End Of Year

As the semester is coming to an end, all of the work is starting to get packed in . Only 1 more week of classes and then a week of exams and the second semester will be over.  This has been a good first year of college however, it has had its up and dows. Sometimes I have felt myself  wanting to give up, like when the work seems to be overwhelming and you feel as though there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. I think back to high school and realize how easy that actually was compared to college.  I know that I have to keep thinking about and working towards my ultimate goal of becoming an elementary school teacher.   I know that in the end it will all be worth it.  RBC has been a good choice for my first school . I like that the classes are small and the professors  can get to know you and your name. This is something i was looking for in a school.  All in all, the first year has really gone by fast.  Classes have been scheduled for next semester - I can't wait to see what the second year has in store for me.

Boston Tragedy

Stop and take a minute and think about all the acts of violence that has happened in the last few years. We have had the Virginia Tech shooting , The 911 attack , The Sandy Hook shooting ,and now the bomb at the Boston Marathon. What makes someone do this ? With all of these acts of violence do you feel safe where you live or to even go out in public?   I could not imagine what it would feel like to be in the situation that the runners and spectator where put in today.  Can you even begin to imagine how it would feel to not be  able to find family members after the race.  The city is being shut down.  No is allowed to come in or go out. What is happening ?  What is this world coming to?  Will the city of Boston ever be able to have another marathon?  In the next few days, you will see communities coming together to support each other.  The entire country will be joining forces to help the city of Boston recover from this terrible tragedy as they did in the aftermath of the other acts of violence.

dogs

This is Lily . She is a 9 month old lab full of energy . She loves to be in the water any chance she can get . When we got Lily we decided to crate train her. This is the best way to go I think. She is very smart and loves to play fetch . We started off teacher her to retrieve a training dummy at short distances . She will now do blind retrieves and also retrieve from the water . She loves people and likes attention. If you are not paying attention to her she will come jump in your lap. Lily likes to ride in the car. I have a special seat cover and car seat for her so she will not get hurt. Once we get her hips registered when she is 2 years old , we plan to breed her. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a dog like Lily .

Cheating

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOK5VRehEHg check this video out about cheating . How do you feel about it ? Is it right or wrong ? what do you think about the video ?

Education

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/education/studies-show-more-students-cheat-even-high-achievers.html?_r=0
 For the reading this week i found an article about cheating . check it out

Introduction

Today in class we talked about how to start a paper.  This was very helpful.  Here are a few examples that we talked about:  Some good ways to start your essay are: 1. great/amazing quote   2.   story          3 . personal experience      4. opinion.
 Next, Mr. Sweeny passed out some handouts and wanted us to get in small groups and write an intro about   " mosh pits."   We could write if we were for or against it.  Then,  the class went around and we got to hear everyone's intro sentences .
This way a great way to hear how everyone varied their introductions on the same topic.  This was a fun way to learn this concept rather than just hearing a lecture on the subject.

todays class

 

Today in class we filled the white board up with topics for our second essay on crime and punishment . 

brainstorming

When thinking what I was going to write about for the first essay, I had no idea what I was going to write.  My mind kept drawing a blank.  Mr. Sweeney got to the class to fill up the white board in the classroom with topics that we could write our papers on.  Even though this took an entire class period,  brainstorming in this manner was very beneficial.  I could eliminate topics that I didn't like and focus on the ones that interested me.  This helped so much with the planning of the paper.  Once I had my topic decided on, the writing went pretty smoothly. Then, having a classmate check over our rough drafts was also very helpful in making sure that when I submit my final paper, it will be the best that it can be with no errors.

Topics

This week we still had to finish picking out  our writing topics for class.  Things got a litttle stressful and the class thought that they would never be able to pick a topic. After dabating for 30 to 40 minutes, we finally reached our decision. When we returned to class, Mr .Sweeney gave the class a quiz letting the class know why he chose this assignment . The class the worked together and did the quiz coming up with what worked to pick the topic and what didnt work. He wanted us to realize how using these strategies would work and how we will continue to use this in everyday life. We realized that  any time we make a choice we use the strategies of discussing and rationalizing.  This assignment also gave us the opportunity to get to know our classmates better.
Have a great day :)

writing topics

The class was asked to write a  weekly blog and to comment on other students blogs too . Trying to think of something to write about hasn't been as hard as I thought . The last class we had, the students were asked to pick 3 topics . Who knew that would be so hard?   The class could  only decide on one topic . Who knew that picking topics would cause so much fuss in the classroom? While sitting there I noticed that students said they didn't want to write about something, but they never really said why.  Everyone kept going back and forth but could never agree on anything!  So we left class undecided about what our second and third topics would be.  Maybe since everyone has had a few days to think about it, the decision will be a little easier when we return to class.   Enjoy the snow everyone!