What have I learned?

EDU 241 has come to an end. I've learned to use so many programs in class. Before I took this class, I only ever thought about using powerpoint or similar programs in the classroom. Now that I've finished the class, I've learned that there are so many programs and methods to use. I think my favorite was the WebQuest. It is really interesting to pull together research and a lesson plan to create an internet scavenger hunt for students to do. I also think the database information is really useful. Databases can be used for everything and anything, not just teaching. This class has been very useful in my knowledge of technology and educational methods.

Powerpoints and Webquests?!

During the last week, and for the duration of the semester, we have worked on creating effective powerpoints and making webquests for our "students." This is actually a lot of fun. It's basically a scavenger hunt about a specific topic, but the students end up creating a final product to reflect on what they learned.

The crazy thing about powerpoints is that there is a "right" way to do it. It is not just piling stuff onto a page to present. It actually need to be thought through. Color schemes and choice of words are important for these kinds of documents

It is very interesting to learn about the different methods of learning, especially regarding technology.

Digital Story Telling Cont.

I mentioned last week that we learned to make digital stories. Well, I just turned in my assignment the other night. Let me tell you -- writing stories an portraying them through images is not as easy as it sounds! You have to make sure that you convey the right emotion and idea! It was really interesting to see the final work. After seeing the final product, I really think that it would be a fun project to assign students. Not only does it teach them another method through which to present and use technology, but it also gives them a way to take their ideas and thoughts and put them into a movie.

Digital Story Telling

This week we learned how to make digital stories with a new software. It's actually a lot of fun. Our assignment is to make a story discussing internet safety. While we are using it for a more serious topic, it can also be used for lighter and more entertaining purposes. I had an assignment similar to this one for my EDU 232 course. We had the option of using PhotoStory to explain our philosophy of education. I didn't use this, but the ones that I did were amazing. I think this is a great way to do any kind of presentation or share a story.

I think that this would be fun for students as well. This could be used for any year in grade school. High school students could use it to make presentations, and elementary school students could use this to make their own stories or to retell another story.

I think that this is a great program and it is really easy to use!

Technologically Advanced

This week I have learned to use a few new programs! They are both tools for education, but can be used for various purposes. I have to make a webpage for my education class, and it is turning out to be harder than I expected. One of the programs that I learned to use this week was Microsoft Expressions. It is a very useful tool for this project. I have not completely learned how to use it, but practice makes perfect! Prior to working on the actual webpage, I used Inspiration to make a "story" or rather an outline. The program is pretty cool! I can add different clip-art to emphasize or represent my story. These programs, especially Microsoft Expression, can be used in my professional career. They can be used in my own preparation for classes, or the students, especially if I teach high school students, can use if for projects. Learning how to use these programs will hopefully help me to integrate technology in an effective and creative way.

Four score and seven years ago....

Yes, it has been forever since I last updated. Life has been a crazy jumbled-up mess since August. Right before school started I was at Disney. These are my two excuses! Take them or leave them!

I will post stories, pictures, etc. after the next few events and I'll take it all out in one sweep. This month is..... White Iris Ball, my 21st birthday, Ring Dinner/Week, Meredith and a Movie, and Cornhuskin' soon after. I will explain all of these in turn after each event has passed. Until then, I'm going to meetings, practices, and work all in one day!

The other thing I wanted to inform you all of is the fact that I will be posting on here more frequently for a class. Yes.... my homework is to blog once a week. You will be hearing from me on a more academic basis for the next month or so. Doing this will, hopefully, allow me to post my pictures and stories in between homework assignments!

Well, that's it! Just wanted to give you all a mini-update! I'm alive! I swear:)

Don't forget to get your daily dose of CORN!

Sweet Summertime....

Surprise! I know, this is probably causing a coronary for all of you, but, yes, I am updating!! Wooo!

Well, not much has happened since I last updated! I've been working for the family I live with. I help the dad run his business. Woo hoo! This job also includes doing odds and ends around the house too. The biggest project of the summer, so far, has been painting the rooms around the Welsh's house. That was a HUGE hassle. I commend and empathize with those who've had to endure this wretched process. One of the rooms had wallpaper. Not the whole room, but a border. Better, yes, but still the worst thing ever. No matter how cute it is, or how much my children as for it, I WILL NOT put wallpaper in any room. Haha. Anyway -- the first
room took about 14 hours total -- one of the smallest rooms in the house. Yes. That's right. Stupid wallpaper. The second room was a gigantic FROG (family room over garage) with vaulted ceilings. Marvelous. Still, It only took about 6 hours to do, and I did it over a period of two days. After that, I took a break for a day or two, and then painted my room. I was sick of painting at this point, so I didn't put as much care and caution into my room -- so it's not perfect, but it is so much better than the stark white walls!! Here are some pictures of the FROG and my room:


FROG


My Room
Since then I've been to the beach:) Woo hoo!!! I went with my roommate, Jamie, and our friend, Eva. We had a great time. We drove down to Jamie's beach house at Holden Beach, NC. It was really hot down there, but it was worth the trip! Being only 30 minutes away, Tim came to visit! It was great to see him. We've only seen each other two or three times this summer, so it's always nice to fit in as much time as possible together!! The four of us went to the Provision Company for lunch. For those of you who do not know what this is, you are missing out. It's know for its seafood, but I love it for their cheeseburgers! I finally was able to get a t-shirt this time around:) Oh, and a koozie (or cozies, as I heard them called today). After spending about 4 hours on the beach (and minimal burns!) we went back to Lumberton to Jamie's house for the night. The next day we went to the pool for a few hours and then Eva and I headed back to Raleigh. It was my first beach trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Me, Jamie, Eva


Me, Jamie


Tim, Me


This summer has been about friendships. I've not spent much time keeping up with my high school, or college friends, really, so I've been hanging out with a lot of people that I've missed. I went shopping with Lauren last week for her birthday and for my trip to Disney World (t-twelve days!). It was a lot of fun!!! I haven't been on a true shopping spree since high school! Woo hoo! I've also gone out with Rachel, Annelise, Dustin, Livi, and a few other people. It's been a lot of fun, and really interesting to see where people are in their lives! Two years may not seem like a lot of time, but it really, and truly is.

Well, time is flying, but I can't say that I'm complaining. Summer is almost halfway over, and the end couldn't come fast enough. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is my chaotic schedule. I don't really know what to expect for the fall semester. I've already begun to feel the repercussions of my decision to get involved in everything possible next year... whew. We'll see what happens!!

Well, I'm zonked. I was up until 4am reading the last of the Harry Potter series. It's a tradition I had in high school, reading the series over again before every movie/book, but I stopped after senior year. So, I thought it was time to do it again. I have enjoyed the books more this time than any other time I remember reading them:)

On that note, I'm going to take a nap!!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the weather wherever you may be:)

xxoo

I got sucked up by a tornado.... yeah, that's it.

Sorry for the long empty void that is my lack of posting. I started about five posts, and then got caught up in something else.

Well, it's summer. It has been for about three weeks now. I can't say I'm thoroughly thrilled about it, but, hey, at least it's a break.

The last few months of school went by faster than expected. Some of my classes nearly killed me (Education mainly), but I made it through! I made a 93 on my EPG project (semester long project) and came out of the semester with a 3.6 average!! Highest yet!!! I'm workin' my way up. I was thrilled not to have a single C this semester(considering I had two last semester!! YIKES!)

Class day was amazing. For those who don't know what that is: It is another tradition at Meredith College (Yes! Another tradition!) The sophomore class and the senior class practice special songs dedicated to their sister class. The sophomore classes get up at 4am to go pick Ivy. We all meet for breakfast and then begin wrapping the ivy around a long, thick, heavy rope. After that's done, we put daisies in the ivy. These two things are called daisy chains. The sophomores carry in the daisy chain at the beginning of the class day ceremony. The ceremony honors the seniors, and allows them to reminisce their four years at Meredith. It's really emotional, but fun too. At the end of the ceremony the Sophomores carry the daisy chains into the center of the amphitheater (will post pictures below) and form the senior class' graduating year. It's a lot of fun and really exciting to think I will be there in less than two years now!! Oh and the two classes wear ALL WHITE... no other color whatsoever.

I went to graduation the following day, and then it was time to move out!! It was really sad, actually. I forget how sad it is to leave every year. I always look forward to it, but at the same time it's sad saying goodbye to a year of memories.

After I moved out, I was only gone a day before heading back to MC. I signed up to go to LeaderShape. This was a week long retreat at Fort Caswell, North Carolina. It was really exciting for two reasons. 1) I lived on Oak Island (where Fort Caswell is) for the first year of my life, and 2) because i gained some amazing skills, insights, and friendships that will hopefully last forever!!


Since then, I have just been hanging around Raleigh. Since most of my friends live out of town, I don't really have much to do. I've been trying to find a job, and I kind of found one. I work for the family I live with. That's given me a little bit of money. Hopefully, something else will turn up!

Well, that's about all I have!! I hope that everything is going well for everyone. I will do my best to post again soon!!!
This is the group I picked ivy with!!

Jamie (my roommate) and I working on the ivy part of the chain

This is the Daisy Chain after we finished it!!!


This is the sophomore class walking the daisy chain to the center of the amphitheater, and the seniors circling around


This is what it looks like at the very end!!! This is where everyone cried:)
Oh, and after they raised their arms up, they count to "9" and destroy everything.
Yes.... 7 hours of work, destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Jamie, Megan(Jamie's sister), MaryAnne(Megan's friend), Meredith (Megan's friend), and Myself. I will miss these ladies!!!!


Me, Hillary(My big sis), Sarah (My grand big sis, Hillary's big sis)
I miss miss Hillary so, so, so, so much:(

And let the countdown begin....

Hello fellow bloggers,

Well, by the magic instilled within me, I am somehow blogging exactly a month since I last posted. I do not do this intentionally -- I guess it's just my brain's functioning status at the end of each month. It's not hard to believe considering I become more and more wiped out at the end of each week. It's the last home-stretch though! Woop!

Nothing too exciting has been going on. It's been the usual stuff. Meetings, classes, tons of work. I think Tim and I have spent an average of 5 hours in the library every night. It's our new home. We just reserve a study room, go in with our stuff, and camp out until we can't keep our eyes open any longer. It's been helping, but I have been loosing a lot of sleep.

Tim and I have been working really hard to get into shape. I think it sucks that last year I didn't do anything, but I lost 20 pounds (of course, I gained that and more back). This semester, Tim and I have been going to the gym every day. We've been running, doing weights, ab workouts, swimming, and our personal favorite, racket ball, but I'm not losing anything. In fact, I gained about two pounds since we started. Explain this please?! Despite that disappointing bit of information, it does feel really good.

I've been doing pretty well in school. I got a Stats test back today: 97! I was so stoked. The average was an 74 I think. It felt really good. I studied my poor little brains out for that test. He said it was the hardest test too, so that's even more. My other classes are whooping my butt. I'm working really hard, though. If I can just make it through the next two weeks, then I will be okay. I really want to make at least a B in every class. That is more than achievable, I hope. There's only one class that I really worry about.

Umm. I'm not really sure what else there is to say. I applied for a job at Build-A-Bear. That seemed like a real potential. I got called back, and had to go in to take a test. I'm waiting for the results now. We'll see what happens. I really want it though. I'm trying to go to Disney this summer. I haven't been within my memory, so I really want to be able to do that. If I can't do that, then I will either save money to go on a road trip, or just use it for my Onyx next year:)

Well, I've got more work to do than I've ever had to do before. So -- I'm off to drown myself in it:)

Until next month!

Tradtion. Tradition!

Well helloooo,

Once again, it's been forever since I last wrote a blog update. I know. I'm such a slacker. I can't keep up with this thing. There isn't enough interesting happenings in my life. I'm just boring:)

Let's see. The last time I updated was a month ago. What happened within the last month?!

I think I mentioned last time that I was getting ready for a sort of leadership conference. Well, after a week from you know where, we finally made it to the conference. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I took full advantage of being away from school and being in a place where I knew next to no one. I met a lot of people, and, most importantly, I learned a lot about leadership. It was very inspirational:) Plus, I grew closer to the girls in my group! This is all of us:




Let's see. Because of my leadership hype, I started considering all the positions I would like to go for next year. I'm pretty stoked. I really don't want to overdo myself. I feel like I've done too much this semester. I'm applying to be a co-chair at one of the biggest events at Meredith. It's called the White Iris ball. It's a dance in the fall, and it always falls on my birthday -- so that's exciting:)

School has been going okay, otherwise. My grades are the best they've been despite the fact that these are the hardest classes I've taken. I've got three As, two Bs, and one grade that is TBA. I have no idea what I have in there, because we've not received any grades back. I'm assuming it's about a B though. The TBA grade and one of my B classes are the hardest classes I've ever taken at Meredith. They are thoroughly kicking my butt. I think part of this reason is that I'm taking three really hard classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This means that I have two days of work, per class, per day. Yeah -- that amounts to 6 days of class in just one 24 hour period. Keeping up with the work is so so so hard. I'm doing the best I can, though:)

I declared my first major the other day. Psychology! Yes, this may come as a surprise to those of you who though I was just doing Spanish. I am also doing psychology. I am torn between teaching and counseling. I figure that this way I'll have a choice:) I did the math after I delcared, and if I take at least 13 credit hours for the next four semesters, I'll be able to graduate as a double major with a licensure... ON TIME:) Yeah, that's right. I'm a beast:) I might have done my math wrong, so we'll see. Either way, I should be fine:)

Well, that's about it. It's been really chaotic despite how it may appear in this post. I'm officially on spring break now -- and I can tell. My brain is not functioning any more. It's my week to relax, so I'm going to do just that:)

I hope everyone is having an awesome year thus far!

xxoo

PS. We got our Meredith charms! It's a tradition here at Meredith to get a charm that says MC and your graduation year. You get it you sophomore year! Next year is our class ring, aka the Onyx. It's signature for Meredith. So if anyone wants to help pitch in for my ring, let me know. It's about 465, I think I totalled. I will take anything that anyone can offer:) Thanks in advance:)

This is a picture of the charm, except it says "MC '11" on it: (the charm is HUGE in person)

This is a picture of the Onyx:) I CAN'T WAIT!: (I'd get white gold)

And so it begins....

Hello again!

It's been a little while since I last updated. I'm four teeth short since I last talked to you all. Yes, that is correct. I had the wisdom teeth extracted. I didn't experience hardly any pain. I did get to experience the pampering which was exceptionally nice! I lived off smoothies for a day -- then mash potatoes and mac'n'cheese the second day, and was back on "human" food by the beginning of the third day. A speedy recovery from what I hear.

I've been in school for nearly three weeks now. Things have been going pretty well. I'm already doing better than I was this time last semester, so that's good. I am so busy though. I think I might be in over my head. We will see though. It should calm down a lot after next weekend. I love almost all my classes. I'm taking my first education class. It's amazing. I don't really know anyone in the class very well, but the whole class is a project. We have to make a real proposal for a school. We have to become best friends with the principal of the school basically. I'm excited. It's going to be hard, but I can't help but be excited about my first experiences as a potential teacher.

I filled out the forms today to declare my majors as Psychology and Spanish Education. Woo!

My family, Ana, Kaitlin, and I have been looking for apartments to live in next year. It's a new feeling looking for my own place. It's cool! I feel a lot older, even though I've been living on my own for two years. It'll be nice to not have to move ALL the time.

Nothing else has been going on, really. Tim and I have been dating for nearly 13 months now. that's a huge accomplishment in itself. Yay! We're hoping for another year;)

Well, it's almost 1:30 and I've still got a TON of work to do. Welcome to my life.....

I'll update again soon.

xxoo