Spidey 3...connection to teaching.

I saw Spiderman 3 this weekend. Although a somewhat weird movie, I took one important thing away from it. The idea of always looking for the good as a teacher. Within the movie Spiderman is torn as to do what he wants, which is evil, and something that is right. As a future teacher, I really found this as a good point. It is important for me to teach students to do the right thing and to have high morals. Doing the right thing isn't always easy, but it is important to think about the affects of decisions on a person's life. I thought that this was a wonderful message that more people should focus on.

Hair

I attended HAIR a few months back and really enjoyed it. It really was interesting to watch it now with all of the things that are going on now with the war. It was a wonderful work that really introduced alot of things about people's feelings about the Vietnam War. I have been reading about the Vietnam War in another class and the play really did reveal alot of the feelings that people actually had during this time period. I think that as a teacher it is important to recognize that things often happen again during history. As bad as that is sometimes, history does repeat itself. It is also important to see how great it is that people are able to express themselves in a number of artistic ways. It is important to realize that people can express themselves in a variety of ways besides just with paper. It was a great experience that I would recommend for anyone to see if they get the opportunity.

Looser jeans and more productivity

I have always been pretty in shape. I played sports all through school and I liked to be active. But college hit me like a bus. I often find myself sitting in my room when I had free time instead of working out. This week I decided that I would attempt to work out everyday this week. I thought it would be something that would be really difficult for me, but it turned out to be so easy.

At the beginning of the week I kind of dreaded getting up and actually spending time in the gym. By the end of the week it was something that my body had to have to feel complete for the day.

The reason that I picked this to work on for the week was because I found myself looking less and less like I wanted to. I also found that I was really tired all the time and that I was having a hard to sleeping at night. This was not just an aim for the week, but for something that I would continue to do. My goal was to get to the point that I was working out at least 5 times a week for at least an hour a day.

My methods to help me carry this out was to set a certain time that I would do it so I didn't have to work around my schedule at all. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I went right after my class at 1.15. On Tuesday and Thursday I went at 10 am to get my day started. Sunday and Saturday I went when I got up before I did anything else.

I learned this week that once your body gets into a pattern of something, it will continue to want to do that. I was finding myself becoming impatient by about 1.25 if I hadn't gotten to the gym yet. I was alot more productive this week as well. I had an easier time getting my homework done and I slept like a rock. One extra positive was that I lost 2lbs. to. That was not my intended goal necessarily, but I did want to feel good about myself for working out.

One aspect of Chapter 12 that I thought really was meaningful to my personal learning was the idea of self-management. I had to make it a point to do something and to make sure that I finished my task. It was something that I had to do to hold myself to my goal.

This week was one that really helped to begin a challenge of a more healthy lifestyle.

...but honestly, how often do you get to see Hillary Clinton

On a political party scale of 1 being very conservative and 10 being very liberal, I am probably like a 6. In the past I was really really conservative, but the liberal majority at Luther has sucked me over to the dark side. LOL.

I must say that Hillary Clinton isn't one of the people that I would ever vote for, but my unhealthy obsession with politics led me to really want to go hear her this morning. I was really curious as to what she would talk about.

I assumed ethanol since she is in Iowa. It also made sense that she would discuss education. I thought for the most part the things she said were pretty straight forward and made since. But one of the people that I went with raised a valid point that I had not really considered, not just for Hillary, but for all people running for office positions of any kind. So often in our society today we acknowledge the problems but do not really offer any solutions. Now I realize that offering solutions does mean that if things do not go the way that is expected a candidate will have to eat his/her words. I think that is one thing that we are really lacking today in society as a whole. So many people have the ability to make long extended lists of what we are doing wrong, but no one wants to pick up the bag of mess and try to fix it.

This is not supposed to be a rant, but I just really found myself thinking about this after the speech. Not just for her, but people in general. I find myself guilty of this as well. A point needs to be made when people offer constructive changes and not just list the problems, not just in ourselves, but our towns, states, nation, and world.

ZZZZZZZZZZzzz's

I am trying to make my complete lifestyle a more healthful one. Therefore, I decided that this week I would focus on something in the physical domain. Someone in my group last week focused on trying to get 8 hours of sleep every night. Because I often have a hard time sleeping and battle fatigue virtually every day, I knew this would be right for me.

My objectives in doing this particular activity was to change my lifestyle and attitude. I knew that if I let my body get into the habit of sleeping 8 good hours, then I would begin to get used to it and continue to do it. I also know how crummy of a mood I am often in when I do not get enough sleep. I was hoping that this would help me to be a more upbeat and happy person.

My methods for doing this were to go to sleep at a time that would allow me to get 8 hours of sleep every night. If I did not have all of my homework done, I would just go go to bed anyway. My method was a way that was really proactive and making myself do something even when some days I wanted to just go ahead and stay up to finish work.

I really learned this week that sleep really is a great way to get my "ducks in a row". I was sleeping better and I was able to get more of my work done during the day. I was also a happier person during the day as well. I was able to get up earlier on the weekend than I normally would. Instead of sleeping until 10 or 11, I was able to get up by 8:30 or 9 every morning because I was so rested and just didn't need anymore sleep.

One thing that was important within Chapter 11 was the idea of cooperative learning. One thing that began to happen was that my roommate started to go to bed when I would as well. All of the things that I experienced she did as well. This made for a really great room to be in because we were just both in such a better mood.

I do not know if I will always be able to get the 8hrs of sleep I need, but I will continue to try.

Recycling Galore.

This week I decided that I was going to try to recycle everything that I could. I try to be really good about it, but sometimes I don't take advantage of all of the opportunities that I have to recycle and to conserve. This week I tried to be really good about not printing things on paper and only getting as much food in the caf that I would be able to eat.

So this may sound really easy and trivial, but it really showed me that it isn't that difficult to watch what I consume and to recycle things. This was really something that I needed to make myself do, not for just a week, but to make it into a lifestyle. It was def. something that I will continue to be strict about.

Before this I would try to recycle all of the things that I could, but sometimes I would just be lazy with it. I think that this is something that I will continue to do and I will try to get my family at home involved in as well. As a household, they are not the best about recycling and I think that if I began to push them this could be something that they could do as well.

This was a really great experience for me to see how simple it is to began to change things for the long run. People will see my example and begin to be more conscious about the things that they consume and the way that they dispose of the things after they are done with them...

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!!!

Freedom Writers...check it out!

For those of you that have yet to see Freedom Writers, it is def. a great way to spend an evening. Hilary Swank plays an inspiring teacher that enters an inner-city school her first year as a teacher and is effected by her students in ways that I can only hope that I will be able to some day.

Her character was awe-inspiring. She begins her career as a teacher not willing to shift in her beliefs, and she carries that through throughout the movie. This is something that I wished more teachers held close to their hearts. Even after things did not happen the way that she always expected, she was utterly and completely devoted to her students, even at the risk of her other relationships.

This movie represents a goal that I truly believe all teachers should hope to achieve...one of selflessness and total devotion to her students at all cost...