Ending the Session...

It's weird to think that we've finished our first Cadre Session. Congrats CADRE! We've come so far together and it's only been a short 4 weeks. I want you to truly know that I'm looking forward to the upcoming year with you all. I know friendships have begun to form and I'm so excited to strengthen the bond between us. I'm the lone student from UNK, a small town girl, and it's been a struggle to adjust to Omaha, being in the same town as my fiance, and working through the Cadre Program. I appreciate all of the support (and sympathy) you've given me and I've been attempting to adapt. I know this group will become my biggest support system. I can't wait for the challenge up ahead.

I'm hoping that this year stays as fun as it has been this session. I love how fun each class has been. We're never bored. We're challenged and our instructors have bent over backwards meeting the needs of their students. How lucky are we? We have such great role models as teachers, how could we possibly fail? I love that...I love knowing that my instructions know me as a person and truly want to see me not only succeed...but to truly EXCEL and reach beyond anything we thought imaginable. I hope I can create this type of atmosphere for my students. It will take a lot of hard work and motivation, but with my 6th grade students...is anything ever work?

Tuesday

Well, my morning definitely didn't get off to the best start. Brad is going to pick me up from class today so we can have a picnic and go see Bodies Omaha. We've both been looking forward to using our new picnic basket and finally seeing Bodies. So, Brad offered to wake up early and drive me to class so that we don't have 2 cars downtown. Well something funky was happening on Dodge Street. We got stuck at the light on 78th street for 8 light changes. I'm wish I was exaggerating, but my poor nerves and anxiety started counting. When we finally reached the street Brad turned off and headed to school on Pacific. It was a lot better....but poor Brad. It's not 7:15 and he still has to drive back to Russell Middle School to teach summer class, which starts at 7:45. He tolerated my anxiousness and upset voice beautifully. I think he deserves a medal or something! I knew the day was only going to get better when I was handed my research paper...and I passed! I worked really hard on that paper and I was so nervous about writing my first research paper. I'm definitely leaving this class with a lot more confidence about my research.

Speaking of research...How about that class last night? It definitely makes for a long day...and I ate lunch in my car. Maybe tomorrow I'll go get food instead, although I'm not sure I can afford doing that all summer.

I'm worried about our Proposition for tomorrow. We've had it planned out since last week, but now after participating in 6 different presentations, I feel like ours need vamped up. :o( I still love our idea, but I'd love to incorporate more fun transitions and activities. THat's one of the worst parts about going last...the bar has already been set SO HIGH! I just don't have any new ideas to bring to the table. I'll have to think about it and maybe vamp up my own section of the presentation

First Day...Again

Wow, look at the schedule, I literally have NO BREAK between my Cadre summer classes and the first day of school. In fact, they are overlapping. Man...I hope I can still hit the ground running. I'm pretty sure my "school" running legs will be exhausted by then. I found out who my Cadre associate is and I'm so excited to spend my school year with her. I know this sounds silly, but I'm so thankful that my associate and all of you don't "know" my fiance. He's a wonderful guy, but I want to be know as Julia, not Brad's fiancee. So this is exciting and I've been having a wonderful experience so far as Julia Lyons. It's weird...I'll only be Julia Lyons for 12 more days. Yeah...it's a little freaking to think about.

I have 90% of my tech projects done. Yay. I just need to finish my Mobi and I can email it. YAY.

My instructional strategies are another topic. I only have 1 complete (well...minus my explanation which will probably take the longest to complete.) Although I must admit that I do have them all planned out...so it's a matter of motivating myself to follow through and complete what I can. I also need to work ahead slightly so that I don't have any work due the Monday after my wedding. Fingers crossed I can get it done in time. How awful to spend the first day of married life glue to my computer and textbooks.

Luckily I'm marrying the most amazing man! Ok. Back to class. Hopefully I can keep my eyes open...my body is just exhausted from this weird schedule. I need a brain break! :o)

Calm after the storm

How gorgeous was the weather tonight? Wow. It was so cool outside this evening that my fiance and I enjoyed spending time outside watching Sobe play around the yard. It was nice to have a "relaxing" moment with my fiance since every minute seems to be crammed full of stress and homework. This evening was full of Lit Review finalizing, cooking (ha...I'm praying that it turns out okay for breakfast tomorrow), mobi, and I did manage to squeeze in some exercise as I cleaned the kitchen. I'm thankful that my paper is done and t . hat I have a "handle" on my technology, but I'm a little anxious about the framework. I hope I do a good job on them, but I'm not very comfortable with "short" lesson plans. It will definitely stretch my learning!

Well. I'm going to finish reading my book for my lit circle and then head to bed. Margaritas tomorrow are definitely a must! :o)

Article Three

Study Finds That Online Education Beats the Classroom

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/study-finds-that-online-education-beats-the-classroom/?scp=2&sq=Education&st=Search

Online education has definitely made great gains throughout the last couple of years. Online education used to be based on electronic correspondence, basically just handing in the assignments. Now with web cameras, videos, and embedding online education is changing the way colleges work. Online education allows students to "tailor" education to fit their needs. Also online educations allows students to actually "learn by doing" rather than by watching the teacher, which as we've learned is very beneficial and helpful to the learning process. College campuses will begin to look a lot different as well as college classes. Classes my assume that the learner already know the subject (due to the internet) and will mostly focus on how to apply it in the real world. Wow. What a change of pace.

Skimming through this article at first glance, I was appalled at the title. Further reading revealed that the article is focused on college adults who wanted to further their education. In that instance, I can see how online classes are more effective, mostly because of their "convenience." Adults furthering their education are usually strapped financially, so they have a job. Having a job and possibly a family definitely "get in the way" of the typical classroom learning. Online classes allow the students to work at their own pace and truly be in control of how they learn. I can see how it beats out the typical classroom.

It's great that they can focus the education to real-world problems, but how do they actually learn the information? Social networking? How accurate is that? I believe that online education will definitely change and shape college campuses in the future, but I don't think it's applicable or "beats out" the typical classroom. Teachers help inspire students, encourage teamwork and community, as well as facilitate instruction. Teachers are a great "tool" for students' learning, guiding to answer questions, and overall in helpful for the students. It's weird to ponder if I'll have a job in 10 years, or if teaching will be obsolete itself.

Article Two

http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction

This article is about integrating technology into instruction. To do this, the article states there are four major components of learning that the technology must reach. The first is active engagement. Student must be in engaged with the technology, really capturing their attention. Technology needs to have participation in groups with lots of interaction and peer/teacher feedback. As always, it needs to connect to real-world issues that affect our students. Through technology integration student can practice problem solving skills and real world applications to the "modern" office.

Integrating technology is definitely vital for educators and students, as long as technology is "routine and transparent." I agree that students should be exposed to technology in the classroom. This article did a great job of explaining why/how students work in tandem with technology to improve their education. Technology allows students to grasp understanding not only through text, but also images, videos, and sounds

Reflecting on this article and video embedded within, I love seeing news ways to bring in technology. I often limit myself to what technology I am familiar with and always comes to mind. This article and video reminded me that there is SO MUCH technology "out there" and that I am limiting myself and harming the learning of my students. Who would have thought that bring simple technology, such as a heart rate monitor, could be so beneficial in the classroom--yet I overlooked it because I didn't see it as new and useful technology. I need to give myself more credit for the technology that I DO know, and constantly check blogs, sites, and ask other teachers for new technology. This will constantly stretch my learning and keep my students engaged.

Tuesdays are way worse than Mondays! It was excruciating to wake up at 5:15 this morning. To top it off, I started off this morning with lots of tears. I tried to take a new way to class that would supposedly be "faster" this morning. Needless to say, I got lost, anxious and called my fiance very upset. The poor guy woke up and answered the phone at 6:30 in the morning and attempted to guide me in the right direction. Did I mention how much I hate driving in Omaha! He wonderful guidance led me to a dead end tollbooth. With tears streaming down my face, I informed the attendant that I'm from out of town and lost. Luckily she had me reverse (thank you to the car behind me!) and turn around. So, it's been a terrible-no-good-very-bad-day! But it can only get better right?---By the way...I am NEVER changing my "out of town" plates. Nobody blames the poor country girl from getting lost but everyone will start honking and flipping me off if I have Omaha plates!

Well I have one choice project pretty much complete. I still need to type up a summary of the "Me Glog" or "Me Bag" but all of the hard work is done. Ugh...l need to do my Prezi...AHhh! I'm not Prezi-Savvy and I'm avoiding it at all costs! Thankfully Ross and Skip have put in some "work time" for tomorrow. That's probably what I'll be working on, that way they are available to help me with snafus and my frustration. Ha. Any recommendations on what my Prezi should be about?

To make this no-good-very-bad-day even worse I fell down the muddy hill after class today. Yep, true story. I had my pink backpack, book tote, and a plate full of leftover sandwiches. I'm carefully eyeing my way down the steep hill across the street from Kayser Hall. It's muddy from the mid morning rain. Thinking that I'm indestructible, I start stepping down the slick hill. One hop and a couple trips later I wind up on my butt with sandwiches scattered around me. Awesome. The worst part was that I was meeting my future sister-in-law at the mall right after class. Showing up to anthropologie with a soggy, muddy butt, mud splatters up my leg, and a foot drenched in (now dry) mud will hinder your service. I got plenty of stares...it definitely was the cherry on top of my day. BUT....ending on a positive note, I found a fantastic skirt for the first day of school! :o) I don't care what you say... shopping cures every bad day! Who doesn't love the feeling of a new fabulous outfit? (well... my wallet didn't love it, but I'll be rolling in the dough soon...right?)

Ok, off to change my pants and finish my Glog! (That sound wrong, but whatever)