My Last Conference: See You Later, MSUSAers

Earlier this evening, I returned from my last MSUSA conference as a student. We calculated it today, and in the past five years I have attended:

• 26 Conferences and Board Meetings
• 4 Lobby Days
• 2 Cultural Diversity Conferences
• 3 DC Summits

That's just the "big" stuff. Along the way there have also been things like Internal Affairs meetings, scholarship dinners and a golf scramble.

When I first began going to conferences, I never dreamed this association would become such a huge part of my life. Then in my junior year, Julie asked me about being Campus Rep...even at that point I had been to more conferences than most of the senate and I knew what was going on. She was worried about me being both a Chair and CR, so I took the job on a trial basis...it became permanent soon after and I kept that position for a total of 2.5 years under three different Presidents.

Going into this year I knew I would only be able to do the CR job for fall because of the demands of student teaching this spring. I figured the end of the semester would mark the end of my involvement, until I was convinced by Cody on the way home from Fall Conference that I should run for the At-Large board position that remained vacant. As usual, he had good arguments so I said I'd run if nominated...of course he did so the next day, I went through the election in December and became a board member.

As we had lunch today with a number of others before leaving Marshall, Cody asked me what my favorite memory was. It's hard to pick just one....there are so many things that stand out. Among them:

• Karaoke night in Moorhead, July 2006
• My first experience as a Board Proxy in December 2004...a fish out of water
• Both At-Large Director elections I took part in...ohhh the nerves!
• My parents' nickname for the old Como office...they said it looked from the outside like I was interning in a crack house.
• Early morning drives to St Cloud with Jake for Internal Affairs meetings.
• "Car dancing", also known as me getting my groove on to whatever upbeat music was played on our long drives from Bemidji...in recent times Cody's collection of teen pop.
  
• The Internship experience-- this past summer spent working with our officers and staff was great.
  

I was asked several times this weekend: "Will you miss it?" and "How does it feel that this is your last conference?" In truth I am not sure how it feels...I was in kind of a strange mood, rather melancholy. But I don't think it's hit me yet that I will never again sit at a table in Delegate Assembly or as a Board Member...that the next time I stop by an MSUSA event, it will be as an alumni visitor rather than a participating student.

It has been an amazing experience and I truly believe there is only more good to come from the association. Will I miss the work and the people? Yes. But I do have the advantage of planning to remain in Minnesota for the time being, and you can bet that I will be a supportive alum and stay in touch with folks. I closed my comments at this morning's Board meeting with the same phrase Julie used when she left Bemidji for NYC...

"It's not goodbye, it's see you later"

Joys of Thesis Writing

Lots of work...

Time with the evil SPSS....

19 pages of writing and graphs...

2 pages of references...

1 title page.

What's it all equal? The first draft of a political science thesis.

Free Hugs?

Brina showed us this the other day in the Senate Office...it's pretty neat, check it out.
I'm all for Free Hugs

Crazy Weeks

These are the crazy weeks of April. Everything picks up and everyone is frantic. The year is slowly winding down, and while we are all ready, we aren't at the same time.

Mom called tonight...my Praxis II scores arrived at the house and apparently I passed, which is good news. I've cleared another hurdle toward licensure, whether or not I choose to use it.

Submitted two job applications today, and a third will be mailed out tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Senate election re-do this week. If you are a BSU student who has not voted...do so...for CODY AND STEPH!

I feel as though I have neglected this blog the last month or two. I have some more thinking to do about some pending postings...gotta get some thoughts out on here soon.

Brief Update

Many things happening in the last week...some of the major stuff:

1) Finished student teaching
2) Went through the first run of my Student Achievement Day presentation
3) Spent the weekend in the Cities MSUSA Delegate Assembly, which I think went pretty well overall.

It's been a rough couple months...Hopefully April will bring good things.

Weekend of Internal Affairs

Spent this weekend in St Cloud for MSUSA Internal Affairs. I was not really enthused about the long bus ride, but all things considered I think it was a good thing to be there. Although we did not get through everything, I think it was a pretty productive meeting. Now looking ahead to Delegates this weekend...it will be long. And will be my second-to-last conference. Pretty weird to think about...

Two Months

Well, the rest of break was good. I enjoyed having some time at home, but now it is back to the daily grind. It is hard to believe I have less than 2 weeks of student teaching left at this point, and in less than two months I'll be done with undergrad work. As much as I know that's a good thing, I will miss BSU, my activities, my friends, etc. The place and people have become like another home and family to me and leaving that will be difficult.

Two more months...wow.

From DC...

The trip has been good for the most part. The Summit/conference portion went well and I have been enjoying a lazy day today as I have no legislative meetings. Spent some time on "The Hill" this afternoon taking photos and dropped by one House office building.

As is typical, I have been lost a couple of times. I have absolutely NO sense of direction. Eventually find my way, but it takes a while.

Weather is decent, 55 today. Tomorrow forecast at 73.

Another Long Delayed Update

Two weeks again....seems like that's becoming a pattern on this thing. Life is crazy. Often I don't seem to feel much like blogging when I do get free time. I resolve to update more, because I still do enjoy it and it helps to put some things in writing.

Things are going just fine. I started a new assignment at the district's Area Education Center on Thursday. My university supervisor thought it would be a good idea for me to experience a different setting and I agreed. It'll be an interesting and hopefully enjoyable way to end my student teaching experience.

In other news, I met about my thesis on Friday and think I have a direction and timeline that will get that back on track...

I took the Praxis II yesterday. YUCK!...

I've been doing a lot of laundry this weekend...

Final thought...Once again recently I have been reminded that I have wonderful friends. I've been really down and stressed out for most of the last couple of months. Some people would have seen that and avoided me and my less than cheery moods like the plague. But there are some out there (you all know who you are, if you read this) that have been incredibly supportive and helpful in keeping my spirits up. Thank you!

Wow it's Been a Long Time!

I haven't blogged in over two weeks. The funny thing about this is that I have barely noticed. No, I have not lost my love for blogging. Rather, I have simply been too busy with student teaching and the rest of the things my life entails to take the time to post.

Suffice it to say the past few weeks have been busy, hectic, full of struggle and trial and downright exhausting.

No School

It actually happened. They cancelled school in the Bemidji district due to the extreme cold. This on the first day I was scheduled to teach 9th grade, and after I was already sick on Thursday afternoon and Friday. Am I missing a sign here or something??

Sick :-(

Yes, I fell victim to the stomach flu. My cooperating teacher actually sent me home mid-day yesterday...lucky thing, as it got worse as the afternoon wore on. Today I've been gradually improving, and am probably 70 % well now.

Being ill=no fun!

The Year's New Crop of BSU Bloggers

Weblogs and Wikis, the original reason for the existence of this blog, is back in session. Check out the Spring 2007 crew on the New Daybook.

Catching Up: Round One Successful

In the week since I last posted...

Teaching:

True show time was Thursday…my first full lesson of my own design with both sets of 9th graders, and the first observation by my University Supervisor in 4th.

Both periods went pretty well, although I did make some minor changes to 4th based on what happened in first. Overall, I got pretty positive comments, and we discussed some things to work on:

-Timing: too little group time in first, but almost too much in 4th.
Interaction-Because I stand to the left of the overhead and lean on that desk, I sometimes don’t give that side of the room enough attention…we came up with a couple of strategies to combat this.

I also realized 4th hour might have been more responsive because I have been in front of them three times this week, whereas today was my first experience teaching first. The class that is more familiar with me probably was more comfortable responding.

Big surprise? How quickly a period goes by when you are actually doing the teaching.

Today was an inservice day...I enjoyed the sessions I attended on Apple Universal Access and podcasting. Keynote speech was kind of dull.

T-minus one week until I take over 9th grade on a daily basis. Yikes.

Senate/MSUSA:
Had a good conference in Winona, although it was not without the requisite bumps that always seem to accompany them. I always enjoy seeing my colleagues. Having the day off on Friday was also nice as I was able to catch up with campus errands and visit with Pat about my thesis, and also with Mark.

First Crack at Instruction

First day of the term went well. All three classes seem good…although I have to wonder if the rabble rousers are simply on their best behavior early on. We shall see after a few days.

I had my first go at instruction today. I took over a portion of the vocabulary activity in fourth hour after seeing Kristin go through it with first. It went pretty well, although I inadvertently skipped over one of the words on the overhead and we had to backtrack for a moment. Oh well, one of the lessons of the day was “It’s ok to make mistakes” and things were figured out and back on track pretty quickly.

And the second oops…we ran out of English 9 syllabi in fourth hour. So much for triple checking the numbers before they were submitted to copy.

Today’s biggest surprise…how young some of the freshmen seem! Was I really that “little” back then?

New Term Tomorrow

Well…the Wednesday morning backlash was averted…the exams were graded on a curve.

I spent the remainder of the week prepping and did some observation. Our kids finished exams and project presentations and then watched films on Friday, the last day of the term.

Tomorrow we get all new students. I am looking forward to taking a more active role in the classroom as I transition into teaching them. It will be fun.

Unplanned Day at the Helm

At 7:30 am this morning, as I’m walking out the door, I get a phone call from Kristin. Her daughter is sick with the flu…there will be a sub again. She says she’ll be stopping by the school to leave plans, and asks me if I’d be willing to lead classes for the day. I say yes, figuring I could use some practice before I actually take over classes next term.

First and fourth hours have exams. The Con Lit. kids are to do a sort of write your own test exercise, which to me would be a gift, as there is really no “wrong” answer. Instead…I hear “this is hard” and “this is stupid.” Few finish in the 90 minutes given, but I follow instructions and have them turn in what they’ve got. The situation is similar for the Fantasy Lit group, only they have predetermined questions. A few don’t finish and some others are done far too quickly it seems.

Third hour, Personal Writing, is the most interesting of the day, as they are finishing their journal projects and while doing checks I get a glimpse of the work. It looks like a fun assignment.

My biggest fear for tomorrow? Backlash from the students who did not finish the exams—they’ll ask for more time, complain, and perhaps try to blame it somehow on Mr. C…but I think Kristin agrees with how I handled it based on our phone chat during prep.

Also was thankful the sub was there to help monitor things. I’m still working on the finer points of classroom management and the need to watch some students more closely than others.

All in all though, I would consider my unplanned day at the helm a good one.

Friday's Lessons

On Friday a student approached my desk and told me he’d seen the article about me in BSU’s Horizons publication, where I was featured as a “Senior to Watch.” It was the first time a student talked to me about my “student” life as opposed to my “teacher” life. I have not shared much about myself with these classes, as they will be gone in another week. We had a brief conversation about picking a college. He said he’s considering BSU for business…another potential Beaver in the making.

Also on Friday I was reminded that school in Bemidji is a bit different from my experience in high school. As part of my units I will need to incorporate essays, so I asked Kristin if I needed to build in time in the computer lab. She said yes. This momentarily surprised me until I was reminded that the number of students who have computers at home is probably fewer here than where I went to school in the Twin Cities. At my high school, one was simply expected to turn in typed papers, there was no lab time given. A simple reminder of subtle differences.

iPhone

Yesterday, the folks at Apple unveiled the much anticipated iPhone. An intriguing product, to be sure, even to folks like me who question the need for "smart phones."

The three biggest problems:
1) Cingular Wireless...have not heard good things about them.
2) The $599 price tag
3) The fact it isn't even available till June.

Selective Hearing

Sometimes kids hear what they want to. For example:

Student: "We get the whole hour to work on our short stories, right Mr. Christiansen?"
Me: "You'll get some time, but how much is up to Ms. Smith"
Student: " Yesterday, you told us we'd have the whole hour, didn't you?"
Me: "Nope, that's not what I said."

Ultimately, they got the full hour anyway.

I had a couple more cracks at grading today. The teacher will assign the points, but I was asked to give a letter grade. Grading is something it will take time to get used to. To me, the As, Cs, and Fs are pretty easy to peg, but it is sometimes hard to tell where a paper fits in between when there is no cut and dry correct answer, which is frequent in English. I guess it's good that I'm getting some practice now, before I take over the classes and am expected to assign grades on my own assignments without quite as much oversight. Practice makes perfect, they say.