Boo!

Comments & Myspace layouts

The plan is that R will be Harry Potter (3rd times a charm!) and L will be a Ninja Turtle like last year! Can't wait to dig through their candy and eat all the good chocolate!

The Results...

Well, I put in a ton of effort into one final (Education), and less into the other one (Communication). So I assumed that I'd get great results out of the one, and a bit less out of the other...

The one I put less time into I got 100% (pretty cool!) and the other... I got 167pts/210pts...OUCH! I thought I'd done so great...But that's OK because I still got 91.8% for my overall grade in that class, and in my other a 97%!

So that's 19 A's and 1 B that I've gotten for my 20 classes!

And, I'm LOVING my vacation right now!!

That's right, I did it!

Oh-Yeah, I did it!!! I finished my paper, my finals are all turned in, all my assignments are done, I'm ALL DONE!!!

Hellllooooo 4 months of freedom!

I can also say that I have a college degree!

It's a Great moment right now...

These are the classes I have completed (in order), each one was 9 weeks long and worth 3 credits, I took 2 classes at at time (90 weeks of school!):

SKILLS FOR LEARNING IN AN INFORMATION AGE
EFFECTIVE PERSUASIVE WRITING
CRITICAL THINKING
UTILIZING INFORMATION IN COLLEGE WRITING
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
WORLD LITERATURE
NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE
CRIMINOLOGY
BASIC MATHEMATICS
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY: WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN AMERICAN EDUCATION

TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
ALGEBRA 1A
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
THE BRAIN, THE BODY, AND THE MIND: ALL TOGETHER NOW
CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM
COMMUNICATION PROCESSES: YOU'RE A FINE ONE TO TALK

These all add up to an AA in Paraprofessional Education.

Now after these next 4 months of bliss I will start my bachelors in....?...Not sure yet!

I like that...

I'm on the last paper of my school year, and I'm full of rolling my eyes and heavy sighs since I just wish I was done already when...I got a nice little boost...I just recieved feedback for the essay I wrote about At-Risk students (I chose pregnant teens) on Sunday.

My professor told me, and I quote, "BRAVO...This is a beautiful paper...a FABULOUS assignment!"

I just love getting input like this for work I've done!

Now if I would hear, "Superb laundry folding! Exquisite dinner! Outstanding vacuuming!"

I think I'd just shine under that kind of praise and my work ethics would at least double in effort.

But don't get me wrong, I know my family backs me up a lot. Just last night J told me he thought I was just amazing and that I was doing a terrific job. Talk about a keeper! And all those snuggles and exclamations of 'I love you Mom!' from those boys sure don't hurt, I love those kiddo's! Also all the support from my friends sure help out too!

OK, reading this post shows me that I am a bit spoiled and a whole lotta loved!

So this is my Friday Favorites this week...Feeling special and loved from the praise of those around me.

Crack-Up!

What goes: Cruack?

An egg slipping out of R's fingers and falling to the floor...

So then what goes: Crack-splat-crunch-crack-plop-drick-crack-splut-plop-crunch-crack-clack-slach-scrack-crunch-crack-platt-crack?

A carton of 18 eggs slipping open from R's fingers and falling to the floor!

"I have the worst luck!" was his reply to the egg massacre...

No worries, we still had 2 eggs to make a pumpkin pie for dessert, and it turned out great!

Almost there!

I finished all my work for this week! It feels so good to have it all turned in so far! Now its just 2 capstone questions and the Finals for classes CMC and AED...and I have already started bits of my AED final...whew, so it's like 1.5 projects instead of 2!

The Time Has Come...

Well, it's time to 'batten down the hatches'. I have very mixed feelings about what I will be doing the next few days, terror, excitement, relief, anticipation, boredom, dread, fatigue...It's Finals time!

But the AWESOME news is, it's my last week of Finals for my Associates degree!!! If all goes well and I pass then I will have my Associates in Paraprofessional Education!
So can't wait til the end of next week! Then I'm taking 4 months off, 4 blessed months of just being a Mom and that's it! It's like all the major holidays all rolled into one!

But, the end of next week isn't here yet..

Before I tackle finals I have to complete:

-A 250 word check point of planning meetings.
-A 9 slide PowerPoint presentation on chairing committees
-A list of key signs that identify at risk students with a 150 word explanation of what to do
-And this assignment I'm not looking forward to:

-Creating an At-Risk Program, Due in Week Eight
· Paper is 1,050 to 1,400 words in length.
· Paper addresses what part of the at-risk population the program will serve.
· Paper addresses how students will be identified for the program.
· Paper addresses how the program will address the needs of the students.
· Paper identifies additional social resources available in the community that can be utilized for greater success.
· Paper identifies the potential positive impacts for the district, students, and community.
· Paper summarizes the necessary steps for implementing the program.
The content is comprehensive, accurate, and persuasive.
The paper develops a central theme or idea, directed toward the appropriate audience.
· Paper presents information with the local school board in mind.
The paper links theory to relevant examples and uses the vocabulary related to the at-risk student correctly.
· Paper uses and references three resources other than the text.


Once those are done I get to do these...

My Finals are:

AED 205 - For the final project, you create a plan for addressing the needs and issues in a multicultural classroom to add to your portfolio. Assume that the cultural make up of your classroom includes at least five different ethnic and religious groups. You must address how and why you would plan to create an atmosphere of tolerance, acceptance, and caring in your classroom environment. Your plan must include a comprehensive discussion of the issues covered in this course that are most applicable to your geographic area.

In addition, you must describe a plan for a culturally balanced bulletin board that could be used in your class to focus on either a traditional Western holiday or a multicultural celebration at your school. You may also include clip art to illustrate your plans.

This paper should be 1,050 to 1,400 words and posted as an attachment to the Individual forum. It must follow APA guidelines for format and style.

CMC 230 - The final project for CMC 230 is 1,500- to 1,750-word analysis of a face-to-face persuasive presentation to high school students, which either promotes online college programs over ground classes or vice versa. In addition to a bulleted list of talking points, your analysis will explain how you (the presenter) will:
· Justify a face-to-face presentation as an effective channel of delivery for this topic
· Establish rapport and utilize feedback
· Clarify purpose
· Analyze the audience
· Accommodate cultural factors
· Organize the main points
· Use support for the main points
· Design your appearance
· Use desirable nonverbal behaviors
· Eliminate unwanted nonverbal behaviors
· Incorporate strategies to promote active listening
· Respond to hostile heckling
· Respond to a questioner who monopolizes the floor
· Respond to people in the audience arguing with each other

Here I go...

Hot Off the Press!

Just like, THE best weekend!

We had a great weekend!

Here is J playing Monopoly Jr. w/R & L, and the evidence that its now cocoa season!






L's team won 11 to 4, way to go Bulldogs!



My Big Bro and his family came over for canning, cooking, shooting, bike riding!

Here's J's homemade targets!

Here's D After a wreck, getting right back on, wow!

Here's cool B who shared his bike all weekend w/R!

R getting over his fear of dirt bikes and having the time of his life!

My cool Big Bro!

And they had some old family pics they got from our Grandpa T last weekend that I scanned, priceless memorabilia...
Here's me and my family, My Momba, My Dad, My Big Bro, and My Lil Sis.
My Big Bro S

Me, Bonster

My Cutie Sis J


Here are pics of my Dad (he passed away in 1990)

I just love weekends like this!

Friday Favorites!

Hooray, no school for the boys today!

Some of the week's Favorites:

1. Canning -
Canning takes so long that I surprise myself that I actually like to do it. I finally found some jars to can with. It took several searches and had no luck. I finally got the base stickers on my truck and so I scored jars at the commissary. I turned my red apples into apple sauce, 1/2 my Fuji's into sauce as well (still have the rest to do) and canned the last of our carrots from my garden. They look so happy and orange, so exciting! I'm happy that it worked, I'm always so surprised when I hear that 'ding'. I am canning my tomatoes and more with my Sis-in-Law M on Saturday, can't wait!

2. Saturn - Saturn is amazing, I mean its just so majestic and those rings are what make it top dog in the planet world!
Just teasing, I mean this Saturn:
J had found this car for super cheap from a guy at work. But then J deployed, and the other guy did too and so it never went through. This stunk since we sold our old Saturn and thought we'd have this other car to replace it. Hmmm...Well, awesome day, we got a call the other night, and the wife of the guy finally got hold of us. It's almost the same Saturn as our last one, but has AC and less miles! When I told R about the AC he was so happy, he's just as tired as I am of sweatin' it out in the summer!

3. No Cavities -/span><

The boys and I had our dental check-up this week. Embarrassing...I had 2 cavities, I totally blame it on...well, me. I eat too much sugar and drink soda like its goin' outta style! And R had one, but L was cavity free! So he got to pick out a toy, he got a new transformer. R was pretty disappointed, but is now determined not to get anymore so the next time he can get a cool toy too. I thought it was pretty crazy that me, the Mom, had more cavities than my kids! Oops...

4. Messages - With J so busy I have started calling his cell phone a lot. But it's always turned off during the day since he's on the boat and if left on it will roam until the battery dies. So I just call him up and leave him messages throughout my day. He said that one guy was a little jealous since he had so many messages to listen to from me and the boys on his walk to the parking lot!

5. Pumpkin Patch - I LOVE pumpkins!!!!! I think they are just the coolest things ever to grow on a vine! We went to this farm last year and practically drowned in it, and we went for a short time on Tuesday with the scouts, and next week L has a field trip there. Today we went with friends. As you can tell by how often I've gone, I might have a slight pumpkin addiction!