307 Last Free Write

The end of the semester is usually a very stressful time-as this semester comes to a close i have to admit that i've never been more stressed out in my life thus far. Not only is there a lot of work to complete between my EDU classes, especially my 312 and 309 classes. In 312 we have an integrated unit, and in 309 we have a child study. In addition to a good 40 pages i'm in the process of writing i am finishing up my fieldwork at the elementary school. I have completed all of my hours but haven't taught my 3 lessons yet. April vacation at the school was last week, but i was told by administration it was the week before, therefore my lessons were pushed back because of this mistake and miscommunication of information. In teaching my lessons i will be doing on thursday and friday i have a lot of planning to get done for them.

I am completely done with projects, papers, and lessons for this class (EDU 307) which is good that i had time to get it done ahead of time, however, i still have my paper for 414 to finish which is honestly stressing me out because i'm stuck a little bit in how i want to organize it. I have some good ideas but no real direction for it because i haven't had time to sit and think about it to map it all out. 

The end of the semester is a stressful time for college students-getting work done and wrapping up the year. Being a residence life employee (Resident assistant: RA) even more stress has been added to my life. The end of the semester is difficult for me, but i've been through it many times before. However, my residents (the majority of them freshman) have yet to go through finals and move-out time. in addition to helping my residents get through their finals as one of 10 RA's in my building i am required to check out residents that are moving out during finals week-sitting at the front desk of my building for a total of 35 hours the week of final exams. Residents that are moving out of the building during finals will move their things out, and come downstairs to the front desk to let the RA's at the desk know that they need to be checked out of their room. RA's will grab the appropriate paperwork and go to the residents room with them to collect their key and fill out the forms. each shift is 3 hours and each RA has 30 to 35 hours of desk sitting to check out residents from the building. After residents are completely out of the building on friday of finals week RA's clean the rooms and inspect the rooms so that we too can leave for summer vacation. In addition to all of this i need to find time to study for my finals, pack my own room up, and clean my own room to move-out the day after all residents on campus have left. 

I am also coordinating relay for life for my sorority's chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon and planing a final community service project for my sisters. FIguring out if everyone is registered, making sure there are enough tents for sisters to sleep in and much more is a headache and a half but i know once this weekend is over, it will be better!

to say i am stressed is a complete understatement. I know i have been stressed before, but for some reason this semester is just killing me slowly. The upside is that it will be over in 3 weeks and the summer vacation will be here. A summer full of 4 summer classes, and working 60 hours a week. Not much of a break, but i'll take it for a change of pace at this point. 

EDU 414 blog post: Free Write

One of my best friends got married last weekend on April 14th, i was one of her bridesmaids! My friend is 27 and got married in clinton ct. it was a wonderful weekend of activities! on thursday the entire wedding party went to dinner, friday night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner with everyone followed by the bridal party sleep over. it was quaint and a fun weekend! on saturday we all woke up early to get ready and have our hair done and get ready for the wedding. The photographer came over to take pictures of everyone getting ready, then the florist came over and we grabbed our flowers and headed to the limo to get to the church. The ceremony was short and very lovely. the entire wedding party got into one limo and we all headed over to the reception in cromwell. after we arrived the bridal party was taken to a separate  area in the hotel to have a little bit of food and take more pictures before our entrance into the hall with the guests. At the wedding, there was lots of dancing and good food. I loved seeing everyone from camp -which is how we all know each other. it was a great ceremony, a wonderful reception, and a very memorable day. I love weddings, and this was the only wedding i've been in to say we had a great day would be an understatement!

Free Write EDU 307

Today was the hall olympics-an event where each of the 9 residence halls on campus gather together to compete against each other in various sports like dodgeball, volleyball, clothes-relay, 3-leg race, spirit cheer, bouncy ball relay, tug of war, scavenger hunt and more.
Each hall designs a t-shirts for the participants to wear with something creative on it. This year the building im a CC (RA) in decided to get dark blue shirts that say "Farnham 2012" on the front, the F is the facebook "F" and on the back they say "you know you LIKE us" brownell hall had black shirts with a danger label on them. Wilkinson went with a jersey shore theme with " we ARE the situation" and hickersons "hick "earth" son" tried to win over the judges with their go-green reference.

Farnham participated in the spirirt cheer which is a dance that each hall creates. Every year dodgeball, basketball and tug of war get very competitive. This year farnham made it to the very last round of the dodgeball competition! it was intense! Farnham beat our 3 halls to get to the last round, and lost in the last few seconds of the game. For basketball Farnham had a shot this year, a lot of the basketball players live in farnham and it came in handy for the olympics today! we won the first game but lost the second. at the end of the day, we didn't come in last so thats fine by farnham!

Which picture book touched your life?

The silver slippers book was the picture book that touched my life. Many books from my childhood i remember reading, my parents read to my brother and i a lot as children and encouraged us to read and enjoy reading from a young age. This book was my favorite book and would read it with my parents and grandparents until it was so worn out that it was falling apart and had to get  new one. I think i got this book at the book fair at our school when i was in or K-2 school and probably only wanted it because it was about ballet and because it came with a small necklace of silver ballet slippers. I remember reading this book over and over with my parents until i could almost recite the entire book to them. Something about this book made me happy, it might have been the subject of dance, and the pictures which i loved how they were drawn! This book is all about conquering something. I think i enjoy the message of this book as well. A little girl did not think she was a good enough dancer even though her parents reassured otherwise, so the little girl put in practice time and her parents bought her silver slippers on a necklace and the little girl did very well in her dance recital. I like the book for the message it conveys "good things happen when you believe in yourself" growing up i was always the tallest girl in my class, and for that reason was sometimes picked on in the younger grades-i usually just brushed it off but i think it hurt my self esteem. I think this was one of the main reasons my parents really liked this book for me. I don't know where my copy of this book is, but i loved and still continue to love this book. 

Poetry EDU 307

Growing up i loved shel silverstein poems the most! i had books of his poetry and i used to read them all the time! my favorites are:

I partially liked his poems but i also enjoyed the illustrations he puts into his books!

As for my own poetry-i don't really write poems in my free time. Being in a sorority there are certain times when we have to write little poems for a sister or little sayings. I've written a few that were sufficient for the occasion. 

It makes me hurt to see you leave,

But I will never forget what you’ve taught me

We've gone through a lot together through the years

Sometimes laughter and sometimes tears



I'll always be there for you,

Even after we’re grownup

I’ll always love you my big sister



You are my sister,

And my very best friend



You are a part of my life,

And never will you ever leave my heart.

All the times we've shared together

Our hearts will never part.



Don't let anyone take my place as your lil sis,

They'll never change our years together.

But even if they do just

Remember we’ll be big and little; sisters forever





I’ll love you all through life

I'll never let us part,

Because you'll always have that special place

that only a big sister can have that’s right here in my heart. 

Another poem i had to write for a sorority function about my sister-

My little sister has a generous and loving heart

She is funny, caring, and smart

I love her so much as only a big sis can

When life gets rough I’ll hold out my hand

Big and little sisters forever you and me

Together forever and always that’s how it’ll be

from the moment we met I just felt a connection

and as your big sis I will always be here for your protection

you’re driven, a leader, accomplished and kind

sweet, beautiful, and DPhiE refined

A special branch on my family tree you will be

Smiling in pictures right here next to me

A big sister hug, plenty of surprises and laughs

A shoulder to cry on, and adventures on many life paths

I love you little sis, and I hope you love me too So little sis-won’t you be my Delta Mu?

basically the only poetry i have written has been for sorority and for my sisters. 

My sister is my heart

she lights my darkest days

with the sparkle in her eye.

my sister is my past

i have memories only we can share

she remembers, she forgives

she accepts me as i am

my sister is my strength 

she helps me find my smile

my sister is like no one else

she is my most treasured friend

she is my rock, my inspiration,

though impossible to define

in a word-she is my sister.

EDU: Free Write: Dreams

Most people say that they don't remember their dreams, i however dream a lot at night and usually remember at least some of what i dream. Typically these dreams are absolutely ridiculous and make absolutely no sense. I'm not so sure if i believe that dreams mean something that are connected to your subconscious but i'm willing to read up about it and have this theory backed up with scientific facts.

Apparently the recall of dreams is very unreliable and according to studies done, women recall dreams better than men do. Recall of dreams usually occurs when someone wakes up in the midst of a dream causing them to recall what was happening easier. According to studies almost every mammal-humans and animals alike dream every night. There are 4 stages of the sleep cycle which repeat a average of 4 to 5 times a night. Most people dream every night and multiple times per night it's just that we don't remember most dreams unless we're dreaming them in the earlier morning before we wake up.

Some believe that dreams mean something and stand for something in your life. Online you can even find what symbols of your dreams mean. While i'm not sure if this is completely true it might be fun irregardless.

Last night i had the strangest dream that i was in a kayak and saw people on the side of the river i was kayaking on.

now-1.) i've never kayaked in my entire 23 years of existence and 2.) i don't know anyone who would stand on the side of a river at night who i would come into contact with to talk to on the side of a river.

apparently in an online dream dictionary having a kayak appear in your dream means:

Kayak

To see a kayak or go kayaking in your dream indicates that you are emotionally well balanced. You are in tune with your feelings. Alternatively, the dream means that you are succeeding through your own willpower, determination and drive. Keep up your energy!

to see a river in your dream means the following:

River

see a raging or an overflowing river in your dream signifies that your life is feeling out of control. You are feeling emotionally unsettled. Alternatively, this dream means you are ready to confront life's challenges and life's twists and turns. 

to have people in your dream means that you have been thinking about them a lot, or you are trying to solve a problem with someone in your life.

I must say that i honestly don't believe this about the dream dictionaries and what symbols in a dream mean but its still fun to think about how ridiculous some dreams can be and what they might have meant. 

EDU: What/ why do you read?

I typically don't have time to read during the academic year, if i do have time to read it's required reading for classes that take up my time.

It sounds absolutely pathetic that i don't know what i like to read, but i don't. I think this is partially because i don't have time to really settle down and read a good book.  As a kid i was a slow reader, I was a good reader and was good at pronouncing words and sounding things out but i had trouble comprehending what i read and i read it really slow. As a result, reading was something that i enjoyed doing but it took me longer than other students and i recognized this. In 4th grade i thought i was not as smart as the other kids in my class but it happened that i needed a little bit of extra help and after that i was good to go. I think that 4th grade is a pivotal time for students and literature and i think that because i was so discouraged at this time in my life because of reading and literacy i think it translated into my teen years as well.

Sophomore year in high school we had to do a book project where we read a book and watched the movie afterwards and compared the two together. I thought this was interesting because you go to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the two. Since then i have really enjoyed reading books that are also movies and comparing the two with plot, characters and details.

i've enjoyed: the blind side, the last song, the sisterhood of the traveling pants, the lucky one, and when i was in middle school i had a strange obsession with the princess diaries series.

In high school we were required to read the catcher in the rye and while everyone else in my class hated the book i somehow found it interesting and  a good read. I think this was partially thanks to my english teacher; she was so passionate about this book, she really always liked the book and she was my favorite teacher so i found the book interesting.

I also enjoy poetry in books like-where the sidewalk ends. I like when things rhyme and i found these poems a great source of entertainment when i was younger. I also enjoyed a joke book when i was younger that i only remember one joke out of but i thought it was the funniest thing i had ever heard and asked my parents this joke probably everyday. "how do you know which end of the worm is the face?...tickle it and see which ends laugh!" i thought it was hilarious and felt the need to ask everyone i came across this joke until one day this book went missing. My parents probably hid the book because i was annoying back then especially with this book.

I enjoy reading, i wish i had more time to find books to read that i liked-i'm getting a kindle so i think that perhaps that will encourage me to have the opportunity now to finally find what i like the most with literature.