What am I looking forward to about summer

I am looking forward to only having to worry about work! My job is really easy, but it is time consuming because I am not allowed to work on homework while I am there, so it has been a big juggle of energy to manager work full-time and then school full-time during summer. I've managed really well so far, but since there are only 2 weeks left of school, I know my mind has checked out. Besides only having work to worry about, I am looking forward to reading the my wish list that I created at the beginning of summer. All of the books are ones that my placement class will be reading all year long, but unfortunately I have only read one book out of the 8 that my students will be reading. So, I plan on doing that so I can be a source of information for the students and be prepared for when I start doing my observation hours over the course of the year. I have been placed at CVHS and their first day of class is September 4th, so I plan on busting out a ton of observation hours in the couple of weeks before I have to start school. In the fall, I am required to do 90 hours in the entire quarter, and I already know, my schedule is going to be very difficult to work with in order to get the hours in. Therefore, I want to do as much as I can while I have the most free time. I cannot wait for the day when I can only focus on teaching instead of being a student and teacher in training. It is a fun exciting experience, but it gets really exhausting after a while. Finally, I want to sleep!! I have had the weirdest sleep schedule this summer because some nights after work, I don't get home until 12:30 and then will have to wake up for either work or school the next day at 9. I have class two days a week that start at 9 and when I work the morning shift three days a week I have to start at 9 too. So I haven't gotten to sleep in a whole lot this summer. I feel my body begging for sleep, but I am the type of person who doesn't like to take naps during the day because I feel lazy every time I do, so I usually go about my day feeling really tired. In the end of this summer quarter, I know that it was worth it. Because I took these classes and had a really busy schedule, I am on track to graduate in the spring and complete my full-time student teaching the last 3 months of my college career at EWU.

Response to Murray chapter 7 and 8

            It is nice to get back to reading the Murray text because he is good at talking about all aspects of writing that will occur in a writing class. In chapter seven, the focus was on embracing the diversity of your classroom. By embracing diversity, the teacher allows the variety and uniqueness of knowledge that the students bring to shape the classroom and way students write. Each student will have a different upbringing, different educational opportunities, and different struggles that they face every day, and these things will shape the way each student writes. Murray pointed out the 50 years ago, schooling was left to white males, but in our current years, schools are filled with students of all different ethnicities and woman who are able to advance through society with an education. The current condition of our schools is so diverse that it would be foolish not to embrace the differences students bring to class. The differences are what will make each student unique as a writer.

            Chapter eight was filled with ways a teacher can hold a one on one conference with the students. Conferences can be a great opportunity from the teacher perspective because comments can be the most helpful when drafting a paper. The use of oral comments from the teacher will allow the student to respond, defend himself, and/or agree with the teacher. When we have done our workshops in class, I have found the comments of my peers to be the most useful because they have helped frame my thoughts into what I need to do to get my paper to where I want it to be. One of the things that I liked the best about individual conferences was where Murray gave a list of questions that should not be made while conferencing, and then a list that should be used in conferences. It is easy to say this is good, this is bad, but these sorts of comments are not constructive in helping the students. Questions such as what do you plan to do next or where do you think you got off track, allow the student to respond and give ideas for what direction he thinks he needs his paper to go in. The author of a paper is first reader and he knows what he wants to accomplish with his paper, so allowing the student to share his worries, likes and dislikes of his paper will make the conference more worth the student and teacher’s time.

Free Write

I had the best weekend I've had in a long time. I got to spend all weekend with my boyfriend at a wedding in Sunnyside. It was a lot of fun because it was a cousin of his from his Canadian side of the family. I love his Canadian family. They are really loud and so nice. The really fun part about the wedding was the reception because they had a bartender who was serving beer all night, and then when the dance started, they brought out cases of hard alcohol. Kris and I immediately took advantage of the free alcohol and were drinking vodka lemonades all night. It really reminded me of my best friend's wedding last December because Kris and I got drunk off the exact same drink there too. It was funny because at first, when there was only beer, wine, and champagne to drink, we were getting kinda bored because its hard to get drunk off of that stuff, but then when the hard alcohol came out, we danced all night. The dj played a mixture of music, but hardly any of it appealed to Kris and I, but after our first drink, we didn't care and danced all night. One of the funniest parts was when Thrift Shop by Malcemore came on because Kris and I were each wearing a shirt from a thrift shop, so of course we felt legit because I'm positive no one else was wearing something from a thrift shop. I even got complemented on the shirt I was wearing. It was so much fun because it was just kris and I hanging out all night, dancing, and getting drunk.

Response to Weaver Chapter 6

For the last chapter in the Weaver textbook, she once again gives examples for how to successfully teach grammar concepts to students and what some research says works. The one thing out of the chapter that I really enjoyed, was the idea of mini lessons. Mini lessons can work well with any grade level because it takes a small portion of grammar that my students are having trouble with or will find useful and then I give them a mini lesson on what the rule is, how it functions, and how they can use it properly. I think that this will work well with any group of students because the mini lessons will be tailored to the individuality of each group of students and it will be less overwhelming because they will be taught only one lesson at a time. It can be extremely overwhelming to learn tons of different grammar rules at once, but mini lessons can make the grammar more memorable because the students will have time to focus their attention on one rule instead of ten at a time. Also, Weaver made a good point that with the mini lessons, I cannot expect to never retouch that rule again. I cannot expect that after one mini lesson to have the students memorize the rule and be able to apply it correctly. I think that after each mini lesson, it would be best to focus most of the attention on usage because that is the most difficult part of learning grammar. It is easy to list a rule and it's function, but it is another thing to be able to put the rule into practice. Focusing a lot of attention on usage will make the rule more concrete in the students head, and it would be best to  try and put the rule into practice with examples  of the students' writing. The hardest part of teaching usage is finding examples that are relevant to the way students write. Therefore, it would be 100 percent useful to have the students practice usage on their own writing, so that hopefully, the mini lessons will positively affect the way students write.

The nice refreshing taste of a Coors tall boy

I was just outside sitting in the grass infront of my apartment painting my fingernails while Pricilla was running around outside getting some fresh air before I have to go to work. It is so hot outside today that I thought man a beer sounds really good right now, so I went and bought one. It is as delicious as I thought it would be! I'd have to say when it comes to alcohol, I'd take beer any day over hard alcohol. I guess I get that from my dad ;) Since I moved away to college, every time I come home for a visit, he offers me a beer and we sit down and talk and hang out. It's our little form of bonding, just like with my mom we drink coffee on the front porch every morning.

On a different note, I just got off the phone with my wonderful friend Lacy. We have been best friends since age 5 when I moved across the street from her, and her and her mom came over and introduced themselves. When she moved to Seattle to go to Udub, and I moved away to EWU, we drifted apart more than we thought we would, but nothing could sever our life long ties. She knows exactly my train of thought and how to make me feel better. It freaks me out sometimes how well she knows me. I was talking to her about my boyfriend Kris because on September 5, it will be our 4 year anniversary. I don't know how I went off on a tangent with her, but I think it started when I told her that for our anniversary, Kris and I are going to go to my families cabin in Montana for 3 days for a little get away just us two. Since I told her this, before I could stop myself, I started telling her how since it's been 4 years, I cannot stop my mind from thinking about how badly I want to marry Kris. I have a gut feeling that we will one day get married. I mean he is my person and I know that I am his person. We are meant to be together, and we have always had the plan to wait until we were done with school before we get married, but since it has been 4 years, I am having a hard time keeping my mind under control. I mean that I am so excited for our future that it is hard to be patient. Everyone close to me has told me that in 2 years when both of us are done with school, we will get married, but it is hard to be patient. I'm so excited that my mind gets carried away and it is hard to be patient. Being patient is a battle I am constantly fighting, but good things come to those who wait, so I need to tell myself that all the time, every day.

Something people should know about, but don't

Well...my mom just returned from and Education First Tour (EF) with a group of students from her school district. Every 2 years since 2009, a group of students from Royal High School raises 3,000$ per student to go on a 10 day tour of any destination that they chose from the booklet. The last 2 weeks, my mom was traveling through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It sounds like an amazing trip! She got to go see a concentration camp in Germany, and traveled to the top of the Alps in Switerzland. Once she returned from her trip and we were having a 2 hour conversation on the phone, she told me 2 interesting facts about Germany and Switzerland that I had no knowledge about. First of all, the lead tour guide that travels on the trip with my mom and the students is always a native of the countries that they visit. So, they had a tour guide who was born and raised in Germany. She told them as they were on the bus driving through the city that they will notice there are no German flags being flown. They are not in front of banks, city halls, or schools, like you would normally see the American flag. You will see Bolgerian flags being flown, but not German. This is because after WWII, Germans are not 100% proud to be Germans, so they do not fly the flag of their country. In 2008 after Germany won the soccer cup, it was the first time in decades that the German flag was flown abundantly. Also, you cannot find any sweatshirts or t-shirts that say Germany. My mom was in Munich, so she was able to find a sweatshirt for me that says Munich on the front with the Bolgerian flag, but none that said Germany or with their flag.

Next, when they were visiting Switzerland, the tour guide told them that Switzerland is a very proud country that does not let many outsides live in their country. So there 3 ways an individual can live in Switzerland, 1: you were born there, 2: you married someone who was born in Switzerland and is a citizen or 3: you have a business license and work for a business in Switzerland. Besides those 3 reasons, any person cannot live full-time in Switzerland. The tour guide hinted that this was because they are a very proud country for remaining as a safe-zone during WWII.

These are very 2 interesting facts that I did not know or my mom did not know until she traveled there.

Listening to some Dillon Frances

Well I'm listening to some amazing Dillon Frances which makes me the mood the dance all by myself. I remember last summer when I saw him play at the Paradiso Music Festival. Talk about mind blowing! Electronic music speaks to my soul.

Anyways, I just finished revising my paper for my final draft and I felt like writing in my blog before I go on to making my 2 grading procedures for tomorrow's class. I feel pretty good about my final draft. I am worried though that I sound too biased for an informative essay. It was really hard to write and not make an argument about the topic I am writing about. But I guess it should be easy to turn it into an argument paper for our last assignment since I feel really passionate about rural schools being underfunded.

It has been way too long since I wrote in my blog when it wasn't in class. It is one of those things I say I'll do later, but then never gets done. I find excuses not to do it and then before I know it, the day is over and I start the same cycle again the next day. I do feel more comfortable writing now, but my time management skills suck ass. I know every one has the same excuse, but my life is so busy lately. Taking 15 credits over the summer takes some serious motivation, especially with a huge reading load (thanks Harry Potter) and work 35 hours a week and finding time to go see my boyfriend who lives 2 hours away right now. The only good news is that last week in Harry Potter, my teacher told me that if we are re-reading the books, we can skim them, especially since every book is over 800 pages long. And let me tell ya, I am skimming the shit out of those books. I love the story to death and I know it by heart, but it is impossible now to read 800 pages in 7 days with everything else that is going on in my life. Sure, now I'll miss out on reading the whole book with new academic eyes, but since I've taken this class, I can carry those same academic eyes with me the next time I read the books from cover to cover for joy. There are certain things we talked about in class that I can't overlook the next time I read them.

Also, today I got an email from my Bible Lit teacher and we have a midterm due on Friday :/ That class is really interesting because  I am learning about all different ways to look at the bible, but I do not have specific passages about the bible memorized and I do not know specific people that the textbook mentions but does not expand on. The only thing I know for sure is the general messages about creation and salvation. Anyways, I will never stray away from my faith in God, but I do think that the bible has strayed away from it's original messages and has been altered too much by man who thinks he can dictate what God said. Because of this class, I will not take the bible as the 100% truth but as a tool that man uses for a religious foundation to make sense of the world and our place in it. I have always been reserved towards organized religion because churches are the biggest hypocrites of all. They claim to follow God and his teachings, but they discriminate more than anything I've ever seen before and claim to speak the truth. Well let me tell ya, no mortal man can claim he knows the truth. Only God can dictate the truth and since man has had a sinful hand in earth, I do not think us mortals can claim to be right and speak the truth of God. We can spread his messages that the bible has written down, but even the messages in the bible have been altered to the will of man and they cannot be fully trusted as the truth of God.

Well I'm going to stop there. I don't know why I went on that religious tangent, but it felt good. I guess its because I was talking about those same ideas with a couple guys at work this afternoon and they were still fresh in my mind.

Halfway through the course

Halfway through the course, one thing that I appreciate is our daily writing prompts. I think it is a good way to get my brain working in the morning, especially during summer. Having the daily prompts allows me to get into the writer's frame of mind for the rest of the class. I also like it, because it allows me to practice writing for a nonacademic setting. Yes I am in class, but I can write these responses however I please so there is no need to worry about grammar or anything that would make my responses academic. In 8th grade, my teacher gave each of us a journal and told us that we were to write in it 5 days a week, that what the last time I was given a task of daily writing. So at the beginning of the quarter when I was told we would be doing daily writing activities I immediately got nervous because I thought what am I suppose to write about? Well through these prompts and my blog that I am suppose to be doing almost every day, I think my mind is slowly starting to be turned into a writer's mind that does not stress out about writing. I realize that by doing these writing prompts, I am to reflect on the way I feel about certain things, and I can write about what is on my mind at the current moment. It is nice to not be intimidated by writing, but to find it as a release.

At this point in the quarter, I think that it would be useful to talk more about grading and how to best manage that part of assigning students a paper. We briefly touched on grading with the narrative paper, so it would be nice to talk about it again with the other two papers. I would like to possibly find an online resource that gives tools for different forms of grading. I do not want to always use a rubric or a check sheet. It would be nice to see what else is out there, so that I can change up my grading procedures in order to give my students a different form of feedback after each major assignment if possible. Also, I do not know if there is a solid answer for this, but how do we decide on a rubric if a paper gets 100% or misses points for certain things. I do not want to become biased and think that a students paper is excellent while the another is good simply because of the way I feel about the student.

Response to Weaver Chapter 5

In this chapter, Weaver talks about what grammar should be taught and how. There is evidence that suggests the teaching of grammar is important so that mistakes can be fixed in students' writing, but what grammar is useful to fix these mistakes is the question. She listed a couple studies that were done to point out grammatical mistakes that occur most often in student composition. It was interesting to see the mistakes that people will make constantly. For example, where a comma is necessary, it is left out, pronoun agreement is a big error, and also the apostrophe in possessives. I recently took the grammar course, and everything I learned is still fresh in my mind, so I see the mistakes the students made in the examples she listed and some of them irritated me.

I like the idea she gave about narrowing down the grammar instruction to what mistakes the students in my classroom make the most often. This way, I do not overwhelm the students, but instead, I will be helping them transform their writing into more Edited American English. Unfortunately, with mistakes written down on paper, individuals can be perceived and slightly unintelligent. That is just the way our country works because everyone worries about writing in Standard English. However, as the book pointed out, depending on where the student is from, and the region in the U.S., there are different dialects that influence the way we write.

I do not want to be a grammar nazi when I start teaching, but there are some grammar that will greatly benefit my students. I will personalize the grammar instruction so that it is best fitted for my students. If they are making reoccurring mistakes, I want to help them fix them, so that they do not translate into their writing anymore. 

Kris and I have a house!

Today I filled out the application to reserve a house for Kris and I. I have to be out of my apartment by the 31st of July and I was in a time crunch to find a house. I had been waiting and waiting for this duplex behind Rosa's Pizza but the landlord was starting to get iffy and couldn't give me a for sure date of when I could move in, so today I decided to drive around Cheney and call any for rent sign I saw outside of a house. Whenever I call a house, the first question I ask the landlord is if they will allow me to have a 10 pound dog. And every house says no. HOW FRUSTRATING! My dog is 2 years old and
 is completely house broken. Trust me, I do not allow any bad behavior from her. I raised her as if she was a human child, no shitty behavior and she gets in trouble when she doesn't follow the rules. This isn't Pricilla's world where she can act however she pleases, so it is frustrating that landlords won't even give it a try. I'm even willing to pay a 300-400 dollar pet deposit so I can have her. There is no way she will go home to live with my mom (even though my mom has said she could). I couldn't part with her, she's the best companion any one could ask for. Finally, after driving around for 35 minutes, I called the last for rent sign I could see, and thankfully he said if I paid a 350 pet deposit I could have Pricilla. So he went on to tell me the details, 2 bedroom 1 bath, a washer and a dryer for only 625 a month. That's a steal because I have been having a terrible time finding anything to live in. So today at 3:30 he showed me the inside and after looking around for 5 minutes, I said I would take it. I think it's going to be perfect for Kris, Pricilla, and I. I called Kris beforehand to give him the heads up on the situation because he already knew what house I was talking about, but I wanted to clear it with him first. He told me that if the inside was nice that we should get it. And it was nice! The living room was huge and what I loved, was it was clean! It had been well maintained and we even have a little balcony to sit outside on :) The bonus, was that the landlord was going to put in a washer and a dryer for us! For the last year, I have been living without my own washer/dryer and talk about hell! I hate it. There is a community laundry room at my apartment but it costs me 5 dollars to wash and dry 3 loads of laundry! So, I was making the w/d a first priority. There is no dishwasher, but that is okay with me as long as I can wash my clothes. I am really excited that Kris and I will have our own place instead of him living with me in my 1 bedroom apartment for the last 5 months. Pricilla will love all the room too. She likes to get crazy and run around in circles for no reason. It's cute to watch actually :) On August 1, we get to move in and start this exciting adventure!
 

If I could explain one thing to one person...

I would explain something that I am pretty knowledgeable in. It's a random thing to know a lot about, but for 12 years of my life, I participated in 4-H. The person who I would describe my experience to would be my future kids. Participating in 4-H was one of the best experiences of my life. I have vivid memories of every summer when my family and I would camp at the Grant County fair grounds so that my siblings at I could show our animals. When I was in grades K-2, I could not show big animals because kids that young are not allowed, so I showed a rabbit. Then when I was in 3rd grade, I was allowed to start showing big animals. For my family that animal was sheep. From the time I started showing sheep, my parents went out and bought 3 ewes and 1 ram so that we could breed and raise our own lambs for fair. Raising my lambs myself was a great experience because I did not have to go out and spend 100-150$ per lamb. Plus, I was able to see little baby lambs run around and be crazy. Because we raised our own sheep, I became knowledgeable in delivering babies, docking their tails, tagging their ears, and giving them their shots. Raising sheep for fair is a lot of work because you have to train the sheep to be obedient and willing to be set up and prodded by the judge at fair. Every night, I would have to walk my sheep half a mile to get exercise and turn its fat into muscle, and then I would have to practice leading it around and setting it up as if my mom was the judge at fair. The worst part was getting the sheep comfortable being touched and grabbed by a judge. You have to  position yourself just right in order to keep the sheep from jumping and trying to run away. It was a lot of work, but it was necessary because when it came time for fair, you were in the ring with 15 other kids and their sheep. Some sheep were as well trained as a dog (I could never get mine to be like that) and it put a lot of pressure on you to get your sheep to cooperate.

I will one day talk to my kids about this experience because I want them to do fair. It was my first real experience of how hard work is necessary and will pay off.

3 nights and 2.5 days :)

Well it's the end of a wonderful weekend with my boyfriend and the beginning of another long two weeks until I get to see him again. I was able to go home Thursday after work and spend all of Friday and Saturday with him until I left for Cheney Sunday morning at 6:30 in order to make it to work by 9. I have to say that missing him totally pays off. I love living with him, but I don't get the chance to miss him, so regardless of how terribly I miss him while he's back home working, it's kinda nice. It's nice to miss my best friend and appreciate the time we get to spend together. Of course there is nothing to do in Royal whatsoever, so we didn't do much, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. However, on Friday night, we did meet up with an old friend from high school and drank with her. Talk about someone changing to the negative!

This particular friend was top of our high school class, graduated with a 4.0, went on to play basketball at a community college, started her own photography business, and then went on to study at WSU. Well meeting with her on Friday was a weird experience. She told me the only reason she is passing her classes is because she cheats through everything. Her perfect gpa has dropped to a 2.8 and she is really into partying now. I like to party too, but I also realize the importance of my education and that it has to come first. I am proud to say that I have never cheated while I am in college and my gpa is a 3.6. Not to go into too much detail, but I know for a fact that I have done more extreme stuff than she has, and I have still been able to make top grades and put my education first. It's her life and she can deal with it however she pleases, but it is kinda disappointing to know that she has let herself slip low below the bar she had set for herself while in high school. She seems happy and pleased with herself, but she might later regret being so nonchalant about school. I guess though that part of that might come from her being the daughter of one of the five riches farmers in Royal. Growing up privileged can make someone feel not accountable for their actions. Hopefully, this friend will not regret letting school slip by. Hard work always pays off in the end. At least that's what this meager hard working middle class girl thinks. I guess part of my ambition to try hard in school comes from my love of education. I don't think I would be becoming a teacher if I didn't love school and the influence it has had on my life. I think education is the best investment any person can make in themselves and it can make or break the rest of that person's future. Hopefully my friend can realize that before she lets her expensive education go down the toilet.

Free Write

Work is getting really stupid. It's full of drama and people who are too lazy to do an easy job. As a supervisor at the Village Centre Cinemas, it is my job to make sure that people do their job correctly while also making sure that I do my supervisor duties such as bank deposit, paperwork, and inventory. I do not get paid enough for all the duties I have to do, but it's a job so I do my best not to complain. Besides everything I have to do, I am a very hard worker. In fact, my floor staff employees compliment me on working hard and helping them with their duties instead of just doing what a supervisor is suppose to. One employee, Axzavor, told me on Saturday night when we were understaffed and super busy, that I was a really hard worker and that I inspire him. Without being cocky, I know that I am really good at my job because since the age of like 10, I have learned the value of hard work. My parents raised me and my siblings with the mind set that you can't get anything in life without hard work. Therefore, I did not get an allowance, so if I wanted money, I would have to mow the lawn, weed wack, or pull rocks out of the garden. Also, I worked on a farm for three years and in a potato plant for one year. Talk about appreciation for my job at the movie theatre. It has air conditioning!! That is something the farm and potato plant did not have. I was used to sweating my ass off daily and coming home exhausted that the first thing I would do is fall asleep before I could unpack my lunch box or take a shower. No one who works at the movie theatre has had a work history like mine. They have never had to do hard physical labor or be at the bottom of the totem pole. They have always had an airconditioned job that required nothing more of them than to show up and do simple tasks like tear tickets or serve popcorm. It frustrates me to no end how lazy the workers are. They constantly complain about the job, but then they don't put the effort into making the most out of the situation. Sure I don't particularlly love my job either, but it's a job that provides me with a stable income so that I can provide for myself while I am in school.

The other day, I had to write a note and put it in the employee locker room where they store their stuff because the women were not doing bathroom checks correctly. Instead of taking out the empty toilet paper roles from the display, they would leave them there and put the new roles on top of the display. I went into the bathroom and found three stalls like that! I was so pissed off because that is pure laziness right there. I had to redo their work for them, so I wrote a note to the women telling them not to be lazy because it is not hard to do their job correctly the first time. I wish people would appreciate the job they have and treat it with respect because there are plenty of people who would love to have a job.

Response to Weaver chapter 2

Reading about grammar and the ups and downs to teaching it seems like an endless fight between supporters and non-supporters of grammar teaching. Chapter two in the Weaver textbook is a good chapter to introduce the reader to the multiple amounts of research that has been done on the effectiveness of teaching grammar. I have just completed the Grammar for Teachers course in the spring, and a lot of what Weaver mentioned really brought me back to when I was a student being taught traditional grammar. Grammar to me is like when I took math in high school. It's super hard, but when you get it, you feel extremely smart for understanding something that is difficult. One thing my grammar teacher said to me that I won't forget is "teaching grammar is easy, but putting it into practice is the hard part because people do not speak and write according to the rules of grammar." In the early portion of the chapter, Weaver hinted that the battle between traditional grammar and then teaching grammar according to usage is a hard distinction to make. On page 10, Weaver points out a sentence where broken down into the deep structure the word tired is acting as the verb, but on the surface level of the sentence, tired is acting as an adjective. This example to me is a perfect reason why teaching grammar is so controversial. How can we teach our students the parts of speech and how they function if the form and function are always changing?

As a future ESL teacher, I find grammar very useful and I put my best effort into learning grammar for my future students, and not just for the 3.0 I needed out of the class because when teaching ESL students, they need to be taught specific grammar points. Also, when a student is learning English he/she will most likely have specific grammar questions that I will be expected to answer. Sure grammar teaching is hard and controversial, but there is good place for it in education, and it should not be ignored.

A necessary evil...

Well...an evil that I have in my life is smoking. I was always against smoking when I was in high school because I always thought it was extremely bad for you. Yes it is bad for you, but since coming to college I have become completely liberal. I am open to smoking and open to anyone who participates because the people who are conservative about smoking try to see the world through a narrow lens.The world is full of multiple lenses and I think it is a bad choice to be conservative because you will always be disappointed in the actions that people around you do. Now that I am a senior in college, I only smoke when I am at parties and every once and a while at my house because it helps me relax at the end of my day. This is the same reason people smoke cigarettes, but I do not agree with putting tar and chemicals in your body. I am aware of the misconceptions that people have about others that smoke (lazy, that's all they want to do, etc), but I am proud to say that I beat the misconceptions. I do not let smoking control my life (unlike some of my friends), I have a 3.6 overall GPA, and I take a full credit load every quarter. I think smoking is a necessary evil in my life because it helps me to relax. Some people drink, but I don't really like drinking. When I smoke its personal time for me to unwind after I've done all my necessary tasks for the day. There used to be a point in my life when I didn't have a job and I wasn't in the education program yet, that I let my life and actions revolve around smoking. But now, I am a year away from graduation and starting the career of my dreams and I have found the appropriate times to smoke. Some people think its bad, some people act differently around me after I tell them that I smoke, and then I have found genuine people who think there is nothing wrong with me smoking because I chose not to let my life revolve around it. I have found value in people who hold the same liberal views as I do because we will allow ourselves to be open to multiple experiences. Just because I am smoking now doesn't mean it will become a life long habit. I have quit smoking before and I can do it again just as easily.

Response to Murray Chapter 6

This chapter was very useful in giving me ideas for short writing prompts and activities that my students could do. I think that if I am going to give my students writing prompts, each prompt should be different and interesting to the students so that I am able to keep their attention. Also, an idea that really resonated with me was the trail. It can be hard for the writer to make his/her ideas comprehensible to all readers and audiences. Thus, taking the time to show the writer how to take a lead idea of their paper and write at least four questions that their writing will have to answer in order for the reader to get the main idea can be very useful in showing organization and proper transitions. I think I really liked this passage out of the chapter because last week when we did our revising workshop, I asked my reviser, to help me brainstorm ideas on how to fix my flow and organizational problems. I knew that my paper was choppy, but I didn't know how to fix it on my own. Therefore, I think taking the time to show students what is necessary in organization and details to make their paper more comprehensible to the reader can be very useful. As bad as it is, it can be easy to forget about the audience when writing a paper because the writer knows the details of the story better than anyone, so it can be easy to forget that sometimes we will write for people who do not know much about the topic.

Also, I had never thought that the classroom environment could hinder or help writing. It makes sense that the classroom environment should be one that evokes writing from each student. Like we discussed in class, writing is very personal, so if we are going to ask our students to write, the environment of the classroom should be inviting so each student can feel comfortable writing and sharing their thoughts.

First Fight in a While...

Today my boyfriend and I got into a little fight. It was the first fight in a while. 95% of our relationship is easy and we hardly ever fight, but there is still that other 5% where we fight. One thing I noticed after four years of being with Kris, we are both very stubborn and do not like to admit we are wrong. Neither of us is wrong in this fight and no one is right either. That makes it even more of a fight because I do not want to give in and be the first one to say sorry because my feelings are hurt. On the 4th of July, I got off work at 2, and told Kris that I planned on coming home for the night before I had work at 4pm on Friday. Well, I drive the 2 hours it takes to get back to Royal City, and he tells me he left to go to Mardon to see our friend Jeremy. I was instantly pissed because he knew I was coming home. It had been two weeks since I had found time to come home and see him and my family, but he decides that for the one night I'm home, he wants to leave. Sure I could have gone to where he was, but I really wanted to see my family I have had no time this summer to hang out with them. I was going to get to be in Royal for less than 24 hours, so of course I would want to see my family on the holiday instead of leaving them with my dog (because I wouldn't be able to take her to Mardon) and then going to and seeing a friend who I've seen more than my family recently. I don't think that's a bad reason for turning down Mardon. However, Kris decides he doesn't want to be in Royal for the night. That's totally fine. He can do what he wants and I can do what he wants, but the thing that makes me really really mad is that I get no time off from work this summer because I am a supervisor now and I am taking summer classes. For the last 6 summers of Kris's life, he has been a hay farmer, and for the 4 summers we have been together, I have sacrificed my schedule to go and see him because he works 12 hour days 7 days a week. I understand he has a very demanding job, but for one summer I have a demanding schedule too! So it ticks me off like no other when for the one night in 2 weeks I find time to come home, he leaves. I feel like he doesn't appreciate how often I make my schedule work around his. It's never been fair when he works during the summer. By this I mean that I always go see him and I ask for time off of work so that I can see him whenever he asks me too. I want to know why can't he ever ask for time off and drive to Cheney to see me? Why do I have to be the one that uses my gas, money, and time to drive 2 hours one direction and have him just dip out? It seems really unfair to me and I'm really mad about it. So of course, I do what I always do. I tell him exactly how I'm feeling. One thing I have gotten really good at is telling him the truth about how I feel because for the longest time, I would act mad and expect him to figure out what is wrong, but he never would. So eventually I started telling him exactly how I felt so that it made the fight get over with sooner. However, when I told him I was mad, he didn't get it and thought it was stupid. That made me even more mad! In anger and frustration I told him to stop the swather (because I was riding with him while he swathed alfalfa) jumped out of the tractor and walked the half mile back to my car. I don't even care I only saw him for an hour. Why should I see him just because he wants to see me? Why should I have to feel like I have to be the only one to put effort into taking my time to see him. Well I tell you what, I'm tired of it. From today on, he needs to take one or two days off to come and see me the next time he realizes he misses me. I'm not doing this bullshit again. 4 summers is way too long. I need money this summer just as badly as he does, and with me taking summer classes for the first time ever, there are certain days of the week I have to be in Cheney. So I'm not going to Royal again until he comes to Cheney. He needs to show me that he values the little bit of time we get to see each other, because what just happened doesn't show me he values the little bit of time off I get.

Mrs. Neiffer, my most influencial teacher

The most influential person I have had in my life within the last 5 years is my high school junior and senior English teacher (I had her for both grades). In 11th grade, Mrs. Neiffer taught English Literature. For my first two years of high school, I had hear rumors of a teacher who had the nickname "witch with a b," who was so strict that she could intimidate even the most strong headed student. She was 65 years old and totally an old-school teacher. She was always dressed professionally to the T with 5 inch high heels everyday (she couldn't wear her 6 inch heels because the dress code said none over 5 inches). She never expected anything less than our best effort and when a student would say something stupid or not to her standards she loved to say "stupid just fell out of your mouth." I had never had a teacher before like Mrs. Neiffer. She forced us to act like adults and take grasp of our own education. She awarded good grades for students who actually tried their hardest. For once, I had a teacher who did award students with a passing grade if they demonstrated laziness in her class.

I had always known I wanted to be a teacher since I was in the fifth grade, but I was never sure of what subject. In English Literature, Mrs. Neiffer was the first teacher to show me I was a very good student when it came to English. She always complimented me on my insightfulness to Beowulf and Macbeth, and because of her praise and comments towards me, she made me feel that for once I was really good at something. I had never been good at sports, I never got involved in clubs or other after school activities besides cheerleading and and dance team, but Mrs. Neiffer helped me to realize that I was good at school and that I actually enjoyed it and the subject of English.

After my junior year of highschool, I couldn't wait to have Mrs. Neiffer again. As a senior you are only required to take her Advanced Writing/Research class, but I also signed up for her Advanced Communications class, so that I would have English with her twice a day for every day of my senior year. Talk about rigorous! For her advanced writing class, we did not recieve college credit, but she made it her goal to give a rigorous like college course so that we would all be prepared for college the following year. I will always remember Mrs. Neiffer for pushing me harder than anyone else had and believing in me. 

Sunbathing with Treena

Well I just got back from sunbathing with my best friend Katreena. It had been way too long since we spent time together and since today was my first day of summer where I had no work or school, I wanted to spend the day by her pool. It was so HOT! And you know what? I still walked away from to the pool white. I can't tan very well at all. It takes multiple times in the sun before my skin starts to show some color. It was nice though to just lay out, drink some beer, and talk. Me and her each live alone so it was nice to get to socialize for a bit. Also, she just got a cat whose the coolest color of gray I've ever seen on a cat before. It's funny because the sheets on her bed are gray and you can barely tell he's laying there. I brought my dachshund with me so she could seen Treena again and it was super funny to watch Pricilla try and play with Indie. Indie was super protective of the bathroom where his food and water are. He stood guard infront of the door and didn't let Pricilla in. I could see how happy Pricilla was to have some other animal contact because it's just me and her these days since Kris moved home. Now that I'm home I plan on cooking myself some dinner, working on my narrative paper for class, and then my maybe start my Harry Potter reflection that's due tomorrow night, before relaxing for the rest of the night.

Working at Tonnemakers and McCains

During high school, the only way for me to earn money during the summer in Royal City was to work in the fields. I was a farm laborer at the same domestic level as the Mexican workers. We did the same chores and worked the same schedule.For the first time in my life, I was at the bottom of the totem pole where the white people were not above the Mexicans (which is usually how it is in Royal). I was exposed to people who did hard physical labor every day of their life and that was how they made a living. I was lucky enough to only have to work on the farm for 3 months out of the year, but these workers couldn't leave because they had no formal education or any other skills that would be applicable to other jobs and for the most part, they were illegal immigrants or only had work visas, so they were not citizens of America. I had to adapt myself to their situation and learn to speak some Spanish in order to break down the communication barrier because they did not speak a lot of English. Furthermore, after my freshman year at EWU was over, I was unable to find a job in Cheney or Spokane, so I moved back home and got a job at McCain foods, which is the potato plant that produces McDonalds french fries. For 12 hours a day I was a sanitation worker, the very very bottom of the totem pole. I would use a pressure hose for 12 hours a day and wash potato slug off of the machines. It was the exact same situation as working the fields. I was one of 2 white people who had this job, the others were Mexicans. I feel very humble now because through those experiences I learned how to master a great work ethic and it gave me such a motivation to finish my education!

Starting the ESL Program

Talk about my world view changing!! Never in my life have I ever been exposed to so many different cultures. Growing up in Royal City, WA there are two demographics of people:Caucasians and Mexicans. I grew up with no diversity whatsoever. When I moved to Cheney my freshman year at EWU, I was so nervous and shocked to see all the different types of people around me from all different backgrounds and countries. I was actually scared and intimidated by people of other ethnicities that I had never been exposed to before. I first realized that I was fascinated by other cultures and languages in my freshman year at the Grove because my neighbor was a young man from Saudi Arabia. Getting to know him and his culture attracted me to him that he soon became my friend because I was extremely interested in the things he had to say about the world and his experiences. Coming from Royal City, I have never had the opportunity to learn about other cultures besides the Mexican one. His world view and stories about his customs truly intrigued me and listening to him speak in English and Arabic made me insanely jealous. I thank Muhammad for exposing me to the other side of the world because he made me interested in culture and gave me the passion to start the ESL program.

If I could change one thing about myself...

One thing I have always struggled with is my outward appearance. It has taken me 21 (almost 22) years to feel confident in the way I look. I think that I struggle with my appearance because I have always been skinny and thin. Most people do not think thin people struggle with bodily appearance, but we do!! Skinny people get comments said to them such as "oh my gosh your so tiny!" or "are those your legs or are you riding a chicken?" (thanks for that last one dad). It is easy to think that only bigger or overweight people get comments said about their appearance because most people would like to be thin. However, for a big portion of my life my doctors and peers thought I had an eating disorder. Trust me I don't and never did!! I love food, I just have been given a really fast metabolism. If they were to look at my entire family, we are all tiny! My 16 year old sister is my height and weight and she has long gorgeous legs that go on for a mile. I think I have really long legs too. In fact, in the three years I have been at Eastern I have finally learned to accept that this is the way my body was built and it is perfect because God made me this way and I appreciate what he has given me. I think that I finally learned to accept myself when I started going to the gym my freshman year. In high school I was the girl that sat and stretched the entire time in weights, but when I was in college I learned to like the gym because I was turning my skinny body into a toned/skinny body. I was able to feel as if I could somehow change my appearance even if I couldn't change my entire body. Also, my boyfriend has been a big supporter of me. He is very happy I have learned to accept myself, but there are still times when I compare myself to others and feel very self-conscious. Therefore, if I could change one thing about myself, it would be that I would stop comparing my outward appearance to others and 100% love myself for the way I am. I would like to be able to say I am perfect the way I am and there's nothing I need to do to change.