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!)

3-14-2011

So today I went and observed for 4 and a half hours.  Thursdays are my long days and I really don't look forward to them.  I have 2 two and a half hour classes back to back! uhg. Talk about boring!On the good side, I don't have any classes Friday.  I am going to observe for 2 hours tomorrow! After that only one more day left and I'm done my observing.  Tomorrow we have another 13 mile run so hopefully that will go well!!!!  Next Wednesday can't come soon enough! I get to go home for 5 days!  I am also doing a 5K run on Easter morning.  The school is hosting a 5K run for the Autism Center this Saturday that I am helping with! Can't wait for that either.  My observations have been going well.  Today in homeroom we had an Easter party.  The girls brought in soo much food!  it was all delicious!!!  I can't wait for Easter and all the good food that comes with it.  In news of tennis....Serena Williams was seen practicing last week.  That is good new considering she had to have surgery on her lungs I think 2 months ago.

fun week

Even though its the week before "Easter Break" and the workload should be piling on, it hasn't been (surprisingly).  This week we have a lesson plan due which I am halfway done! Next week I get to go home Wednesday night until Monday :) Can't wait to go home for a little bit!!!  Running this week hasn't been going as planned and my weightloss has come to a hault :(  Hopefully I can sort out my bad eating habits again by Friday and have a good 13.1 mile run on Friday!!!! I think my roommates and I are going out or just having a rommate night in our room doing some fun things!!!

Has anyone registered for classes yet? I registered yesterday. I'm taking 6 classes! Hopefully the night class won't be too much trouble!  Especially with tennis.  The first few months of the Fall semester is going to be crazy!! I will be so busy, but i can't wait! I love playing tennis on a team.  Unfortunately, this is my last season :(  It's going to be so sad!  Hopefully the track team that is supposedly being made will go through and I can run in the Spring :)  Either way, next year is going to be a sad year.  My roommate will be graduating without me when I should be graduating too.  Unfortunately, the education program classes are holding me back from graduating :(  I will be done all of my math classes by next Spring..so I don't know what I'll be taking in the Fall besides Calc 4..uhg.

observing

Is anyone else behind on observing? Today I had to leave my class because I was sick.  I felt so bad! So now I have to make up those 4 hours somewhere...don't know where uhg I am so stressed out about this! Tonight I am sleeping over my friends house from class. I can't wait!  It should be really fun!  The only bad thing is that I have to wake up early to come back to school to run. Which sucks, but it should be a fun night regardless and than I get to go home! I am so excited for this because I haven't been home in 3 weeks!  That's all.  Anyone have anything interesting planned for this weekend!?

3/5/2011

Today I had to run 6 miles.  Well, normally this woulnd't be a problem but, Friday I ran 13.1 miles and than Friday night I went to a night club. BAD IDEA!! My legs were killing me all weekend.  It probably didn't help that Saturday I play 2 1/2 hours of tennis and Sunday I played 1 hour of tennis..oh well. lol My boyfriend came up and visited me on Saturday and stayed until Sunday night :) It was a very nice time.  We got to play tennis together and enjoy each others company.  Monday (yesterday) was our anniversary.  1 year and 8 months.  It's kind of scarey when you've been dating someone this long, but than again, it feels like we just started dating.  Being away from my family and him is very hard, but I know we'll make it through the next two years!  Anyway, school is going good.  This Thursday night I'm sleeping over my friends house for a slumberparty :) can't wait! Friday I only have to run 5 miles and than I get to go home for the weekend! :) This week should be an overall good week :)

3/31/2011

Running has been going good this week.  We did the hills again yesterday and kicked 3.7 miles in 30 minutes :) Friday night we're going to the club.  This should be really fun!! I went and observed today for almost 5 hours! It was great! I was able to go over a worksheet they had for homework and my teacher let me answer and explain any questions they had! I also have an Ecology test to study for.

Today I ran 5 miles.  It was a speedwork day..yay! This is my favorite workout, because it really works my legs.  1/2 mile...fast mile...1/2 mile...fast mile...1/2 mile...fast mile...1/2 mile...the "fast miles" were supposed to be at 8:11 each but we went a lot faster, dipping into the 7's.  Which is nice to know!  Other than running...I haven't been doing much.  Friday we ran 12 miles outside and it was a perfect day for a long run.  The only bad thing about the run was that the wind was in our faces the whole first 6 miles.After that, we ran up the hills on Bloomfield.  I know they're not much to drive up, but when you're running up them after already running 11 miles..they're death!  We also did them again on Sunday to start preparing ourselves for the hills in the half-marathon.  I can't believe how fast time is going and I'm really looking forward to the race and I am also getting very nervous!  I found out there is also a half-marathon at the end of the summer on August 28th in Wildwood, NJ.  This seems like a neat race because you get to run through the piers and also on the beach!!!  I'm also looking into the Hershey marathon...where you run through Hershey Park and the town of Hershey which is very beautiful, but also very hilly!!! Haven't played much tennis lately, it's still too cold!!! I also think my roomate got me sick, which is very annoying!  I think we're going to the club on Friday, which I am very excited about!

Observing

Today I went and observed a class for 5 hours.  It was okay.  They had a test and than i went and got breakfast.  After breakfast, she had an algebra 2  class and an SAT class in which she reviewed for a test they were taking tomorrow.  Nothing too excited going on this week. besides it snowing and spring not showing its face :(

Spring Break

Hello everyone! Spring break was great! The weather was beautiful and I got to play a lot of tennis and ran a lot.  Other than that I didn't do too much, just hung out at home, with my boyfriend, and with friends.  There was supposed to be a tennis tournament on Wednesday but it got canceled because of the rain.  Boooo that.  Got well rested up and did all my homework!  That's good.  Soo now I'm back at school for two weeks and it snowed..which is kind of funny!  Sunday was the first day of Spring and of COURSE I got Rita's waterice :) That was nice.  Well, nothing else to write about for now...

Spring Break!

So far my spring break has gone great. It started off kind of rocky..i had the flu and a double ear infection (yay) but now that everything is feeling better, its going great! Everyday has basically been sunny and warm, but I have yet to play tennis :( I should be able to play tomorrow and Friday and hopefully everyday after that until I go back to school. Being home is great!  I don't want to leave, but I know I have to.  My boyfriend has basically been blowing off his school work to be with me and I feel kind of bad, so I helped him write one of his papers.  No long runs this week, but a lot of 5 mile runs.  Not too bad. I'm going to see my best friend Kim tonight.  I can't wait :)  I finished my book review for my ed 348.  I can't wait to get my grade for my first lesson plan!

3/10/2011

These last few days have been really bad. Ive been sick and had to do speedwork yesterday. Thankfully it was only bad in the beginning and after the first two miles my body went numb.  It was like I was a running robot.  My body was moving, but I couldn't feel anything.  It was probably better that way anyway considering I felt like crap!  Tomorrow I have to run 11 miles, so hopefully my body will feel good by than. Tonight is the jersey shore..not sure if I'm excited about it or not.  In good news, I'm going home tomorrow night and I get to see my family and boyfriend for the first time in 2 weeks :)  I didn't go observe today, because I've had the flu and didn't think it was a good idea to go and spread my germs to all the students.  I have some serious making up of hours to do!  I hope next week is warm so that I can play tennis :)  What is everyone doing for Spring Break? Observing? Going on vacation? Doing anything fun? Let me know!

3/8/2011

This week has started off really bad.  I can't believe that I am sick..I hope whatever this is will be gone by spring break.  The weekend however, was great.  Friday night we went to a dance club, which was really fun.  I went with my roommates and some other friends.  However, I did no homework.  I didn't have much anyway, so I can catch up tonight after work.  A few of us went out and played tennis on Saturday (I think) the weather was soo nice and the snow had finally melted off of the courts and we could go out and hit :) I can feel spring coming and I am getting so excited!! Next week during spring break I will get to play tennis almost everyday..depending on the weather of course!  Wednesday, my community college is having an "Alumni Tournament" that I should be playing in.  I am going to bake homemade Tandycakes (for all of you that don't know what a tandycake is, its the peanut butter tasteycake.  And if you don't know what a tasteycake is..than you're missing out!!!!!)  I think I'll also make white chocolate chip cookies.  They're delicious.  Atleast if I don't get to play, I'll get to go and watch my boyfriend and a lot of friends play that I haven't seen in a long time!  Overall, this week should be good, as long as this cold is kept at bay.  I'm supposed to go observe on Thursday, but don't know if I should if I am sick.  Can't wait for Friday!

3/2/2011

So today I went and observed today.  It was great :) My teacher said I can teach imaginary numbers next week!  I can't wait! Tonight I am doing the midnight run with the college and I'm really excited! I've never done it before so I don't know what to expect..hopefully it'll be fun!  Spring Break is one week away and it could not come any sooner!The weather is looking like it's going to start getting warmer soon and that means tennis weather is coming!  When I am home, I'm going to go to a men's tennis match at my community college..which should be fun! I can't wait to see everyone again.  It's weird to go back there after being away at a different school now.  I saw on the news today that Serena Williams had to go into emergency surgery for a blood clot in her lung.  I can't believe that! She is in such good shape!  Hopefully she will heal fast and be able to make a quick return to the tennis court!  Tomorrow I have a 10 mile run..hopefully it goes well!  I think we're all going to a dance club tomorrow night....which should be fun because I missed it last week when all of my friends went! 

great radio station from pandora.com!

voice recording

hear my voice!

3/1/2011

Happy March first!!!!  Today I had to run 6 miles, the first mile at a 10 minute pace, and than a mile at an 8 minute pace, 1/2 mile, 8 minute mile, 1/2 mile, 8 minute mile, 1/2 mile, 8 minute mile, than finally a cool down mile at a 10 minute pace.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be which was a very nice surprise!  Tonight I'm doing a lot of homework.  Last night, I watched a Sampras/Agassi match..it was weird to see them both playing and Agassi seemed like he was out of breath.  I can't wait for Spring Break either.  My observing is going good.  The teacher is really nice and she has even let me help with a factoring lesson.  They took a test last Friday and we got to play Factoring Bingo..it was really fun.  On test day, I got to walk around and answer any questions anyone might have.  I can't wait to go back on Thursday and observe.  I already have 10 hours done, hopefully I'll get 6 more done this week.  I'm also working 2 hours at a my tutoring job today.  The kids are so cute and young and I love being able to help them!  I love that the weather is getting nicer because we can play tennis soon! :)

five day weekend

This weekend has flown by! I got to go home this weekend and on Friday it was so beautiful outside..I was finally able to go and play tennis! :) :) It was so nice!  Also, I got to run outside in shorts and a t-shirt for the first time in MONTHS!   Sadly, the weather went downhill as the weekend went on and I woke up this morning to four inches of snow on the ground. :(  I went and shoveled our two driveways and cleared 5 cars off..good start to the day.  I'm actually excited to get back to school...considering I only have class Wednesday and Thursday this week!!! Than I'm coming home again this weekend because it is my boyfriends birthday.  After that I won't be able to come home again until Spring break :( I didn't realize how much I missed home!  I have a math test tomorrow..which of course I procrastinated on studying for! I didn't do much homework at all this weekend.... My friend is moving to Florida next Monday so I got to see her this weekend. I also got to see my hamster Cecilia..she's so adorable! She's making her online debut right here!

long weekend!

this weekend is going to be a long weekend and it is truely OVERDUE! The weather is going to be beautiful! Hopefully at home the tennis courts are free of snow so I can play! This week we had to run 4 miles Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  Even though we weren't supposed to run today, we ran 2 miles!  When I ran on Tuesday, my mile averaged around 840-9 min miles.  However, yesterday (Wednesday) when I ran my 4 miles, I ran them at an average of 7.30 minute miles, which is amazing considering my fastest mile used to be a 7.10 minute mile!  I waso happy and excited to realize that i ran 4 miles in 30 minutes. :) Today I'm going to Friendlys with Kaitlyn and Natalya, but definitly not eating there! These trips are always fun though!

1/15

Today I did my first day of observation for my other teaching class and it was really fun! The teacher I have is very nice and let me use the smart board and help the kids.  Did anyone else know there was a graphing calculator onthe smartboard? Very cool! The kids were very nice (considering they were in High School..and all girls!) Also, the seemed very smart..and seemed to know what they were talking about.  Valentine's Day was great.  Usually I'm not into those sappy holidays, but this year was great :) My boyfriend came up and visited me for the night, which was very nice of him considering i was just home the night before and will be home for five days this weekend!!  He gave me chocolate covered strawberries :) YUM!!! I could eat these all the time.  Today I only have to run 4 miles, which will be very easy to do.  Tonight I have some serious homework to do.   I have to do the website review for this class, study for a calc II quiz, and also do ecology homework!  Tomorrow night there is a "champs workshop" that I have to attend because I am an athlete.  This school has a lot of rules for athletes!  Thank god I got out of study hall this semester, or I'd be going crazy.  Supposedly it was going to get warmer as the weekend went on, but i can't see that happening.  This makes me sad because I reallllly want to go outside and feel warm weather.  Not only that, but I want to go play tennis! I can't do that when there is snow all over the courts!!!!  Well, that's all for now.  Bye!

Color

Ive never tried to change the color of my blog post so here goes nothing, I hope it works!

Biggest Loser

Caldwell College is hosting a "Biggest Loser" competition on campus and there is a cash reward for the person who loses the most weight.  This is a really good idea, because a lot of people are overweight.  Not only that, but they are very unhealthy in their eating habits and they rarely exercise.  Caldwell is taking a step to make their student healthier, but the only thing they really need to do is to make their food healthier first!  I went up, got weighed, and got my bmi.  On the same topic, MTV has this show called "I Used To Be Fat" that airs every Wednesday at 10pm.  I love this show.  The girl who was on the show last night looked amazing at the end of her weightloss and she felt better too. Personally, I love working out and I love how it makes me feel..on a lighter note..the cafe had this amazing chocolate cheese cake for desert!  I get to go home tomorrow afternoon and see my family and my boyfriend!

This past week has been quite interesting.  I went to a Linkin Park concert on Monday night jan. 31st...I've been wanting to see them since I was in 8th grade!  The concert was AMAZING!!!! Not only was LP great, but their opener, Pendulum, was also great!  I cannot wait until they come around again so that i can go to another concert!!! I forgot how much I loved concerts and the whole experience of them.  My last concert was in 10th grade...and it had been wayyyy too long since the last one!  Other than that, my life is pretty boring.  I just found out the other day that shamrock shakes are back at McDonalds..I've never actually tried one, but I hear that they're great..so I think this weekend I'm going to get one.  I can't wait until Friday because i get to go home :) The only bad thing about Friday is that I have to run 10 miles...uhg.  The gym was so crowded last night that I was barely able to do any working out at all.  On top of that, they were filming in the gym and personally, I don't like to be watched while working out, or for that matter filmed.  Classes are going good...no complaints..especially with all of the snow days!  I can't wait for the snow to melt so that I can play tennis again! I seriously miss playing..but indoor time is so expensive..boo that.  I can't afford $70 to play for 2 hours..outdoors is better because it's FREE! okay..enough for now.

photostory

I just finished making my photostory woot.  Computers confuse me, so I'm trying to spend more time on my laptop and learn some new tricks that I will be able to use in my classroom

1/27/2011

It snowed a lot last night. My roommates and I went sledding for an hour and had fun until the plows detroyed our ramps. We have to find other people's blogs to follow and that sounds like a blast...

reading for 1/27/10

This article showed a few interesting ideas to use in the classroom, for example, "Students identify and label objects that are important to them at home, school, and in the classroom using a word processor." So today I went to the gym and ran 2 miles..yawn. Easy day. Snow got classes canceled. Lunch sucked (like always) and dinner was just as bad.  Found this interesting video on youtube today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kelUCEcdO8M very funny video! Time to go play in the snow! woot