Goals for The New Year

Well, I shouldn't say "goals", rather areas of improvement I could focus for myself, for my friends and for my family. Nobody's perfect, as we all have flaws and weaknesses, though being aware of how we can be better people and better learners, I'm all for it. I need to make one of these for my classrooms!

My class about happiness did have the most influential and worthwhile impact on me. I'm pretty bummed that I took this so late in my undergrad, but better late than never right? Looking at the pictures and responses by my peers, their words remind me of what really does matter in life.

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When I see words like honesty - gratitude - optimism - kindness - and selflessness, I always reflect if I am just that. I feel like I am, I know that I am, but sometimes we all could be better in ways we struggle with.

I believe instead of working on individual and monthly goals, it's more realistic to work on one goal as a whole. I don't know if that makes sense with anyone, but it did for me in some capacity.

My main focus for 2016 is to be a better person. I'm more than just a person, I am Christian, I am a student, I am an educator, volunteer, colleague, cousin, brother, son, etc, that a person just sums up who we each individually are. Now, what's the best way to work on this "becoming better person" image?

I see this as a manageable and realistic goal to work on throughout the new year! From class we talked about being grateful for what we have and do, maintaining and creating new social relationships and smiling & laughing more often. I usually think New Year's Resolutions are a fad as everyone hits the gym for the January 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th; but if you interpret this as an opportunity to improve yourself in some fashion, no one should bring you down because of that. I found this last picture on facebook, which I thought was pretty deep. I'll leave it here for you guys and all the best in 2016!

Recap: EDPY 301

Last but not least I have to recap about EDPY 301, which also is Inclusive Education. This was a condensed, 5-week course because it was in conjunction with those taking their AFX, or the 9-week practicum. Basically, September and the first bit of October was the most overwhelming part of the term for me. Every day I had something to do or focus on for this class, just because it was at the fastest pace I ever experienced. I remember I took a spring course couple years ago, but that was 6 "manageable" weeks. This on the other hand, was go go go.

You can tell that I procrastinate with blogging when I blog about something, two full months later. In all honestly, I could have recapped back in October about this, but right after the final I was still swamped with other courses too! I don't even know the specific details from this class, but I do know this. Never EVER say "a blind child" or "a deaf child" because it's not inclusive language. Instead, say "a child who is blind/deaf/has a learning disability" since here, you're putting the child first over their ability. Something very useful, especially for job interviews.

Looking back on my eClass, EDPY 301 was broken down into four main topics: Differentiated Instruction - Contextualized Learning & Instruction - Universal Design for Learning - Teacher Beliefs and Attitudes about Disabilities.

The evaluation component was pretty straightforward: a midterm, a final and two assignments. I took this class with a good friend of mine, where we partnered for the assignment (that we didn't do so well on...unfortunately, but whatever).

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Although this was my fastest course ever taken in my undergrad, I learned a lot in the 5 weeks. I just wished I had more time to absorb the course material, because not only was it timely and relevant for me, but also very applicable. I mean, hey, it's 2015, the classroom diversity will always expand and what you say and what you do in front of somebody, could have both positive and negative impacts.  

Jumpin' on the Pinterest Bandwagon

For some reason, I feel as if I'm the last person who has ever heard or uses Pinterest. When I bring it up in conversations, my teacher friends especially will gasp or roll their eyes or tell me YOU HAVE TO USE IT. Of course, that's what I've been doing allllll Christmas break! 

I had it for a while now and started some "pins" here and there, but never got myself on it on a regular basis. Now, I'm starting to slowly ease my way, becoming this Pinterest Master. I honestly know why teachers (elementary ones specifically) use it so often! If you don't follow me (is that even the correct terminology?!), click here too! Or, just comment with your link I'll follow yours too.

This is me, literally.. 

(Some) Resources from EDEL 496

Here is a list of resources that have been introduced in the class, and which I have (or am willing to try) sometime soon! 

1. Waterlogue and Snapseed

One evening, someone from EdTech came to our class with a class set of iPads. We were required to come with a set of pictures that answers: What does "home" mean to us? Being the always-prepared-person that I am, I had about 8-10 pictures answering this question. We were introduced to two photography iPad applications to explore. I didn't use the iPads provided because I just downloaded the two apps we were going to use that evening on my own. 

Waterlogue -- a watercolor application that unfortunately costs money. I think I paid either $4 or $5 for it, but totally worth it because the photographs are pretty great. Simply upload your picture and choose which features you want to enhance your picture. Check out some of my pictures using Waterlogue! 

Mo:Le Restaurant in Victoria, BC

Water Harbour in Victoria, BC

Snapseed -- luckily, this app is free (I suggest you download it when you can)! Snapseed adds pretty cool effects to your pictures and has options to provide borders too. Similar to Instagram (which most of my friends have), but I think it's a tiny bit better with the options. It takes a little getting used to when using Snapseed, but after a day, you'll be a pro at it. Just like me! Check out some of my pictures using Snapseed. 

Mo:Le Restaurant in Victoria, BC

Water Harbour in Victoria, BC

2 Papyrus eBook

So, after we incorporated pretty cool effects to our "home" pictures, our professor gathered all our pictures into an online eBook! I used the Papyrus eBook resource just like my professor did, which you can use for yourself if you click here! Just sign up for a free account and you're good to go. 

I was absolutely amazed by this that I used this outlet of representation when I used this for my integration of multimodal project. I made an eBook of my Victoria trip back in Fall Reading Week! 

3. Puppet Making 

Here is a picture of my puppet we created! We had half a class to make a puppet. You're probably thinking, what's the point, right? In class, we discussed how "powerful" exploration is. Give a kid a box of lego's and tell them to build anything, which they will. Exploration, at such an early age, is so important to facilitate! Building a puppet showed us adults how key exploring an object or experience it. 

4. Popplet and Powtoon 

Okay, so I absolutely no nothing about Popplet or Powtoon. We had several opportunities for class presentations, and some of my peers used these approaches for presentation purposes! I'm trying to experiment (aka get away from the typical powerpoint) when presenting information. Have you tried these resources? Watching them in class it seemed much more engaging and aesthetically pleasing. 

Recap: EDEL 496

A required class is taking an EDEL 4xx class, where I initially was going to take EDEL 411 or 412. Things happened last minute, classes got cancelled and shifted so I decided, why not 496?! Right from Beartracks, it's called Group Project: Integrating Language Arts & Art K-6. This was also my night class for the term, where I usually take a night class to make it easier on myself when finals arrive. Going into the first night, I was extremely nervous about this because I did not know what to expect at all. I found no professor ratings about it and none of my friends took it either. I was going in blind!

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Did I also mention that this class was a combined undergraduate and graduate class?! Yes, so it was a combined class called EDEL 496/595. Intimidating, right? 

As the class went on, Wednesday evenings became easier and easier for me. I was honestly overwhelmed with the graduate students, but being the "social butterfly" I am, I connected with most of them. There was full-time or part-time or retired teachers there, literacy consultants, teachers who taught abroad, etc. I mean, I was figuratively swimming in a pool with people with tremendous amount of knowledge and experience. Why should I be overwhelmed by this when I can use this to make meaningful connections? #useyourbrains 

The evaluation component is somewhat complicated to explain. To make it simple, there was an integration project using multimodal literacy, a major essay and participation marks. However, it branches out into further marks or points for assessment. I'd rather not talk about it, BECAUSE, in this class I want to highlight what I loved and learned and what I'll be walking away from it.

Sometimes, EDEL 496 didn't even feel like a class! I felt the evening, at times, was a PD session to learn and immerse ourselves into an art environment. We did self-portraits one evening, which was new for me as I'm not into art as much as some of my peers, but do check out the progress I made throughout the term! (And don't make fun of my eyes and hair haha!)

September 2015

December 2015

In another post, I'll brag about the amazing resources we used in the class. From my five classes this term, I was exposed to SO MANY outlets of representation that I cannot fit all my knowledge into this one post. EDEL 496 focused on integrating art and language arts, and because of that I want to share what I learned to you! A big thank you and shout out is needed to all my peers and my professor!

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Ho ho ho!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! This time of year should be relaxing and enjoyable for everyone, so I hope you are all having a calm time off from school, work, or whatever your 9-5 day consists of. While at mass this morning, the priest very emphasized the meaning of Christmas and how it centers around unconditional love, not things and possessions. Yes, even though we give each other presents, we should not forget what the real meaning of Christmas is:

Love. Family. Friends. Joy. Etc.

Since today is such a joyous and memorable holiday, I think this is the perfect time to show you the pictures from my happiness class. We each took markers and wrote down words that either relate or associate with the idea of being happy. Take a look and see, and guess which one's are mine if you can spot 'em ;). What words come to mind for you?

I absolutely adored this activity because as a class, we unified together to bring forward happy thoughts and feelings for our professor and for one another. We all deserve to be happy and I am very blessed to have taken this class to justify those reasons why. It's one of those special moments where it's tough for me to put into words. 

Recap: CHRTC 100

My other Christian theology course I took this term was CHRTC 100 where it focused on introducing us to the Bible. So fitting right since today is CHRISTMAS EVE. The day before Jesus Christ was born. This course was a basic lecture and straightforward with three tests and a discussion question component.

All my professors have been so amazing this term and for this class the professor is no exception! As a whole, they all have been super helpful, accommodating to overall great mentors which I learned from them all and me. *cue the applause* *I swear I'm not a suck-up* 

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If I'm perfectly honest, my attendance for this class was not the greatest. Once you're in your later years in your degree, i.e.,. third-fourth-fifth-sixth years, you tend to gauge which lectures are most important actually to show up. Don't get me wrong, I strongly advocate in going to class EVERY SINGLE TIME, but there are those where it's just like "check eClass the powerpoint slide will be up anyways." Seriously kids, go to class, EVERY TIME. Strive for that perfect attendance! 

Although I don't revolve my life around quotes and sayings and passages, they do influence that way I see my life and how I interpret various situations. I'm pretty sure my classroom will just be pinned with posters of inspirational quotes, just you wait. I bring this up because some of the ones I always turn to, came from the Bible! Learning in class the contextual meaning behind them, especially ones from the Psalms and Proverbs and the Gospels was pretty great to understand. No, I won't pummel you with quotes, BUT BUT BUT here's one of my all-time favorites.

Recap: CHRTC 103

I am so grateful that I took not one, but TWO CHRTC (Christian Theology at St. Joe's) classes this Fall Term. I don't know if you guys know, but my plan is to finish my B.Ed with my Certificate to teaching Catholic Education. I feel that it will help me with applications and jobs, plus I really do want to teach in a Catholic school district. I took CHRTC 250 back in 2014, I finished both CHRTC xxx (which is my 103 Happiness class) and CHRTC 100 this term, finishing with one last class next term! It's P-R-etty exciting, let me tell ya.

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If you're interested in that Catholic certificate, click here to find more information about it!

Okay, so CHRTC 103 is called Introduction to the Roads of Happiness. Ya, I see those eyerolls already, don't give me those. I remember I was late for this class on the very first day (yikes!) and it was a smaller class too, I think about 12 people in it? It is definitely a worthwhile and truthfully, one of the best/better classes I recommend to take at the University. Here are my top three favorite things about this course.

1. Okay, so the breakdown of the evaluation components is simple: 3 papers (which I did very well on, pat on the back for me is needed) and a participation/discussion mark. The three papers, I felt was more of a fair and authentic approach to appropriately assess our understanding about the course of happiness (which I will touch later on!). There was no final exam, instead it was a final paper (thank you thank you professor) which I felt was my strongest paper yet. *giving myself high-fives*

2. So my first favorite thing, if you haven't already guessed, is the assessment. It was pretty easy, as it should be for a 100-level course. My second favorite would have to be coming to lecture! Who knew that coming to lecture could be SO refreshing and helpful? (I did actually..). The style of the class was considered a "semi-flipped classroom" meaning we would have to do discussion forums before coming to lecture. That way we would be already somewhat familiar with the topics going to be addressed. The forum discussions were straightforward, reply to the question then reply to a classmate's post.

The lectures, didn't even feel like lectures, more "class discussions". Starting the second week people didn't even write things down (only if it was important for the papers). It was more of a "period where we shared our feelings and applications of the given content" kind of a class. Worked for me since I looooove to talk.

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3. My last thing I want to highlight is the CONTENT! (Aka what we learned). Is it possible to walk away from a class a better, happier person?! Because each lecture I felt that. It wasn't weird, but it was refreshing to feel, almost like therapy. 

Our textbook was amazing too, it's called The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky. I highly suggest you check this book out, it discusses myths about happiness and ways to cultivate happiness long-term, for example. It's a very quick read too, and who knew a book I would read for efferent purposes could also be used for aesthetic reasons. (That's my literacy vocabulary coming out... sorry).  

Not only we explored key terms such as happiness, gratitude and love, but also saw the other side of the mirror by analyzing negative words like acedia, lust, depression and sadness. Our amazing professor used eye-opening videos and photographs to deepen our understanding. It was honestly, an overall amazing class. Take it. 

Also, during the last class, each student took markers and wrote words that mean or relate to happiness. I won't post those pictures now, but I will soon. It's truly inspiring! 

Fall Term Finito

That awkward feeling where you're officially done for the term and realize that Christmas is in 4 days and have not started studying shopping at all...

So, what am I doing over break? Well, racking in the money basically. Yeah, I work almost every day except Christmas and New Years Day. It's alright though, as they're not full on 8 hour shifts. I don't go back not until the 4th of January school wise, which is exactly 2 weeks from today. Other than work, here are my plans:

- Sleep (because I have no classes to attend) 

- Hang out with friends and family as much as I can (because I have no classes to attend)

- BLOG! (because I have no classes to attend!!) 

You can expect me to do recaps about my other classes, what I'll be taking in Winter term and any additional school-related blogs! 

Recap: EDEL 335

Well since my last final, for EDEL 335 is tomorrow, I would much rather talk about it than study for it. Totally works in my mind, doesn't it? EDEL 335 is the curriculum and pedagogy focusing on social studies, and let me tell ya, it was an adventurous up and down, down and up roller-coaster ride for a majority of the students. We were the only class this term where our professor came from the west coast teaching us too for his first experience at the University.

The main textbook is called The Anthology of Social Studies: Issues and Strategies for Elementary Teachers where I felt reading it throughout the term has not only shaped my instruction about social studies, but honestly for all elementary subjects. The chapters are short, it is very relevant for teachers today and provides a great amount of insight for educators. I'm pretty sure I won't sell this textbook because I actually found it as one of the best teaching resources for a pre-service teacher! Some of its chapters include proper assessment, unit/lesson planning and correct evaluation of incorporating resources in a social studies classroom.

Since my final is tomorrow and I am not terribly worried about it, I'll briefly outline the summative components of this course. The two main assignments included an evaluation of teaching resources (10 in total) and a unit plan consisting of 8 to 10 lessons. Both of these major assignments were due about a week apart at the later half of the term, closer to the end of November. All of us were put to the test handling how were we able to even survive this, just because I felt that a little more time for both would have been appreciated. Looking back, it was fine to say the least, though with 4 (or in my case 3) other classes, late November/early December was one of the craziest times regarding assignments this term! After tomorrow, it will all be done. 

We learned a lot in this class actually, our professor is very passionate about social studies and it was evident in his lectures. There are two favorite things I liked about this class:

The first is how our professor incorporated cooperative learning strategies into his instruction. Similar to Kagan Learning Strategies (which by the way I have bought the full book and am planning to read!), able to see it being put into practice. Examples included using Four Corners, Hand-Up Stand-Up Pair-Up and Placemat Activity that were used in class. This helps me to see if these strategies will work in the future for my students or not. 

The second thing which I admired was my peers. Not until November is when I started to "branch out" and talk to different people about things not just relating social. Whether it was seeing then at the library, or at the cafeteria or just in the hallways, every time I initiated a conversation they would too and who would've known an hour has already passed! This one of the few classes where I know the vast majority of my classmate's names and able to recognize their faces. The last day of classes a majority of us when to the on-campus pub to relax and had a good time before finals hit. It was nice to see everyone outside of class and proves how pre-service AND service teachers are the friendliest. 

One Down, One Left

Of course I'm talking about finals! I shouldn't be as stressed as my peers, just because I have only 2 finals to write (one done this morning thank you thank you) and another one next week. One of my other classes substituted a final with a take home exam aka "final paper" which I'm very much happy about. It just sucks that I'm not officially done until the 21st of December. Guess who'll be doing Christmas shopping on December 22-23-24! THIS GUY. 

Crazy to think that I last blogged over two months ago! I think it's a challenge for me to blog constantly, almost every day as opposed to in the end (summative vs. formative!). I think the excuse "I was too busy" is getting a little old. Not to worry, as you WILL see many many more within the next couple weeks. This term I had a great term with outstanding professors and I learned very much so from my peers. Something, I don't say so lightly. I'll go more in depth later on.

Here I am sipping tea and reminiscing about my classes, it's weird to think that I'm already done fall term.  

What to expect soon:

- a recap of my classes

- how my classes are applicable to teaching

- how my classes are applicable to real life

Seriously, I can not wait to share with you how my term went!