Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Assignment #14 Reflecting on Leadership For Change

No goal or dream is impossible you just have to take things one step and at time, and organize and plan ahead.

After reading all my blog entries I feel amazed. I know that I have come along way this semester. Everyday I feel so much closer to achieving my goal. I feel that I have grown a lot this semester because I was able to manage my time very well. And what I find most shocking is that I took 16 credit hours this semester and I feel like this is the best semester ever. I have a feeling that I am close to getting all A’s in all my classes. This semester was very busy and hectic for me. I volunteered to baby-sit a friend’s daughter this entire semester every morning I had to wake up at 6:50 am and get to her house at 7am (she lives very close to me). I took the little girl to school at noon every day and then managed to get to school at 12:30 this gave me enough time to work on homework and study since most of my classes start at 5pm.
I feel like my thinking has changed in that I feel like anything is possible now if you work hard, plan ahead and organize your time. I know that a lot of people like to make excuses for themselves and come up with a million and one reasons why they can’t do something. I’ll admit that I used to be one of those people. I no longer feel this way after doing so well this semester, I know that I have what it takes to succeed and go far in life. Nothing in life comes easy and if you really want something you’ll find a way to achieve it and not make excuses for yourself. .
The types of activities and behaviors that I have engaged in this semester is making time to do the things I enjoy doing. For instance I made time to read more and write. I also made more time to spend with family and friends. Most importantly I have managed to stay organized and manage my time very well. I do not feel like I rush through things or wait for the last minute to do things. I really hate working under pressure and avoid postponing things until the last minute.

The three things I liked best about the class were the following:
1.The readings Barbara Shers, Wishcraft and Bell Hooks, All about my Love
2.I enjoying the assignments that made us do things we really like to do as young adults or childhood
3.I enjoyed the movies and documentaries we watched and the class discussions

The three things I liked least about the class
1.I did not like reading the Komives book
2.Initially I did not like the role model interviews. I just felt that it was not enough time to find an interviewee because most people have very busy schedules (but after one successful interview I changed my mind about that)
3.After a while I got sick of sharing my dream and telling my success team where I was and where I needed help. I just found it very redundant.

Three things to improve Leadership For Change
1. Bring in more guest speakers
2. More good movies/documentaries with good class discussions!
3. Help students network more….

Monday, April 20, 2009

Assignment #13 Work The Plan

Exercise #1

My next step this week was to complete my student teaching application and take the OPI exam. I am glad to say that I completed both and feel great. I feel much better now that I got my student teaching application done. I finished all four essays and my resume looks great. I said I was going to make an appointment at the writing center so that they could look over my essays and resume and I did. I took the OPI exam yesterday at 3:30pm and I know I did an awesome job!

Exercise #2

I held my next business meeting with my boyfriend. He continued to help me with my essays and resume. We discussed our next steps for this week. He has a lot of calculus and physics homework. So he's going to be busy doing that as well as studying for his final exams. I completed my SPED 410 project today and feel so relieved that it's out of the way. Now my focus turns to meeting with Inma to submit my student teaching application on Thursday. I also have to work on another major group final project due for my EPSY 446 class May 7th. We have to create a charter school so that's a lot of work and time that will be spent on that. I also have a presentation for my Span 449 class Monday so I'm going to be busy this weekend working on that assignment.

Exercise #3
So I realize that we have two more weeks left in the semester almost done!!! But I still have a couple of major assignments due before I can celebrate and say that I successfully completed the semester. My Sunday meeting with myself consisted of me writing done the tasks I have to complete before the semester is over. I planned and organized my time so that I have time slots in which I will dedicate time to working on each of those assignments that are due. I realize that time management is important, because there is no worse feeling then working under pressure and feeling frustrated. I want to finish off the semester strong and know I will because I have been working really hard to achieve my goals.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Assignment #12 The Buddy System

As I stated in my previous blog I started working on my student teaching application. I was actually under the impression that it was due May 1st it is for the CTE but the teaching of Spanish Dept wants us to have it completed by April 23rd this means that I have less to time to complete it. I will submit my student teaching application April 23 at 1:30pm it will be reviewed by the director of the teaching of Spanish dept. they just want to make sure we have everything completed. I also have to come up with a list of twelve schools where I would like to do my student teaching. I have about four schools in mind so I need to think about that too. I am almost done writing the four essays. My resume needs some editing. My plan is to make an appointment with the writing center this week so they can take a look at my essays and resume. I was supposed to take the OPI exam today but I had to reschedule so I will definitely take it next week Monday April 20th.
I have so many papers and projects due I just want the semester to be over! I can’t wait until May 7th. I am also working on a project for my EPSY 446 class we have to create our own charter school it’s a lot of work. I’m trying to take everything one step at a time so that I don’t get overwhelmed. Today I’m supposed to be meeting with another partner we’re working on modifying and critiquing a lesson plan it’s for another education course I’m taking this semester.
I found a buddy for my buddy system and it wasn’t difficult to find one. I asked my boyfriend to be my buddy he agreed to do it. Besides I always talked to him about this class and how the objective was for us to reach our goals. I told him how much I liked the class and every week he’d inquire about the class the readings and how far along I was with my goal. In a sense I guess I already had a buddy since my boyfriend was always very active and inquiring about my goal and progress. He is also a student at UIC his major is civil engineering like me he has goals and wants to do very well this semester and the following semesters as well. He would like to get an internship and do some research. We are very supportive of each other. We held our meeting this past Sunday for about 45 minutes we just talked about our classes and our major projects due. He even helped me put my resume together. He looked over my student teaching essays and provided me with good feedback. It was very helpful. I look forward to our next meeting and wait till the semester is over!!!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Assignment #11 Moving and Shaking

As stated in my previous blog I mentioned that I had to get started on filling out my student teaching application which is due May 1. The application includes four essays of 500 words. I started working on the essays yesterday. I have some ideas written down and I feel so much better about it. When I first looked at the application and saw that I had to write four essays I was a bit overwhelmed. I also have to include a resume but that shouldn’t be too bad I have one I just have to make some changes. I also said that I was going to meet with Ima the Director of the Teaching of Spanish Dept so that I could set up an appointment to take the OPI exam. I meet with her and scheduled the OPI exam. I will take the exam Tuesday April 14. I feel really good about the progress I am making.
I wouldn’t say that I feel any resistance or fear. I feel more excited about the prospect of each day coming closer to accomplishing my goal. It’s a step by step process and when I approach it in this way I feel at ease. When I was filling out the student teaching application and it asked me what my three goals for student teaching were, I realized that I will soon be a teacher and I felt a little stage fright. I want to be able to reach out to all types of students and learners regardless of their race, gender, culture, physical /health impairments. I want to be able to connect with all my students and I want them to feel the same way. Because if they are engaged they will be more motivated to work and achieve academic and personal success.
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