when are we ever going to use this?

I Survived My Student Teaching

2006-01-03T00:20:00.000-05:00

My student teaching is over!!!

I'm a little sad to be leaving my kids, especially the ones with whom I had formed a good relationship, but I'm also glad to not be working a full time job and attending classes. To finish my program I just need to undergo my portfolio review (February) and take my PRAXIS (March). These two are kind of spread out, but I wanted the time to study for my PRAXIS so that I'll be able to pass with multititudes of flying colors.

Overall it was a good experience. My cooperating teacher was absolutely amazing!!! Also, my other team members were awesome. They were not even getting paid to help me, but they also put a lot of time in to my training. I would especially like to mention my ICS teacher who was so incredibly helpful both in class and out of class.

The only downside of my student teaching is that I am left with an internal conflict. I know I want to teach for at least a few years, but what do I do then? I do not want to become an old cranky teacher and besides I'm fickle and need to be constantly trying new things. My mother suggested going to law school and becoming involved in educational law, but I think that may be too politic-y for my liking. However, with my brains and determination I could do a lot of good for a lot of students if I did go in to educational law.

I guess I shouldn't worry too much about what is going to happen to me a long time from now, but I just can't help myself.

In other news, I am trying out match.com. I am finding it a little disappointing because the only people contacting me are 50+ year old, creepy, pervy guys. Don't they realize that I'm 22 and they don't have a chance? OR do they think I'm some kind of harlot just because I am on match.com? Dating advice and suggestions are always welcome.

To my teacher friends out there I hope your winter recesses were full of food, fun, Etoh and relaxation.

Here's to 2006.

MY "Best" of 2005 List

2006-01-01T00:17:00.000-05:00

1. Student teaching: Even though it had it's down moments it was a totally awesome, life altering experience.
2. Princeton Graduation
3. Princeton Reunions
4. Disneyland
5. Brooklyn the Musical (not the part of the city)
6. Violin Lessons
7. Windmill Hotdogs
8. Light of Day
9. Jesse Malin
10. Sam Roberts
11. Charter Initiations 2005
12. Charter Sign Ins 2005
13. P-Rade
14. QUEST
15. Learning Japanese
16. Sumi style paintings
17. Terminator-a-thon with Jon, Graham, Nick, Lauren, Anne and Poon
18. THEY LIVE, with Roudy Roddy Piper
19. The movie with the locusts and Lucy Lawless
20. Star Wars in a movie theater full of nerds having light saber wars
21. Halo
22. COPS
23. Spongebob in a theater full of 8 year olds.
24. The night in the JV dorms where about 5 of us drank a very large bottle of tequila.
25. Turning in the Thesis
26. Publishing my thesis.
27. The Wet Floor Party
28. Gorrilla suits.
29. Mechanical Bulls

and last but not least, great friends.

It's Official

2005-12-23T09:44:00.000-05:00

I have the most amazing students....EVER!!!!

An Observation

2005-10-03T22:52:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to notice that student teaching + class = not much time for anything else.

Why does it seem like I'm only ever doing stuff for school or class?

Class is less then stellar, but school is going really, really well. I'm so lucky to have a good placement where the teacher wants to TEACH a student teacher, not just get the extra money and have someone to do her work for her.

Yuck. I'm tired of being single. There is no one to come home to.

Sorry depressing...

Seriously though, school is great. My students are awesome. A few girls that were doing community service for girl scouts came to visit me during back to school night and were EXCITED to see me. That was nice. My lessons have been going well too. I'm very excited to start my "very hungry caterpillar" unit.

Oh...my milkweed plant is infested with aphids. Does anyone know how I can get rid of the little buggers?

Thanks.

Teach on!

It's Been a While

2005-09-25T16:18:00.000-04:00

There is really no excuse better then having a full time job, a class to attend and a eating club to manage and being exhausted ALL the time for not updating one's blog.

So far, I really like my students, but find the subject matter (7th grade science) a little dull. Of course I am trying my best to make it interesting for the students, but I get the feeling that my science background really would be better utilized at the high school level.

Anyway, I have a few interesting students that make my day rather interesting.

1.The girl who at 12 years old thinks that she is going to be the next big thing on SNL. She is quite loud and can recite any SNL script from memory at any time of the day whether you ask her to or not.

2. The boy in my third period class who will not shut up. He is constanly talking as in ALL the time, will not stop no matter what. So far I've been attempting to ignore him, but I think I'll have to switch to a new method soon.

3. The really smart, Mr. Personality kid in my 7th period class who keeps me on my toes with his questions. He is seriously reading books that I wouldn't expect a 10th grader to be able to read, let alone a 7th grader.

4. The really sweet boy who always greets me by name each morning and asks how my day has been going.

Those are the four that come to mind right now, unfortunately, I have a major paper that needs to be finished. Also, I'll try to be better about posting, but I can't make any promises. :-)

7 Things - Borrowed from When Pigs Sing

2005-09-18T22:45:00.000-04:00

7 things I plan to do before I die:
1) Spend a few years living in Japan
2) Find the love of my life and have their children.
3) Visit the great pyramids in Egypt
4) Learn to play the violin (started)
5) Read as much as possible
6) Go to everyone single Princeton reunion
7) See an opera on opening night at the Met.

7 things I can do:
1) Play the carillon
2) Calculus - in my head
3) Run 12 miles
4) Multitask
5) Make someone feel better
6) Make a great cup of tea
7) Listen

7 things I cannot do:
1) Touch my toes
2) Forget
3) Put down a good book
4) Get my brain to shut up
5) Sew
6) Put my contacts in without a mirror
7) Put my hair up other than in a pony tail - it's long enough I just don't know how to do anything else.

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex/another person:
1) Intelligence
2) Curiosity
3) A good sense of humor that is just a little bit silly
4) Nice, straight, clean teeth
5) A tenor voice
6) Piercing eyes
7) A good spirit

7 things that I say most often:
1) Way cool!
2) Sketchy
3) That is absurd!
4) Why?
5) I'm ready!
6) Who's a pretty turtle? (only to my pet turtle)
7) Bah!

7 celebrity crushes:
1) Topher Grace
2) Orlando Bloom
3) Ryan Adams
4) Jesse Malin
5) Sam Roberts
6) YOUNG John Travolta
7) YOUNG Gregory Peck

My Day at a Glance

2005-09-13T19:57:00.000-04:00

Today went pretty well. We did a lab involving observation and identification of apples. Nothing too extraordinary.

I'm glad my mentor is knowledgable and friendly. Phew.

The First Days

2005-09-10T16:04:00.000-04:00

Overall, I'd say the first two days of school went well. There was some confusion the first day due to some scheduling issues, but that was taken care of by the end of the day.

I will be teaching two special education inclusion classes, two "normal" classes and one "smart" class. There are some interesting little darling in each of these classes that may provide some challenges for my student teaching.

Most notably the student who claims to be in 9th grade, but is really in 7th. We'll call him Eddie. I can't imagine the guts it would take for a 7th grader to wander into a high school class and then to argue with people. Eddie didn't show up for the second day of school. I hope he stayed home and didn't go to the high school. Maybe the long weekend will allow him time to simmer down and realize that he really does want to be in 7th grade.

2005-09-03T00:21:00.000-04:00

Someone remind me to kick myself for turning down the job at George School when I'm attempting to get hired in January.....or for that matter the job at the Philadelphia Charter School for architecture and Design.....(haha).

(Exhausted but not overwhelmed.)

Phew

2005-09-03T00:17:00.000-04:00

Just finished my first 4 days of preservice work. Since we moved to a new (to us) facility this year there has been a lot of unpacking and scrounging of materials.

I am exhausted, but not overwhelmed. This is a good thing.

I will write a more detailed report sometime this weekend.

Hope everyone is have a successful back to school.

Happy Thought

2005-08-28T22:27:00.000-04:00

63% of people say this person changed their lives. Who is it?

A Teacher

You know it's going to be a bad day when....

2005-08-28T00:14:00.000-04:00

You are in North Carolina on vacation when one of your contact lenses rips in half while still in your eye.The first half was easy to get out, the second one was not.

I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room.

Now, I'm stuck here without my spare lenses. I know this may not sound like a big deal, but my perscription unfortunately is not available in disposables. Therefore, I must order new ones and wait...and wait...for them to arrive.

How fun.

Feeling Guilty?

2005-08-18T13:52:00.000-04:00

I was reading an article on CNN's webpage about the high number of teachers leaving the teaching profession. It was mainly focused on the older teachers who are soon reaching retirement. That's not what I want to talke about though.

Why is it that when teachers choose to retire or to change careers they are portrayed as quitters who are letting down their students? Many people change careers but most of them get the "oh that's so nice" reaction as opposed to a guilt trip. Perhaps it's a compliment that people get upset when a good teacher decides to pursue something else, but what about first or second year teachers who simply decide that teaching isn't for them? I overheard a conversation recently where the girl who wanted to try social work or something was being made to feel guilty by her friend.

In my opinion if you want to try something new and you make appropriate arrangements with your school go for it! I'd rather have a good teacher leave while they are still a happy productive teacher then wait until they are bitter and really don't want to be there any more.

That having been said, I'm off to the beach for a week.

A little good news and some annoyances....

2005-08-15T16:07:00.000-04:00

The good news is that my life is finally scheduled. I know when I'm student teaching and what time my seminar will meet. Woohoo!

The bad news is that our professor decided to email a massive assignment literally on the eve of the end of summer. WHY couldn't this assignment have been given in June or July? WHY are we being rushed through 2 books, 1 paper and a report?

I'm cranky now.

Random Things TAG

2005-08-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

RANDOM THINGS I WISH WOULD SUDDENLY HAPPEN
1. My dream job (even though I don't know what it is) would fall in my lap...right...NOW!
2. My dream boy would show up at my door...with flowers...
3. I would get my own apartment....woohoo

RANDOM THINGS I LIKE TO EAT:
1. Sushi with wasabi and soy sauce.
2. Peaches
3. Sour Watermelon candies (yummy)

RANDOM MOVIES I'VE WATCHED THIS PAST WEEK:
1. Monters Inc.
2. Clerks
3. Naked Gun 33 1/3

RANDOM THINGS I DON'T LIKE DOING IN PUBLIC:
1. Dancing. Eww.
2. Brushing hair or anything like that.
3. Sleeping.

RANDOM THINGS I DO LIKE DOING IN PUBLIC:
1. Telling dumb jokes and acting generally silly
2. Playing in fountains
3. Being helpful

RANDOM THINGS THAT CREEP ME OUT:
1. Rashes
2. Bad things happening to teeth
3. Empy, dark houses.

RANDOM PEOPLE I WISH WEREN'T WORSHIPPED:
1. The Backstreet Boys
2. Dr. Atkins
3. Prince William - not because I find him particullary annoying, but because people worship him just because he is royalty.

Friend Funny

2005-08-12T14:49:00.000-04:00

Hahaha, I can't remember if I already posted this, but I think my friend Lauren is a hoot:

Lauren (9:50:14 PM): also occasionally throw snakes at students who talk
Lauren (9:50:18 PM): they'd be like:
Lauren (9:50:28 PM): "holy crap, she's reaching for the snake jar!"

I think she was kidding. ;-)

Cold Roses

2005-08-11T22:41:00.000-04:00

MINE MINE MINE!!!!! You have no idea how excited I was to pick this CD up today. Ok, maybe you do, but either way it is AMAZING. I swear there is something about sad boys with guitars that just makes my little heart go pitter patter.

Right...enough "gushing" as my friend Nick would say. Listening to the CD, I've realized that Ryan Adams' style is something like a softer version of the Grateful Dead. Am I crazy (or just slow) in making this observation? I guess it could be the similar song titles Sugar Magnolia (from American Beauty) and Magnolia Mountain that is making me think this, but I guess I'll have to research it further.

I also spent about 20 minutes talking to the store clerk about music, which is unusual for me. I'm a get in, get out type of girl. He knew his stuff though, I must admit.

Anyway, I'm going to go back to my wonderful new cd.

AWOL Image Host

2005-08-08T19:55:00.000-04:00

A new look for my blog, not entirely by choice, but I think I like it.

My image host when AWOL and I'm currently to busy to search for the images on my computer and re-upload them. So, I'm just going to use a stock template for the time being.

The green color is awfully soothing, so this may be a more permanent change then I originally thought.

Anyway, as September approaches the more eager I become to start student teaching. It's not just student teaching, it the prospect of getting a *real* job and striking out on my own that is so incredibly exciting. I seriously get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.

Had a fun night on Saturday hanging out with Nick. It was bittersweet though since he will be leaving for Duke in the near future.

I miss my tigers.

A Mildly Offensive Joke

2005-08-04T14:46:00.000-04:00

A bloke is in a queue at the Supermarket when he notices that the rather dishy blonde behind him has just raised her hand and smiled hello to him.
He is rather taken aback that such a looker would be waving to him, and although familiar he can't place where he might know her from, so he says, "Sorry do you know me?"

She replies "I may be mistaken, but I thought you might be the father of one of my children!
His mind shoots back to the one and only time he has been unfaithful, Christ! He says "are you that strippergram on my stag night that I shagged on the snooker table in front of all my mates whilst your mate whipped me with some wet celery and stuck a cucumber up my xxxxxx?

No, she replies, I'm your son's English Teacher....

Horrendous Hair Dye Disaster

2005-08-01T21:39:00.000-04:00

So last night my mother highlighted my hair using a Feria highlighting kit. I was skeptical during the entire application, but was assured that the color would be subtle enough to blend in with my natural color. Well, after 30 minutes, rinse and condition my new "do" appeared - streaked ORANGE!

Very orange...my head looks like it could be on the muppet show. It is pretty bad. Lucky for me I was able to take a field trip to CVS this evening to purchase some corrective color. Oh my, we should have just left everything alone.

In other news, QUEST is over. Part of me is glad that I can now resume my "lazy" sleep schedule, but the other part is really going to miss all the amazing people I met. I learned so much just from having lunch with my collegues. Since I was able to meet several of my coworkers in the Fall, the anxiety I was feeling about my student teaching is slowly lessening.

Now, I must watch the conclusion to Hell's Kitchen, my guilty pleasure of the summer.

2005-07-27T16:43:00.000-04:00

My favorite modern building. TAIPEI 101

GEO ROCKS!!!

2005-07-26T21:07:00.000-04:00

Phew, after two exhausting weeks the hard part of QUEST is over. I don't want anyone to think that I didn't have a good time and that I didn't learn oodles of information, because I definitely am taking a lot away from this experience. However, it was tiring. I am so lucky to have the experience of meeting a large portion of the "team" that I'll be student teaching with in the fall. This definitely helped to ease an anxiety I was feeling that I might be unwelcome at the school.

Ok, it is time to work on my final QUEST project. If you're lucky maybe I'll post the link here and you can check it out sometime.

OH!!! AND...I got a book about rocks and minerals AND a box of rocks today. I am one happy girl.

Harry Potter

2005-07-17T21:38:00.000-04:00

I recieved the latest Harry Potter this Saturday and have been limiting myself to only a few chapters a day. I'm doing this so that I can enjoy the book longer and because I have other things I need to work on, such as my Japanese.

You can then understand why I get a little upset when people post about the ending of this book in their away messages and emails.

It's been a long weekend, but I'm looking forward to going back to QUEST on Monday.

Now Accepting Applications

2005-07-14T19:58:00.000-04:00

I am now officially accepting applications for boyfriends who have the deceny to not break up with someone over email.

That having been said. This past week at QUEST has been fantastic!!! I can't believe how much I've learned, both about teaching (and the politics surrounding it) and about weather.

Our weather activites ranged from measuring humidity to creating a tornado in a cardboard box. I am also confident that I will be able to teach this material to my students.

Next week I'll be moving on to the enviromental science module.

QUEST Day 1

2005-07-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

I am exhausted.

However, I will say that today was really enlightening and that I met a lot of interesting individuals.

I will probably sum of my week in Weather and Climate on Friday, but you never know, I might be back sooner!

Pre-QUEST Day 7

2005-07-06T20:59:00.000-04:00

My goodness we got a lot of books today! QUEST is seriously reinforcing my already overflowing library!

Also, we explored (read: played with) stream tables today which I had never done before. I must admit that at first I was reminded of playing at the sand table in kindergarten.

::gets distracted by MYTHBUSTERS for 10 minutes::

Ok, I'm back on task now. Anyway, I liked our speakers approach of "not answering" students questions. However, I'm not sure if I am suited to that style of teaching. I like letting students discover things on their own, but I also tent to be a little picky when it comes to certain things. For example, I will insist that my students write in a dark color pen or pencil in PRINT for homeworks and tests. Besides I also like to shake things up a bit. :-)

Ok, I'm off to finish watching Mythbusters and then read my chapter for tomorrow.

Pre-QUEST Day 6

2005-07-05T19:35:00.000-04:00

Consider the application of the technology and resources we reviewed today. How can you infuse technology in your post-QUEST project?

For those readers that are not related to the fellows program, our final project is to create a "resource portfolio" for the teachers who attended our modules. After today's technology the above question was posed for us to respond to.

I have two main ways that I would like to incorporate some of the things we learned today into the portfolio for my module. I would like to "weed through" the vast sea of websites so the teachers will have a list of "good" website at their fingertips. Also, creating a webquest that students could use (and teachers could modify for their needs) would be something I would like to do for the teachers. Of course, all of this could change after my two weeks with the teachers and I might decided to do something entirely different.

Off to feed various critters.

An Escape.

2005-07-04T23:26:00.000-04:00

Today one of my caterpillars decided that it no longer wished to remain in captivity.

When I was changing their food and cleaning up after them, I counted not three captives, but two..."hmmm," I thought, "this is odd."

So, I searched and I searched...and I searched...and I SEARCHED. I even went so far as to dig through the smelly garbage to see if I had thrown the little guy away by accident.

After an extensive search, I was ready to give up, but low and behold the little guy was right in front of me - on the kitchen floor.

Thank goodness!

After the morning drama of the caterpillar search, I went to a friend's get together and spent the time chatting with some fellow teachers. All in all, it was a great 4th!

Have some perspective!!!!

2005-07-03T15:45:00.000-04:00

Here is an article I just read from Yahoo!

How about we fix how children are educated and then worry about teacher dress codes.

If a teacher can relate better to their students by wearing jeans sometimes, then I say let them! Furthermore, I know that when I wear clothing that fits my personality and my body, I am a better teacher - naturally, this doesn't mean that my boobs are popping out of my shirt or anything like that! Also, I think that I can still dress to suit my personality and look professional. For example, I have a fitted tshirt with a brain on it that can look very professional under a blazer.

Besides, I look young regardless what I wear! Even if I shop at Ann Taylor, I look stupid, because I just appear to be a 16 year old trying to wear "big girl" clothing!

We have the most important job in the world and people are worried about how we dress?!? I say, if it works go for it.

ps- I did agree that the teacher should have been sent home for wearing the belt with the pot leaf on it!

Pre-QUEST Day 5

2005-07-01T15:44:00.000-04:00

Today we examined the process of making science accessible to ALL students, especially those with learning disabilities. The two teachers who came in to speak with us, were WONDERFUL! It was really nice to see two individuals who were so enthusiastic and in love with their jobs.

We mainly focused on students who had learning disablities, however I wish we had also covered students who may suffer from emotional problems as well. I think that treatment for emotionaly disturbed students is lacking and these kids are too often labeled as incouragable "bad eggs." Furthermore, I do not think that it is appropriate to group these students in the same special education classes with learning disabled students.

Anyway, today was wonderful! Monday we will be taking a "field trip" to visit a technology expert.

I should go feed my monarch butterfly caterpillars.

If I don't update anything this weekend, I want to wish everyone a happy and safe Independence Day!!!

Pre-QUEST Day 4

2005-06-30T21:05:00.000-04:00

Today we had a guest presenter who explained the importance of integrating science and language arts. His presentation/demonstration focused on the utlization of the interactive notebook.

I wrote about these notebooks in the Fall and was pretty skeptical about their application. However, now that I've had further instruction in them and have seen some student produced notebooks, I think I'll definitely try using them in my classroom. The examples we saw were very impressive, it was like they were absolute proof of student learning.

Tomorrow we have a special education expert coming to speak with us. I'm really looking forward to this presentation as I think science can be pretty unaccessible to learning disabled and physically disabled students.

Also, I recieved good news today from the NJSTA - I am the recipient of the Doris White Memorial Scholarship. Woohoo! Go me. Anyway, the coolest thing this gets me is a ticket to the annual NJSTA convention. AND I read that this year's keynote speaker is Dr. Sally Ride!! WAY COOL!!!

Oops, I'm almost late for a phone date with Charlie!

Pre-QUEST Day 3

2005-06-29T22:51:00.000-04:00

Today we played with Monarch Butterflies.

We fed them, and drew them, and learned about their behavior. Very cool. Sorry, I don't have a lot to say about this. It was an excellent activity and a good demonstration for having living creatures in your classroom for the students to study and maybe even care for.

Tomorrow, we are covering language arts and how they can be integrated into science lessons.

ps- I got my brand new and shiny RAV4 tonight. I LOVE it!

Pre-QUEST Day 2

2005-06-28T22:11:00.000-04:00

Today was math day.

A local math content specialist came to work with us for the day and reminded us what it was like to take third grade math. It was a fun day, as there were many hands on activities to keep us busy. There was one acitivity that really stood out as something that I would use with my future students.

The activity involved "mailing" a special delivery to your classroom that contains instructions for a class project. For example, maybe the letter is from aliens who need your students to design a school for them. Each student recieved their own letter from the aliens that contained the parameters for the project (perimeter of base, volume, surface area, etc.). At the end of the project the aliens send another package with a reward and another letter praising the students for their good work.

We watched a video of this in action and the students were really excited to play along with the alien scenario and became really involved in their project.

We weren't told what we are going to be doing tomorrow, but we do know that it involves "critters." Hmmmm....

Pre-QUEST Day 1

2005-06-27T23:29:00.000-04:00

Q uery
U nderlies
E ssential
S cience
T eaching

Today was the first day of the pre-QUEST (henceforth pre-Q) program. Pre-Q is two weeks of instruction just for the fellows on all aspects of the inquiry-based classroom. Much of today was taken up with logistical issues and introductions. However, we were able to do a few neat activities where we explored the properties of foam. The first activity was an open ended exploration on the properties of foam. The second utilized a worksheet to examine how the amount of agitation changed the properties of the foam (strength, height). Lastly, we were "challenged" to build an unsupported 12" tower out of foam. Very cool. I'm going to try and update this blog every day or so while I am participating in QUEST, so stayed tuned for updates.

In other news, I went out to Havana's - a local bar - with a friend last Friday. I had a good time except it was a little strange running into people who I haven't seen since high school. Especially, since most of the people I ran into were extremely intoxicated at the time. Hahaha...that isn't too far off from how these people were in high school actually.

The real highlight of the weekend was going into NYC on Sunday and getting a chance to see Brooklyn before it closed. This is an amazing show! I have never heard anyone sing like that in a show before. Even RENT, which I adore and obsess over, doesn't quite have the "diva singing" this show did. Of course, the singing was just a part of why I love this show. The plot is really different as is the way it is executed. There are only 5 people in the cast, who pretty much spend the entire show on stage AND do all their own scene/set changes. Brooklyn is going on tour in 2006, so if you get the chance, I HIGHLY recommend going to see it.

Time to turn out the turtle light - good night!

100 Things About Me!

2005-06-20T02:14:00.000-04:00

1. I am a copy cat and got the idea for this entry from A Series of Inconsequential Events.
2. I keep a separate blog just for my friends to read and comment on.
3. I have a pet turtle named Mr. Turtle.
4. I do not know if Mr. Turtle is male or female.
5. When I entered college I was a molecular biology major…
6. Then I was a psychology major…
7. Now I am becoming a teacher.
8. I pierced my belly button when I was 19 and I still like it!
9. I am dating a race car driver.
10. I have never liked to talk on the phone.
11. I watch a soap opera, but will deny it fiercely if asked about it.
12. I still sleep with stuffed animals – my childhood bear and the teddy bear my boyfriend gave me.
13. I had braces from 3rd grade to 11th grade.
14. I really enjoy reading science fiction.
15. I’m a nerd and I love it!
16. My favorite TV show is M*A*S*H.
17. I still believe that I can save the world.
18. I play four musical instruments well.
19. I am a news fiend. I read CNN religiously several times a day.
20. My grandparents live in Hershey, PA. You can guess what many of my Christmas presents were!
21. My two favorite soft drinks are Mr. Pibb and Moxie. Neither of which are available where I live.
22. I will try anything once.
23. In high school I was a state champion Envirothoner. My specialties were forestry, wetlands and bird calls.
24. I am 22 years old.
25. Everyone always thinks I look about 16 years old.
26. For some reason, this really bothers me.
27. I hate it when people don’t move over on the sidewalk, so that you have to chose between walking in the mud or getting knocked over.
28. I ::heart:: Broadway Musicals.
29. If I could have any job, I would take over for Alan Alda on Scientific American Frontiers.
30. I am shy when I’m in a group of people, but quite personably when I’m one-on-one with someone.
31. I am terrified of elevators.
32. For my thesis, I fed Crisco to rats so they would become obese.
33. I feel incredibly awkward if I am made to dance. Therefore, I avoid it like the plague.
34. I want a fairy tale romance.
35. I LOVE cartoons – especially anime.
36. I went to the same school district for all 13 years of my public education.
37. I will always be a kid at heart.
38. I enjoy playing board games.
39. I can’t go to the SPCA (animal shelter) because I will take something home and my mother will kill me.
40. For the time being, I’m living at home with my mother.
41. I feel like I’m a huge loser, because all my friends have moved out and are fully employed.
42. I consider myself a world citizen.
43.I sleep under a comforter even if it is the middle of summer and the air conditioning isn’t on.
44. I can keep a secret.
45. However, I love listening to gossip – as long as it isn’t mean.
46. I could be a full time people watcher.
47. I would like to spend a year as a hermit.
48. I have had several carnivorous plants. My mom killed them.
49. I have fractured my hip twice – they were both stress fractures from running cross country.
50. When I was 3, I told my grandparents I wanted to be a mud wrestler.
51. I haven’t mud wrestled but I have J-ELLO wrestled.
52. I plan on being a dedicated (crazy) Princeton alumni.
53. Even though I bitched about having to go to Charter club graduate board meetings as a club officer, I VOLUNTEERED to be on the graduate board this year.
54. I can talk about anything.
55. I’m an only child.
56. I worry when I see middle school girls wearing clothing that is even too risqué for me!
57. I am very, very, very ticklish.
58. I faint whenever I get blood drawn, but not because I’m bothered by the site of blood.
59. I can’t touch my toes.
60. I like listening to the oldies station.
61. I am just learning how to cook.
62. My soul is more important then my wallet.
63. I try to avoid making left turns when I’m driving.
64. One of the musical instruments I play is the carillon.
65. My closest friends have always been boys.
66. BUT, I am still a bit of a gurlie girl.
67. When I retire, I hope to open either a china shop or a book store.
68. My middle name is Claire, after my grandmother.
69. My favorite classes in college were a rock ‘n’ roll history class and a human genetics and public policy class.
70. I wish I had time to learn about EVERYTHING.
71. The only thing that doesn’t really interest me is economics.
72. I have an active imagination.
73. Even though I tend to be sarcastic, I am really a sweetheart deep down inside.
74. I am lucky.
75. I’ve always wanted to travel to Egypt and see the Pyramids.
76. I never understood why anyone would EVER want to pierce their nipples.
77. I wish I had more female friends.
78. This is silly, but I am worried that I won’t be able to have bridesmaids at my wedding.
79. I am not very good at telling jokes.
80. I have a chandelier in my bathtub.
81. As pretty as I think “fancy” shoes are, I wish I could wear sneakers everyday and not be considered a slob.
82. My favorite sweatshirt is bright orange.
83. I can’t say “I love you” unless I really mean it.
84. A high school bf broke up with me because I wouldn’t say it back to him, because it wasn’t true.
85. Sometimes I feel bad about 84.
86. I’m not a fan of the overhead projector.
87. My favorite childhood books include: The Little House on the Prairie Series, The Phantom Tollbooth & The Secret Garden.
88. Now I have too many favorite books to list. The first two that come to mind are Dune and The Sparrow.
89. I want to learn to speak Japanese.
90. I recently purchased a pedometer and have yet to walk to recommended 10,000 steps a day.
91. I have never watched an episode of Seinfeld.
92. I really enjoy playing along with Jeopardy.
93. I always turn the radio off when someone else is in the car with me – makes it easier to talk.
94. I have finally realized that teaching is the correct profession for me.
95. I don’t like the new Hershey bar wrappers. I think the company should keep the original foil and paper packaging.
96. I like going to flea markets.
97. I have a bad habit of judging people based on their cellular phone ringtone.
98. I’m a neat freak.
99. It is currently 2:13 am.
100. I am going to sleep now!

A Super Secret Confession

2005-06-15T22:29:00.000-04:00

Even though I've been doing a lot of reading this summer, I have one guilty television pleasure.

I am addicted to Hell's Kitchen.

I would say that it is almost like Jerry Springer lite. The behavior in this show is absurd! Constant arguing, backtalking and my personal favorite an angry customer dumping her glass of red wine on the table.

Oh my, I can feel my brain turning to mush.

QUIZ-Let

2005-06-12T22:16:00.000-04:00

Your #1 Match: INFJ

The Protector
You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity.Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is.You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience.You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them.
You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

Your #2 Match: INTJ

The Scientist
You have a head for ideas - and you are good at improving systems.Logical and strategic, you prefer for everything in your life to be organized.You tend to be a bit skeptical. You're both critical of yourself and of others.Independent and stubborn, you tend to only befriend those who are a lot like you.
You would make an excellent scientist, engineer, or programmer.

Your #3 Match: ISFJ

The Nurturer
You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal.A good listener, you excell at helping others in practical ways.In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music.You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for.
You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

What's" Your Personality Type?

For Puzzle Lovers!

2005-06-09T13:48:00.000-04:00

Hapland 2

_.::YAWN STRETCH::._

2005-06-09T00:42:00.000-04:00

I will probably not make many friends by writing this, but I have to say that lounging around without any responsibility is fantastic!

Of course, I think it is fair to say that I have earned this month of no real responsibilities. I’ve been spending most of my time reading books for pleasure of my personal summer reading list. After I finish my current book (The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon) I need to re-read my Harry Potter books, so I can prepared for the release of the NEW book in July.

I’ve also been learning to cook. This is a somewhat tricky endeavour, as I’m known by my family as the “one who can’t even make cookies that you slice of a roll.” I’ve been using recipes mainly from MarthStewart.com, and they are actually pretty tasty. My favorite so far has been the almond chicken. The only strange thing, is that her cooking times for meat are really screwy – they are all way too short. Hmm….I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if Martha had some type of super stove!

As my room is the hottest room in the house, it’s time to end this entry and go find something cool to drink (read: gin and tonic).

I'm an Alumni!!

2005-06-04T23:42:00.000-04:00

From now on my posting will be more regular. All the festivities are over now. I could write a really long post about every detail of graduation and reunions, but my words could not do justice to the emotions I felt this past week. I'll keep this post to some of the highlights for the curious.

1. Princeton reunions are AMAZING! The highlight of the weekend was the P-Rade. The classes march from across camp with the oldest alumni marching first and ending with the graduating class (that's me!). Interestingly, for the "sweet" class of 2005 our first march in the P-Rade became a right of passage as the weather unleashed a torrential downpour right as it was our time to march. We were certainly a spectacle! It really is something to have all the alumni cheering you on as you march past.

2. Graduation activities, which last for a few days, were done in a way that only Princeton could accomplish. Everything was incredibly beautiful - from hearing Toni Morrison speak, seeing Yo-Yo Ma, listening to my classmates speak, hearing Graham give his salutatorian speech (in Latin) and finally walking out Fitz-Randolf gate. Just beautiful....

3. Lastly, it was hard to say goodbye to my friends. Even writing about it now I still get a little misty. I know I'll see many of my friends frequently, but it was really difficult for me to say a more permanent farewell to friends like Graham who has enlisted in the U.S. Army and will be starting boot camp next month or Jason who is moving back to Texas or a miriad of other friends who are going across the ocean, far, far away. Hopefully, we'll see each other soon.

Best of luck to those readers who are finishing up the school year. I plan to post details about my summer fellowship for inquiry based science tomorrow or Monday, but for now, Good Night!

Joseph, Cleaning & Inu Yasha

2005-05-22T00:13:00.000-04:00

After completing my last final yesterday I packed to go home and then went to go see Jared's production of Joseph and the Technicolor dream coat at the high school.

I was very impressed with the show! I couldn't believe that a high school student had been in charge of the whole thing. It was professionally done and comparable to the one at the local Playhouse. The only downer was, as usual, the sound system in the auditorium was not working properly. It caused me to add a sound system for the high school to the "if I had a million dollars" list.

For the first time in a very long time, I've been home without anything to do - no school work, no lab, no anything! This means that I have begun the very long process of cleaning out stuff from my room. I have clothing that is from 7th grade. You should see the shorts I got rid of today, they are cutoffs and sit up around my waist - eww, what was I thinking when I bought those?

While I was cleaning I was also watching Inu Yasha on Cartoon Network. Normally, this isn't too exciting, but little did I know the network was broadcasting the MOVIE tonight. Yes folks, I am watching anime and loving it!

Looking forward to my relaxing week and Charlie's visit!

LAST Exam Tomorrow!!!!

2005-05-19T20:23:00.000-04:00

My last exam is tomorrow for my Introduction to Music class. I'll admit I took this class partly because it would be easy for me and partly because I thought it would be a good supplement to my other music classes. Overall, it's been an well taught and interesting class. To prepare for the listening portion of the final, I've been listening to the assignments all day.

I was in the middle of listening to Copland's Appalachian Spring (1944) when a friend knocks on my door to ask why I was listening to the "Rice-a-Roni" song. I explained that it was for my music class. I think exams were getting to him, because his next comment was, "why would Aaron Copland write music for "Rice-a-Roni?" I love my friends.

Against my better judgement I went to the 12:01 am showing of STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH last night. There were a lot of "characters" there, but I had a good time and enjoyed the movie. In my opinion, the only really terrible part of the movie was the romantic dialogue between Hayden Whatshisname and Natalie Portman. I think that it completed the story nicely and was better than the first two combined!

Now I'm off to study with my friend, Mike. Hope everyone is enjoying (cough cough surviving) their last days of school/college/testing/etc.

It's the Little Things

2005-05-18T18:48:00.000-04:00

Today is a lovely day!! Let's check out the mood-o-meter (1 point for each thing I can list that has made me happy today):

1. The Hello Kitty binder a friend gave me.

2. The beautiful weather.

3. Finally realizing how close I am to earning my "stripes."

4. The excitment of going to see the new Star Wars at 12:01 am tomorrow.

5. Counting down the days until Charlie's visit (8!).

6. Having a truly wonderful violin lesson.

7. Finding some spare time to catch up on blog reading.

8. Finding a bag of Hershey's minis at my door from "a friend."

Those are all the things that come to mind. I thought it would be good to write a positive post for a change, since I've been doing a lot of whining, which I honestly don't really enjoy. I still have a bit of studying to do for my VERY LAST exam this Friday, but I want to leave you with this conversation I overheard in the middle school today.

Boy 1: DUDE!! Why can't you hang out with us on Saturday???
Boy 2: 'Cause I'm taking my girlfriend out to dinner and a movie.
Boy 1: That's so gay!!
Boy 2: Yeah Jimmy, going out with my girlfriend, that's real gay. Besides you shouldn't call people that, it's not nice.

I don't know if Boy 2 was being sarcastic or not (personally, I despise the derogatory use of the word "gay"), but I just found his answer very funny. If I had known their names or wasn't just dropping forms off at the office, I would have said something. Oh well, soon enough I'll be able to...

Another Bit of News

2005-05-16T14:33:00.000-04:00

This has been a banner week for education news articles that have made me "uppity."

The evolution debate that is raging in Kansas blows my mind.

I know the nature of science is a long debated topic - heck I took a whole class on "what is science?" - but I do not think that the definition of "a systematic method of continuing investigation" is a good enough. I agree with the "outraged" scientists that teaching super natural explanations for natural phenomena is ludicris.

Regardless of what I believe in this country we have seperation of church and state. If you want to learn about religious explanations for the world, go to church. It is not the responsibility of public schools to teach religion as fact. I think it is very important that children learn about religion in school, but only as a study of what other people might believe. For example, it is difficult to understand various religious wars if you do not know what the different cultures belive. This is not teaching the religion as fact, this is presenting information. The same goes for evolution. It is a theory that many people believe and should be taught as such.

I think I wrote about this before, but when I teach evolution I plan on saying something like the following: We are now going to begin our study of evolution. Evolution is a theory that I will present to you that many people believe. Other people believe that that there is a different reason for the development of the world. I strongly suggest you go home and ask your parents what your family believes.

I think what some people might be afraid of is letting their children come to their own conclusions. There are many things taught in school that children may or may not believe. Evolution is one of them. I say teach them about evolution in school and let them make their own decisions.

If you want your children to hear another view, such as the one posited in the article, take your children to church/synagouge/temple/etc. Where someone WAY more qualified (i.e. minister, rabbi, etc.) can teach your child about another view.

::rant off:: The End.

New York Times Article

2005-05-15T14:08:00.000-04:00

I was going to post about this article from today's Times, but Abigail summed everything up nicely in this post.

I was going to write about why I think the following quote is horrendous, but it really speaks for itself.

The people who couldn't do the engineering, and anything else that required some brain power, became teachers, and they now have $100,000 salaries.

Some people are such jackasses, excuse my language.

2005-05-15T01:17:00.000-04:00

Having an "I can't sleep" kind of night. Taking some Benadryl will hopefully fix that. ;-)

Phew.

2005-05-13T23:03:00.000-04:00

The worst is over. I have one more [easy] academic requirement to complete before I can graduate. I know it's trite but I am really excited to be finished [for the time being], but am sad to leave. I will miss my friends who even though will say they will keep in touch, will not. That is a little pessimistic, but most of my friends are spreading out across the country and even the globe (that's Princeton for you) and we will probably only see each other three days a year at glorious reunions.

(Ok, Ok, I'm not really leaving, I still have one seminar that accompanies my student teaching, but that can hardly be considered college.)

I've also been thinking a lot about my whole future teaching career. AND, hopefully you'll all be glad to hear that I've decided that it is something I really want to do. Furthermore, I had a long chat with one of my favorite high school teachers and she reminded me that there is no rule that says the job we pick right out of college is the job we must keep until we retire. I figure I can definitely teach for a few years and then decide to stick with it or do something else. Problem solved! I feel so much better!!

In other news I've recieved my student teaching placement at MMS (it's a middle school). My teacher prep program had a really nice luncheon so that we could meet our mentors and Ms. C and I really hit it off. This is good, I was really afraid I was going to get some old cranky lady who is just using student teaching to get out of teaching. Furthermore, being the stalker that I am I looked her up on rate my teacher and her students also think she is wonderful. I'm really excited!! I'm even going in to help with cow eye dissections in a few weeks!! AND, since MMS is moving into a new building in September I get to help set up the classroom and all that fun stuff. VERY VERY EXCITED!!!

I'm glad I'm finally out of my funk. I've also really missed reading the other teaching blogs I have linked here. So keep an eye out for my frequent posting from here on out.

xoxo

Teachers are people too...

2005-05-03T23:00:00.000-04:00

It is teacher appreciation week. Everyone should read this post at A Series of Inconsequential Events.

I can imagine that she must be feeling how I've been feeling for the past few weeks. Every since my switch from high school to middle school (which I'm still not really happy about).

Everyone I talk to beats me down about teaching. I don't understand. No one except my one friend (who is going to become a Rabbi)has anything positive to say about my "choice."

I'm really distraught. I hope I perk up soon.

Ok, enough moaning and groaning. Back to writing term papers.

The Amazing Vanishing Melissa

2005-04-25T15:30:00.000-04:00

Where have I been you ask?

Well, I had been working on my thesis. After I finished my thesis the last thing I wanted to do was spend more time in front of my computer. More poor eyeballs needed a rest. Furthermore, the first thing I wanted to do was go take a swim in the Woody Woo Fountain and catch up with some of my friends.

But I'm back! I hope I haven't lost too many of my faithful readers.

College. It just happens.

More later when the sun goes down.

2005-04-18T16:01:00.000-04:00

Taa-Daa!

Issues

2005-04-13T23:19:00.000-04:00

Ugh....having major, major, major second thoughts about this whole teaching thing....

Maybe I should take all these stupid problems with my certification as a sign.....

Or maybe it's just stress talking.....

A little help?

Maybe I just need some theraputic drugs....

An Educational Thesis Dream

2005-04-12T01:13:00.000-04:00

I'm just a....thesis?

Last night I had a dream about my thesis in the form of School House Rock. Not only was it strange that my thesis was talking to me in exactly the same voice the Bill uses AND my entire dream was in cartoon form. I thought dreaming in cartoon form was most unusual. Although, I did look rather stunning as a cartoon...

With the exception of my dream nothing extraordinary has happened in the past few days. Right now, I'm in the midst of putting the finishing touches on my thesis so it can be sent to the binders and turned in to my department. This means that I spend my days couped up in my nerdhole (i.e. my room) mentally cursing at Excel and desperately trying to avoid the temptation to procrastinate.

Sigh...I can't wait until this summer...

Some NCLB Ranting.

2005-04-08T21:14:00.000-04:00

Why can't the public see past the warm, fuzzy title of No Child Left Behind and see the reality? Naturally the goal of all children achieving at the same level is a good one, but it is not realistic.

The most obvious failing of this program is to our wonderful special needs students. Many of these students may never be able to complete high school level work, yet they are still expected to pass the same standardized class as their non-classified classmates. Not only is this frustrating to the student and a waste of their time, but it also belittles any progress they have made.

Furthermore, assessing students soley by standardized testing is ludicris. A one time "bubble test" is a terrible indication of how "educated" a student is. Maybe a very-well educated student is simply a bad test taker or maybe a student isn't feeling well the day of the test. I fear that with NCLB teachers will be forced to teach soley to the test and any real learning will vanish.

Now, with the new flexibility the program is not only underminding the education of the nation's youth, but also undermining itself. Not only does this program promote favoritism of states with higher achievement, but once the states reach this achievement they are given privleges they should already have! The new flexibility claims that states who raise test scores will be able to change how the test students with "milder disabilities." If we really want to "level the playing field" and help all children shouldn't these students already have special arrangements? What about the states that are struggling are they getting additional help because they continue to fail to raise test scores? I don't think so.

The government cannot expect schools/teachers/etc. to change overnight without additional resources (read: TIME AND MONEY).

An aside:
I haven't been able to find much information on this, but I often wonder how other countries address the issue of public education. Are is the achievemnt gap among different races or ethnicities a problem in other countries as well? While we tend to fail our student in the areas of science and mathmatics, students in Japan excel in these areas? What are they doing different...more importantly...what can we change?

//edit//
This is an excellent letter about NCLB.

Intelligence

2005-04-06T20:44:00.000-04:00

Today in educational psychology we were discussing intelligence. We learned about how, as a society, we have completely perverted the purpose of the Stanford-Benet (spelling?) Intelligence Test. We also began a discussion on how much information we want about our students in terms of previous performance, problems, special needs, etc.

My idealistic classmates did not want any information whatsoever on their students for fear that they would pre-judge and treat some students differently from others. They claimed that after two weeks you would know enough information about each student and did not even need a report on each student.

Personally, I thought this view was not realistic. While I wouldn't want to know each student's IQ I definitely want at least some information. If I was not given any information on my students, I would lose an important indicator. For instance, if a student had previously recieved high marks in math and then preceded to fail a math class, I might approach this situation in a different way than I would if the student had always struggled with math. Not that I would see a student as smarter or dumber, a hardworker or a slacker, but that each student might need a different kind of help. Maybe the first student was having family issues and needed more time on assignments or maybe he is confused by a foundation concept. The student has proven that he can succeed at math so there may be a new problem. For the second student, maybe he has always struggled with math and also needs more time and some one on one help. Anyway, my point is that I would treat the students differently if I knew background information about them. However, I don't see treating students differently in this way to be a bad thing --- it's the differentiated classroom!!! I wouldn't hold them to different expectations or act dissapointed in the "good" math student when he failed, I would just approach my methodology differently.

That's that.

In my personal life, I'm still having issues with Paypal. I spent an hour and half on hold with them before I hung up because I had to go to class and I still don't have a resolution to my issue.

I would also like to thank whoever named the Blue Footed Boobie. My high schoolers dissolved into a fit of giggles and couldn't stop talking about "the boobies" for the rest of the class. Oh well, at least they were excited. :-)

Come back down on a spear of silence...

2005-04-05T22:51:00.000-04:00

What a week! I don't think I've ever had so many disappointments! While there were no major diasters this was still a rough week for me, made worse by thesis stress.

1. The jerks at Tufts university refuse to give me my data because they don't feel I've done enough work on the project? EXCUSE ME! I believe that not only did I spend 3 months feeding this rats a very complicated diet, but that I weighed them daily and either mailed them to you live($400 per rat) or did all the work of mailing you their brains! I should clarify that the complicated diet didn't involve a one time mix, oh no, that would be too easy. This was a "cafeteria diet" study which means that rats were eating "people food." Every other day I had to prepare a dishes containing either peanut butter, salami and crisco or chocolate, marshmallows and bananas. This was GROSS!!! I had to scrap out the "leftovers" that were covered in rat hair and salivia, clean the dishes (by hand) and then refill them. To this day I don't eat marshmallows or bananas. I can't believe this, where did these people learn about the way science in academia works? We share!!! Grrrrrr.....

2. The state of NJ doesn't believe that neuroscience is a biological science. I have therefore been forced to change ALL my plans for next year in order to accomadate teaching MIDDLE SCHOOL. I don't want to offend anyone, but I find middle schoolers in groups to be completely obnoxious... Why not just take more classes you say? Because I can't mentally handle that right now and there is no way for me to pay for another year at Princeton. Please tell me nice things about middle school and middle schoolers.....

3. Paypal decided that they were going to limit my account. At first I wasn't too concerned and figured I would make a new account under a different email and all would be fine. However, they will only allow your credit card to be in the system once. "Fine," I though, "I'll just delete the old account." Apparently, when they limit your account you can neither charge things to it nor delete it?!? Furthermore, the error message tells me there is no way for me to appeal the limitation. Did I mention that I didn't DO anything to cause this? I haven't used the account since January and I only charge modestly too it AND I'm paid in full. After spending over an hour on hold for their "service agents" I gave up and sent a rather nasty email. The nasty email made me feel somewhat better. If anyone has any idea how I can fix this, please comment.

4. My home town is underwater...again.

5. My violin lesson, which I look forward to with great joy, was cancelled today.

None of these are the end of the world, but on top of the stress caused by my thesis (and others whining...er...talking about their theses) the combination has made for a very unpleasant week.

Hopefully I'll be in better spirits next time I post.

A Joke

2005-04-04T01:32:00.000-04:00

A little boy was doing his math homework.

He said to himself, "Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven. Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine...." His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, "What are you doing?"
The little boy answered, "I'm doing my math homework, Mom." "And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?" the mother asked. "Yes," he answered.

Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, "What are you teaching my son in math?"
The teacher replied, "Right now, we are learning addition." The mother asked, "And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?" After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, "What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four.

Girls on the Run!

2005-04-02T14:48:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon this website in my internet travels.

I think this is a very neat program for young girls. It teaches them to be strong individuals through running. Of course this running isn't like training for high school cross-country - they will have to run around collecting items for scavenger hunt or skip around a track. It's fun while being non-competitive and good exercise at the same time.

I think it's important to enroll children in some activity after school so that they may develop skills and friendships outside of school. However, I've always been a little turned off by the uber-competitive soccer and little league baseball teams. Often I think the parents push their kids too much sometimes even telling them it is "ok" to not do homework so that they can practice.

To me the GOTR program has the benefits of communtiy soccer league without the pressure of competition.

Stumbling Block

2005-04-01T15:09:00.000-05:00

I am not going to lie. I am upset.

The wonderful state of NJ is not going to accept my neuro classes as a life science. Why you ask? Simply because althoug they are clearly biology courses and are listed as such at most colleges they are listed as psychology courses at my school because that is how the discipline started out.

This is really frustrating. I am not going to be able to student teach this Fall.

Dejected. rejected.

Going to work on my thesis.

Spiders

2005-03-30T18:51:00.000-05:00

This teaching story is too good not to share.

Today in my educational psychology class we were discussing ways in which we could motivate our student to learn and to help foster their own intrinsic motivation. Anyway, my professor told us about a friend of hers who taught (she is now retired) at a school in inner city Philadelphia. She taught kindergarten and first grade.

Now, this next part my ook some of you out, so don't say I didn't warn you.

The first assignment for the year was for each student to bring in a spider. Yes, a spider that they could catch in the park, their house or wherever. It should be noted that the teacher was smart enough to screen the spiders and "remove" the ones that bit or were otherwise unfriendly. After her students brought the spiders into class she released them into the room and let the spiders go about their business. She had her students study the spiders for 6 weeks - they drew the webs, looked up the types of spiders, read charlotte's web, learned about the enviroment and kept journals about them.

This sounds like a neat project. The only downside was the the janitor was not allowed to clean the room for the first 6 weeks of school!

ps - I've added new links.

Interesting Conversation

2005-03-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

I had an interesting conversation today with Nicole (she's a neuro graduate student in my lab). We were talking about how schools don't prepare studnets for life as well as they could. We also talked about how the message in many high schools is that if you do not go to college you are a failure. Of course, high schools never look at which students later drop out of college...

All in all it gave me some interesting things to think about.

Most importantly, how I can make every day I teach a learning experience for my students. And not just a learning experience for the kids that are interested, but also for those who could care less about biology. I'll be the first to admit that it isn't very often that I get a chance to use Mendellian genetics in my everyday (non-teaching) life. What to do? I may have to resort to "tricking" my students into learning. Maybe if I jump up on my desk like a madwoman and start spewing facts, I can get them to learn something....

Student 1: Wow! Did you hear what Mrs. M. did today!?!
Student 2: No...
Student 1: She was jumping on her desk!!!
Student 2: Oh, I don't know she was talking about the steps of cell division, you know...interphase, metaphase...

In my dreams....

Busy Blogger

2005-03-29T14:55:00.000-05:00

Please forgive me for the lack of posting lately.

I've been working constantly on my senior thesis (due 4/18). This takes up the majority of my time and it has gotten to the point where attending a lecture is a "break."

I'm not whining, I'm writing on an interesting topic, it is just taking a lot of time. It is just frustrating to spend soo much time in front of a computer.

I can't wait until April 18th.....

I'm a fellow...

2005-03-25T23:49:00.000-05:00

...a QUEST Fellow!!!

This means that I get to spend my summer with m.s. science teachers chasing monarch butterflies, kayacking in the ocean, collecting/studying marine life and pond hopping. You wouldn't think it would get much better, but I get PAID to do all of this!

The only minor bummer is that I'll be commuting from home everyday, but I think I'll be able to handle a 45 minute drive. Especially with the aid of my trusty iPod.

I'm really excited about my summer now! I'm also really, REALLY, excited about starting my official student teaching in September! Everything that may (or may not) happen after that is causing my a great deal of anxiety. Yikes!

However, I've already decided that I'm not going to worry to much about "it" until I absolutely have to. No use getting in a tizz just yet. :-)

2005-03-24T23:20:00.000-05:00

My Awesome Pet Turtle!!!

Mr. Turtle is a red-earred slider who is about a year and a half old. I rescued him from a form (crazy) roommate. The first time I saw him, he was living in a shoebox and hadn't eaten in weeks! I couldn't let him die so I took him under my wing. I got him a nice warm light and an aquarium...I even took him to the vet to get vitamin A injections.

Today, Mr. Turtle couldn't be happier or healthier. For a turtle he has quite the personality! He gets very "excited" when people talk to him and loves people. He sticks his head out and is outgoing!

Yes, I know...it's a turtle, but you have to admit he is pretty cool!

NCLB

2005-03-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

From Yahoo news:

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites)'s education law is prodding schools to help more needy students, but states will not come close to reaching all the struggling children unless the government spends more and lightens demands, an independent analysis says.

Duh.

An Open Letter

2005-03-22T19:05:00.000-05:00

Dear Parents,

Please calm down. I am a student teacher. This does not make me incompetent. I am a Princeton University student in training to become a teacher. I have taken more than the required number of biology courses for certification and frankly, I know what I'm talking about. Furthermore, I am not even a true student teacher yet. I teach lessons a few times a month. These lessons are approved by my teacher prep. advisor as well as your child's regular teacher. I am not going to scar your children for life and their education is not suffering. If anything, they are more engaged then they usually are simply because I am different from their normal teacher.

Sincerely,

The Pseudo-Student Teacher

What's next?

2005-03-21T19:02:00.000-05:00

Things to Accomplish:

Finish observation write-up on learning and motivation for Wednesday. Started.
Finish reading response for Wednesday. CHECK!
Finish paper on tracking for Wednesday.
Watch Frankenstein for Woody Woo.
Finish editting The Thesis.
Go to the bank.
Work on my teaching portfolio. HAHA. This isn't happening until AFTER April 18th.
Read 432 pages of scientific articles for seminar by next week.
Practice my violin.
Do my LAST observation. Whee!
Prepare for oral exams.
Prepare for Thesis defense.

Those are all the somewhat immediate things that need to be accomplished. Along with daily things like eating, showering and spending quality time talking to Charlie. If I really "put my nose to the grindstone" I should be able to take out a big chunk of it this week.

I hope....

She's BACK!!!!

2005-03-20T22:43:00.000-05:00

::jumps up and down::

I apologize to my faithful readers for not making a single post in the past week! As I mentioned in my previous postings I was in California visiting my s.o., Charlie. I had a wonderful time!!!

When we left the airport, instead of driving to his new apartment we pulled up at a hotel. I gave him a "what is going on?" look and he said, "this is part of your surprise." It turns out that he had taken me to Disneyland!!!! It was so much fun!! AND I was extremelly surprised. He did a great job keeping it a secret!

After Disneyland, we went to his apartment, where I got the chance to relax for most of the week. I sat by the pool during the day and ::gasp:: managed to get a bit of a tan. He works 11 hours a day, 4 days a week so I didn't cook every day. Besides, he is easy to please when it comes to food, and I'm not a terribly chef or anything like that.

It was sad to leave him at the airport, but he'll be coming to visit soon - probably for reunions at the end of May. I can hardly wait.

After a great week, I'm back at school again. It's not too bad. I just wish it were a but warmer...

She's off!

2005-03-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

That's right, I'm off for a much needed bit of R 'n' R in sunny Palm Springs, California. Imagine a whole week of summertime weather and quality time with my Charlie.

It's going to be a glorious, responsibility free week. I can hardly imagine what it will be like not to have to do ANYTHING. Heck, I don't even have to change out of my PJs all week if I don't want to. Not that I would do that :: looks around::

Anyway, I want to thank everyone who left comments on this post of mine. The comments were really insightful and made me realize that 13 is an awfully young age to decide what you want from life. Maybe I didn't think about this because I've always been taught that you don't need to do one thing for your whole life - you need to pick something you'll be happy with for a long time and then if you get bored/don't like it you can do something else.

I'm off to the airport in 3 hours, so I'm going to bed, but...

Never fear loyal readers, when Charlie's at work, I'll have ample time to update my blog in between lounging by the pool and running around town snapping photos.

Great Teaching Day!

2005-03-07T15:31:00.000-05:00

I was invited to my host school a few days ago to give "a guest lecture." I ended up giving the students a brief background on stem cells, then had them work in groups on a different view point - religious groups, government and scientist.

I was really impressed because the students got really involved with the discussion. We ended up going somewhat off the topic of stem cells and into what is life? but that was fine with me. At one point a young man in my class said, " I would kill ten puppies to save one human...h*** I would strangle them myself!"

You can imagine the response this got from the class. While I gave him a look for swearing in class, I recommended that he read some of Peter Singer's books.

MOST impressive of all, was that my mentor emailed me to tell me that she caught this same young man with a Peter Singer book today!!!

Also, I got some really good comments on this post. I plan on responding to them as soon as I finish with midterms this week.

Good Advice

2005-03-04T16:07:00.000-05:00

This is quite possibly the best bit of advice I've heard all year. The author of The Blackboard Jungle. Wrote this in a recent post:

Teach to their potential, not to their performance.

Take Two!

2005-03-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

A second attempt at the opinion piece I wanted to post a few days ago about the bolstering of high school academics. Hopefully this will be as good as the first one I wrote.

I applaud the governors mentioned in the article for realizing that high school academic reform is desperately needed if we are to give students a quality education. However, my problem with this is that the goal is to “better prepare students for college.”

I do not argue that better preparing those students who want to attend college is a bad idea, but what about the students who do not want to go to college? For many students, high school is the last formal education they will receive. Why then should these students be expected to prepare for college?

Why should students who are not going to college have to take, for example, upper level calculus? Obviously, if they want to learn calc they should be able to take the class, but why force them? Why force students to prepare for college that have no interest in attending college? If this is the end of their education why not teach them valuable life skills, such as finance management or etiquette or even child care*.

It is hard enough to get students who want to attend college to understand why they are learning certain material, but at least the line “you’ll need this to get into college or in a college class,” makes sense to them.

In conclusion, I think that we need to be careful in assuming that all students have the same goals. In my dream world, each student would have a custom educational plan tailored to what he or she wanted to do with his or her life. Until then, I do not think that simply preparing students for college is enough; we must also prepare them for life.

* Note: I’m not stereotyping non-college goers, by implying that they are ruder or more likelu to become pregnant, these are just examples.

Blogger, why?

2005-03-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

Blogger just ate my fantastic, insightful, wonderful post about this article on high school reform.

For now, skim the article.

I'll try and salvage what I can of my brilliant opinion piece and post it after class.

In other news, I read that it is Flat Stanley's anniversary.

I Y Flat Stanley.

Dedicated to all Teachers

2005-03-01T14:27:00.000-05:00

I found this over on ReformK12.

I guess it's a good thing that I look upon all those things as a great, big, fun and exciting challenge, rather then an invitation to failure.

Hmmmm....

What is Learning?

2005-02-28T16:54:00.000-05:00

We wrote this in class. Thought I would share it with you. Please forgive the lack of editting since it was only written in about 10 minutes in class.

What is Learning?

A distinction that is not made often enough in our educational system is the difference between recollection and learning. I have observed this misnomer even in the realm of higher education. Frequently, rote memorization replaces actual learning. In my experience, students are often asked to memorize pages of dates and historical persona but this may not be indicative of an understanding of the subject matter. If simply retaining knowledge does not qualify, in my opinion, as learning then what does it mean to learn?

Robert Slavin defines learning in his text Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (2003) as acquiring non-innate abilities. These abilities can range from learning how to ride a bicycle to learning how to perform algebraic equations. I am fond of this definition because it does not relate memorization to learning. I think excluding memorization from the definition is appropriate because young children are able to memorize complicated items, but they do not have a true understanding of what they mean. An anecdotal example is that I was once babysitting a little girl and we sang the alphabet song together. After we had finished singing as asked her if she knew what the letters in the song were for and she replied that they were for singing this particular song. This little girl and memorized the letters of the alphabet, but she had not learned their purpose. In memorizing the alphabet song, she was not acquiring any new skills and thus not truly learning. Of course, many arguments can be made that she was learning how to memorize a song, etc., but I am only referring to the content of the song for this example.

Another feature that I believe is an important indication of whether something is truly learned is the ability to apply the new ability. For example, if one has truly learned physics, as opposed to simply memorizing the mathematical operations, she should be able to apply this knowledge in her college mechanical engineering class. If one is able to apply their new ability to a new scenario, this is learning. Naturally, students will sometimes need assistance from their teacher (especially in the primary grades) in remembering to apply their knowledge to a new problem. Not that the teacher will work systematically through the new problem with the students, but simply reminding them of what specific skill will help them solve the problem. Perhaps if they are still struggling after this hint, then the teacher can step in and be of more assistance.

Where does this leave educators? I believe that it leaves us at a point where we seriously need to reevaluate the ways in which we are assessing our students. In closing, I think it is important not only that educators are aware of the difference between memorization and learning but that we strive to make our students aware as well. This way, they can be partly responsible for their own learning and give valuable feedback on the effectiveness of their teacher’s instruction.

In School Today

2005-02-25T17:01:00.000-05:00

I went into school today. The students were doing a particullarly time consuming and difficult lab. It's the one day a year where the students are required to stay after school to perform this lab. It's a plant transporation lab.

Anyway, I went in to help out and had the following exchange with Ribbon Girl.

RG: Omigosh! Are you ok?
Me: Ummm....yes.....why?
RG: Oh, well it looks live you've been punched in the face...and have two black eyes.....

Clearly, I need to sleep more or wear more makeup.

Is this for prom?

2005-02-24T14:33:00.000-05:00

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this when I've gone shopping for dresses for one of my schools many, many formal occassions.

What can I say, I look about 16. ::shrugs::

I didn't think this would be a large problem for my future teaching career, until I had the following conversation with my teacher prep advisor:

Advisor: I'm glad you've decided to take 401 and do your student teaching as a 9th semester.
Me: Why's that?
Advisor: To be frank, you look so young that any age we can add to your appearence will be helpful.
Me: Oh...

This isn't the only instance where someone has commented to me about my youthful appearence and how it will effect my teaching. However, I haven't noticed a problem. The students were more or less well behaved and respectful during the lessons I've taught so far and I certainly don't dress like a student.

Kate at Behind the Desk wrote a post about dressing professionally. I believe that I do dress professionaly, yet on more than one occassion staff members at my host school have confused me with a student. What student wear's slacks and a blazer? Not many.

In all fairness, I am 5'1" and weigh about 100 lbs. However, I know I look young, it doesn't need to be constantly brought to my attention. Besides my teaching ability is what should be being discussed not my appearence.

And I huffed and I puffed...

2005-02-22T21:53:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness, I'm finally on the mend. Being so wretchedly sick that I was unable to get out of bed was getting old. Not only could I not get out of bed, but my head hurt so much that I couldn't even read! I was forced to entertain myself with daytime televisions. Shudders. I have nothing against the local news or daytime television in modest amounts but when that is the only thing you can entertain yourself with for days at a time it gets old.

How many times do I need to watch people get married on tv? For that matter how many times do I have to listen to women complain about their boyfriend who is sleeping with their half-sisters cousin who also happens to be a transexual? And why must all cartoon characters have such high pitched voices?

I don't mean to complain...WAIT! Yes, I do!

When did television become such a wasteland? When I was in high school there was usually some interesting documentary on the Discovery Channel or The Learning Channel. Now these channels are filled with either car/motorcycle/house building shows or marriage/birth/fashion shows. These channels used to have great stuff on them, especially the Discovery Channel. There would always be a show about some strange animal or a mummy or something that was actually educational and had me "discovering" something.

Anyway, thankfully I can get my head back into my books now. I've already finished my readings for class next week (grins). Now I'm about to go read my current pleasure book. The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature, by Matt Ridley. It doesn't sound like a pleasure book, but it is! It's a laymen's science book, but so far it has been bringing up some interesting questions. For example, is love rational? Maybe...maybe not. Right now I'm leaning towards not.

The reason I don't think love is rational is because my sweetie is driving me crazy - in a good way. He won't let me have my birthday present until my visit during spring break. Furthermore, he won't even tell me what it is other than that it will be a "HUGE" surprise and it's "AWESOME." I know I'm acting like a 3-year-old, but it's really driving me nuts that I don't know what it is. I just can't stop mentally guessing at possibilities. Most of you don't know me personally, so it's difficult to understand why I act this way. Part of it, is that I am an extremelly curious person - which is probably why I'm so interested by the sciences - and NEED to know everything.

Anyway, you all have better things to do then read my ramblings. Go play outside! Or read a book! OR go to bed!

Goodnight.

So sick....

2005-02-20T21:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updating, but this chicky has the flu.....I'm trying to figure out a way to make it through all of my classes this week without passing out.......jeez...cursed 12 week semesters.......

Funny Alert

2005-02-17T23:30:00.000-05:00

Not very professional, but nonetheless...Spread the love. Here.

In other news, I am sick. I blame the girl who spent the entire Monday mus103 lecture coughing on me. It was really gross. I should buy stock in whatever company owns that liquid hand sanitizer stuff...or a bubble...

Should teachers be responsible for teaching morality?

2005-02-16T19:54:00.000-05:00

In an ideal world where every child has loving parents who lavish attention and wisdom upon their children, I would say that teachers are responsible for reinforcing the moral values that children learn at home.

However, don't live in a perfect world. While it may be difficult to "create" moral individuals when we lack parental support, I still think that we need to at the very least be impeccable role models for our students. This is all obvious I guess.

I also think that what we sometimes interpret as immoral behavior can be attributed to extreme apathy on the student's part. They don't care if we call their parents, give them detention, expel them or tell them they are destroying their future. I think this is the root of the morality problem. How did it come to be that people don't care? They don't care for others or even themselves. There are various psychology texts written about teenage gang participation. The overwhelming finding is that these teens have no respect for human life. To them it doesn't matter if they die tomorrow or if they shoot someone and go to jail for the next 30 years. Of course, I am just summarizing the findings, but this is what struck me the most.

I think the question becomes now, "how can we teach students respect for others and appreciation of human life, both their own and others?"

If we knew the answer, I think we would live in a very different world.

TAKE THAT OUT OF YOUR PANTS!!!!!

2005-02-15T21:07:00.000-05:00

My cooperating teacher is really wonderful, because whenever I come in we usually end up kind of team teaching. Obviously she is distributing most of the content, but I always end up helping the kids, especially when we are doing a lab. This is way better than simply observing the class.

Anyway, yesterday was an interesting lab class indeed. Since it was Valentine's Day many of the students had small stuffed animals tucked into their backpacks. At first I thought this was kind of cute and since they weren't being distracted by them they didn't seem to matter.

However, while I was helping some student figure out which of the onion root tip cells were in which phase of mitosis I here the loud chatter that usually accompanies student debauchery. I turn around and one student has his back to me and it appears as though he just told a joke or made a witty comment, so I turn back to the students I was working with. The next thing I know I hear my mentor quite loudly asking this young man to "take that out of your pants!" My curiosity gets the better of me and I turn around and see that he has unzipped his fly and has one of the valentine's stuffed animals (ahem, a banana wearing a shirt that says: I love you a bunch) sticking out of his pants in a very phallic manner. Oh my. He took it out, but was being obnoxious and kept asking why he was being yelled at. This earned him a "see me after school."

I had to leave and go back to college, so I don't know exactly what she said to this young man. How does one say, "you are being yelled at because you put the stuffed animal in your pants to intentionally look like a penis," without being offensive? Hmmm...

Crazy kids.

Houston we have a problem...

2005-02-14T19:54:00.000-05:00

I am not a teacher yet. Better put, I am not fully in the mindset of a teacher.

Last night, I went to a Jesse Malin concert with my friend Nick, his younger brother and his younger brother's friend. Now, his younger brother is probably about 16 (as is his friend). Even so I didn't really realize how much younger they were than I am. In a year I will (hopefully) be in a classroom with 16 year olds. I need to figure out how to seperate myself from my students. I need get to the point where I am not in the position of their friend, but the position of their teacher.

I guess at a concert with friends I don't need to act like a teacher, but I was still really surprised that I didn't even think about it. I guess part of this may have to do with my small high school. I have always been friends with people many years younger or older than I am.

Anyway, I'm going back to school tomorrow for another observation. It's a student shadowing exercise where we are supposed to identify which psychological stage they have reached. Hopefully, it won't be raining tomorrow for my drive.

Good night all.

Long Day

2005-02-11T22:49:00.000-05:00

Oh my...long long day....

And a long, but fun weekend ahead.

Saturday: Charter Initiations

Sunday: Jesse Malin Concert

Somewhere in there I have to do some more work on my portfolio. I really need to write up my annotated bibliography....hmmm....

More posting later.

Feminists are Confused

2005-02-10T20:59:00.000-05:00

My little disclaimer before I start writing this is that I am specifically refer to only the females I actually know who consider themselves feminists.

That having been said, I think they are confused. These ladies are constantly talking about ways we should be closer to men. Naturally, being a woman, I am all for having women being equal to men in every aspect. However, I don't understand why feminst don't rejoice over simply being female (maybe there is a word for this, but I've never heard of one). Personally, I love being female. I love my body, I love that it has curves. I love that someday I will be able to (hopefully) experience the joys of pregnancy and motherhood. I absolutely adore crying at movies. I won't bore you to death with a luadry list, but it suffices to say that I love being a woman.

I just wish feminism could incorporate more of a love of ourselves.

In other news I am drinking IBC rootbeer which I haven't had in years and it is delicious!

Group Peeing?!?

2005-02-09T21:36:00.000-05:00

Today in Ed. Psych. we watched the video companion to the book Preschool in Three Cultures. We only got through the Japanese and Chinese preschools, but it was interesting how an entire culture can be represented by just a small cross section of the population. Even though I plan to teach high school I learned some valuable tidbits from it.

For example, instead of constantly intervening on a child's behalf the teacher will tell them to try and work it out on their own. In one instance, little boy A hit little boy B in the arm. A little girl ran up to little boy B (who had started crying) and reemed him out for playing with little boy A because he knows that he always gets punched in the arm. I thought this was a very adult thing to say for a four year old girl.

I really liked this approach. Especially for high school students. Obviously, little kids hitting each other is different than high schools students fighting, but on a smaller scale it could work. Actually, maybe not. I feel like you would need to have had method of discipline since you were young for it to work. Hmmm.

The only disturbing part of the video was that at the Chinese school they go to the bathroom in a group. No, they don't all go to the restroom and each go into a stall. The students literally squat over a gutter and pee. That was a little strange. However, when I was little I probably wouldn't have cared either....

Little kids are cute.

Hooligan

2005-02-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

I apologize for being a delinquent poster lately, but the first week of second semester at my university is the busiest week all year. No, I'm not entirely talking about schoolwork, but about eating club sign-ins. While normally I always put schoolwork before my eating club, I refuse to do it during sign-ins week. During this week the clubs get the new sophomore members and then we run amok from Sunday to Sunday. It is pure craziness at it's best. Since I was busy every single night and had to do the bare minimum of school work during the day you can hopefully see how blogging got tossed to the wayside.

I'm starting to become concerned that, as my mother calls it, "forward thinking attitude" is going to cause problems for me in my teaching. Obviously, I'll try to reign my personal feelings in, but high school students aren't dumb. What if my students, or a group of students really want to know about evolution? Could I hold an after school interest session and get parent permission forms? I don't want to tell my students what to think, but they cannot possibly make an informed decision unless they have the proper background. For example, stem cell research. Most Americans are opposed to stem cell research, but most Americans also do not have a proper understanding of it. I just do not understand how you can decide on something without knowing anything about it. It would be like proclaiming that you detest sushi without ever having tried it.

My thoughts on teaching become more complicated by the day...oy...

Frustration

2005-02-03T19:28:00.000-05:00

I find it frustrating that the ideals of good teaching demonstrated by my university's teacher prep program are not utilized by all deparments.

I'm not saying that we should do away with lectures, because there is value to being able to learn from a lecture without additional help. However, it is too often that I go to precept and the graduate student in charge says simply, "does anyone have any questions?"

I think a part of me dies every time this happens. No one ever, EVER responds to that question. The class sits there staring blankly into space. This is bad teaching. It doesn't stimulate discussion at all. Furthermore, they ask this same question every week. You think after getting blank looks for a week or two they would change their ways.

Honestly, I think all preceptors should be required (yes, required) to take some sort of basic teaching workshop. Precepts would benefit so much from think/pair/shares and jigsawing, among other things. My best precept was for a history class and the preceptor was an amazing grad. student. She took the intro teach prep class just because she was teaching this precept. We had debates (the class was on the civil war), we jigsawed and it was FUN!!!!

I wish all my precepts for like that.

God this entry was whiny and preachy....I'll do better next time.

I must be NUTS!

2005-01-31T16:48:00.000-05:00

So about a year ago, I got the crazy idea that I wanted to play the violin. This isn't completely nuts seeing as I already play the piano, French horn, carillon and have some voice training. However, I am almost 22 years old. Most violinist start well under the age of ten. Even though the notation and muscianship part of playing the violin isn't proving to be too challenging. The technical aspects are going to drive me nuts for a while. It's frustrating because I know what I need to do and fully understand why I need to practically bend my arm out of my socket to hold my violin correctly, but my muscles just are not cooperating! Professional violinists make it look so EASY!!! However, if you really exam they way you are supposed to hold a violin it is one of the least logical things you will see. It just doesn't look natural to me. Anyway, this is the rant you get after I practice my violin for over an hour....

Summer Homework?

2005-01-28T13:05:00.000-05:00

I read this story today on CNN.com. It's about a student bring a lawsuit against the school to do away with summer homework. Yeesh. I don't know the specifics or exactly how much homework was assigned, but when I was in high school we had summer homework and it was resonable. I didn't have to work on it every day for the entire summer and I even enjoyed it because it kept my brain working throughout the summer so the "breaking-in period" of school was much shorter. The student said that he worked all summer, but I find it hard to believe that he couldn't find a few hours to do this homework. Besides if summer homework wasn't allowed, what about the other school vacations - winter break, thanksgiving break, etc.?

Since when do teenagers think they are so entitled? It is not that they are questioning their teachers that bothers, it's that they don't see the value in what we teachers do. We don't assign homework to be mean (most of the time), we assign it to help them learn.

Bah, I'm cranky today. What is the world coming to?

Melissa's Adventures in Cooking!

2005-01-27T22:40:00.000-05:00

I am a self-confessed cooking ignoramous. Don't believe me? Well, last year I attempted to make cookies for the holidays. The kind that you buy a roll of cookie dough, scoop it onto a cookie sheet, bake and *poof* you are finished! Obviously this product was not designed for the likes of me. My main problem was that I never knew that cookies were supposed to be gooey when you take them out of the oven...I thought they needed to be cooked more. If you don't see where this is going, I can tell you that it was not pretty - they were burnt to a crisp.

Lucky for me the past few days have been nothing like my cookie disaster. The night before last I made Lemon-Parsley Porkchops. These were really good! The only set back was that I had to cook them a little bit longer than the recipe indicated, so dinner was a little late, but that's not a big deal. Last night, I made Almond Crusted Chicken. I liked this even better than the pork chops. I think this was an easier recipe too, since it didn't involve any mincing or zestings of the ingredients. Although this one was much...slippery. The chicken almost got away from me while I was transfering it between the egg dipping bowl to the almond bowl.

Anyway, I'll keep you all updated on my adventures.

From a teaching standpoint, I made a lot of progress on my portfolio today. Instead of being a pile of papers scattered around my desk, it is now contained inside a very professional looking binder. It even has some snazzy clip art on the section dividers - very teacher-ly.

Spiders on DRUGS!!!

2005-01-26T16:27:00.000-05:00

Jason emailed this link today. It's pretty neat. My favorite is the spider exposed to LSD. I would love to use this with students, but am not sure how to work it in. Hmmmm...maybe I'll just link it on my class webpage....plot, plot, plot....

New Edmund's Scientifics Catalog

2005-01-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

I'm like a kid in a candy store when I get this catalog. Microscopes, specimen, slides, large insects sealed in lucite, what could be better than that? Even though I know I am going to be tossed into a classroom and am going to have to use whatever equipment is there, a girl can dream can't she? I hope that whatever I do end up with can at the very least be repaired. I'm pretty crafty with these things afterall. My thesis advisor refuses to throw anything out so I've gotten pretty good at "rigging" scientific equipment.

This past summer I was left to "fix" (i.e. rebuild) an aparatus used to deliver electrical stimulation to rat brains. This was pretty tricky since I had to convert the wall current down to a level that would not inflict brain damage on my rats. Now this thing was from the 1950s and reminded me of the photos of the first {gigantic} computers. It had bare wires hanging out all over the place and half the parts were labeled in GERMAN. Oh my, that was fun.

Hmmm...time for more reflectiong.

Get your specimen!!!

2005-01-24T22:40:00.000-05:00

I got the new Edmund Scientifics in the mail today and was browsing through it - trying to see if there is anything simple I could use in my lessons. I was surprised to learn that a frog (for dissections) costs only $5.95. For some reason I thought these frogs were more expensive. You can also get 8 different creatures (starfish, fish, clam, etc.) in a jar for $14.95.

Somehow I feel enlightened...

Blizzard Views

2005-01-23T23:06:00.000-05:00

As promised some photos of the snow.

Heading into down along River Road

The icy, cold Delaware River.

Heading into town.

Making a snow angel!

And hooray Eagles!!! To the super bowl!!!

"Baby it's cold outside..."

2005-01-23T01:03:00.000-05:00

Somehow I don't think that it is fair that Charlie (the one and only significant other) is luxeriating in Palm Springs and it's 80 degree weather while I (the one in the relationship who is always cold) am here in the middle of a snow storm and 16 degree temperature...grumble grumble. The snow is very pretty and I plan to take some photos tomorrow to post here, but I wish it weren't so cold! To my amusement my desktop weather program uses and thunder crash to signify a blizzard warning...

Anyway, I'm in the middle of assembling the first draft of my portfolio and it is quite an undertaking. I did not expect it do be easy, but the juggling of which paper/reflextion/videos go under which standard and what to do with the ones that fit under multiple areas. It is a bit overwhelming. I'm sure I'll manage and even end up posting bits and pieces of it in here, but that won't happen until I get my act together and finish it.

Anyway, this room is pretty cold so I think this will be the end of my post for today. I wish snowdays for all the overworked teachers out there!

The Differentiated Classroom

2005-01-21T23:17:00.000-05:00

Learning about this was one of my favorite part of my teacher prep. course. I LOVE the idea of allowing students a margin of freedom in how they carry out their learning. For example, some students learn by writing out essays and other students may learn by making flow charts for the information. I definitely plan on incoportating this into my own teaching.

Something I am not as comfortable with is differentiation for ability. I have a hard time figuring out how this benefits the whole class - from the smarties to the students who might need more help. While allowing them some choice in how they are assessed I don't see how it is possible to have everyone benefit. It really sounds like we are heading back to the days of the one room school houses and I'm not sure that is a good thing. First of all, as a "smart kid" I know that if my teacher had some students learning something easier got the same grades that I was getting for learning something more difficult I would be angry. Furthermore, isn't this damaging to the self-esteem of the not-so-smart kids? I would feel pretty bad about myself if I wasn't even allowed to try the more difficult material. Lastly, if I scaled every lesson back so that ever student could understand the material I feel like I would be short changing the whole class for a few students. I really want to have ALL of my students learn something, but I just don't think that the way to do that is to have so many different levels in the same classroom.

Does anyone else feel like this? Can anyone share experiences about this working or not working? I'm just very, very curious, especially since I still have a little while before I become a full time teacher. Thanks!

Intelligent Design?!?

2005-01-20T16:17:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it. The full story is linked here. To summarize a public school district in PA is having its science teachers teach intelligent design along with evolution. To quote from the article:

"The district is believed to be the only one in the nation to require students to hear about intelligent design -- a concept that holds that the universe is so complex, it had to be created by an unspecified guiding force."

Even though teachers and students are not required to hear it, it is still integrating religious beliefs into public education where it really has no place. Actually, that is not entirely true. I remember being fascinated by my World Cultures class, but the religious material was presented more as a comparison - this religion believes this and this other religion believes something different. It wasn't hostile and it wasn't a competition to see which religion was the correct one. Teaching intelligent design directly pits religion against science.

Furthermore, if we have to present a religious viewpoint for evolution then we will have to present religious for other phenomena. What about homosexuality? In high school my classmates would often question the teacher as to why some people were gay. The scientific answer involves a theory about subtle brain differences which is what she would tell the class. However, many religions believe that being gay is "wrong" and that they are going to hell, etc. Will a teacher have to read a statement like that at every tolerance assembly?

Finally, while religion does not play a large part in my life, I understand that it will for many of my students. I do not believe in intelligent design, but many of my students will. Hopefully, I will be able to teach evolution, maybe not extensively, but it is an issue that my students should be aware of. I will probably say something to the effect that this is just one possible way that the world could become what it is today, but there are also other ways it could have happened. I see no need to be specific as to what those other ways are. Then I would present the evidence supporting evolution and let my HIGH SCHOOL students make what they will of it. They can make their own decisions...but I guess that is what so many people are afraid of.

**Note: I am not anti religion, I am just opposed to it in public schools. I'm not on a crusade to erradicate religion I just don't want to be required to teach it in anyway.

How long does it have to be?

2005-01-18T13:04:00.000-05:00

That is the question. The answer according to Ginny is:

"Like a girl's skirt. Short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the topic."

This little gem made my day.

Someday soon, I want to talk about No Child Left Behind and why it does more harm then good, even though it sounds "warm and fuzzy."

That day is not today. Today is the day I finish my studying for my EEB (Evolutionary and Ecological Biology) final exam.

Happy teaching!

Story from the Front

2005-01-13T23:41:00.000-05:00

During the semester my teacher prep classmates and I had to go observe in the local schools. Lucky for us, our observations were more like mini student teaching sessions. Everyone had a pretty good experience. However, there was one mishap.

One of my friends, Sarah, will soon be entering the world of elementary education. Most of her observations went well. However, one day she came to class looking a bit distressed. Our curiousity got the better of us and we ended up spending 15 minutes of class listening to her story. Apparently, she had to pull a student ( a 3rd grader) aside when the class was lining up for recess because he was misbehaving. While she was explaining to him what he had done wrong and was telling him to simmer down. HE BIT HER!!!! This was not just a nip either. He didn't draw blood, but a few days later, Sarah had a wicked bruise in the shape of teeth. I wish I had a photo to share with you, it was pretty impressive. Anyway, Sarah told us that this kid isn't classified or anything like that and he has done this before. The school kept brushing it off. We were shocked. This is bad behavior for any age, but it is completely unacceptable for a 3rd grader!! Jeez.

Lucky for public education, Sarah is still going to become a teacher.

New Title

2005-01-12T20:34:00.000-05:00

I changed the title of my blog to a phrase commonly heard in classrooms around the world.

"When are we ever going to use this?"

Any fellow teachers reading this can hear the exact tone of voice in which this phrase is most often uttered...frightening...