Last Blog-to Dr. Ries

Dear Dr. Ries
I enjoyed this class very much.  Not only did I learn some very fun projects I could use with my students, but I became more tech savy.   I really enjoyed blogging over the semester, it's something that I had never tried and now I love it!  I will definitly continue blogging over the summer.  Not only is it a great way to communicate with my friends, but also my students! I have never used photostory before and I found it to be very fun. It is a great way to get to know your students as well as a great ice-breaker for someone who is shy and doesn't like talking in front of people.  This way, they can still communicate their likes and dislikes without feeling anxious.

Also,delicious that I have created and added to over the semester has grown and I have found some very interesting sites that I will definitly use in the future.  I can see myself using comic life to have my students create a story of how to solve an equation or anything of that sort.

While using EnGrade, I found it very interesting that I was able to enter in all of my students informtion.  It is an easy way for students and parents to be able to keep tabs on all of their assignments and also an easy way to communicat with my students and their parents.  If they have a question about a grade they received, they can send me a message.  Also, if they missed any assigments they are able to look at what they have missed.

The articles that we read in class have opened me up to a lot of websites that I never would have used before.  For example, I am thinking of getting a twitter account so that I can communicate with my students on a more open level.  They will be able to look at my twitter feed and see what the homework was, or maybe what topics they used in class.  The possibillities are endless.

I have also learned a lot about Smart Board from this class.  I watched as you did some fun things on the Smart Board and it inspired me to do some things with it in the class that I am observing for Ed 348.

Thank you for a great semester and hopefully our paths will cross again in the future!

Summer is so close you can smell the salt air....

Only 2 finals, 2 tests, and 1 project keeps me from summer and I am getting so anxious!!! I have been enjoying this nice weather by playing a lot of tennis and laying out under the sun to get my base tan going!  I am actually excited for bathingsuit season for once!!  My friend just gave me a cute new bathinsuit and I can't wait to wear it at the beach :)

This Thursday, after my night class, I will be driving home.  This Friday is my BEST friend's graduation from Rowan University (where did the years go!?!?!?)  I amso excited to see her graduate.  We've both wanted to be teachers since we were very young.  I remember playing school in her basement.  We had a chalkboard, desks, books, a computer, everything.  It was so fun.  Recently she had to put her horse to sleep.  This is the second time this has happened to her.  Her first horse, Stubs, had to be put to sleep because his leg was broken so badly they couldn't heal it :( This time, her second horse, Sonny, had to be put to sleep because he had cancer.  He was very old.  There were so many memories with these horses and to see Sonny dying from old age and cancer just reminds me how fast life is really going by.  It feels like yesterday when Kim and I were swimming in her pool, I remember when she got her liscence, and I remember when she started college.  It makes me sad to think that her and I have been apart for some time and haven't really been too involved in each others lives.  On the other hand, we still stay in touch and as close as ever.

Back to something not quite so sappy....In good news...school is almost done!!!!!!!!  Sunday is the big day.  I have mixed emotions for my race.  On one hand, it's my first half marathon and am VERY excited.  I know that I am ready for race day, now all I need to do is make sure my body is at 100% for the race.  That means drinking lots of water, eating a lot of carbs, and getting a lot of sleep this week.  I'm also very nervous.  It is my FIRST half-marathon.  I know that I will cry when I cross the finish line.  All of the hard work and sacrifices I've made to train for this half will all be worth it as soon as I cross the finish line, where everyone will be chearing, and receive my medel.

How will everyone spend their summer!? Anyone doing anything fun? Vacations? Sporting Events? BBQ's?

may 5, 2011

Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone!!!!  This week has been veryyyy uneventful.  not a lot of running.  Next weekend is the big race on sunday.  sooo excited for that!!   the week after that is finals week so i will be studying very hard for all the finals i will have (uhg)  i know everyone else will be studying a lot too!  This weekend im going home sat-sun to surprise my mom for mothers day. i know she'll be very excited to see me!  i am very tired right now so i am going to stop blogging

Good luck caldwell softball in your tournament this weekend!

Nothing new

So nothing new has really been going on during the past few days.  My life is pretty much boring.  I've been studying for a Calc test I have tomorrow and than I have to start my field experience journal for education.  This should be interesting because I didn't take a lot of notes while observing.  I mostly helped the teacher.  Hopefully everything works out with that.  My calc final is next Wednesday.  I like this better than finals week so that I can really focus on my other classes.  I really only have one final that I have to worry about which is in my other Education class!!  My Calc final will be done before that week, I don't have a final in this education class, my Ecology class only has a test (which are very easy), my theology class-well I'm not sure what's going on there but it's on Monday of finals week (and the other education is Thursday), and finally my Education final on Thursday.  I hope this/next week goes by fast!!!!  My race is in less than two weeks and I am super pumped!  I am really excited because I can hit the gym more (less demanding runs will make it easier to work my muscles harder) and hopefully get in even better shape!! I also can't wait to be able to play tennis whenever I want!!

What does your finals week look like!? Easy? Hard?

Thursday, April 28

So today was the first Thursday almost all semester that I got to sleep in and it felt great!  I had a great breakfast and lunch :) And now I only have three classes left than I'm done for the week!!! Can't wait. I know you're all excited for the weekend/end of semester too!!!!  The warm weather is finally approaching :) There is a lot of rain, but it's still warm outside so that's nice :)

Hope everyone is outside enjoying the weather!!!!

Easter break

This Easter Break was great.  I went home Wednesday night and got home around 9 which was niec :) I was able to see my family and my boyfriend all in one night!  Thursday was very uneventful.  Nick came over and we went to a park and walked around.  It was absolutly beautiful outside!  I wanted to play tennis so bad on Thursday, but I had to run 13.1 miles on Friday and I didn't want to be sore or tired for that.  Since I know I can't only play an hour of tennis (I like to be out there all day) I knew it would be a bad idea to go!  Friday I got up and went for my run.  There is a paved bikepath from my town to the next town over..which covered most of my run.  After that, I ran through the town of glassboro (where Rowan University is!) to the next town over to Nick's house.  I did it in 1 hour and 57 minutes!  That means my pace was 8:55 minute miles.  My race is in 3 weeks and I have already beat my goal time of 2 hours! I was so happy I cried :) All the hardwork I've put in over the last few months have paid off. Saturday Nick came over again and we went to the mall and played some tennis.  Surprisingly I wasn't that tired from my run on Friday.   Sunday we ate dinner at my house than went to his grandmom's house for a second Easter dinner.  Everything was delicious!  Monday was even more beautiful outside!  It was a little hot for spring, reaching 90 degrees, but I didn't let that stop me.  I went and played tennis from 140-330 than watched the GCC boys' home match :)  I got a little burnt, but today it faded to tan :) It felt nice to see everyone from the team again and to see my old coaches and athletic director.  It was also nice to be around people who care about tennis and don't just push it to the side.  No one at this school really respects tennis players and make jokes about them.  If only they could see the girls i had to play, they wouldn't be laughing! 

What classes is everyone taking?  I'm taking 6 classes next semester.  I'm going to be absolutly bogged down with work, considering it's also tennis season!  Hopefully, everything goes good!!!

Can't wait for summer to be here!  Overall, Easter break was amazing and extremely relaxing!!!!! How was your Easter break?

Easter Break!

I don't know about anyone else, but I am so ready for Easter Break to be here!!! I am done with my observations, but I am going in one more time so that I can say bye to the girls and thank my teacher for letting me observe in her classroom!  The girls are so cute and I am going to miss them!  I am so excited to be able to teach in two short years!!!  On another note, I get to go home Wednesday night to South Jersey! I am sooo excited to be going home to see my family, my boyfriend, and see his family on Easter.  It's been so long since I've seen everyone!  I hope they notice that I've lost weight!!!  I'm doing a 5K on Easter morning, which I am also very excited about!  Sometimes I hate running, but this week I've been really motivated to do good.  While my roommate and I were doing our speed workout today, the track coach came on the track and tried to recruit us (even though we're already doing track!)