Goodbye?? Nahh, See You Later!

Well, yesterday was an emotional day for me. The majority of my friends graduated from college – Chris, Emmanuel, Bipen, John, Amber, Frida, Alphonse, Steve, Leonce, Jacob, Kim, Vladamir, Sydney, and Ben. After graduation, I hugged Amber (If you read my previous post, you would know that Amber is my roommate) and started crying! I’m really going to miss her so much! She was the best roommate I’ve had in college! In the picture below, you can see we are not normal! It took us four tries to get it right! I am very proud of her! She is going to do great in life! But another girl, Skye, will be my new roommate next year, and I know we will get through things together as well! In July, Amber and I will be going to Kim’s wedding (pictures to come soon), who also graduated yesterday! I am proud of her on becoming a Registered Nurse! I know who I will be sending my kids to in the future! Some of y’all, I’ve known since I started college. And some, I recently started getting to know, but either way, I will miss them all dearly!

Amber and I at graduation!! :)

Today is my first day home for the summer! It has been a productive day so far! Moved my things in from my car, did laundry, baked a cake for Mother’s Day tomorrow, went to Kroger’s to get flowers and a card, and made macaroni!

Pretty flowers, card, and Mother's Day cake!!

Saying goodbye is not always easy, that’s probably why some people say, “It’s not a goodbye, it’s a see you later!” We all have photographs and memories to remind us of all the good times we had!

Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

As my sophomore year of college comes to an end, A LOT of my friends are graduating. There are way too many to count on my fingers. I have gotten close to a lot of them these past two years, and I can guarantee tears will be shed at their graduation on Friday, May 10. I am going to miss my roommate, Amber, the most! She is such a great roommate and friend, I don’t know what I am going to do without her!

Two of my friends, Jeremy and Maxie are getting signed with the NFL St. Louis Rams! I am very happy for them! They’ve worked so hard to be where they are at now! I wish them the best of luck in life – they are going to do great! I think I might just become a fan just because of them!

Left to Right: Maxie and Jeremy

The following week, Amber and I plan on going on a 5-day cruise with my aunt and uncle since I am only 20-years-old, I have to have a parent or guardian that is 25 and older go with us. Which is fine with me because they love to spoil their nieces and nephews! We are keeping our fingers crossed hoping my parents let me go! It will be a much needed break before summer school! (Pictures coming soon)

After the cruise, Amber and I will be heading back to Arkansas. A few days later, my brother, Mark, and I will head to New Orleans for our cousin, Robin’s high school graduation, Tuesday, May 21! And after my brother and I will be heading back to Arkansas with other family members for my sister, Melissa’s graduation, Saturday, May 25! Man! There will be a lot of traveling for me! (Pictures coming soon)

After all that, it will be right on time for summer school! Along with summer school, I am hoping to be part of the Heart Start Staff to help incoming freshmen feel comfortable going to college!

I cannot say this enough, "I feel very blessed!"

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

After watching a video on Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, I see that technology is increasing not only outside the classrooms, but inside classrooms all over the country! I love how Vicki Davis does not focus on just textbooks, but on computers instead because if you only have pen and paper only certain types of children will succeed! She thinks that teachers do not have to know the material to teach it because it allows the students to empower themselves to figure things out independently. Allow them to believe that they are capable individuals. It is important for them to discover things on their own or they will always depend on someone for help or to do it for them.

Not only do students learn from teachers, but teachers learn from students as well! If you stop learning, you stop growing. I believe each child has the ability to learn, but it takes a good teacher like Mrs. Vicki Davis to bring it out of them. Allowing students to learn on their own enables them to express their own opinions, and lets their voices be heard. This lets students show their digital smarts and to take a different approach in the classroom. From what I have seen, Mrs. Davis provided her students with the necessary skills and knowledge they need to work on their own, and she set a positive and friendly environment in the class, where everyone gets along no matter what.

Since I am a P-4 major, I won’t be making my students do assignments like these, but I do plan on having them to assignments/projects with technology. For example, if we are learning about the states, I can allow each student to pick a state (no child will be doing the same state), require them to do research about their state, make a poster cut-out of the state, and present their project to the class.

Welcome to Our Socially Networked World

Do you have a Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Pinterest? These are all examples of social networking! But not only can social networking help your life, it can also destroy it too! The social networking article on BigFin states, “Mobile phones and the effects of social media use are changing the way we communicate and get information. Smartphones, iPad, tablet, PCs and wireless technology have grown social media from an interesting curiosity to a fact of life.” Students no longer sit in class socializing or sitting quietly waiting for the teacher to show up – we all are on our phones or tablets scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Social networking has risen in the world we live in today. It also helps if you need opinions about things. Nowadays, social networking is no longer just for communicating, but also good for businesses. Even colleges analyze students’ social networking pages to determine how well students will perform in school.

People don't even ring the doorbell or knock anymore. Most people just text or call saying they are outside your house. 

In this article, a New York Times columnist hosted a dinner party where he received a text message in the middle saying, “Hey, I see you’re having people over. OK if I stop by?” It puzzled him how that person knew he was having a dinner party. Then when he looked at his guests, he said, “my friends posted seven photos on Path, sent six Twitter messages (five with photos), six photos on Instagram and two people checked in on Foursquare. When I added up the collective follower counts of the people in the room, my little dinner party was potentially viewed by more people than The Late Show on CBS: over three million.” His personal dinner party was no longer private.

http://www.bigfin.com/blog/effects-of-social-media-use/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/21/john-naughton-foursquare-social-networking