End of semester already!

     I can't believe it is the end of the semester already! It has been such a long, fun, and tiring semester and I can't wait for summer.  It will be nice to see my friends and family, work, and have some time to relax.  I truly loved all my classes this semester and they all made me certain that I have chosen the correct career path.  I can't wait for next semester and the ones to follow as I love learning new things from my classes and field work, and can't wait to student teach.
    These next few weeks are going to be pretty stressful though with all the papers, final projects and finals to study for, but I guess that is just part of college.  I know I and everyone else will get through it though we always do! 
  

Providence Last Weekend

    Last weekend I went to celebrate my 21st birthday in Providence with family.  It was a surprise so I was super shocked and excited.  The day was filled with shopping, food, and drinks.  While we were shopping in the Providence mall 3 teenagers stole from Macy's and were running out of the store with 3 bags full of stolen clothes and hats, but the security guards tackled one of the kids.  As they were trying to put him in custody his friends came up from behind and pushed the security guards down and the 3 teenagers got away with all the stolen merchandise.  This really bothered me as  I could not believe these teenagers stole all of this merchandise and then got away with it.  After the security guards got up they did not even bother chasing them down they just went back into Macy's and let them get away.   I was also very shocked at how nice the people were at the restaurants we ate at.  All the restaurants we went to gave me free deserts and complimentary drinks for my birthday.  One of the restaurants called the "Melting Pot" was my favorite it is a fondue restaurant. (there is a picture of us at this restaurant below enjoying a complimentary round of champagne).  At this restaurant the menu is very neat, you start with a bread appetizer which you dip into different cheeses, and then you choose a entree which they bring out to you and you cook it on your own with what ever sauces you want.  Then for dessert which I enjoyed the most (must be my sweet tooth) they bring out cut up strawberries, bananas, brownies, pound cake, rice krispie treats etc. and you choose a sauce to dip it all into.  We chose to dip it all in a yin yang sauce which is half white chocolate and half milk chocolate.  This restaurant had such a neat atmosphere and was my favorite part of the trip!  Overall the trip was a blast and a great way to celebrate  my birthday with my family!

Me and my sister and law, Bethany

Me and my Aunt Kim

Aunt Lisa, Mom, Aunt Kim, Bethany, and I at "The Melting Pot"

At sephora getting my makeup done with Bethany, Aunt Lisa, and Mom. (of course Aunt Kim too, but someone had to take the picture!)

Experience with testing my cousin

Last weekend for my SED 365 class I administered a diagnostic math test to my younger cousin who is in 7^th grade.  He seemed to have difficulties with regrouping, fractions, long division, multiplication, and decimals.  When I spoke with my aunt after about the difficulties I notice and made some suggestions as to what he needed to work on she said, “Well you can teach him”.  It appeared that she did not want to be actively involved with his learning.  In my house my parents were always very involved in my homework and education.  They always were playing board games, cards, and other games with me to improve any skills I was struggling with.  It seems to me that my cousins parents don’t want to spend time helping him, and would much rather have him tutored outside the home.  It is upsetting to me to see him struggle when I feel that with a little extra assistance at home he could benefit.  Although tutoring can be helpful and in many cases necessary, it can only occur for a certain amount of hours per week and that in addition it is very important for parents to provide an environment full of learning experiences to help their child grow academically.  By playing and doing interactive activities with your child at home you have the opportunity to engage them in learning without them even knowing it because they are having so much fun.         

  

Babysitting Related to Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage

     Tonight I babysat my seven- month- old nephew Sebastian.  I could clearly see that he is working his way through Piaget's first stage of  cognitive development, sensorimotor.  As he loves to put toys in his mouth and make many different noises.  Also, I noticed that what ever was within his reach and in front of him was what he was focused on.  He was also very intrigued by the television and any noises around him.  He was very talkative even though he was speaking his own language and wanted you to pay attention to him, it was like he was trying to communicate.  He appeared to be fascinated by his own sounds as well.

     

Willingham Article

      This week the article by Willingham about modality really stuck out to me and got me thinking.  Through out my life and college experiences I have heard that it is really important to teach to every child’s learning style, but this article made some interesting points on the other end of the spectrum.    It was interesting to hear that maybe teachers should focus less on the type of learner and they should actually teach to the subject instead of worrying about a child’s best modality (auditory, visual, kinesthetic etc.).  For example if you are teaching a math lesson the most effective way to teach it might be writing it on the board so the students can see how to work out the problem, but if you were teaching Language Arts the most effective way to teach it would be through discussion so students could hear the different sounds and words and practice saying them themselves.  Although this concept seems very valid I personally feel that learning styles are important too.  I know myself that I was always a very visual learner so anything that was taught in the classroom I also needed my teacher to present the material visually  so I could actually see what she/he was talking about.   I believe that teachers should incorporate both these methods into their classrooms, as that would be the most effective way to reach all students.         

Family Memory in Relation to School

      One family memory I have in relation to school is my family helping me raise money so that I could afford to go on a class trip with my Marine Biology class in my junior year of high school to Bermuda.  My family helped me collect bottles to return at the grocery store and allowed me to clean their houses to earn money.  They also helped me pick up my neighbor’s yard to raise money for the trip.  In the end I was able to raise enough money to be able to go to Bermuda with my Marine Biology class and my best friend. 

  

      The trip entailed going snorkeling, site seeing, and visiting different museums.  It also involved a scavenger hunt at the Bermuda Bio Station where we stayed.  To be eligible to go on the trip you had to write a paper to my teacher, Mrs. Buckley telling her why you wanted to go on the trip  and why she should chose you as she was only allowed to take 10 students.  If you were chosen to go on the trip you had to attend many classes beforehand to learn about basic snorkeling safety and exactly what we would be doing in Bermuda.  We also practiced snorkeling with Mrs. Buckley in our school pool.  In addition to this requirement, while on the trip you had to choose an aspect of Marine Biology to research.  There was a library at the Bio Station with internet access and plenty of books to gather information from for our research.  I chose to research the sea turtle and when we got back from Bermuda we had to write a research paper on our  topic and present it to the class and our  parents.

 

     This experience is something that I will never forget and I had such an amazing time and learned so much from it.  I have so many amazing memories from this experience.   I mean how many people can say they stayed at the Bermuda Bio Station for a week and got to go snorkeling with scientists and biologists.  One of my favorite memories from this trip was going on our night snorkel; it was very interesting to see how everything looked at night.  I also really enjoyed going to the festival that they hold every year in Bermuda where we got to go in all the stores downtown and try native food.  I also participated in a dance competition with some of the natives.    

Intoduction to Tay Price- Reflection for Edu 414

Hi,

      My name is Tay Price I am 20 and I am currently a junior at Southern Connecticut State University.  I just recently got accepted into the Elementary and Special Education Collaborative program which I am really excited about.  I also am majoring in Liberal Studies with my two concentrations being in Creative Writing and Psychology.  I come from a big family and have two older brothers.  My older brother Drew is turning 26 in February and Quinn is 32.  I just recently became a Aunt which I am very excited about and I am very happy for my older brother Quinn and his wife Bethany.  I am a very active person and am constantly doing something.  I was a cheerleader basically since I could walk.  I cheered through all my school years and also cheered for two all star teams East Coast Intensity and Celebrity Cheer and Dance.  I am very grateful for cheer-leading as it allowed me to travel a lot and to make many life long friendships.  One of the biggest accomplishments in  my life was that I got selected to cheer in the Pro bowl in 2004 in Hawaii.   I just recently had to give cheer-leading up due to two back surgeries.  Besides cheer-leading I have been a skier my whole life and I just taught myself how to snowboard which has know become one of my new interest.  I spend my summers at my family's lake house in Sunapee, New Hampshire where I am constantly on the water weather we are boating or I am skiing, wake boarding, or surfing behind the boat.  I also go to Wildwood, NJ every summer with friends and spend a week on the beach and on the boardwalk.  When I am not relaxing or doing these wonderful activities I am typically working.  I work for Kiddie Kampus Daycare in East Lyme, CT where I get to work with all different ages ranging from babies to kindergarten.  I love my job and spend as many hours there as I can.  Overall, I am looking forward to this semester because I have completed most of my university requirements and will be taking mostly courses in my education major.