When I first went to the middleschool, I felt prepared and ready to go after all the preparations that were done. What I didn’to account for was the nerves that I had when I saw all the kids infront of me. Public speaking is not my forte and as a result, I was not able to think as straight as I hope during my discussion. The kids at the middleschool were great and I was very thankful that we had an attentive class that wanted to do our assignment. It is true that teachers really have a hard job and putting together a lesson plan even if it is only for a half an hour can be really difficult. The amount of thought that had to go into each part of a lesson plan is a lot. Many revision are essential to create a plan that will work under all circumstances. Sometimes you can’t account for everything and as a result, being able to do some improvisational thinking can be really important. Teaching was really fun and a great learning experience that I hope to have at another point in my college career and maybe later on in life.
Daily Archives: November 26, 2013
The Frustrations of Travel
As I sit on the break bus bound for Boston, feelings of irritation and anger surge through me. The bus left at 4:30 and was expected to arrive at South Station around 8:30. It is 8:30 right now and we are still 45 minutes away from South Station. Unfortunately for me, Boston is not my final stop. I live in Maine so I have to take another bus that goes to Portland, a bus that leaves at 9:15. Over the past four hours, I have watched the bus fall more and more behind schedule and now it is official, I am going to miss my bus to Portland. The next bus that runs to Portland isn’t until 10:15 so it looks like I will be spending some time in South Station.
This was certainly not how I expected my night to go. As of this morning my family was coming to meet me at South Station, we were going to have dinner together, and then I was going to go home and see my dog and my boyfriend. Now I will not be home until at least midnight. Transportation is great in general, but on days like these, it frustrates me like no other.
Missing School
During my Senior year of high school, I missed over fifty days of school between the months of January and
April alone due to ski racing. Throughout high school, I missed a almost unreasonable amount of school due to ski racing. Now, I find myself super stressed out because I missed two days of school. I barely finished my DML research paper and had to take a Spanish midterm via fax early yesterday morning and I have yet to start any of my readings for other classes (which are substantial). Yet, it also made me realize the importance of digital media in one’s ability to miss school.
Imagine missing school without the Internet. Imagine having to send Professor Mittell your essay via Fax. I had no idea how to use a fax machine. Someone at the front desk of the condo complex we are staying at had to show me how to use it. I have no real way of knowing if it actually worked or not. Being able to use tools like email are vital to communication between professor and student while they are absent. Bein able to conduct research online opposed to having to use hard copies of everything makes writing papers much easier and viable for the absent student. Being able to talk to fellow classmates via social media and text messaging is crucial for knowing what was discussed in class. None of this mattered as much during high school. Missing class was not as vital to your standing in the class as it is now. I rarely if ever did homework while missing school in high school. Now, I miss one class and I feel stressed out. It will certainly be interesting to see how this continues this winter as I miss more school for ski raicng.
– Murph