Officially Graduated and Certified

   It has now been official for over a week that I have graduated from the UGC MAT program and I am certified by NYS as a Biology and General Science teacher. I was thinking today how quickly it all went and can still hardly believe that I graduated over a year ago. The program here at UGC was certainly an intense one, but it went by so quickly and was well worth it. This past Thursday was my last day at Troy High School. I cannot belive my time is over there and though so many of my students may not believe me, I will miss them all greatly. I can also say that 100% of my students passed the Living Environment Regents exam, so I was thrilled to see that all of my hard work as well as theirs paid off. I ended my last day my going out to dinner with the entire Biology department and one of the other UGC Biology interns. They were such amazing individuals to work with and I learned so much from all of them whether it be about Biology, teaching or staying sane, they were always there to lend a helping hand or ear.
   Graduation itself was a beautiful ceremony and though the weather did not quite hold, I took in every moment because we had all worked so hard to get there. I am currently in the process of applying for jobs, so keep your fingers crossed for me. I will be working at UGC all summer with the School of Education Office and the President's Office, so if you have questions, concerns or just want to say hi stop over and see me. I think that is it for now.
   Looking forward to dinner tonight with my supervisor, mentor, fellow intern graduate and her mentor. Nice way to celebrate the year. I feel very fortunate to have worked with such a great mentor and supervisor who were there to support and encourage me every step of the way this year and for me to learn from. I truly feel that I have grown so much due to their expertise and guidance.

Only 5 Teaching days left!

I cannot believe I only have 5 days left with my students and that graduation is 8 days away. I truly cannot believe how quickly the end of the year is approaching. It is both exciting and scary all at the same time. Graduating means that I have finished a very long year full of hard work, but it also means that I am back out in the real world in pursuit of a job. Right now there are very few teaching openings to come by so it is a waiting game all around. I am confident it will all eventually work out and I just hope I find a school that is the perfect fit. Once I graduate, I will still have a week left at Troy, where I will help students that need to to finish labs, opportunities for review and then Wednesday, June 16th they will take the Regents. I will help with the proctoring and will be there for the grading process. Once that is complete I will have a weekend before starting my job at UGC. I was given the opportunity to come back to UGC to help out over the summer with the School of Education, School of Management and the President's Office. I am glad that I will be able to work with some of the amazing professors and staff that UGC has to offer a little longer. Hopefully during this time a job will become available and I will be hired, crossing my fingers. I still do not think it has completely set in that I am so close to being done. It has been something we have all been working towards this entire year and it seems surreal that I will finally have reached the end. I completed two of my courses this week and the only course left is seminar which I have this evening and for the last time next Wednesday. It will be such a relief when all of my work is handed in and there is nothing left for me to really do but walk across the stage to graduate.

Please let me know if you have questions!

Super long weekend, Love it!

Today starts the beginning of a four day weekend. We have Monday off for Memorial Day and Friday they gave as a teacher compensation day. After class tonight I am heading to NH to visit family and tomorrow I am going to a Red Sox game. Other big plans for the weekend, so excited for a break and to get away. Alot of school work to do for next week, considering it is the last week for two of my classes. Plant Biology meets for the last time Tuesday and Computer class Wednesday. I have one major project in Plant and 3 in computer. Luckily my plant project is almost done. We had to collect tree, shrub and herb/weed specimens that we had to mount and then idenitify. It was alot of work, not hard, but just took alot of time to find the specimens, cut the specimens down appropriately to fit on construction paper, mount and label. I took some time last night to do all of the identifications so I only have a few loose ends to wrap up which was a relief. Now I just need to get cracking at my computer stuff, which I seem to be making progress. Things at Troy are quickly winding down, only 8 days of classes, which is crazy to me and the Regents on June 16th. Graduation is 2 weeks from Saturday, this year has just totally flown by I can hardly believe it. No other updates to report I think. Hope everyone is staying cool and please let me know if you have questions!

Have a Safe Memorial weekend!

Last visit

  Today was my last supervisor visit most likely and last three way evaluation meeting with my mentor and supervisor. It is so amazing to me how quickly things are winding down. I am waiting in anticipation for graduation and waiting to see what pans out with jobs, please keep your fingers crossed. I must say today's meeting and observation was the best yet, I was told it was my best lesson yet, so going out on a really positive note is always a great thing. I had a great lesson with my students, they were very engaged and asking really good questions and I had their attention. The past couple of weeks have been stressful and classroom management has been difficult, so I am not sure what about today was different, but it worked and I am thankful. It was also neat to see the students having a discussion and I utilized their feedback well.
  Yesterday, I had the oppportunity to be involved in a mock interview. The Career Center here at UGC organized the opportunity for MAT students to do a panel interview with 3 individuals, most UGC alumni, to get us comfortable with the panel interviews we will be encountering when applying for jobs. It was a really great opportunity, that I am thrilled I was able to take advantage of. They asked some great questions and provided valuable feedback. I figure the more practice I get, the better I will get so that I can do a great job in an interview to hopefully get a job.
  Other than that, not too much more to report. Just working on final projects for the term and hoping to end things on a high note and be closer to a job that I will love!
  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Only about a month left

Just looked at the calendar today to notice that I only have about four weeks left until I graduate! It is hard to believe I only started this program about a year ago. It is amazing how much time flies. When they tell you the MAT Program is intense but goes by faster than you can blink it really does! It is amazing how much has been accomplished in a relatively short period of time. I am not going to lie, it is a lot of work, and most of my time and energy have been devoted to school, but to be done in one year and applying for jobs, is a time and money saver and gets the job done right, faster. And if you plan right, you can still squeeze in some fun things to keep you sane and healthy. Also, having the year long internship where most of us started teaching our classes right away, I can certainly say with speaking with prospective employers is something that truly impresses them and sets us apart. It is amazing to me after having gone through almost the entire year to imagine not having a full year internship. It has been great to be able to see the curriculum all the way through, especially since it had been approx. 5-7 years since I had dealt with most of the information in addition to seeing what types of struggles the students have as well as questions. In addition to be able to know the students, to be a constant in their lives is huge and very rewarding. I have seen a lot of growth in many of my students, and smaller growth in others, which is still progress. It is hard to imagine not walking into Troy High everyday next year, it really has become home for me. I know many of the other teachers, the hall monitors and some of the other staff, I am truly going to miss it. For those of you that are starting this summer you are in for a real journey. The summer though at times seems overwhelming was truly one of my favorite parts of the program and is just the beginning of the workload. So enjoy the summer program, take in all that you can, because it only gets a little crazier. Hopefully I will get to meet many of you over the summer as I will be working at the Graduate Center this summer, so please if you see me, say hi and ask any questions if you have any, I remember being in your shoes and the more questions you ask, the better it will be!

Hope to meet many of you soon!

Moving along

So last week's post did not publish as I thought it had so I ended up posting it today though it was last week's information (sorry about that). This week has been pretty busy so far, here I thought it was going to be on the quiet side. My supervisor came in today and I gave a quiz yesterday and I am just trying to gear up for interviews, job applications, wrapping up the school year preparing my students for the Regents, it is just crazy. As I had mentioned last Friday I had the opportunity to chaperone a field trip of my mentor's AP students to RPI. This was a lot of fun and the weather was great for walking around RPI's campus.We had the opportunity to get into the labs, where the students and myself were able to dissect fruit flies (well I attempted, it was really hard!). We were also able to see microprep, which was all the preparation needed so they could run different samples they were testing, so many steps for the small amount they end up with at the end. We also were able to see the process where they were able to test drosophila wing muscle, to see how strong they were and various other items. The students seemed really interested and was a great learning experience for them. We were able to have lunch in the dining hall, which was nice to regroup for the afternoon. Overall a great day and a great way to end the week.
   As I had mentioned a few times last Friday, was the Wine 101 hosted by our very own Dean Allen of Education. He was our host for the evening and walked us through the wine tasting process, as well as introducing us to eight wines, share what they should smell and taste like and what meals they went best with. There were also appetizers and desserts served. It was an enjoyable evening and I have some new wines to try, I am definitely a white wine fan, so there is a new one, beginning with a V that I need to go out and get. We received a booklet that listed the wines we tried and other future suggestions, which is always helpful. Great food, beverages, conversation and company. This Thursday actually marks the last TGIT of the term. It will actually be a fundraiser for the Cancer Society, so they ask us to donate $3 per student which all $ collected will go to the Cancer Society, so we are hoping for a large turn out. So I am hoping to finally make it since I have been unable to during the year. This Friday will also be our last Urban Roundtable. It is amazing how quickly things seem to be coming to a close. Only a little over a month until Graduation it is so hard to believe.

Well I think that is it for now! Please write with questions!

Busy Busy week

   This week has been extremely busy, even busier than I had been expecting, not quite sure why. I know part of the reason is my large presentation for my seminar course is tomorrow so I have been working like crazy to put the final touches on it. I really love my topic and I am super excited to talk about it, but the overall delivery always makes me nervous. I am very glad to be getting to present earlier rather than later. I feel like the later on in the term it gets, the more work there is so this is one less thing I need to do. I may have mentioned earlier that my topic is KIPP schools. One of my classmates is doing a presentation on charter schools,so I had to find ways to cover what makes KIPP different, which is easy enough to do, but just wanted to avoid any overlap. It is an hour to an hour and twenty minuted presentation, which I think to date is the longest I have had to present, so I am hoping it all goes well. Part of the presentation is supposed to be interactive, so if I planned it right takes some of the burden away from me.
   This Friday, the very much anticipated Wine Tasting event and food is being held. I have been looking forward to this for weeks and has been what I have been looking ahead to with this busy week. I will certainly let you know how it goes. Also Friday, I am helping my mentor chaperone his AP students to RPI. My mentor had worked in one of the labs at RPI over the summer and thought it would be really neat to bring his AP Biology students there for the day to tour the facilities and learn about the different research that is being done right across the street. We will also be doing lunch there, so this is a great way to end the week and I am really interested myself to see what is being done at RPI.
  Well I  think that is all for now. Hoping the weather gets warmer soon, it is freezing today.

What a whirlwind

   All of a sudden life has picked up and is going at a supersonic pace. Cannot even believe last week is over let alone almost this week. I literally hit the ground sprinting coming back from break and really have not stopped since. I have a pretty big presentation coming up on KIPP schools (Knowledge is Power Program). I had the opportunity to visit one of the KIPP schools in Albany yesterday where I was able to tour the school with a current student and  then speak with the school's co-founder Dan Ceaser. The school and students truly amazed me. There were pictures and displays of work everywhere. The students were so well behaved and respectful and the teachers and staff were extremely friendly. It was great to hear about the school from a student perspective and I am excited to share my visit experience with my fellow classmates next week.
   Last week I spent a great deal of time gathering my transcripts and letters of recommendations so that they could be uploaded onto Interfolio. This way when I start applying for jobs my items can go out immediately and all go out together, rather than having to individually request them each time from each teacher and each college. Things with my internship feel like they have picked up quite a bit as well. We just finished the first of three units on Genetics. Genetics is certainly a harder concept for them to understand so it has taken quite a bit of planning and preparation on my behalf to get through it. Their quiz is tomorrow so I am kind of nervous for them  how they will do. I really slowed down the pace, making sure to constantly ask them if they are with me and if they have questions. I also strongly encouraged them to see me before school tomorrow to review, so I am hoping some of them will take advantage of this. I stressed that I know Genetics is not easy, I remember, but that I am here to help them get it and that I want them to do well. So tomorrow will be the true test.
   Next week I am very excited  that our very own Dean of Education will be hosting a Wine tasting event here at UGC next Friday. He is a wine connoisseur we have heard so I am excited to learn more about some wines that I have not tried before along with some great food and company.  It will certainly be a nice and relaxing way to end a crazy few weeks. By then my huge presentation will be done. Other than that not too much more to report. For those that are starting the summer program this summer, so exciting, some of us were saying we are going to miss it. For those that are still deciding, it has been a great experience, I cannot imagine going anywhere else. Let me know if you have questions!

Gotta love breaks!

   So we are yet on another break, our last full one before the year is over. Because graduate classes are in session it never really feels too much like a break, but the weather was so nice over the weekend I took an overall break from work. Next week I am starting a new unit which I needed to work on from scratch so I had been working on it alot but needed to make some final alterations on it before I coped it today. I also had to write a lab which I finished as well. I now need to test out the lab today to make sure it works or no minor tweaks need to be made. I have also been trying to gather my letters of recommendation as well as making transcript requests so that when the job search gets in full swing (which I hope it does) I will be well prepared.
   I started my 3 graduate classes for the Spring term last week. So far so good. I actually have to do a presentation in my seminar course on a type of education reform and the one I was able to get was KIPP schools. I actually found a great book that gave me alot of valuable insight titled Work Hard. Be Nice. It was very helpful so I am hoping to utlize that as well as online articles and I am hoping to visit the local KIPP school in Albany. I am really hoping to make that visit because to be able to meet with the staff, teachers and students, to sit in on classes and see how it is done, would be valuable to me on so many levels. Not only for presentation purposes, but so I can become more informed as I head through my job search and I can also share with my peers what things are being done there and things that might be useful for us to try as teachers. Luckily this week I did not have any classes, but certainly had work in their place. Being two of my classes are held in actual schools, we are unable to be there when the school is closed, so we were given assignments to work on in lieu of that fact.In seminar we were given a book to read and needed to write a proposal for our project, so this week has been crazy.
  On a fun note I am giving myself a break and heading to Boston on Friday for the weekend to celebrate my bestfriend's birthday! I hope the weather holds out for us, Boston is a great city, especially when the weather is great.
  Well that is it for now. I will check back in next week, which I am sure will be a crazy one. New unit, new lab, supervisor visiting on Monday, full week and all 3 graduate classes, can you feel my excitement?! I like my classes this term, but I must admit I have a bit of spring fever and will be excited when classes are over and I know my plan for the Fall.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Rain Rain Go Away!

Yuck all of this rain is definitely not a great way to start the week. I keep hearing good weather is on the way, but all of this rain is making me sleepy and both me and my kids not wanting to be in school (not that I would admit that to them). You can tell we are all ready for April break which luckily starts on Friday. So it will be nice to have the time to regroup, except we do have graduate classes, so it will not be a complete break. I will hopefully start getting my act together in preparing for the application for jobs process. I need to set up an account with a company called Interfolio. It is a company that the MAT program recommends for us to send all of our letters of recommendations and transcripts and the company will compile all the items into one file and when we apply to a job we just tell them who and where to either mail or electronically send what items. That way it all goes and once and we  can pick and choose what items need to be sent and how. It may get a little costly, but having to request transcripts each time as well as letters of recommendations, gets a little crazy so hopefully this will prevent chaos.
  Tonight I start back with my classes so hopefully I can get back into the swing of that quickly, though I must admit it is going to be an adjustment to go back to three classes and my last one each week being Thursday. I was spoiled only having classes Monday and Tuesday last term and now having them Tuesday-Thursday is going to be an adjustment. Luckily though after this term classes are done so I am trying to focus on that.
  We just finished up on our Human Reproduction unit, which I think my students might actually be sad about. Though I started off hesitant about how it would go, I was really glad to see they were excited about a topic and were open and willing to share their questions. It was a good thing to be able to clarify any misconceptions and educate them on things that they had no clue of. It was fun to see them excited and eager to learn. They also asked many questions that I wasn't totally sure about, so it was a great opportunity for me to do further research and come back to report to them.
  That is all for now. Check back in next week!

It's Official!

It is official that I have completed and passed all three of my Teaching Certification Exams as well as received my grades for the winter term, so I am officially moving on to my last term in the MAT program. I can hardly believe how quickly this year has gone and that in less than three months I will be graduating and have my Certification and Masters Degree. Now it is all about the job hunt and working with my students to prepare them for the Regents. Today I took my first step towards the job seach by attending the Education Expo down at the Empire State Plaza. There were approximately 25 school districts represented, both public and private. The majority were from the local area and NYS, but there were two schools from Maryland, one from Nevada and another from Alaska. It was a bit nerve racking, but I am glad that I was able to get a sense of what they were looking for as well as what job opportunities might be available this fall. Unfortunately right now, without the school budgets having been passed, many schools are unsure of what vacancies they will have and thus are not posting open positions. So I will need to keep an open mind on places and locations, which is okay for me, because ultimately I just want to teach and be able to work with the students.
   Currently in my internship I am teaching Human Reproduction, which has certainly been an eventful unit. My students are very interested and open to asking questions on just about anything. I was surprised by their enthusiasm and interest in the subject, but welcome the opportunity to have their full attention and to be able to answer their questions. It is great to see how comfortable they are with me by the types of questions they are asking. They are extremely curious and look to me to find the answers, which is quite rewarding.
   Other than that, not too much more to report. The spring term classes start next week, so I am relishing having my evenings free from class and grad school work, so I am trying to get ahead in my internship planning as well as catching up on life.
   For those that are looking to start in the summer, I highly encourage you to apply and choose UGC. It has been an amazing experience. You will learn so much about yourself, teaching and most importantly your students. The one-year internship has truly changed me in ways I never imagined and I do feel that I will be so prepared for when I have my own classroom hopefully this fall. The staff and Professors here are so  helpful and knowledgeable. Everyone is always willing to lend a helping hand or ear and help to make the busy year a little less stressful. If you have questions, comments, concerns, please post a comment and I would be happy to help!

Spring is finally on its way

   Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather, I know I am. It came at a perfect time as the Winter term was wrapping up. I have submitted all of my projects, including the largest one, MAT project and I am trying to catch up on everything else. Let's hope I can make use of the next two weeks before classes pick back up and the job hunting season begins.
   Let's see, nothing new to report at my internship, still liking the school, my students, my mentor, other teachers and staff. It really has been a great experience so far and I look forward to continuing learning as the months progress. It is hard to believe April is next month and school will almost be over. I am very grateful this has been a one year internship.  It would have been really hard on me to leave my students mid-year and as much as they can give me a hard time, I think it would've been tough on my students after just having gotten used to me, to learn another teacher and their style and expectations. Also, I will have one full year of experience under my belt, have one year of lesson plans and will have seen a full year's curriculum including Regents preparation as well as proctoring and grading the Regents. I think it will make my teaching hopefully next year that much easier.
  On a non-school related note, as I have mentioned before I am a Siena Alumni, and the Saints won their third MAAC Tournament in a row which means they are heading to the NCAA tournament. Their first game is this Friday, at 2:30 in Spokane,WA against Purdue (#4). We are all hoping for a win and that they progress on. Looking forward to seeing them on tv. Another fun Siena note, a recent Siena grad Kenny Hasbrouck was signed by the Heat and is now a member of the team. I remember watching him at the TU and am so excited he got this amazing offer, go Kenny.
   Well I guess that is it as far as updates, thanks for reading and if you have questions/comments/anything  I should talk about, please let me know!

Winter Term is almost complete

  Hi All, hope everyone has been enjoying the sunny warmer weather, I know I have been trying to soak it in. This past week has been a whirlwind yet again. I submitted my Portfolio last week and actually got it back and graded already this week, which was a relief. I submitted three labs modified for my Final Project for Biological Instrumentation. All that is standing in my way for the end of this term is my MAT project. I met with my advisor yesterday and she talked about changes I can make to my paper to polish it for the final submission on Monday. I think after meeting with her I know what needs to get done and now all I need to do is do it. Though this project has had its challenges, I have learned so much about myself, teaching, the research process and reasons why my blog for my students could be very successful. I truly hope I am able to implement this plan once I get a permanent teaching position.
  Today we started to wrap up the fetal pig dissection. All the students have left is the optional brain dissection and separating out the intestines, so we can measure who has the longest intestine. Separating the intestines without nicking or cutting them is something that requires a lot of finesse and patience, so I am excited to see who wins in the end. Today, third quarter mid-term grades were due. I was quite pleased that quite a bit of my students have increased since last quarter, so hopefully they can keep up the momentum for the rest of the quarter.
  On a side note, this past Friday, the Graduate College hosted an etiquette dinner at Glen Sanders Mansion. It was open to all  UGC students, for $15 you paid for a four course meal with an etiquette expert. I initially wasn't sure if I was going to go, but thought having more exposure to proper dinner etiquette as well as a great meal with great company how could I go wrong? It was a great evening, the food was excellent, the room we were in was nice, the etiquette speaker was knowledgeable and entertaining and there was a good crowd from UGC that participated. I am thrilled I went, it was definitely a great different way to spend a Friday evening.
   Well that is all for now. I will check back in soon!

And March has arrived

Hi all, cannot even believe that today is March 1st. Time is flying by, I can hardly believe graduation is in just about 3 months, that is craziness to me. Last week was a blur, that is for sure. We came back from break to have crazy weather which caused a snow day on Wednesday, which I must admit could not have come at a better time. The amount of work left to be done and my students still coming off of a break put me in high stress mode, so Wednesday was very much needed for me to get some work done and be able to breathe. I know all that needs to get done will get done and the end of the term will be here before I know it. We started working with the fetal pigs in my class last Friday, which overall went smoother than I thought. I had a couple of students that protested at first, but before I knew it, got involved in the process. I think alot of it is the fear of the unknown and not knowing what to expect. I think it definitely helps that at the beginning we give students the choice of how involved they would like to be. Giving a choice and allowing them to be somewhat in control and have a better sense of what is expected certainly makes a difference. I think alot of them really liked being able to be hands on and do something different. Hopefully the momentum continues as we move  through. It really is a great opportunity for them to be able to dissect the fetal pig because they are able to connect all of the units that we learned talking about body systems. They are now able to see what the structures actually look like, consist of and where they are found. I think being able to make these connections makes what we have taught them that much more valuable.
   We will soon be registering for Spring classes, we can actually start doing that today online. This is the first term we will be able to register online, which I think will be helpful in time and paper trails.
   Other than that, pretty much done with my portfolios, just putting the final touches on them. I say portfolios, because we make one copy that we will use to take with us to job interviews and one that we leave for the Graduate School Education Office, for them to show future students as well as show for accrediation purposes, to show the work of the students in the program. Though it has been a busy time writing all the pieces, when creating the binder of pieces I could start to see how it is all coming together.
   Hope everyone is well and muddled through the crazy weather week last week. Talk to you all soon!

Break Week

Thank goodness for Break week. I spent the majority of break week trying to play catch up from being sick and from the fast pace of the semester. I definitely did work, but did not check off nearly as many items off my checklist as I had hoped. Part of what I am playing catch up on in my Portfolio. As I had mentioned earlier in the year, as part of the Seminar class we are taking this term, we are creating a portfolio that we will bring with us on our job interviews. This includes our teaching philisophy, our community contributions, exemplarary lesson plans, a test we have given that we spend time reviewing and assessing, our resume and many other items. I actually was introduced to two MAT Alumni yesterday, one who teaches in NJ and the other in East Greenbush, who both said though the portfolio takes some time to do, it is worth it and they both used it in their interviews. They said it was great to be talking about something that you did and be able to pull out your portfolio and refer to it, it really provided the supporting evidence. It was nice to hear this from alumni. Though we have been told this often by our professors here at UGC, it is also nice to have them reinforced by those that are going through what we are. I am also the type of person that as long as I know all of the hard work will pay off, I am okay with chuggin along and making sure it represents me to the best of my ability.
  Let's see, today was my first day back to my internship. I think both myself and my students were not quite ready to be back. Returning after break is always the hardest, but I did my best to help them get back into the swing of things. Today was the first day of a busy week. I am having my supervisor observe me this week and we are also doing our three way meeting. This is when myself, my mentor and supervisor get together to discuss my progress this term, determine where my strengths and weaknesses are, what I want to accomplish from here forward and then discuss what I think my grade should be.... though I don't get my grade until grades come out. So hopefully all of that will go well and I will continue to do well with the program. This week we also start the fetal pig dissection. I am overall looking forward to this, though the smell I may be able to do without. Some of my students are really excited to be able to do the dissection, while I have few that are more skeptical. I had one student say "well then I am not coming." It should certainly be an interesting couple of weeks. I think I am going to go out and stock up on my antibacterial hand gel and some hand lotion.
  The end of the winter term is rapidly coming to an end which I am glad for, except for the MAT that means my MAT project is due. I have a lot more to do before I reach that point, but I guess something to look forward to. Once March 15th hits my MAT project will be complete and I will be looking ahead to my last officia term of Grad. School, which is exciting and scary all at once. I am glad that all of the hard graduate work will be complete, but then will be the task of finding a job. I had a Mock Interview at the Career Center at Union last week. I am really grateful I took advantage of this opportunity. They provided me valuable insight on how I can better sell myself, by really just making sure to highlight the important things I have to offer. He suggested if I had a hard time highlighting my strengths or how I would describe myself, to ask those that work with me, such as my supervisor, my mentor, my previous boss and those that work with me. They will be able to provide be some insight about me and my work ethic that I might not recognize, which I think is a great point. I was also provided some guidelines on my resume and other pointers that might better convey who I am and what I have to offer, so overall great experience.
  Okay that is it for now. I will keep you posted.

Any comments, questions, concerns, please let me know!

Parent Conferences and Week before break

  Hi All, hope everyone is staying warm on these blustery cold days. Last week as I had mentioned, parent-teacher conferences were held Thursday evening and Friday afternoon. Overall I was fairly pleased with the turn-out. I would have liked to see a few more parents, I had three Thursday and one Friday, but I will take what I can and do what I can to help the students. My mentor was able to see a lot of his parents families, so he was really excited to have that opportunity. It is just a great opportunity to check in with the family, update them on their students progress, what they might be able to work on and also sometimes find out a little more information we might not know. These meetings can often be quite enlightening, especially when the student attends with the parent/guardian and you are able to see their interactions as well. The families I was able to meet with, I had some really productive conversations and was quite pleased with the discussions. It is very interesting to hear about my students from the parent perspective, gives me a little bit more of a fuller picture as to who they are and what they are about through the parents eyes. This weekend I spent trying to catch up on work and I was able to attend a Siena basketball game vs. Iona. The Saints had another large win and are continuing on their very successful season. It was a nice way to unwind from the week and gear up for getting work done.
  This week is going to be a crazy one, as is every week before a break is. I was surprised at how energetic and not focused my students were today, I can only imagine how it will progress through the week. A lot of today's work called on previous knowledge, so I was extremely pleased when the students remembered that previous information rather quickly. It made me feel better to know that they are paying attention and are actually retaining the information. Some of the students asked really great questions about the excretory system. I was glad that I had anticipated some of their responses ahead of time, so I was better able to answer their questions. I must admit I am just as excited as they are, that next week is break. I have a lot of work to catch up on and I wouldn't mind a little extra sleep as well.
  Well that is it for now. I will try and check back in later in the week.

Third Quarter has officially begun

It is hard to believe that the 2nd quarter has come to a close and we have already begun the 3rd quarter. Today I made a new seating chart and switched up everyone's seats and oh the moans. Making a seating chart that is condusive for all is next to impossible. Trying to separate chatty students, put students closer to the front that need to be closer for vision or attention purposes and trying to keep in mind where they might want to sit is a complicated task. I do my best to place the students where I think they will do best, unfortunately does not make them happy with me in the least bit. The amount of groans and disgruntled students on seat moving day is the highest usually for the term. It is always interesting to see how the dynamics change and students that you didn't think would chat would or students who normally don't volunteer seem to want to participate. I was out again yesterday do to illness so some of my students were glad to see me return, which is always a comforting feeling. This week is an odd week. Wednesday is a half day for Professional Development and Thursday and Friday we move into parent teacher conferences again. Thursday evening is parent teacher conferences as is Friday afternoon, so Friday is yet another half day for the students. Therefore this may be yet another one of those weeks where the student focus is lacking a bit and will be hard to keep them all on task. They thought I was mean for giving them a quiz on Friday, but it shouldn't take too long. I was going to give it on Thursday, but after realizing that Wednesday is a half day, I didn't feel we would have quite enough time to review for the quiz and I wanted to make sure they were amply prepared. We are currently covering the Human Respiratory System, which they seem to understand and actually seem to enjoy (though they would not admit it). I am hoping that they all do well on their first quiz of the quarter to start off the term on a good note. So hopefully parent teacher conferences go well Thursday and Friday and that I get to see quite a bit of my students families and maybe even some of the students. I will try to post another blog after the conferences are over and let you know how it went.

Have a great week!

Thank Goodness for Regents Week!

Let's see where I left off. Sorry I have not blogged in a little while. I have been sick and thus have missed some of my grad classes and my internship. On a positive note, everyone has been so helpful and understanding in working with me to make up my work. My mentor also covered my classes for me while I was out which I was so grateful for. I went back to school on Monday and was observed by my supervisor. I was extremely nervous how it would go after having missed a week of school and the fact I was still not 100% and it was a short week. Luckily it went pretty well and my students were cute. One of my students high-fived me to welcome me back. Some even commented how dedicated I was by coming in when I was still not feeling well. So even though it probably was not my best day, I really felt a connection with my students which is so important to me. Monday, was the last official day of the quarter so I had to calculate their 2nd quarter grades. I am happy to report many of my students are doing much better this quarter and I am so proud of them. It is amazing how rewarding it is to see such a huge improvement in some of my students and I cannot wait to share that with them when we return.
  So I mentioned this week is a Regents week. Tuesday-Friday of this week January Regents exams are being held and for those not taking Regents exams, they do not need to report to school. The Living Environment Regents exam was held Tuesday morning. I had the opportunity to proctor my first Regents exam and to work with the committee of teachers as they graded these exams. This was a valuable experience because it was helpful to see what types of questions students asked on the exams and where they got stuck. To see the grading process it was interesting to see the process, how the Regents set forth to grade the exams and how the students actually responded. I am glad to have gotten the opportunity to do this so I am prepared for my students taking the Regents in June. Now I have the rest of the week off to try and get caught up on life and homework and hopefully get myself back up to speed so I can hit the ground running on Monday.

Well that is it for now. If you have questions, comments, please post a comment, it would be nice to hear from you!

Busy week and good times

   Hello All! Hope everyone is having a great New Year so far! Let's see this past week was a busy one with a lot due in my seminar course and starting a new unit. We started a new unit in my internship on the Human Circulatory System and the blood. My students have been really intrigued so far and it is nice to see them excited. On Friday, I was able to show them a dissected cow heart. I was able to show them the structure of the heart so they could start to put what they have learned so far together. A few of the students were less than excited, but did look, while the majority put on a glove so they could touch the heart and see what it felt like. They were so excited, out of their seats looking on and ready to check it out. I even had one student who asked if she could take a picture of it. This was a great moment and it felt good that they were this interested.
   This week I was pretty busy with my work study job as well and the UGC was in an excited flurry due to the ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of it's new building and thank it's generous donors. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the event due to my internship, but I heard it was a great success. We are lucky as UGC students to have such generous individuals that recognized the good work that UGC has done and is doing and were able to make this new building possible.
   Last night was the Winter Semi-formal that UGC held at a local restaurant, the Van Dyke Lounge. We were in a private room upstairs, which was a huge, gorgeous facility. The food was phenomenal, the atmosphere was great and we had a great time dancing. I was initially unsure of whether to attend, but must say I had a fabulous time as well as everyone else. It was also great that some of the professors and administrators attended as well. It was nice to have them join us and to be able to see them outside of their environment as well.
   Well time to get to work, three day weekend with lots to do!

Below are a few pictures from the semi-formal.

Happy New Year

  Happy New Year All! Hope everyone is off to a great start for this new year! So far mine has been jam packed and started off as a sprint. Let's see. Since I last posted, I started and completed my Middle School Experience. As part of the MAT Program, if you are placed in a high school for your internship, you have to complete 20 days in a Middle School and if you are placed in a Middle School, you must complete an alternate experience of 20 days in a high school. I had the opportunity as I mentioned before to work in a Physical Science class with 8th graders at Doyle Middle School for the end of November, month of December and beginning of January for 2 periods in the afternoon. This was definitely quite a change from my High School experience, it is amazing how much students can change in two years. I loved the cooperating teacher I worked with in the Middle School. He was great to observe and work with and had a great rapport with the students and provided me with a lot of information and insight. It took me a couple of weeks to get comfortable with the students and for them to get comfortable enough to work with me. The material being covered required some extra effort on my part as we covered acids and bases, organic chemistry and something I am definitely not familiar with, nuclear chemistry. It was a great experience and I am grateful at having had the opportunity.
  The winter term is now in full swing, this term I am taking three classes, two of which meet at night during the week. The third class, is the MAT Project, which is for this entire term. Each student who is working on the MAT Project is assigned to an advisor, that they work with throughout the brainstorming, research and implementation process. My advisor has been great so far. We even met on New Year's Eve day to discuss a possible topic, which I was grateful for, because I was having a hard time working out my topic. I am still working out where my project is leading. What I can tell you is I am going to start by analyzing student usage of a computers at home and hopefully end up creating a website/blog for my students, to provide additional information on units we are covering, provide opportunities for them to comment on posts that I write and also provide a location where students can communicate with other students, myself and parents. We only have 10 weeks to complete this project which consists of research, some implementation in our classroom and then analysis of what we have done and want to do in the future.
  The other two classes I am taking this term are Biological Instrumentation and a seminar course. The seminar course is focused on assessment, the meaning of testing and development of our portfolios for job interviews. So far this class has been a bit overwhelming, with a lot of work so far. The good thing is, is all of this work is to help us create the best portfolio possible to best represent ourselves in our (hopefully) many job interviews come this spring and summer. The Biological Instrumentation course is actually held at a local middle school and is being taught by two middle school teachers, one of which taught this summer during the summer program at Union. They are both great and I look forward to learning from them. This class is extremely class intensive with less outside class work, which is a welcomed relief. This class exposes us to the different types of technology we may encounter in our future jobs to show us how to maximize their capabilities and to enhance student learning.
  Just so you don't think we don't have any time for fun, last month I traveled to NYC to see my roommate from college and to see the tree at Rockefeller Center and have dinner at Serendipity, which was great! Also, another fun thing coming up, is the Graduate College is hosting a semi-formal for it's students to get together and celebrate. It is being held Friday at a local restaurant, so it should be a great time had by all. Not sure yet if I will be able to attend, but I know a lot of my fellow classmates are planning on attending and are very excited.
  That is it for now, but I promise to continue posting again and keep you updated on all of the happenings. If you have any comments, questions, concerns or something you want to know more about, please comment and I would be glad to help!

Below I am attaching a photo from the city.