I've been pretty busy since school started. It's the usual run-to-class, run-to-the-library-to-study, run-to-catch-the-bus-home thing. But I have something new in the mix! It's ELang 105.
ELang 105 is BYU's freshman writing class for international students. It helps international students learn more (or something) about the writing process, academic writing, formatting, plagiarism avoidance, and research. It's a way to get them started on writing without throwing them in over their heads with a teacher whose familiar with second language learners. Then they do their normal advanced writing class in whatever area they are studying.
And I guess that technically ELang 105 isn't new to me. I TA-ed this class for almost 2 years when Alison McMurry was the teacher. I got to do a lot of the same stuff that she did as a teacher, but I started out slow, doing basicly nothing. Alison was my mentor and she organized the class and how it advanced, and she taught me so much about teaching, and teaching this class in particular.
And now I am teaching it! I am teaching a BYU day time course! I teach 3 days a week for an hour, and have office hours 3 hours a week. I am in charge, and I pretty much know what I'm doing, thanks to my great training. We've just finished our 2nd week of class, and it's pretty nice.
I am technically considered a student teacher, since I am still a graduate student. So I don't get my own office. But I do get my own desk (that I only have to share with 2 people) in a student instructor office (that I only share with about 30 people). But this is a great experience for me, to build my instruction skills and to build my resume.
And yes, this class does add to the amount of things I have to do. It does make me busier. But it makes me happier. I enjoy teaching this class more than I enjoy the classes I'm taking right now. And I think that's always how it's going to be. I want to be a great teacher, and I have to take these classes to do that, but my real motivation comes from interaction with students in the classroom and I don't think I'll ever want to move away from that.
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
My first speeding ticket
Yes, I got a speeding ticket about 2 weeks ago. And yes, it was the first one ever in my 10 years of driving. It was my goal to never get a speeding ticket! So I guess it should also have been a goal to not ever speed! :D
I went to pay for the ticket yesterday, and (since I at least want my official record to be perfect) to pay for traffic school, which will erase my ticket from my record. I HATE spending money on things that I won't use, or things that are a complete waste of money, and paying for this ticket felt just like that. Of course, I've learned from this experience, and I've been extremely good the last 2 weeks at setting the cruise control and not giving in to the temptation to speed. But I would much rather have learned this lesson without having to pay for it.
After paying for the ticket, I went to the counter to pay for traffic school. It's going to be a 3 hour class in the evening. I picked the day in September and waited for the dispatcher behind the counter to charge me and get me my receipt. She had been working on it quietly for a minute or two when a man came up to the counter, also looking to pay for traffic school. The other dispatcher talked with him about it, took his credit card, entered his information, and got his receipt for him, and all of that took about 2 minutes. And I looked back at my dispatcher, and she was still entering information into the computer.
I was surprised to see this man walk away with everything complete, and then still have to wait for about 3 minutes for my dispatcher to finish the process. Apparently, I should have chosen to approach the other one. In other words, I chose...poorly.
However, there could be an explanation for the circumstances. Maybe she was trying to get a little schooling in early, and was trying to teach me to not SPEED through the process of setting up traffic school. :D
I went to pay for the ticket yesterday, and (since I at least want my official record to be perfect) to pay for traffic school, which will erase my ticket from my record. I HATE spending money on things that I won't use, or things that are a complete waste of money, and paying for this ticket felt just like that. Of course, I've learned from this experience, and I've been extremely good the last 2 weeks at setting the cruise control and not giving in to the temptation to speed. But I would much rather have learned this lesson without having to pay for it.
After paying for the ticket, I went to the counter to pay for traffic school. It's going to be a 3 hour class in the evening. I picked the day in September and waited for the dispatcher behind the counter to charge me and get me my receipt. She had been working on it quietly for a minute or two when a man came up to the counter, also looking to pay for traffic school. The other dispatcher talked with him about it, took his credit card, entered his information, and got his receipt for him, and all of that took about 2 minutes. And I looked back at my dispatcher, and she was still entering information into the computer.
I was surprised to see this man walk away with everything complete, and then still have to wait for about 3 minutes for my dispatcher to finish the process. Apparently, I should have chosen to approach the other one. In other words, I chose...poorly.
However, there could be an explanation for the circumstances. Maybe she was trying to get a little schooling in early, and was trying to teach me to not SPEED through the process of setting up traffic school. :D
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Semester's End
Well, it's that time again: the semester is coming to a close. My last day of class was Monday. This week I've been finishing a term paper (which I turned in yesterday morning), studying for my two finals that I have to take, working on completing an electronic portfolio with all of my teaching documents from this semester, preparing materials for the class that I'm still teaching (the last day of class at UVU is next Thursday), and getting ready for the classes that I'll teach in the summer. So even though I'm not in class I'm still pretty busy. And then, when I finish a lot of this stuff, Dave will finish classes and be studying for his finals. So the rest of April is going to be pretty busy for us.
And here's a quick inventory of my school year goals, as I am finishing off the school year:
Work Goals:
1. I really enjoyed my work this semester. I was able to tutor quite a bit this semester, which was a good job to have around my busy school schedule. I felt like I worked hard at all 3 of my jobs (TAing, tutoring, and teaching). For the goal I set in January, I was able to stay on top of my work and not get overwhelmed by how busy I was. And now, for the summer, I have arranged to teach 4 different classes, 2 reading classes and 2 writing classes. I'm really looking forward to these classes, because they will be my first classes to teach all by myself. Woot! Now my goal is to be a good teacher for my students. This means scheduling preparation time for myself every day, and using it! I also got quite a bit of feedback from my teaching practicum this semester, and I'm going to set some sub-goals for myself from that feedback so that I can be a better teacher.
School Goals:
2. Of course I don't know what my grades are yet for this semester. But I still have my goal of getting all A's. I feel like my effort in my classes this semester has been A material, so I guess we'll just see if my teachers feel the same way. I still have my electronic portfolio and my two finals to work on, so I am going to put a lot of effort into those for the next 6 days until I am done. And then we'll see what happens!
3. This semester I applied and was accepted into BYU's MA TESOL program. This was one of my major goals for myself, and I'm so glad that I accomplished it. Now my goal for myself this summer is to follow the schedule that my adviser and I have set up for myself in getting parts of my project done.
Personal Goals:
4. Well, I can't say that I've done that well at writing in my journal this semester. But I have started writing in my journal this last week. And it feels so good! It relieves stress, and it reminds me of things that I want to do and accomplish, since I can easily go back and read what I wrote about wanting to do. I've written in it once a day since Sunday. I don't think that I will always journal once a day. But my goal is to write in it at least twice a week. And I think that I'm going to start a teaching journal that will help me reflect each time I teach a class.
5. Dave and I started running about 2-3 times a week this semester. We don't always make it running when we plan to, but it is becoming more of a habit. Dave is really good at remembering this goal, and he even goes running by himself when I don't want to go (I've been a real slacker this week!). We're hoping to keep this up throughout the summer.
6. My lessons in my Primary class have been going much better. I plan each lesson out with specific times that I'm going to move on to the next activity, so that I know if I'm on schedule. And then I've been much better at thinking of lots of activities so that we can move on to something new if the 3-year-olds' attention spans are shorter than I thought they would be. :D This calling is pretty fun, and I am happy!
And here's a quick inventory of my school year goals, as I am finishing off the school year:
Work Goals:
1. I really enjoyed my work this semester. I was able to tutor quite a bit this semester, which was a good job to have around my busy school schedule. I felt like I worked hard at all 3 of my jobs (TAing, tutoring, and teaching). For the goal I set in January, I was able to stay on top of my work and not get overwhelmed by how busy I was. And now, for the summer, I have arranged to teach 4 different classes, 2 reading classes and 2 writing classes. I'm really looking forward to these classes, because they will be my first classes to teach all by myself. Woot! Now my goal is to be a good teacher for my students. This means scheduling preparation time for myself every day, and using it! I also got quite a bit of feedback from my teaching practicum this semester, and I'm going to set some sub-goals for myself from that feedback so that I can be a better teacher.
School Goals:
2. Of course I don't know what my grades are yet for this semester. But I still have my goal of getting all A's. I feel like my effort in my classes this semester has been A material, so I guess we'll just see if my teachers feel the same way. I still have my electronic portfolio and my two finals to work on, so I am going to put a lot of effort into those for the next 6 days until I am done. And then we'll see what happens!
3. This semester I applied and was accepted into BYU's MA TESOL program. This was one of my major goals for myself, and I'm so glad that I accomplished it. Now my goal for myself this summer is to follow the schedule that my adviser and I have set up for myself in getting parts of my project done.
Personal Goals:
4. Well, I can't say that I've done that well at writing in my journal this semester. But I have started writing in my journal this last week. And it feels so good! It relieves stress, and it reminds me of things that I want to do and accomplish, since I can easily go back and read what I wrote about wanting to do. I've written in it once a day since Sunday. I don't think that I will always journal once a day. But my goal is to write in it at least twice a week. And I think that I'm going to start a teaching journal that will help me reflect each time I teach a class.
5. Dave and I started running about 2-3 times a week this semester. We don't always make it running when we plan to, but it is becoming more of a habit. Dave is really good at remembering this goal, and he even goes running by himself when I don't want to go (I've been a real slacker this week!). We're hoping to keep this up throughout the summer.
6. My lessons in my Primary class have been going much better. I plan each lesson out with specific times that I'm going to move on to the next activity, so that I know if I'm on schedule. And then I've been much better at thinking of lots of activities so that we can move on to something new if the 3-year-olds' attention spans are shorter than I thought they would be. :D This calling is pretty fun, and I am happy!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
My First Trial*
I helped Merle Rausche beat the rap! He's been acquitted of murder!
*Our final for my Trial Advocacy class required putting on a court room trial
*Our final for my Trial Advocacy class required putting on a court room trial
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
100k of angst for sale at your neighborhood Art College
Just read a Wall Street Journal article about how parents aren't able to pay for their children to go to school any more because of the recession. I could rant about how parents aren't supposed to help their children get through school, but I'm not going to because I realize that my parents have helped me a ton, even though it wasn't financial.
What I am going to rant about is how many of the children i.e. students interviewed for the article are artists, photographers, or writers. That got me thinking, is it really worth it to go to school to be an artist? I don't know, but if it's anything like getting a Ph.d in history (which I briefly considered) there are no jobs and you love what you do, but then you also have to love living with your parents and eating Ramen noddles. Besides who needs college to be an artist, Rembrandt did not go to college and he painted some fine pieces. Add a six figure college loan to the mix and you've got enough artistic angst to compete with the best artists out there, maybe that's the plan. These kids had such posh and coddled lives before they went to college that they knew they'd need more angst to hack it as an artist so they took on a crushing debt load with no forseeable way to pay it off.
Of course I know law students who do the same thing, they go to third tier law schools, take on 100k in student loans, and then they never pay it off because, frankly, lawyers don't make the kind of money people think they make unless their name ends in Kennedy, especially if they go to a law school with more than 5 words in its name. This makes no sense because the life of a lawyer is so angst filled anyway that there's no need for more angst. In fact lawyers could probably make more money selling extra angst to artists than they can practicing law.
Any insights from angst filled artists?
What I am going to rant about is how many of the children i.e. students interviewed for the article are artists, photographers, or writers. That got me thinking, is it really worth it to go to school to be an artist? I don't know, but if it's anything like getting a Ph.d in history (which I briefly considered) there are no jobs and you love what you do, but then you also have to love living with your parents and eating Ramen noddles. Besides who needs college to be an artist, Rembrandt did not go to college and he painted some fine pieces. Add a six figure college loan to the mix and you've got enough artistic angst to compete with the best artists out there, maybe that's the plan. These kids had such posh and coddled lives before they went to college that they knew they'd need more angst to hack it as an artist so they took on a crushing debt load with no forseeable way to pay it off.
Of course I know law students who do the same thing, they go to third tier law schools, take on 100k in student loans, and then they never pay it off because, frankly, lawyers don't make the kind of money people think they make unless their name ends in Kennedy, especially if they go to a law school with more than 5 words in its name. This makes no sense because the life of a lawyer is so angst filled anyway that there's no need for more angst. In fact lawyers could probably make more money selling extra angst to artists than they can practicing law.
Any insights from angst filled artists?
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
So...sometimes there's a big lull in the blogging
I can't believe that we posted 17 times in February, and only 3 times in March! So crazy!
Dave and I are both really busy. We have some major school assignments coming up, plus work, plus our church callings. Yeah, life has been a little busy.
Last week we had a little bit of a spring break. Dave was really on spring break, and I had lots of my classes canceled during that week. We had to use most of our extra time working on things, but it was a nice little break from the regular strain of classes.
And I really can't wait for this semester to be over!! I am starting to get a little stressed by all of the things that I have to do before it's over, but then at least I won't have to think about them anymore!
Dave and I are both really busy. We have some major school assignments coming up, plus work, plus our church callings. Yeah, life has been a little busy.
Last week we had a little bit of a spring break. Dave was really on spring break, and I had lots of my classes canceled during that week. We had to use most of our extra time working on things, but it was a nice little break from the regular strain of classes.
And I really can't wait for this semester to be over!! I am starting to get a little stressed by all of the things that I have to do before it's over, but then at least I won't have to think about them anymore!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
I was accepted!
Sorry for not updating about this earlier. I found out on Thursday that I was accepted into BYU's TESOL MA program! I'm so, so, so excited! I'll start taking classes in the fall.
Thanks for all of the support that all of you have given me while I've been working on my graduate certificate, and while I've been preparing for the MA. :D
Thanks for all of the support that all of you have given me while I've been working on my graduate certificate, and while I've been preparing for the MA. :D
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
TESOL MA at BYU
I'm supposed to find out today if I made it into the TESOL MA at BYU.
And the anticipation is killing me!!!!!
And the anticipation is killing me!!!!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Reflection on School Year Goals
As the New Year starts, I thought I'd take a look at the school year goals I set back in October.
Work
1. I've done well with my work goal. I worked hard last semester and finished off all of my work for the semester with a bang! And I am starting 2 new jobs this semester! I'm going to be tutoring, and I'll teach a grammar class. There's also a third job that I'm applying for right now, to be a writing tutor. I hope I get it! So, with my 3 (maybe 4) jobs, I am sure going to be busy this semester! My goal now is to stay on top of my work and not get overwhelmed.
School
2. My classes were pretty time intensive last semester, and took a lot of effort. But I'm glad to say that I did very well! I'm looking forward to my classes this semester (we've already had 1 week of class, but the work hasn't really started yet), and I hope to achieve my goal of getting all As!
3. I've already accomplished my sub-goal of finding a project for my masters program. I've written the project proposal and had several people look at it. I've also started my letter of intent, although I'm not as far along with that as I thought I would be by this point. But I'm going to work hard on finishing those two things this week, and I'll have my TESOL MA application turned in by this Friday!
Personal
4 and 5. I have not done well at achieving my personal goals. I haven't journaled or been running once since I set these goals. But I'm going to try again to start these goals. I think that this semester I can get better at both of them. To do this, I'm going to make a reminder for myself, so that I think of these goals more often than once a semester!
Marriage
6. Well, Dave and I were teaching the 13-year-olds. Now he is teaching them by himself and I am teaching in the Primary. I just started teaching the Sunbeams (the 3-year-olds). In my class there are 3 little girls. This makes planning lessons for them really difficult. First of all, they want to be out of their seats and moving around a lot, so the lessons have to take that into account. You have to use a lot of activities to keep their attention. And then the second thing is that there are so few of them that the activities always go so quickly. If we had a few more students the activities would take longer, and then the activities I planned would last the whole hour that I have them. As it is, my lesson went short. I'm going to be teaching again in a couple of weeks, and I'm going to try to plan enough materials to keep the little girls busy and happy the whole time. And since this is now a goal for myself, I'm going to move it to my personal goals.
It has been fun to look back at these goals and reflect on them. I think that I'm going to set some more goals for this year, and try to take an inventory on them at least once a month. Wish me luck!
Work
1. I've done well with my work goal. I worked hard last semester and finished off all of my work for the semester with a bang! And I am starting 2 new jobs this semester! I'm going to be tutoring, and I'll teach a grammar class. There's also a third job that I'm applying for right now, to be a writing tutor. I hope I get it! So, with my 3 (maybe 4) jobs, I am sure going to be busy this semester! My goal now is to stay on top of my work and not get overwhelmed.
School
2. My classes were pretty time intensive last semester, and took a lot of effort. But I'm glad to say that I did very well! I'm looking forward to my classes this semester (we've already had 1 week of class, but the work hasn't really started yet), and I hope to achieve my goal of getting all As!
3. I've already accomplished my sub-goal of finding a project for my masters program. I've written the project proposal and had several people look at it. I've also started my letter of intent, although I'm not as far along with that as I thought I would be by this point. But I'm going to work hard on finishing those two things this week, and I'll have my TESOL MA application turned in by this Friday!
Personal
4 and 5. I have not done well at achieving my personal goals. I haven't journaled or been running once since I set these goals. But I'm going to try again to start these goals. I think that this semester I can get better at both of them. To do this, I'm going to make a reminder for myself, so that I think of these goals more often than once a semester!
Marriage
6. Well, Dave and I were teaching the 13-year-olds. Now he is teaching them by himself and I am teaching in the Primary. I just started teaching the Sunbeams (the 3-year-olds). In my class there are 3 little girls. This makes planning lessons for them really difficult. First of all, they want to be out of their seats and moving around a lot, so the lessons have to take that into account. You have to use a lot of activities to keep their attention. And then the second thing is that there are so few of them that the activities always go so quickly. If we had a few more students the activities would take longer, and then the activities I planned would last the whole hour that I have them. As it is, my lesson went short. I'm going to be teaching again in a couple of weeks, and I'm going to try to plan enough materials to keep the little girls busy and happy the whole time. And since this is now a goal for myself, I'm going to move it to my personal goals.
It has been fun to look back at these goals and reflect on them. I think that I'm going to set some more goals for this year, and try to take an inventory on them at least once a month. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
2009 Highlights
Not all of these happenings are going to be that interesting to read about, but here are some of the things that Dave and I experienced during 2009:
January: Dave and I met on January 3rd at Jason (a mutual friend)'s party. We were both smitten pretty quickly with each other. Dave had 1 extra week of vacation before he started school, a lot of which he spent hanging out with me. Then he kept commuting down to Provo to see me during the next two weeks. We started dating exclusively at the end of the month. Dave was starting his 2nd semester of law school. I was still working for an office on BYU campus where I had worked as a student, but I started new responsibilities because I was no longer in school and could take on extra work.
February: Dave and I went on a road trip to Preston, Idaho. We saw some of the places where the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" was filmed. And we discovered that we liked to spend even long amounts of time with each other! Dave started living at his parents' house in Provo during the weekends, and I bought a car from my grandma so that I could drive up and see Dave in Salt Lake during the week.
March: Dave and I experienced our first real trauma. My mother had a heart attack and I drove to Arizona to see her. I was there for a week, waiting to see how she would recover. Dave called and texted me every day, and we came out of the experience much more attached to each other. I found out that I was admitted into the TESOL certificate program at BYU.
April: Dave and I talked a lot about marriage this month. We discussed what it would mean for us to be attending different schools 40 miles apart. And we continued our courtship. I moved into a house in Provo and continued to enjoy work. And I replaced the alternator in my car.
May: Dave took his finals. Then he proposed! And he had appendicitis. This was a busy month for him. I took care of him, had to replace the fuel pump on my car, and continued working.
June: Dave and I kept preparing for our marriage. Dave took classes during the summer time and worked. And I drove to New York with my friend Emily. Also, Dave and I floated the Provo River and did all kinds of summery things. I'm looking forward to doing that again next year!
July: Dave and I celebrated the 4th of July, hiked, swam, and generally had fun. We sent out our wedding invitations. We read a lot of "Dandelion Wine" together (I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy, pleasant read). And we started moving some of our belongings into our new home.
August: Dave and I got married! We spent about 4 days in Arizona before we got married, then spent our honeymoon in the White Mountains in eastern Arizona. The last night of our honeymoon we camped at Goblin Valley in Utah (I can't believe that no one commented on my post about Goblin Valley, since Dave and I were trying to trick people into thinking that we'd spent our whole honeymoon there). And then at the end of the month I started school!
September: Dave and I started our commuting life style, Dave taking the train to school and me taking the bus to school. And we started to get more settled into married life.
October: I set some goals for the school year. Dave and I babysat my niece and nephews, and decided that it's going to be several years before we have any kids. We fell more in love!
November: Dave and I continued on with school and work. Dave got hired to work at the attorney general's office. And we went to Arizona for our first Thanksgiving together. It was a fun trip.
December: I finished my first semester of grad school! I have one semester left in my certificate program, and I am applying in January to BYU's MA program. Dave and I celebrated our first Christmas together! And we are excited to celebrate our first year of knowing each other on January 3rd, 2010!
January: Dave and I met on January 3rd at Jason (a mutual friend)'s party. We were both smitten pretty quickly with each other. Dave had 1 extra week of vacation before he started school, a lot of which he spent hanging out with me. Then he kept commuting down to Provo to see me during the next two weeks. We started dating exclusively at the end of the month. Dave was starting his 2nd semester of law school. I was still working for an office on BYU campus where I had worked as a student, but I started new responsibilities because I was no longer in school and could take on extra work.
February: Dave and I went on a road trip to Preston, Idaho. We saw some of the places where the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" was filmed. And we discovered that we liked to spend even long amounts of time with each other! Dave started living at his parents' house in Provo during the weekends, and I bought a car from my grandma so that I could drive up and see Dave in Salt Lake during the week.
March: Dave and I experienced our first real trauma. My mother had a heart attack and I drove to Arizona to see her. I was there for a week, waiting to see how she would recover. Dave called and texted me every day, and we came out of the experience much more attached to each other. I found out that I was admitted into the TESOL certificate program at BYU.
April: Dave and I talked a lot about marriage this month. We discussed what it would mean for us to be attending different schools 40 miles apart. And we continued our courtship. I moved into a house in Provo and continued to enjoy work. And I replaced the alternator in my car.
May: Dave took his finals. Then he proposed! And he had appendicitis. This was a busy month for him. I took care of him, had to replace the fuel pump on my car, and continued working.
June: Dave and I kept preparing for our marriage. Dave took classes during the summer time and worked. And I drove to New York with my friend Emily. Also, Dave and I floated the Provo River and did all kinds of summery things. I'm looking forward to doing that again next year!
July: Dave and I celebrated the 4th of July, hiked, swam, and generally had fun. We sent out our wedding invitations. We read a lot of "Dandelion Wine" together (I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy, pleasant read). And we started moving some of our belongings into our new home.
August: Dave and I got married! We spent about 4 days in Arizona before we got married, then spent our honeymoon in the White Mountains in eastern Arizona. The last night of our honeymoon we camped at Goblin Valley in Utah (I can't believe that no one commented on my post about Goblin Valley, since Dave and I were trying to trick people into thinking that we'd spent our whole honeymoon there). And then at the end of the month I started school!
September: Dave and I started our commuting life style, Dave taking the train to school and me taking the bus to school. And we started to get more settled into married life.
October: I set some goals for the school year. Dave and I babysat my niece and nephews, and decided that it's going to be several years before we have any kids. We fell more in love!
November: Dave and I continued on with school and work. Dave got hired to work at the attorney general's office. And we went to Arizona for our first Thanksgiving together. It was a fun trip.
December: I finished my first semester of grad school! I have one semester left in my certificate program, and I am applying in January to BYU's MA program. Dave and I celebrated our first Christmas together! And we are excited to celebrate our first year of knowing each other on January 3rd, 2010!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
When I'm a teacher...
I'm going to give my students review sheets with some direction for their finals preparation. I'm studying for my last final, and I feel so lost! I'm wondering if it's just too much effort to try to organize my notes and figure out what's important and what's REALLY important (i.e. on the final). But life goes on. By this time tomorrow, I'll have at least started my final, and maybe even finished it. So I guess I just need to get back to studying!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Feeling Stupid
Last week I helped host a Graduate Student Society meeting for grad students in the Linguistics/English Language department on BYU campus. We asked some professors to participate, and requested that they tell us what they wished someone would tell their graduate students. This could have anything to do with their thesis/project work; their interactions with their advisor and committee, teachers, and other faculty members; or anything else they thought was important.
One teacher said, "Don't let yourself feel so stupid that you decide to quit." She said that she had felt stupid when she started her program, and that some students feel like they're the only ones and that they don't belong there. I thought that this was an interesting insight, and one that I think will be beneficial for me, as I hope to start my master's next year.
Today, for our assigned reading, my syntax teacher had us read an article which didn't have to do with syntax. It was about feeling stupid. I thought it was a well-written article, and I would recommend anyone to read it. I don't think that it only applies to graduate students. It applies to anyone who is trying to grow to become something beyond what they are.
The concept is that, if we didn't feel stupid, we wouldn't feel pushed to discover. If we felt smart all of the time, that would mean that we hadn't even approached our limits, and that we would never push or expand them. So go out and feel stupid today!! But don't let that feeling make you quit. Let it make you work harder!
One teacher said, "Don't let yourself feel so stupid that you decide to quit." She said that she had felt stupid when she started her program, and that some students feel like they're the only ones and that they don't belong there. I thought that this was an interesting insight, and one that I think will be beneficial for me, as I hope to start my master's next year.
Today, for our assigned reading, my syntax teacher had us read an article which didn't have to do with syntax. It was about feeling stupid. I thought it was a well-written article, and I would recommend anyone to read it. I don't think that it only applies to graduate students. It applies to anyone who is trying to grow to become something beyond what they are.
The concept is that, if we didn't feel stupid, we wouldn't feel pushed to discover. If we felt smart all of the time, that would mean that we hadn't even approached our limits, and that we would never push or expand them. So go out and feel stupid today!! But don't let that feeling make you quit. Let it make you work harder!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
What I've been up to
Dave has been posting a lot frequently. And I like that!
But, to prevent this blog from becoming "Just Life by Dave" I'm going to start posting again!
Life has been a little busy lately. I'm still working and going to school, which really is enough to fill up almost all of my time. I occasionally do things with my husband! :D
And I've also been spending two hours a week watching this cute little guy!
This is Emily's cute little babe, Joshua. They're in Provo for a few weeks so that Emily can finish up her work for her master's, and I get to spend a couple hours a week with him while Emily works with her clients. Here we are together. Joshua looks like he's looking away from the camera in disgust. But actually, he's just waking up, and trying to resist.
And I actually think that Joshua likes me quite well. I just rocked him to sleep!
But, to prevent this blog from becoming "Just Life by Dave" I'm going to start posting again!
Life has been a little busy lately. I'm still working and going to school, which really is enough to fill up almost all of my time. I occasionally do things with my husband! :D
And I've also been spending two hours a week watching this cute little guy!
This is Emily's cute little babe, Joshua. They're in Provo for a few weeks so that Emily can finish up her work for her master's, and I get to spend a couple hours a week with him while Emily works with her clients. Here we are together. Joshua looks like he's looking away from the camera in disgust. But actually, he's just waking up, and trying to resist.
And I actually think that Joshua likes me quite well. I just rocked him to sleep!
Friday, October 9, 2009
School Year Goals
If you remember this post, you'll know that I decided to set some goals for this school year. Here they are:
Work Goals:
1. I will work hard! Next semester, I will possibly be looking for another job, because one of my current jobs conflicts with my class schedule. So I think that I will try to get individual tutoring jobs that I can schedule flexibly around my classes.
School Goals:
2. I will get all As. This is going to be hard. Graduate school has been harder than I thought it would be. But I'm glad that it's hard. I have wanted to go back to school, and I'm willing to put the effort into it. So, all As - that's three this semester and three next semester.
3. I will apply to BYU's MA TESOL program, and be accepted. In order to accomplish this, I'm going to need to do a couple sub-goals:
a. I will find a project that I can do for my masters (They give the option between a thesis and a project.), This will involve talking to a few people down at the ELC to see what needs to be done.
b. I will start writing my letter of intent now, so I can have it looked at and edited by a few people.
Personal Goals:
4. I will journal at least once a week. I blog now, but I can't really say a lot of things on this blog. And blogging on my blog makes me want to read all of the blogs I subscribe to, and that can be a real time-waster during the week.
5. I will run for 20 minutes, three times a week. That is only the commitment of 1 hour per week. I can do that. I need to do that.
Marriage Goals:
6. Dave and I teach the 13-year-olds at church. My goal is that we will prepare good lessons for them that are involving and meaningful.
Work Goals:
1. I will work hard! Next semester, I will possibly be looking for another job, because one of my current jobs conflicts with my class schedule. So I think that I will try to get individual tutoring jobs that I can schedule flexibly around my classes.
School Goals:
2. I will get all As. This is going to be hard. Graduate school has been harder than I thought it would be. But I'm glad that it's hard. I have wanted to go back to school, and I'm willing to put the effort into it. So, all As - that's three this semester and three next semester.
3. I will apply to BYU's MA TESOL program, and be accepted. In order to accomplish this, I'm going to need to do a couple sub-goals:
a. I will find a project that I can do for my masters (They give the option between a thesis and a project.), This will involve talking to a few people down at the ELC to see what needs to be done.
b. I will start writing my letter of intent now, so I can have it looked at and edited by a few people.
Personal Goals:
4. I will journal at least once a week. I blog now, but I can't really say a lot of things on this blog. And blogging on my blog makes me want to read all of the blogs I subscribe to, and that can be a real time-waster during the week.
5. I will run for 20 minutes, three times a week. That is only the commitment of 1 hour per week. I can do that. I need to do that.
Marriage Goals:
6. Dave and I teach the 13-year-olds at church. My goal is that we will prepare good lessons for them that are involving and meaningful.
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