Last post of the semester..which also means..

This is the last time I will see my students as their teacher! WOW! Time has flown by the past five months and I have learned so much. I am giving my final exams today and as one student was turning in his test, he gave me a card. When I opened it, all it said was:

That is all it really needed to say I suppose. Now this student would not be the student I would have thought would have done this-or even felt like this for that matter! I am still blown away and I'm pretty sure I'll keep this card forever (now that I have it saved on my computer) just as a reminder of much teachers have the ability to influence.

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to teach at George Mason and NOVA this fall. It has allowed me to grow, not only in my area of study, but overall as a person.

Text Message and Gender Differences

Since the book I use briefly talks about gender differences in Communication, I decided to take it a step further. Here's a couple of points that inspired this lesson:

• Research shows that the differences in men and women’s communication has more to do with why we communicate rather than how.
-Men tend to talk to accomplish something or complete a task.
-Women often use conversation to establish and maintain relationships.
• Men view the purpose of communication as primarily information exchange. You talk when you have something to say.
• Women use communication for the purpose of relating or connecting to others-to know them and be known by them. Talking implies a relationship.
**The main reason we are different are in the motivations or reasons for communicating-the how may not be different, but the why may be.
(Beebe & Beebe, 2011, p. 143-144)

These points alone are enough to get most individuals thinking about how easily miscommunication occurs; when applying all this to text messages, it just could get even more messy! Therefore, we did a class activity. Ladies were on one side of the room, and men on the other.
We defined:
*Texting Rules
*When it is ok for either party to initiate text
*What certain text content translates to each party.

I have to say, it was quite interesting. What I have found is that guys say they text for an actual reason-to see action. The majority of the time, they want to hang out or make a plan to. In addition, my students say they are very annoyed by abbreviations ( like u instead of you or, brb instead of be right back) when you could just write the entire thing since most phones have a keyboard.

It's my Monday-and Friday!!!

This morning I decided to get in the Thanksgiving mood and buy my first class Duncan Donuts. They loved it! We worked on resumes and I told them that we would finish them next week.

I really, really enjoy my job. I love seeing direct impact in their lives; not only in the scholarly realm, but in the everyday realm. I enjoy when students trust me enough to open up and discuss things that they are going through. I had a student tell me the other day, "You trust us, and we trust you."


In addition to teaching them all kinds of amazing Communication theories and phenomenons-I get really listen to them. One thing you will learn in Communication is that most people just need someone to listen to them-whether they are

de-stressing, want someone to be excited with them or just need to talk after a long day; your job is to listen.

If they self-disclose information to you-it is your job to actually take interest and show good listening skills (good non verbals, good feedback and adapted messages that are tailored to what they just said). Sometimes it is not always when we would like it to be time-wise, but the fact is that you are someone they trust.

Good feedback!

Praise the Lord for a job! I go to work and still love it. I don't dread it, I thoroughly have joy from it! I feel like since I love it, it's not work-and that has been the goal in all my education. My dad always said, "If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life." Therefore, I decided to major in what I love to do-as opposed to what will make me the most money-and I just went for it.

FYI-I had to be kind of quiet in my video because I was in the library and no one else was talking-BUT I wanted to update you all so I did it anyways! Enjoy!

Do you See what I See

Ok ok, I know it is a tad early to start with Christmas songs, but it is now November so I feel no shame! This doesn't mean I skipped Thanksgiving, but what you may not know about me is I listen to Christmas music whenever I feel like it (not just in the last two months of the year).

Today was the 27th time I saw my George Mason students-and I still love it everyday! Now that we have went through the orientation phase and the awkward I kind-of-know-you phase, things are great. Some of my students are really growing (while of course others have stopped coming to class except for presentation and test days). For the sake of this post, I wish to focus on the students that I can see growth in.

One of the assignments is entitled "Conflict Essay Reflection" where students must

describe a conflict they were involved in, what type of conflict it was, why it is defined as that type of conflict and what possible solutions could be applied. Some stories are surface level, such as a conflict with a teammate in a sports game. Other conflicts are more personal that involve family matters.

What makes me proud is reading these students' hurts and conflicts and then seeing them dissect how to better themselves with looking at every angle. When they acknowledge these mistakes done to them and realize that they can't jump to conclusions to judge, then is when the growth spurt is evident.

Now most of my students are freshman, so of course they develop a lot. They change a lot, even in the course of just a year. But it is how they change that determines their life. Is the change one of a great unexpectedness? Or is it a disappointing downfall?

You know the individuals that if you look at where they came from-shouldn't be where they are, but something inside them says-I don't want to be like where I came from or what is expected of me. These are the most inspiring students and people who encourage me.

Maxin' and Relaxin with Sandra (at school)!

This week I am lucky to have Sandra come visit! She is sitting in on my classes and giving me some feedback! I have never had anyone (not a student) be in my class and keep me posted on if students are on facebook or not! The students are actually trying to put her in their group for group work and she's just like, "I'm just hangin out!"

In other news, this week we are also getting ready for Halloween-trying to decide what we are going to be. The verdict is still out, but I will tell you when a decision is reached. Happy Hump Day!

I'm ok! I'm ok!

After getting over my bad case of Monday's (as Christen put it), I felt better. As my Monday went on, it got easier. By the end of it, in my last class at NOVA, it was awesome; I had my best Monday NOVA class of the semester! Weird how that turns out.

I read on another friend's blog last night that we must remember in our lowest point (such as a bad case of Monday's) that we have to continue to trust the Lord and give Him our all. Now I know that Monday's aren't that bad but just overall-trusting him. Most of you know that I adjunct at two schools-which means two part time jobs. I am believing the Lord for a full-time job. Not necessarily teaching, but maybe Communication for a company, etc.

For the moment, I am enjoying what He has given me-which are two jobs at amazing schools!! I never thought that I could/would be doing what I am and I love it! In addition, only working two and a half days a week makes it even better! This was nice to have, especially the first semester, because it allowed me to get my lesson plans done for the next day or next week.

Next semester should/will be easier owing to the fact that I will have all my lesson plans done. If this is the case, I can continue to make those plans even more awesome, such as think of activities for each class, etc. I got asked to teach a new class at NOVA for the Spring-we will see what happens. I will keep you posted on my schedule!

happy monday...

Well hello October 17th! You definitely feel like a Monday. Thank you Lord for giving me a job-I know I will encounter days like this though. You take the good with the bad-let me clarify, it's not bad, I guess I am just exhausted. Have a wonderful week everyone. You better believe my bedtime tonight is 7 p.m.!

Don't BE LATE!!!

This week, I have encountered several problems with tardiness. Therefore, I have started kicking out students that come in late. Now normally I am not this harsh-but this is during student presentations. After I kick out these students (or just don't let them come in) they always stick around and apologize!
Anyways, so far so good. Even on those days that I have to be a little hateful-I still love and enjoy what I am doing.


On another note, Sara and Andrew Hill came up to DC for her work and we had a wonderful time! Like I stated in the video, we went to church together, ate and drove around talking. Yesterday, I met up with them at Arlington National Cemetery and we went through that together. It was so great to see them!

Teachers can have fun too!?!

So one thing I have noticed from other teachers and myself is that there is always this underlying fear/hesitation of, "What if I see my students out on the town?" "Does this mean I should not go out, should I act like I don't see them?"

Growing up in a household full of teachers-they had their fair share of fun. Every time Mom or Dad saw someone they knew, instantly they turned into celebrities. Our family can't really go anywhere without Mom (in Athens) or Dad (in Cleveland) seeing someone they know recognizing them.

So teachers! Have your fun. If you see a student-just wave and plaster on a big smile; this somewhat humanizes you to them. For the younger teachers, this never really comes as a surprise-but as you get older and students see you out-it gives you cool points!

Now word to the wise: Moderation is the key. Your definition of "going out on the town" may be different than mine. Would I go to your colleges' local restaurant/pub all the time? Negative! But if I saw my teachers out, wherever it was (whether it be Walmart or Copper Cellar), I thought it was cool.

PAYDAY!!!!!!!!!!

Hi all! I know I'm a couple of days behind in uploading-but busy busy weekend! I was the eMC for a stage at this festival, saw a movie, went to church, choir practice and of course-lesson plans! Everything is going splendid around here-making new friends-getting involved in church and having good relations with my students.

End of 3rd week at NOVA/ 2nd at GMU

Hurricane Irene!!!!

I know this has nothing to do with teaching but this is a pretty major event in D.C. During this storm-David, Paige and I decided to document this occasion. Thus, we did Hurricane Irene updates via videos! David was an awesome photographer and Paige did a great job being creative support. Most of all we had a good time (I promise we were safe). I decided to edit it like a newscast-it never hurts to have a background in Journalism! We did several but I will only post this one.

Reinforcement

2nd first day!

The first day!

Today went wonderful and since I was so excited, I took my video minutes after class. I am looking forward to Wednesday! Training at GMU went good as well this morning.

Night before My first class...

Lesson Plans...ARRRRR

 So lesson plans take a little longer than just ordinary prep for a class. They say your first year of prepping is the hardest-I believe it! Maybe one day I will get to teach a subject that I have already prepped for. I have found that preparing lesson plans, keeps my mind in learning mode. Although this is information that I learned a while ago-it keeps me fresh. I do enjoy that.

Welcome to my Video Blog!

Hi all!
   I decided to start a video blog to document my experience with my teaching career. I went with the video blog to make it a little more interesting-not the norm. Hope you enjoy!