Fridays

My favorite thing about Fridays, is that I get to do homework all day! woohoo!

Speaking of which, I thought you would "enjoy" reading my journal posting for one of my assignments this week. Compared to my peers journal postings about what a busy week they had, their birthday plans to get drunk over the weekend, and some I cant discern because somehow they are in my program and dont speak English, I thought mine was rather good;) anyway, see below for some stimulating fun/a peek into my boring but kinda interesting? life.

In other news, Im almost done with the aforementioned school. just 2 weeks of normal/crazy school and then a week of nothing but a science final. and then im done! woohoo! summer is just around the corner! yipee! However, recently ive run into "more time" since we're kinda winding down with all the projects and such...however im not quite sure what to do with myself besides sleep. I'm so tired and sick of people that its all I can manage to do. Maybe once school is really over Ill take a few days to recoop and then be a normal person and tackle this mounding list of "summer fun!" things.

Tomorrow is the engagement party and im SO excited. I was a little anxious before because I wasnt sure who would be there and if I came alone would it suck because i wouldnt know anyone, but Allie is the best and assured me it would be all my friends and some, but not all, strangers. but then I remembered that im outgoing and like meeting new fun people and felt even better! sometimes i get so immersed in school and work, i kinda forget who I am. I just become this machiene that does things then sleeps. I think thats why I love to travel and spend time in the city. It reminds me who I am.


anyway, heres the silly assignment.

Journal Week 13
This week I have finished the Bruer book, which I found very informative and helpful as seen in my Theory 1 paper. I am really able to see the connections between the process of science as a method for learning all subjects, and how the process of becoming a novice to an expert as seen in the Everest exercise, can assist us in our future classrooms. Before I go into this weeks reading from the Flynn book, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how I have connected these ideas to my future profession. As I have probably mentioned, my real focus and passion throughout this entire program has been in the arts in regards to wanting to become an elementary art teacher or children’s museum program leader. As I think about this process of going from a novice to an expert, I think about how I look at art as opposed to how my students will look at art. As an expert in my field, I know almost all there is to know about a designated art piece and am able to figure things out (such as who painted it, when, where, metaphors, etc.) an untrained student, or novice, can not. I have spent official class and work time immersed in my chosen field, use my spare time to immerse myself even further, and then use this overflowing knowledge to guide other students to be able to see and understand things as I do. The official process guides use to teach students how to look at art even reflects the process of science and learning. We simply ask them questions such as, “What do you see?”, “Why do you think the artist chose to do that?”, “What do you think this means?”, etc. This shows the teacher what the students already know and leads them to build upon how they see art. By having students actually do art and leading them through that process, also follows the science and learning process. Another key benefit of this, is when students DO art and see how difficult and challenging it is for a novice, they come to appreciate and understand classic and modern art pieces and the expert artists so much more. Just as we have done with the Everest climb and climbers!

Just a few chapters into the Flynn book, I am already enjoying the easy read and getting back into Everest. Although the Bruer book was a much welcomed break (despite the more difficult reading), I have to admit I missed my Everest friends and analogies. From the very beginning of chapter 2 I knew I was going to enjoy the writing and nature of this book. It seems that he views crazy Beck Weathers and Ed Viesturs the same way most of us do, and it looks as though we will be watching Flynn go through the process of novice to expert right before our very eyes as we read this accounts. I also really related to the situation on page 13 when he had to take his team member down the mountain and started being fussy about having to miss the rest of the climb. When his teammate started to cry, Flynn realized what a jerk he was being and apologized and said “Your friendship means more to me than the summit”. How well this connects to our current school situation. I know all of us are sick of each other and get snappy when having to be together so much under the mounds of mounting pressure and stress over the group projects and assignments. I found this quote to be encouraging and if you have read this far, hopefully it will be encouraging to you too. How much does you’re A+ really matter if everyone hates you when you get there? Why not do YOUR best work, LEARN as much as you can, and laugh and enjoy the rest of the ride? You’re A+ may not mean as much in the long run if your left all alone. Of course, this pre-capstone weekend may change my mind on all of this, but hopefully I’ve prepped myself enough to make it through without regret! We can do it!