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!