What and Why do I Read for EDU 307

                What and why do I read, that is a good question. Over the years I have read many books, articles, magazines, and so on. So what are these things that I read, you ask (or my professor asks anyway)? Well as far as articles, I’d have to say I read random articles here and there, some my mom sends to me that she comes across, others that I happen to come across on the internet, and then articles I’m presented with for school. Overall they vary in what they are all about. Sometimes the articles are about celebrities, sometimes animals, other times education, and anything else you can imagine. As far as magazines go I really only read Cosmopolitan, I read the articles and the advertisements that the magazine contains. It seems to be pretty interesting. However most of my reading comes from books. I like fiction and nonfiction, some historical texts, some psychology texts, and of course some education texts. The history, psychology, and education texts mostly come from my classes at school, and they vary in their degree of interesting. Some things are repetitive so I enjoy them less than other novel information that they provide. However some other books I read that are not for school includes, the Harry Potter Series, The Freedom Writers Diary, books by Nicholas Sparks, the Twilight Series, and more. However those are the books I have most recently read. Obviously there is a mix of fiction and nonfiction.

                But why do I read these articles, books and magazines. Well I read articles for school mostly because I have to for class, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting, because most of the time they turn out to be pretty informative. Other articles I read for pleasure, or because I’m bored and I happen to come across them while I’m playing around on the internet. Cosmopolitan I purely read for enjoyment. When I have time or am bored I can pick it up and spend some time going through the pages mindlessly, not really worrying about retaining the information like I would for a school assigned reading. Certain books though, that are assigned for school I read because I have to. However now that I am in the SED/EDU collaborative program they have all become more interesting because they all pertain to the field that I am going into, so I don’t mind actually having to read most of what I am assigned. Books like Harry Potter, Twilight, Freedom Writers, and Nicholas Sparks books, I really read for enjoyment. While am still retaining the information so I can understand what is going on in the story, I am enjoying actively reading the book. I like to read because it is fun, I enjoy getting lost in someone else’s story, or a made up tale, it is almost a way to escape my reality for a few minutes and take a break from everything that is going on in my world.  While I am reading I get to be a part of a different world, and not worry about my troubles. Reading allows me to remove myself from stress. I really enjoy reading because it is fun for me.

                Overall I liked to read many different things, weather those things are articles, magazines, or books; they are all interesting and fun. I really like to read them for enjoyment, to learn, for pleasure, an as an escape to a new and exciting world that I don’t experience in my life day to day. I am lucky to have grown up enjoying reading and liking to read. As a future teacher I hope I can instill a love for reading into my future students so that they can enjoy reading as much as I do. It is a fun and priceless experience. Not only does it help students to learn but it also provides a fun and stress free activity, something that becomes increasingly important to have as demands grow for someone. I enjoy reading and I hope many of you do as well!

Happy Reading!  

Free Write for EDU 414

                I hate these feelings, the feelings of stress, anxiousness, and rushing. I have these feelings right now because it is the Sunday before school starts again. Spring Break is over! Somehow I managed to have a whole pile of work left for the day before classes resume, and I had to force myself to start doing my work early today in order to get what needs to be done, done. So here I am, at 2pm on Sunday afternoon chipping away at my workload for the upcoming week.

                I have work in almost all of my classes. 5 out of my 6 classes left me work to get done over the break. Yes the work isn’t due until some point in this week, but as the days go on I know I will just be getting more work piled on. And while I had time and could have done some over break, I really needed the break to relax. Week after week we all put in so many hours of work and deal with stress that what we really needed was this time off. Unfortunately the time off always ends, and with it comes the same old stuff that we had previously been doing.

                On the other hand, while break may be over, it just means we are that much close to the end of the semester. We have passed more than the half way mark by now. This is exciting as well as a little nerve wracking. On one hand we have summer vacation coming up, but on the other hand we have to get through a few more tests and then finals before the summer vacation. Also for me it is a little unbelievable how fast time has gone this year. I can’t believe that another year is almost over, it seems unreal. But I must say I am very glad that things have been going at a fast pace, I don’t think I would like it any other way. By this point in my life an educational career, I am used to the pace and how things go, and even though it’s tough, I like it.

                So with that thought in my mind, I am going to continue chipping away at this big block of homework that I have, and continue my path towards becoming the best teacher I can be! Good Luck with you work everyone, if I have work I know most of you do too!  Have a good rest of the Spring 2012 Semester and Happy studying!


P.S. I think I may have already written the free write that was due for week 9, about school supplies below, but either way now I just have an extra in case I didn't. 

Free Write for EDU 414

                I LOVE school supplies, I think it has to be one of the reasons I enjoy the teaching profession so much. Ever since I was young I always looked forward to getting my assigned teachers and classes and also the school supply list. After these would come in the mail my mom and I would make plans to go shopping.

                I was lucky enough to be able to buy new supplies every beginning of the school year and at other times if I ever needed anything. When I was young I remember walking into stores and running straight over to the notebooks and folders and other school supply isles.  What I really remember is trying to find some pretty “Lisa Frank,” supplies. These items were always bright, colorful, sparkly, and fun. I loved having everything from my lunch box to my backpack be different, it really let me express myself.

As the years have gone by I have toned all my supplies down. I have simple notebooks and folders now, but of course I will miss having the bright, fun items. However just because they are not the same items as when I was little doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. Being organized and finding items that I will use in my future classroom is a lot of fun to me too. I would not be able to successfully do work in my room, at school, or anywhere else if I was disorganized. I really look forward to having my own classroom to organize and provide supplies for.

While I no longer carry around my Lisa Frank school supplies, I still carry the memories of them. I still remember buying them and having hard times choosing between items, I loved them all, and I remember how happy I was to be able to have them. These items would always brighten my school day. I believe that these kinds of items are an essential part to school. If a child enjoys what they have for school they will enjoy using them for the activities they are meant for. Hopefully one day I can take my own son or daughter school supply shopping, and they will enjoy it as much as I did, and still will.

Happy Shopping and Organizing!

Free Write for EDU 307

                Spring Break is almost here! In years previous, I have no really gone anywhere notable or done anything amazing. However this year I have a great set of plans. During the fall semester my friend Taylor and I decided we should go somewhere together, so since out mothers decided that Mexico was out of the question I suggested we go to Canada! So, since we all agreed that would be okay that is where we are heading.

                I have been to Canada two times before this trip, so I am very excited to get to show Taylor around to some of the places I have been and I am also excited to explore some new places with her as well. I look forward to making great memories with one of my best friends.

                We have plans to go out to eat at some nice restaurants, to explore some of the city, since we will be staying in Montreal, we plan on going to the underground mall they have there, we also plan on visiting the casino and checking out some of the local night life if we are not too tired from all the day activities we get into. Taylor also found out that our hotel has a pool!! That is the best part of any vacation if you ask me! What makes it even better is that the pool is heated and indoors, so regardless of the outside temperature we will be able to go swimming!!!

                I have looked up the predicted temperatures and forecasts for Montreal, and while we are there it looks like it is going to be high 50’s possibly into the 70’s! I am very excited, because since Canada is farther north than good old CT, it could have ended up being pretty cold, especially at this time of year. However we have been blessed with an AMAZINGLY WARM winter, something I will never ever complain about and it looks as though the nice weather will continue for our trip, which is great as well because in Montreal our biggest form of transportation will be our own two feet.

                I feel very lucky to have this opportunity to travel outside the U.S. with one of my best friends. We will be on our own, (no parents), and I am very glad they trust us enough to let us go on this adventure. I hope everyone has some fun plans for spring break. It doesn’t matter if your trip is 6 minutes away or 6 hours (our time to drive to Canada), with the right attitude and a good outlook anything can be fun and an adventure!

                Happy Travels!

Free Write for EDU 307

                Isn’t it just typical for technology to not work when you most need it to? As I’m sure many of us has experienced at one point or another, technology like; your computer, cell phone, internet, texting, cell phone calls, anything really, has not worked or has stopped working at a time when you have most needed the technology to work. Well this was the situation I was in on Sunday night.

                After a long fun weekend of visiting my friend at Philadelphia University I came home Sunday night, and had to write a research paper for my SED 335 class. While I got most of my work done before I had left one my mini vacation, I did not have the time to get started on my research paper. So with that in mind I came home Sunday ready to write. Needless to say, this is where my story begins.

                I sat down at my computer around 5PM. I had eaten some dinner and had relaxed a bit since arriving back at my apartment and now I was ready to type! I clicked open my internet browser in order to start getting some research, but what happened next really sent me into a meltdown. Naturally I went to open up my Microsoft Office, this is the program that brings up all my aspects of Microsoft, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.  What did I find? A blank screen with no options to open up Microsoft Word. I stayed calm, my computer had been on all weekend but had not been used, maybe the program just needed to be restarted. I went to click the lovely little red X at the top of the screen to close out the program and what do I see? I see an awesome message saying “Windows is not responding.” GREAT. So I decided to shut down my computer and give it a little 5 minuet rest, maybe then it would work.

                5 Minuet rest came and went. I went to open up Microsoft Works, and what do I find again, another “not responding” message. Well awesome, it’s already 5:30 at this point and I’ve got nothing. I tired shutting the system down and restarting two more times with no success. It is now 6PM.

                I call my mom freaking out; I’ve just wasted a valuable hour of homework time. We decided to call my uncle who works with computers and can probably help me fix my issue. On the phone with my uncle we try to repair the whole program Microsoft Office. But hey, guess what! I get an even better message than before, this time the message says to me, “Not able to repair.” SWEET! So glad I just wasted another 30 minutes for NOTHING. In case you can’t tell, I’m really angry and upset by this point. It is now 6:30PM.

                So my uncle and I decided I can try a system restore on my computer, I know how to do this myself so I thank him for trying to help and get off the phone. I go to start the system restore on my computer. I wait another 15 minutes for the stupid thing to start doing whatever it is that it does. Finally It asks me what day I would like to restore too, so I chose last Wednesday, that seems like a fun option.  Oh but hey another 15 minutes goes by and guess what cool message I get this time, can you guess? “System cannot restore.” OH. MY. GOD. Someone has to be playing a cruel joke. It is not 7PM.

                So I resort to the last thing I can think of. System restore with back up. I go and get a blank disk and save all my school files, because that’s right, I’m one of those people you hear the horror stories about, I have none of my recent work saved to a flash drive yet. So 15 minutes later the computer ha me put my blank disk in and I save my files. WOOOHHH!! Well at least I got the important things saved, but oh yea its 7:15 and I still have nothing for a research paper. I am becoming more desperate by the second. Well after 30 minutes of trying to click the okay button to tell the computer I had all my info backed up, I gave up. The computer would not accept that I had my backup disk and therefore would not start the restore. 7:45.

                I call my mom crying, I’m stressed, I NEVER leave things like this till the last minute and now I’m tired on top of it all. We decided I must buy Microsoft 2010. I get off the phone at 8PM. Seeing the new Microsoft office costs $120 annoys me, and at that moment I get a brilliant idea. Maybe if I type in Microsoft Word into the search bar after I hit the start button I can open it alone without opening the whole Microsoft Word option. I find Word and drag the icon onto my desktop. With breath held, and fingers crossed, I click the little icon hoping to god this program opens.

                8:30PM. A MIRICAL HAPPENS! Word opens and all my files are there with it. I proceed to do this with the other programs like Excel, and PowerPoint. I am so relieved but quickly become annoyed with myself at the fact that I could have solved my problem so easily. Well I guess that’s what stress does to someone, make them think irrationally or something like that. Immediately I save every single one of my flies onto USB. I will not be caught in this situation again.  I realize it is now around 8:45 and need to start my research paper, so I take a deep breath and begin.

                About 3 or 4 hours later I finished. But you know what, isn’t it just typical of technology to not work when we most need it. Luckily out of this experience I now have two backups for my files, but I would never wish this experience upon my worst enemy, it was awful, but I’m so glad I survived, it’s over, and that everything got finished and handed in on time. But guess what, this will happen again, to me or to someone else. As a teacher I vow from here on out to be prepared and to have backup copies and backup plans for when inevitably technology will not work when I need it to!