"Whatever you do, don't look here!"

This should be the slogan for any class where your work is collaborated and shared amongst everyone in the class.  The reason being that once you compare your work to everyone else's in the class, you realize how much more work you still have to do.  So ladies and gentleman, since I needed to take a break from school work....Let's Blog!!

Things that I need to do to become a better student (person/husband/father/poker player):

1)  Get organized.  I've always thought I was an organized person until my wife pointed out that my calendar is in my head, my address book hasn't been updated in 3 years, and I spend 20 minutes each morning looking for my shoes.  How do I get organized you ask?  Well, I'm going to start by finding me some instructions on how to get organized.  I'll let you know everything I find in posts post finals week.  Fair enough?

2)  Actually read the assigned readings.  This one has become tougher and tougher because throughout my college career, and I know most of yours as well, we spend $500+ per quarter on text books that we use very little of.  When a professor assigns 40 pages of reading and then says "Spend 5 minutes talking in your groups about the readings", you don't get too motivated to delve too deeply into the material.  The problem is that when you get to the end of the quarter you realize how nice it would have been to have the information from the readings to build on.  What I will do for next quarter is speak up more during the early days of class and make sure we get the main points out of those readings.

3)  Listen to more Colbie Caillat.  That woman's voice sure is relaxing.  "You got me" Colbie!

4)  Get assignment due dates, then erase them and write a date two weeks prior.  I have become so good as doing school projects at the last second that it has become a part of me.  Even though I've been quite good this year of staying ahead of the game preparation wise, I still wasn't getting the things done that needed to be completed.  14 more days should help my cause.

5)  Fully understanding the assignments.  We have some of the best professors I have ever had in college, and yet we communicate very little.  I sit with two days to go before several HUGE projects are due and I'm still not sure for what my teachers are looking.  Which means I am spinning my wheels and not learning.  To deal with this I need to focus, like a laser light, on reading and re-reading the assignment within minutes of receiving it.  Asking questions immediately about what we should learn from the assignment and what resources we should be using to obtain that knowledge. 

6)  Prioritizing!!  I have spend so much time away from my family the past two months.  I don't want to repeat this again.  My daughter especially as she gets close to turning 5 years old.  If I can prioritize my time and become more efficient at working the assignments this should open up huge amounts of time to spend with my friends and family.

7)  Becoming Efficient at working!  We all feel this way about school work...so why can't we get better?  For me the answer is I have been ignoring the obvious, which is that I am a people person/visual learner.  When I work in a group I pick up and remember nearly all the information discussed.  Getting myself to sit down afterwards and write notes on what was accomplished is the tough part, so I will attempt to write my notes in detail when the other people are around...in the group.....in other words I'm going to write notes while in class.  I know, great concept genius!!  I also know that I learn soooo much more from movies than I do books.  Simply put, motion pictures hold my attention...books don't.  I will scour YouTube next quarter for how-to videos on Instruction, Assessment, and classroom discipline....and of course watch the Science Cheerleaders every once in a while.

8)  Remind myself once each morning that I chose to do this to myself.  I want to be a teacher and this is the learning process I need to go through.  I might follow the lead of Notre Dame's football team and touch a placard that I make up for myself.  It could say "Hey....you ARE doing this!!!"

9)  Develop some fun goals to look forward to at different points throughout the quarter.  Get others in the class involved.  Start "Si Sundays" or "Orange Juice at 5" days.  Find something where people can get together and vent steam and feel like they aren't the only ones having such a tough time becoming a teacher.  We all know the feeling won't go away anytime soon.  We might as well figure out how to deal with it now.

Funny for the day:

TEACHER: George, go to the map and find North America.
GEORGE: Here it is!
TEACHER: Correct. Now, class, who discovered America?
CLASS: George 

Cheerio