.
Although all this stuff is going on I have had some interesting event happen this week. The first of which was my car got stolen Monday morning. That's right, walk out to go to work and its GONE!!! Called the cops, file a report and went to work on the bus. On my way to class just hours later the cops called because they found my car. They very nicely gave me a ride to my car and it was ok... minus the radio and all the contents of the car. The second weird thing was the crazy lady. In walking around campus today, for work, and accidentally ran into a lady when I turned around. I admit we hit pretty hard, it gave me a fat lip. I apparently hit her really hard in her head... it happens we all think right? No... she took it as OMG I am going to die and have a concussion. She insisted on getting my information incase I caused something to her. I told her my name and gave her my cell phone. Then she insisted on calling my cell phone to make sure I gave her the correct information. Of course I did. I am an honest person, but serious? We freaking walked into each other. All I could think of on my way home was that she's gunna call me in six months and tell me I caused 30,000 dollars worth of medical bills (did I fail to mention that she informed me that she was in a car accident last year and knows what a concussion is) and I caused them all and need to pay for them. Needless to say it's been a weird week.
That is all for now I guess minus the NYC update to follow.
* NEW YORK UPDATE
I am headed to NYC on June 10th, landing on the morning of the 11th. This will be a four day trip of Annie in NYC all alone. I will be attending a career fair in the Bronx on June 12th. The extra two days after the career fair are to make sure I can do extra interviews, school visits and demo lessons if needed. There are some different things that I am going to need....
List of what I need
*demo lesson ideas
*at least two interview outfits that can transform into three
*portfolios
*toiletries
*credit card!
If you want to know more about my flight or specific information let me know.
I will keep you up to date.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Yet another term....
Ah, yet another term has started. Again, like many before this, it has already dissapointed me. Professors that are not professors. I guess I should greatful that we are part of a university that brings in teachers that are actually in the classroom to teach us, but come on. I'm a grad student, do I REALLY need to log my hours to show that I have earned my grade? The idea of grading is that you do assignments and you get a grade, not that you have to 'prove' you have earned your grade given the number of hours you spend on a class.
On top of that I have another teacher, who's class I have not even been to yet, that feels that everything should be online and having discussions online and having online communitites is the BEST thing ever. I have already been invited to our 'online community of educators'... I really do not care that much. I want to know technology, and the latest things out there, but our students are more likely to want to know how to use email and specific program rather than spending countless amount of time on a computer having discussions online that we could have in class. I don't know. We shall see I guess.
PS... side note. I am pretty sure I'll be going to nyc during finals week here, so look for updates and nerves!
On top of that I have another teacher, who's class I have not even been to yet, that feels that everything should be online and having discussions online and having online communitites is the BEST thing ever. I have already been invited to our 'online community of educators'... I really do not care that much. I want to know technology, and the latest things out there, but our students are more likely to want to know how to use email and specific program rather than spending countless amount of time on a computer having discussions online that we could have in class. I don't know. We shall see I guess.
PS... side note. I am pretty sure I'll be going to nyc during finals week here, so look for updates and nerves!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Back to it!!!
That's right... I'm back. I'm back from spring break, which was awesome, and back to school...well... work and school.
First, spring break was WAY fun. I didn't win any money, well, that I cam home with. But we had lots of fun in Reno just the two of us. Eric was sick the WHOLE trip but it was still fun. The I Dream of Jeanie machine loved me lots and lots. There was more than two times where I sat down and came out doubling or tripling my money, if not more. I'm proud of my self for going the whole week and coming back with 60 bucks left.
Now it's back to being a college student again. Well. Ok, not a real college student. I don't actually have a class until Wednesday night because my Monday and Wednesday afternoon class got canceled for the big teacher job fair in Portland today. Which of course I'm ok with, but I'd rather just get this whole thing started.
I'm back in the main housing office and loving it. It's so nice to be back. I love working here and having people like that I am around. I am working 20 hours a week here so that should be WAY fun.
The last big of BIG news is that I found out when I'm going to a career fair for NYC. The only one that I can go to without screwing up classes or camp is during finals week here. That's right... finals week. So, if I can what I am going to do is fly out of PDX Sunday night, landing in NYC Monday morning. Then I would spend Monday getting to know the city and where I need to be. The career fair is on Tuesday so I would do that. Then do what I need to do on Wednesday and Thursday, flying out Thursday at like 6pm. I'm hoping I'll have a job offer by the time I leave. But not leaving till Thursday night will give me time to visit and see schools, along with do a demo lesson if they need me to. From what it looks like right now, with plane ticket and hostel (staying in a hostel is super cheep) it will cost like 375 or so plus meals and stuffs. so I figure 500 for a trip to NYC for four days isn't horrible. It will all be tax deductible bc it's for a job which I am going to get so that's good. I just have to wait until this weekend to book the trip to make sure I don't have any finals or stuffs like that to compete with the trip. OMG ... I'm going to NYC!!!
First, spring break was WAY fun. I didn't win any money, well, that I cam home with. But we had lots of fun in Reno just the two of us. Eric was sick the WHOLE trip but it was still fun. The I Dream of Jeanie machine loved me lots and lots. There was more than two times where I sat down and came out doubling or tripling my money, if not more. I'm proud of my self for going the whole week and coming back with 60 bucks left.
Now it's back to being a college student again. Well. Ok, not a real college student. I don't actually have a class until Wednesday night because my Monday and Wednesday afternoon class got canceled for the big teacher job fair in Portland today. Which of course I'm ok with, but I'd rather just get this whole thing started.
I'm back in the main housing office and loving it. It's so nice to be back. I love working here and having people like that I am around. I am working 20 hours a week here so that should be WAY fun.
The last big of BIG news is that I found out when I'm going to a career fair for NYC. The only one that I can go to without screwing up classes or camp is during finals week here. That's right... finals week. So, if I can what I am going to do is fly out of PDX Sunday night, landing in NYC Monday morning. Then I would spend Monday getting to know the city and where I need to be. The career fair is on Tuesday so I would do that. Then do what I need to do on Wednesday and Thursday, flying out Thursday at like 6pm. I'm hoping I'll have a job offer by the time I leave. But not leaving till Thursday night will give me time to visit and see schools, along with do a demo lesson if they need me to. From what it looks like right now, with plane ticket and hostel (staying in a hostel is super cheep) it will cost like 375 or so plus meals and stuffs. so I figure 500 for a trip to NYC for four days isn't horrible. It will all be tax deductible bc it's for a job which I am going to get so that's good. I just have to wait until this weekend to book the trip to make sure I don't have any finals or stuffs like that to compete with the trip. OMG ... I'm going to NYC!!!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
College Life
Ahh... done with student teaching and the term. Time to be a college student again. Last night David, the best of best friends that I have, came down and we had some fun watching the Ducks game and making sure that there really wasn't much effort getting rid of a half of a bottle of alcohol. Gotta love rum and coke.
After David left, I went around cleaning the apartment so I can leave for the week. So finally I got around to cooking dinner. I decided that I wanted to marinade the chicken and then cook it in the marinade. WELL... that was a big mistake!!! IT went horrible and needless to say thanks to mom's gift card Im on my way out to get a pizza. The only question left. Cheep or good pizza? 5 dollars or 11? I think the 11 is worth it!
After David left, I went around cleaning the apartment so I can leave for the week. So finally I got around to cooking dinner. I decided that I wanted to marinade the chicken and then cook it in the marinade. WELL... that was a big mistake!!! IT went horrible and needless to say thanks to mom's gift card Im on my way out to get a pizza. The only question left. Cheep or good pizza? 5 dollars or 11? I think the 11 is worth it!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Final Eval
Today was my final evaluation for student teaching. It went well. The lowest score I got out of four was a 3.5 I believe. I need to work on different teaching strategies. This can include role plays, which can help in areas such as English and health. Also I think a lot of this could include a lot of SuperCamp ideas.
I also need to think about the use of time. Planning out chunks of time to make sure all time is being used, or we are getting through the whole lesson in a given amount of time is something I need to work on.
I think those were the major areas in which I need to work on next year. On a personal level I think I need to work on positive vs negative reinforcement when it comes to discipline. I guess I feel like I could have been suported more during the entire process from my teacher. She said today that she may have steped in more than she should which is totally correct and it would have been interesting to have a little more support when it comes to doing it totally on my own.
O well.. two and one half day and its over!!! My kids are starting to be sad that I am leaving which is totally cute!
I also need to think about the use of time. Planning out chunks of time to make sure all time is being used, or we are getting through the whole lesson in a given amount of time is something I need to work on.
I think those were the major areas in which I need to work on next year. On a personal level I think I need to work on positive vs negative reinforcement when it comes to discipline. I guess I feel like I could have been suported more during the entire process from my teacher. She said today that she may have steped in more than she should which is totally correct and it would have been interesting to have a little more support when it comes to doing it totally on my own.
O well.. two and one half day and its over!!! My kids are starting to be sad that I am leaving which is totally cute!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Student Teaching
Student teaching is coming to a close. How sad right? It is very sad. I am going to miss these kids. I am also feeling like I may have not made the best out of this experience. Don't get me wrong, it has been a GREAT experience and I am going to miss these kids lots and lots. But looking back there are things I need to do next year to make things go smoother. For example
1. I am having issues seeing the growth in students. I realize I can see their grades but the individual growth in kids I just don't see it. I see the growth of one student but that's about it. I've decided that one thing I need to do is keep a running record of all my students. Take one student a day and focus on them. Focus on their behavior, their test grades, their homework grades and everything. Doing this will help me to focus on individuals and how much they grow between focus days. Maybe that will help... something to try.
2. Another thing I can do to enhance the relationships I have with my students is to have lunch in the classroom. I had so much fun with the girls having lunch in here. The boys went a little wild but if they were eating with me it would be different and at the same time I get to see their personalities.
3. The last thing I am thinking right now is that I want to do writing conferences. Writing conferences are important to keep on track where students are in their spelling and writing in general. Also, very few students read their compositions out loud to see if they sound good.
These three things are important to me as a teacher to be able to know my kids inside and out. I hope to focus on these my first year teaching.
1. I am having issues seeing the growth in students. I realize I can see their grades but the individual growth in kids I just don't see it. I see the growth of one student but that's about it. I've decided that one thing I need to do is keep a running record of all my students. Take one student a day and focus on them. Focus on their behavior, their test grades, their homework grades and everything. Doing this will help me to focus on individuals and how much they grow between focus days. Maybe that will help... something to try.
2. Another thing I can do to enhance the relationships I have with my students is to have lunch in the classroom. I had so much fun with the girls having lunch in here. The boys went a little wild but if they were eating with me it would be different and at the same time I get to see their personalities.
3. The last thing I am thinking right now is that I want to do writing conferences. Writing conferences are important to keep on track where students are in their spelling and writing in general. Also, very few students read their compositions out loud to see if they sound good.
These three things are important to me as a teacher to be able to know my kids inside and out. I hope to focus on these my first year teaching.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Good Days
Today was a GREAT day. I finished my worksample and just got word that its GREAT. I finished my resubmit of an assignment for my class. And on top of that I got to catch up with a great friend.
Today my worksample is offically done. That is such a big relief. I am officially passing my student teaching since that is the only real assignment. Such a relief and a weight off my shoulders.
When it comes to the resubmit. It was because the teacher had rediculus ideas of how the assignment should be, aka one assignment being 45 pages at the very lease. Mine turned out to be 47 pages. I do admit that I tried to do it half assed but the assgiment was totally not worth my time.
As for catching up with a great friend. My boss, the one from the last year and a half, is so fun to talk to. She knows everything there is to know and it is so nice to talk to her. It is also great because she gives me the praise I don't get in other places. She is so glad I am coming back and she really appraciates that I am there. For me, that's rare in every day life. But that's another subject. I am so excited to go back to her and be able to talk to her again. She said something today... you look happy.
To tell you the truth. I am happy. I am happy that I feel ready to teach... Im happy with Eric and the love we have. It was fun to talk about Eric to my boss. I can't wait to see how different he is when he gets back. I do love him.
Today my worksample is offically done. That is such a big relief. I am officially passing my student teaching since that is the only real assignment. Such a relief and a weight off my shoulders.
When it comes to the resubmit. It was because the teacher had rediculus ideas of how the assignment should be, aka one assignment being 45 pages at the very lease. Mine turned out to be 47 pages. I do admit that I tried to do it half assed but the assgiment was totally not worth my time.
As for catching up with a great friend. My boss, the one from the last year and a half, is so fun to talk to. She knows everything there is to know and it is so nice to talk to her. It is also great because she gives me the praise I don't get in other places. She is so glad I am coming back and she really appraciates that I am there. For me, that's rare in every day life. But that's another subject. I am so excited to go back to her and be able to talk to her again. She said something today... you look happy.
To tell you the truth. I am happy. I am happy that I feel ready to teach... Im happy with Eric and the love we have. It was fun to talk about Eric to my boss. I can't wait to see how different he is when he gets back. I do love him.
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