ONE MONTH LATER Class Recap: CHRTC 380

I purposely saved this class last to blog about because I absolutely LOVED CHRTC 380. Can you already tell that I like to procrastinate?? On Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 this class started my day, and it was the best way yet! Already thinking about it I do miss it. I have no idea where to start because there was nothing, and I mean nothing that I did not NOT appreciate about this class.

CHRTC 380 was my very last class to complete before obtaining my Certificate in Catholic Education. I took 4 CHRTC classes -- 100 (Bible), 250 (Theological Education), 380 (Religious Education for the Child) and XXX (which was my Happiness class!). You have to average at least a B- in each class, which was an easy breezy checklist for me. 

Right away, our professor had us sit in a semi-circle. We encapsulated right from the start a sense of community by including everyone and anyone with our thoughts, questions and feedback. There was 12 of us, where I was the one and only guy. Can't complain there. 

I'm blessed in many ways for this class and all my Christian Theology classes in general. I feel that I connected to my faith more than ever and able to affirm my relationship with God in the strongest ways yet. What I will take away the most was the numerous opportunities for application. I mean, from a University class we had TONS of exposure! Our prof encouraged us to use our knowledge from class and apply it to real life teaching, such as when she brought elementary children into our class and through our volunteerism in the community. As a former administrator, she was incredibly understanding and helpful along our journey in this class and of course our faith! 

To my classmates -- each and every one of you have been an inspiring group of people to see as pre-service teachers. This is what's so rockin' about the Ed faculty: the close-knit, tight, getting-to-know-one-another right away atmosphere. Most of us were in our fourth year, so to have a class to share and grow and shine the light of what is to come, reminded us of the teaching opportunities that awaits us all. 

Lastly, if you are in education I very much recommend taking the path of exploring Christian Theology classes. From all the classes in my undergrad, my CHRTC has been the most beneficial and extraordinary. I know this because I bring them up in daily conversations and share all my positive experiences with them. To end, always know that God is love and for my future students, they will be reminded of that consistently. 

Goodbye 4th Year!

I feel that once I start school, I can't wait for it to be over. And then when school ends, I can't wait for it to start again. It's the irony of learning and University I guess! Last Thursday (my birthday actually!) was when classes finished. I only took 3 this term! CHRTC 380 (Teaching Religious Education to youth), EDPY 416 (Intro to Teaching English as a Second Language) and EDPS 410 (Law & Ethics). Although I'm not graduating this year with all my other friends, it's exciting to know I'll be back this fall to take just Art class and then my final practicum. And of course, wish all my fellow Education graduates success to new challenges! 

I'm not graduating this year (/sad face) because I decided to finish my degree with my practicum instead. Although it pushes me behind a semester, I also believed I wasn't ready to do my practicum last year either. Don't get me wrong; I love teaching and it is my honest passion doing it, but I needed something to regain myself. Time. 

I needed time to learn, grow and absorb more. I needed (and maybe still need!) to energize and regroup my thoughts and ideas. I wanted to connect more and build upon ideas. Looking back, I'm pretty positive I made the best decision for myself. And who knows? Maybe I'm not fully ready right now. I'll sure take this upcoming summer for more me time will help me even more. I think of the second practicum as a "9-week job interview" because essentially, it is. My evaluation means everything for me, and I'll be bummed if it's sub-par or just average. I hope to excel and to succeed even more with those little learners. Watch me ;) 

January Volunteering

January was a superb month for volunteering! I try to volunteer in various settings with the youth so that I get as much exposure as I can when having a classroom of kiddo's on my own. 

The first week I was SO SO excited to be back in the north-end school that I was at before my practicum. I had to stop going there temporarily because my IFX happened, and then summer came working two jobs then last fall term hit. Nevertheless, I am extremely thrilled to be back there for this winter term! 

To sum it up in a sentence, kids read to me using the assessment Fountain & Pinnell. We read one-on-one so that I (the reading assistant) can scaffold them by correcting mispronounced words and asking them comprehension questions about the text. I read with children anywhere between grade 2 to grade 6, and I LOVE it. Unique opportunities like this provide me skills to adapt and be flexible with a wide age range of youth. Also, you can never read TOO much, can you? 

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I also volunteered with a good friend of mine at his parish. I helped deliver sacramental and confirmation preparation to both division I and II students. Again, I love the variation of youth I get to work with. I'm taking a class about teaching religious education to youth, and I feel that delivering church preparation aligns with what I'm learning in that class right now. 

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On a side note, this is why I LOVE and feel SPECIAL being an Education student! Unlike other programs (not going to name names of course..) most, if not all of my courses contribute to my knowledge that I can use in practical applications. I admire this because everything will always then come full circle. 

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!