Full Week September 26, 2009

So this week I did my first classroom observation with the aforementioned sister-in-law who I hold solely responsible for this mess that I’m in.  It was fun, I hung out in her classroom for a while and then in another classroom as well, hey I gotta do 4 of these over the next 4 weeks so why not kill 2 birds with one stone – am I right?!!?

So with that said, I had my 2 page essay question to write out, and then a 2 page minimum reflection on my observation to do as well.  It really wasn’t a big deal, but I’ll tell ya, I never got the warm and fuzzies about my essay question paper.  It was one of those questions that I could go on about for days and come off very opinionated, so I tried to keep my response very middle of the road, and I don’t think that I really answered it the way that I needed to.  I guess there’s always next time.

Class today got pretty heated.  There were some very good debate topics that got pretty intense.  One of which was whose responsibility is it to teach homosexuality?  Being the parent of a school age child, I can confidently proclaim that it is my responsibility to teach my son those details about life, and no one elses.  I decide when he is ready to learn that and I decide HOW he learns that.  I will stand by my beliefs and decisions and I will fight over it.  No one can tell me I’m wrong when it comes to the decisions made about educating my own child especially about something as controversial as that. 

So there.

Homework! September 23, 2009

So far, my “Education, Schools and Culture” class is turning out to be my big time sucker.  Lots of reading, and a 2 page response to an essay question each week.  In addition to that, there are 4 reflections on my observations that are to be a minimum of 2 pages each.  I go tomorrow to do my first observation, with any luck, my first two as I’m hoping to hit more than one classroom while I’m there.  I’m excited, and a little scared about the whole thing, mainly because this will be the do or die scenario.  I’ll either like what I see and say “hey I can totally do this” or I’ll sit there and say “what the heck was I thinking!”.  We shall see.

I have paid my bill and now have internet access and my school email account.  I’m all in.  I also got myself a fancy new laptop all my own so I can have all my cute little school things on here and it’s just like my own little space that no one will bug or accidentally delete (except of course myself.).  My little Dell is just great except the keyboard is ridiculously sensitive and all kinds of things happen during the course of my typing a paper or a blog post.  Just a moment ago half of this post changed to italics, don’t know how, it just did all by itsself.  Whatever.  Fun Stuff.  Oh and can I add that my 3 year old son just bowled a 166 on the Wii – that’s better than I’ve ever done.  CRAZY!

Love it! September 21, 2009

Today is Monday.  Saturday was my first day of classes.  Here’s how it works.  I take 2 classes every Saturday for 3 – 6week sessions.  There are 3 sessions per semester.  That means that little ol’ me is taking 18 credits.  That’s majorly full time.  Each Saturday my 2 classes are 5 hours each (yup, 5 hours.).  I was sorta dreading it.  But the reality is that I actually loved it.  Both my classes were very interactive.  My education class (Education, Schools & Culture) was over in a flash, and that was the one that made me cry at the mere sight of the syllabus.  My Government class was a little painful, but after you’ve been sitting in a classroom for 8 hours, even the yummiest eye candy can be painful.  I hit my wall at about 4:30 – and still had 2 hours to go.  So it was a long 2 hours, but certainly not like I had thought.

This week I start my classroom observation.  My first stop will be in my sister-in-law’s 3rd grad classroom.  Hopefully she can set me up with someone in her school in a different grade so I can knock out 2 of my required 4 observations in one day.  Yee haw!!

Officially Official September 14, 2009

I have now submitted the approvals for all my financial aid packages and scholarships, waived the school’s health insurance (because I’m a grown adult and already have some, but thanks), and printed out my first 2 syllabi.  I already have homework due this Saturday (it’s Monday) but have no book with which to do said homework.  It should be arriving soon – the tracking said tomorrow.  I’m going to light a candle and say a little prayer that I get my other book on time because I paid for expedited shipping but haven’t heard a single thing since I clicked “purchase now”.  Yikes.  I might have an emergency trip to a bookstore in my future.

So… it’s official.  I’m a full time freaking college student.  What have I done???!

Orientation September 10, 2009

So today was my orientation for classes set to start on the 19th of this month.  I got my class schedule and my book list.  So now I am tasked with ordering the books for my 2 classes that I will be attending for 5 hours EACH every Saturday for the next 6 weeks.  *sigh*  See previous post for my apprehension about all of this.  In the next day or so I should be recieving my student email account password so that I can log in and see my class details and such.  Apparantly I already have homework assigned and need to get cracking on that before next weekend.  Goody!  I did learn some good news that allieviated some of my apprehension – it’s not the grueling 6 weeks on 1 week off  that I thought it would be.  There is nearly a month break over the holidays.  I cannot express how much better I felt about that.  So if The Cop and I need to get away, there will be opportunity for that.

AACK!! This is really going to happen!!  I’m getting more excited.  I think.

In The Beginning… September 4, 2009

…there was a thought, there was a comment, and now there is an acceptance letter sitting in front of me.

What have I done?

I’ve always wanted to be in medicine.  When I was younger I wanted to be a doctor.  When I failed my first college level biology class I decided I wanted to be a business woman.  When I had my first real job in the medical field I decided I wanted to be a nurse, and then I decided I’d work my way through life until I could dedicate time to my nursing studies.  Then time dragged on, and my desire to deal with life and death situations with zero room for error was wanning.  I was getting too old for the drama and adrenaline.  

I owe the rest of this post to my sister-in-law.

After months and months of painful potty training my 3 year old, I finally made him a chart.  When he went potty, he got a sticker to put in the appropriate place on the chart.  My sister-in-law (a 3rd grade teacher) saw the chart and told me it was adorable and said that I should be a teacher, I’d be great at it.  Well, why the heck hadn’t I thought of that?

So then it began.  I looked into it.  What’s not to love?  Really, you never actually have to grow up, you get all kinds of vacation, and the summers off.  She might be on to something!!  I researched colleges and tried to find a program that fit my life, afterall I’m not right out of highschool.  I’m married to The Cop and I have 2 small children that rule my world.  I eventually found a college that offered a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education (I’m certain that wasn’t supposed to be capitalized, but I hope to learn that soon enough) with attending classes only on Saturdays.  Well isn’t that nice, The Cop stays home with the kids and I get a day out with adults and enrich my life. 

So I set up an appointment to meet with the director of admissions (I’m certain that SHOULD be capitalized) and before the meeting was over, I had taken a math placement test, tested out of a class and had umpteen transfer credits from my associate’s degree.  All I needed to do was send in some financial aid paperwork, and we were good to go, classes started in 5 weeks.  Huh, plenty of time to thinkit over and discuss it with The Cop.

We’ve kicked it around since then but not seriously.  If I want to do it I can – if I don’t then no big deal.  He’s very supportive of whatever I choose.  Well I got an email on Monday (today is Friday) that I should be getting my acceptance letter in the mail this week and orientation is on Wednesday, and please bring my deposit.  WHAT!  I’m not ready yet.  We haven’t had the serious conversation yet.  Not to mention that Wednesday was The Cop’s birthday.  I sent the woman an email saying I couldn’t make it (putting the ball in their court – if it wasn’t meant to be then so be it), she quickly responded with another option that fit our schedule.  ARGH!  I guess it will work afterall.

Here was my conundrum…  While all this fit in our family schedule, the school schedule is quite rigorous.  Every Saturday from 7:30AM to 6:30 PM – 11 HOURS!  For 6 weeks, and then 1 week off, and this goes on all year save the month of August.   This would be a HUGE committment.  I’d be gone all day EVERY Saturday, and for something that I wasn’t completely certain about – it wasn’t my dream EVER to be a teacher.  So needless to say I’ve been praying pleading for a sign that this is the right decision for us (because it does involve so much more than just me).  And each hurdle that comes up just seems to work out without a problem  So….. Here we go!

Anyway… I got my acceptance letter in the mail today, I go for my final orientation and I’ll get my ID and schedule and all the other crazy details next week.  I’m one signed immunization form away from being completely enrolled.  And we still haven’t had the serious conversation yet.

WHAT HAVE I DONE???

Hello world! September 4, 2009

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