A Semester Confession

For the last 17 weeks my life has revolved around this little thing:

This 1 gig memory stick contains virtually every reflection paper, essay, chapter assignment, PowerPoint presentation, lesson plan, and research project that I have submitted for the last year, especially during this last semester.

I managed to finish off my third semester at Newman University with:

Theology 4443 (Faith and Society): A

Education 3123 (Technology and the Classroom): B

History 3073 (History of Kansas and the Great Plains): B

Education 3162 (Teaching Methods): A

Political Science 3063 (World Government Systems): A

I'll be honest, as I always should, I'm not happy with the results. My professors were wonderful and professional and more than willing to help. This is one of the many reasons why I love my exorbitantly priced, but small university. I was a total slacker this semester. It's actually quite ridiculous how badly I procrastinated. I missed an A in the Education class by .5 points because I decided around week #12 that I didn't feel like writing yet another reflection paper even if it was worth 30 points. The reason for my history class is even more foolish. Put plainly- I didn't study. I produced a research paper that was by far substandard. But that's probably because I started the research a day before it was due and then spent the entire day of the final writing it instead of studying for the final.

So why did I decide to sabotage my own grades and eventually my GPA? I just couldn't get motivated this semester. I was talking to two of my friends that I had in almost all my classes with last semester and they were feeling the same way. I think because last semester was SO intense and overwhelming with all the things that had to be done that when I looked over the requirements for this semester I thought, "Piece of Cake!" and then took a 14 week nap. Then I started a new job at a restaurant about 3 miles from my house. The money is not so hot but they were willing to work with my school schedule and I can ride my bike to work. Then there is house-work. I don't care what anyone says-that's a full time job in itself. I can't leave off the dog. I used him as an excuse to step away from whatever project I was working on at the moment to go on a 2.5 mile walk every day or play Tug-of-War. When it comes right down to it I put school at the bottom of the list when I should have made it my main priority. The worst part is I don't think I'll make the Dean's List this semester.

I did do stuff this semester that was pretty labor intensive, so it's not that I completely slacked off.

• I put together a 106 page, 8 lesson plan Unit on 8th grade Economics complete with Kansas standards, Goals, a visual map of the Unit, a pre-test and final test, a newsletter to the parents, 2 extensive WebQuests, a PowerPoint presentation, countless hand outs, and detailed 2-3 page lesson plans. I created about 99% of this massive portfolio and I worked on it all semester long.

• I created a WebQuest for the first time ever. I had never heard of a WebQuest before. Basically, it's a way to incorporate the Internet and technology into a classroom. Instead of giving the students a list of questions and just letting them roam through the Internet at random to find a bunch of information that's probably not reliable, the teacher creates a list of websites for the student to explore. It can be done as an individual assignment or as a group activity. I chose one of my favorite subjects: Christopher Columbus and the Colombian Exchange.

• I wrote my first 15-page research paper. Truthfully, it was a huge challenge and I don't think I did a very good job. My topic, Human Trafficking, was vast enough and I broke the paper down into 7 parts but next time what I think I'll do is write 3 5-6 page research papers on 3 different aspects of the topic and then combine them together to form 1 large paper. (Something to think about: we currently have 27 million slaves in the world today. That's more slaves then we had at the peak of the Atlantic slave trade from Africa to the Americas. Human trafficking is every where, including here in the United States. As a matter of fact, last year Chicago was named the #1 hub for human trafficking in the States. Thousands of extremely poor people are promised a "better life" if only they would come work for So-and-So. In the end they are transported illegally and put into a life of debt-bondage where they are required to do whatever it is that their Owners tell them too. They might work in a factory, a mine, clean your house, or be sold into prostitution. It's sad. It's tragic. And I am amazed that this isn't being addressed in every single church across the country.)

• I was invited and accepted into the Pi Gamma Mu, an honor society for the Social Sciences. I got my graduation cord, certificate, members card and pin just the other day.

So there it is. Next semester I will be taking 1 on-line class and will be working on my Senior Historical Portfolio, in addition to taking an Economic Class, another Political Science class, and 2 more Education classes. Until then I have the summer to recoup and get re-directed. That should be fun.