Bucket List

During class one night I started writing down a bucket list.  Yes, I am capable of still listening and writing at the same time.   So here are some things that I really wanted to accomplish before I die and preferably before the age of 40.

1.  Learn Spanish

2. Learn Sign language

3.  Travel out of the country

4.  Advocate for a cause

5.  Go on a missions trip

6. Go Ziplining

7. Make a dessert of my own from scratch

8. Take a cooking class

9.  See a Broadway play

10. Help someone make their wish come true

11.  Read the entire bible

12. Get married to someone I'm madly in love with

13.  Watch all the classic Disney movies and keep a record of their morals to use for teaching

14.  Ride a horse on the beach

15.  Ride in a hot air balloon
16.  Take a road trip across the US
17.  Kiss someone I love in the rain
18.  Be at Times Square on New Years Eve
19.  Go see the I Love Lucy Museum

To take into the classroom

I am learning so many different things now that I want to make sure that they stay with me until I start teaching.  Here are some good ideas that I want to remember to use.

1) Classroom Wide Peer Tutoring

This is having students tutor each other with the use of teacher made question/answer cards.

More about this here.

2. Target behavior recording

Use reinforcement over punishment to help get rid of unwanted behaviors.  Interval recording can be done in a class period to measure weather an intervention is working or not. 

3. Anticipation Guides

This is a pre-reading strategy done where the teacher creates 5-10 statements for students to react to before reading the text.  After reading they then discuss weather they still believe the opinion they stated before learning about the context.

There are so many more things that I will try to keep adding.

NC State Fair

I had my first visit to the NC State fair today.  Me and my friend Joe went together which was a nice break from all the studying I had been doing lately.  It was hunger relief day so we brought 4 can foods and got in free.  The first thing we did was watch the folk festival.  I was pretty happy about getting to some cloggers.  We didn't watch too long because we wanted to see everything else.  But I did find a video from last year of NCSU's cloggers.  They are pretty awesome! 

We then walked around forever trying to decide what to eat.  Of course, I couldn't make up my mind with all the choices. Joe probably was ready to eat anything by the time I made my mind up. The only fried food I really considered was the Fried Reese's, but I stayed away and got chicken on a stick and fries.  I guess my food looked tasty so Joe got it too.  I walked away from lunch for $8.  Not bad considering some of the other pricy options they had.  A jumbo turkey leg would have been $8 on it's own.  I have to admit they looked pretty scrumptious though.  

After eating lunch we walked through some of the exhibits and saw a bike stunt show.  We saw the world's largest egg and some other cool things in the new Science Exhibit.  We later came across a ventriloquist.  He was pretty funny with his duck puppet.  Although, after a while he started to sound a lot like Jeff Dunham with his acts.  I ended up getting a frozen banana later on and Joe got some ice cream.  The food is what going to the fair is all about!

The State Fair was overall a good experience. It wasn't too crowed and we both had a fun time.  Now it's back to work...

Rush Rush

I'm at the point in the semester where my brain feels like it could explode at any given moment.  I just finished midterms last night and have a test next week for an online class.  I finish one thing and don't have a second to breathe before having to move on to the next.  I was excited for grad school when I first started not only to learn about Special Ed but also to  make a lot of new friends.  The only time I have anymore to see people is if I'm at the library or in class. I tutor every night so that gets in the way of me going out with friends at night.  People ask me all the time, do you want to do this or that and of course I don't have time to.  My whole life seems like such a rush now.  It's do one thing and on to the next. My brain is in overload to the point that I can barely remember the little things I have to do, like checking the mail or doing my laundry so I have clean towels the next day.  I probably am pushing myself to hard because I want to have perfect grades.  I could slow down and settle for B's and make more time for myself but this is my last opportunity to prove to myself what I can do.  So if that means going crazy for a year then that's what I will do because in the end it will all be worth it.  I will be able to look back and say, I did my very best and there was not one more thing I could have done to make me more successful. 

I had a meeting this week with my adviser and she is pushing me to finish my degree next Summer.  I was very excited knowing how much money I will save and that I will be able to teach in the Fall.  On the other hand, that means next semester will be even busier then I am now.  I don't want to look back and say all I did in grad school was study.  While I'm in Raleigh I want to make the most of it, so I hope I'm making the right decision by choosing to complete my degree so quickly. 

Experiences

Being a grad student has brought about so many new experiences.  It's hard to say which experiences have been the best but some moments I continue to think about are with the kids that I tutor.  There are days that it doesn't seem like I am getting anywhere with them and then when I least expect it they say something that tells me they finally got it!  It may be something as simple as figuring out a step in a math problem or understanding a phonics skill. But knowing that I'm making a difference in these kids who really struggle at times, means a lot to me. 

One really fun experience about NC State has been the football games.  State fans really get into the games and it is so fun being a part of the student section.  At the game today Scotty Mccreary sang the National Anthem which was pretty neat. 

Making new friends has also been great here.  A few weeks ago I made dinner for my roommates and a couple other friends.  It was so fun sitting down as a big group and having good conversation.  We even said a prayer before we ate.  Now that grad school is getting more intense we haven't had a chance to all eat together but hopefully we will be able to do it again soon.  Here is a picture of the table before we all sat down to eat.  

Another fun thing me and my roommates like to do together is get frozen yogurt.  Last week we tried frozen custard at Goodberry's but I think our favorite is still Freshberry's.  They have a flavor called Watermelon Sherbet which is absolutely delicious!

Fall Break

Well tomorrow starts Fall break for NC State students.  I however have a project due on Friday and midterms to study for so I'm not really getting a break.  Grad school has been very stressful. With tutoring everyday and classes I am at my limit.  I'm lucky to have great roommates while I'm here though.   I'm learning a lot about myself and even though it is very hard I'm so glad I decided to do this.  

I received some exciting news recently. My sister is having another baby next year and my best friend is pregnant. I'm very happy for them both but it sometimes makes me feel as if I am so far behind.  I turned 23 last week and I'm still single. People say that I'm still young but seeing the people I graduated with married and having kids makes it seem as if I have a long way to go. I'm glad I am single now though, because I need to be.  I have continued to date just because I felt as if I needed someone else to make me happy. But I have learned that true happiness has to start within yourself.  So now that I have no one holding me down I can find everything that makes me happy.  Right now I know that includes doing my best to learn as much as I can about Special Education.  I know that I am making a difference in the kids I'm tutoring, and that means more to me than anything right now.  

The Value of Organization

I have now been to all of my classes and received all of my course syllabuses.   When I went to my first on campus class I will admit I was a bit overwhelmed.  That course alone requires a chapter of reading every week and a paper to go along with it, on top of many other projects and readings.  The class I went to the next night provided a syllabus with same amount of work, if not more projects. After having a mild freak out at the amount of work I will be doing, I decided to get very organized.  I have my google calendar updated with all of my assignments and I have my personal planner color coded by class.  Today I finished all the work I needed to do for my online class this week and tomorrow I will start on my papers due next next.

I guess the key to succeeding in grad school is making the best use of all of your time.  I try to get everything done for school during the day then have time to relax or hang out with friends in the evening.  Last night I was able to cook for my roommates and other friends.  It was a good time and nice to get away from the books.

Other happenings this week include an earthquake!! Yes, we felt an earthquake here in North Carolina.  I was sitting in my living room and first I heard the door rocking like someone was tapping on it.  Then I saw our ceiling fan start to shake vigorously. I really was worried it was going to come off the wall.  So I got up and looked out the window thinking maybe it was really storming.  Then I thought maybe the neighbors upstairs were playing loud music.  Well, I was wrong because my friend Felicia who was in Greensboro called to ask me if I felt shaking.  I turned on the news and then found out that there was a 5.8 earthquake in Virgina.  Here is a picture of a food mart in Mineral, VA where the earthquake was.