Coupon Update

I apologize to all my friends who always are looking for me to inform them on the latest bargains.  I have been slacking since I started school as it is hard to find a lot of time to look for good deals.  But I have some good news; this week starts Harris Teeter Super Doubles.  It will start Jan 4th and last a week.  Here are a couple of links to go to where they post coupon matchups:

Southern Savers

Coupon Teacher
For those of you who haven't been keeping coupons, still check out those sites to get printable coupons you can use.

I'll try to keep you more updated this year, as I need to start saving a lot of money if I'm planning another NYC trip!

Memories of 2011

I am very thankful for the year that I had last year.  Looking back I can say it was the best year I've had yet. Here is a short summary of my year:

At the end of January I went to NYC with my best friend Felicia and my sister.  This was an experience I will never forget.

In February I took my first teaching job at Central Middle teaching sixth grade Math and Science.  This is me and my teammate.  I couldn't have asked for a better teammate and teaching experience.

In March I passed the Praxis II for Middle Grades Math, which to me was awesome because Math isn't my best subject.

In May, I was accepted to graduate school at NCSU for Special Education.

In July, I moved to Raleigh and fell in love with the city.

In August, I started a job tutoring for a tutoring company.  It is an amazing opportunity and I'm still learning so much from this job.  All of my roommates moved into the apartment this month too and we have become sisters.  I couldn't ask for better girls to live with.

In September, I went to my first NCSU football game.  I've been a big football fan ever since.

In November, I was able to watch the Carolina Hurricanes play the Maples Leaves in vip seats! I also bought my own laptop and new gps this month.  Moving on up, haha.  Also, in November I went to see the Rockettes in Durham with my friend Callie.  I recommend this show to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.  I hope to see it one day in New York.

Finally, in December I took my final exams and ended up ending the semester with a 4.0 gpa.

  

I don't think I could have asked for a better year.  I hope God blesses everyone in 2012 the way I was blessed in 2011. Happy New Year!

New Year Changes

With the new year approaching I've been thinking about some things I would like to change for myself.  Out of curiosity I went to my New Year's post for this year and read my resolutions.  Sadly, I didn't keep any of them.  They were to start eating breakfast daily, read my bible everyday, and to learn something new like a new language.  So let me just be realistic this year and say that my resolution is to strive to be a better person each day.  I can look back on this year and say that I learned so much about myself, that would have been a resolution I could have kept.

So in striving to make this resolution here are some things that I want to work on:
1) Stop using spell check so often
I rely way too much of right click to fix my spelling errors.  From now when I see that red squiggly line I want to make a conscience effort to spell correctly myself.

2) Read the bible in a year
I just purchased The One Year Bible Companion which tells you what verses to read each day in order to read the bible in one year. It also had questions and answers to think about with each daily reading.

3) Finish graduate school knowing I did my absolute best.  I think I could end with a 4.0 gpa but if I don't and I know I still did my best then I will be just as proud of that.
4) Stop searching and start focusing on me.  I'll admit that I have walked thru the mall or at people's changing relationships statuses and wondered if that person could be the one for me.  I've spent way too much energy trying to find this perfect guy when I should be focusing on making myself better for him. It is time that I become content with what I am doing in my life and let God show him to me when the time is right.
5) Get up!  Near the last couple months of the semester this year I would want to lay in bed till 10:30 or so which I think is just ridiculous.  So this year I'm going to try to wake up earlier and get out of the apartment.  I'd like to try to go to the gym at least twice a week and get to the library earlier each day.


And one last thing that I'd love to do whether it be this year or in years to come:

Another Semester, Another Christmas

Well this semester came to a quick ending.  I couldn't believe how fast time flew.  I have never had a semester rush by like this one has.  I ended up making all A's which I was very ecstatic about since I worked so hard for them.  I learned a lot from my courses and I'm very glad to have chosen this degree to pursue.  I'm also very thankful I choose NC State to go to.  There is no place like Raleigh.  There is always something to do and I have met some amazing people here that I will hopefully always remain friends with.

Christmas went well this year.  I got to see family I hadn't seen in a while and everyone was healthy.  My favorite gifts this year were a memory foam topper and a floor lamp for the apartment.   I've had some time to sit and read for fun which has been very nice so I'm thankful for that.

Now it's time to come up with some New Year's resolutions!

A Beautiful Raleigh Day

Today me and my friend Joe went out and enjoyed the Fall day.  It was such a gorgeous day, right at 70 degrees and sunny.  The leaves are at that their color peak so it was fun to see them.  We first went and played disc golf at the park beside where Joe lives.  I am terrible, but I didn't throw the disc into any creeks or the road, so that was good.  

After we played disc golf we played tennis.   I don't think I was as bad at tennis as I was with disc golf, but I guess we could ask Joe to see what he thinks......(After asking Joe on facebook what he thought, he paused for a while and then says disc golf) So I guess I'm not very good at either. haha, but I do find tennis to be more fun. I like fast past games the best.

The best part of the day was Lake Johnson.  We  walked through one of the nature trails and took some great pictures.  Joe tried to help me learn how to skip rocks on the lake.  I think out of about 10 rocks maybe I got 2 to skip. 

I love that you can see the clouds in the water.

Our reflection in the lake

Lots of ducks

Joe & I

A beautiful Fall day

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.