What goes around, comes around again....

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have finished out my junior year at Meredith College. Hard to believe, I know. I cannot believe the direction my life has taken since June 2007 when I graduated high school. There are some things I miss, and others I do not. It has been a long, bumpy, and crazy road, but I would not change one bit of it. I am about to enter my second senior year of my life, and it is quite frightening. While the course-load itself is intimidating, it is the life after May 8, 2011 that scares me the most. While I have ample time to figure this out, there are so many options and I just do not know what will suit me best.

The biggest candidate is graduate school. I do not know where I would want to go. Part of me wants to stay here, in good ol' Raleigh, North Carolina. My two options here would be to go to NCSU (preference) or UNC. NCSU only has a PhD program, which would mean I would be in school for at least another 4-5 years. UNC has Masters degrees, but not as wide of a selection. There are other options like the University of Maryland at College Park, Colorado State University, UNC-Charlotte, etc. It's finding the right fit.Anyway, I'll start talking about what has been going on with me instead of what will happen. Since the last time I posted about my life, and not school, I have done SO many things. I had my first Disney trip. I LOVED IT. I wish I could go back. I got to stay at Saratoga Springs, which was beautiful. We were there for four days and four nights. It was a great trip that I will never forget. Here are some pictures from the trip:
I got my Onyx! For those of you that don't know what that is -- it is the Meredith College class ring. Every Meredith graduate (who is willing or able to buy one) has this ring. It is our signature! I finally got in November of last year after much saving and a few donations (Thank you!). Here is a picture of my ring :)


The other exciting thing I got to do was go to New York City! I went for New Years. This wasn't just the normal NYC trip. We left at 3am on the 31st, drove to Trenton, NJ (catching every bit of snow along the way), caught a train at 10:30am, arrive in NYC at 12:00pm, roamed around for two hours, got lunch/dinner at 2:30/3, and then camped out on 7th Street until 12am. The ball drops, we're all frozen to death, we hit up a McDs to use the restroom, and then it's back to PennStation to catch the train back to Trenton. We get back home at 8am in the morning. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we took a 29 hour trip to NYC. It was stupid, it was fun, but we will never do it again! Haha. I don't have any pictures right now, because there are toooo many and they are too big to load on here. Sad!

Well, I think that's about all the excitement that has happened in the last year. I have two exams before it's time to hit the beach (or, rather, work). I am looking forward to this summer! I have lots of potential plans that I am super stoked about. I am hopefully going to Busch Gardens!!! I haven't been since I went with Puebar during my Sophomore or Junior year in high school. That's a long time! It's my favorite theme park. There are ideas to go to Texas with Tim's family, which would be fun! I might get to see my aunt there! A few of us crazy kids are considering a wild and crazy road trip. I've always wanted to go on one! My friend is working in DC this summer, and I've not been since fifth grade. I really want to go there and to Baltimore to check out the University of Maryland to see if it is where I want to go!

I'm going to try getting better at this! Let me know you're reading! It'll be easier to remember :)

See ya folks!

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:)

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