Beginning a New Semester Is Fun

The last three days I have worked really hard preparing for this new semester. I am teaching a class on Literacy Development for teachers of English Language Learners. I finally solidified everything this morning. I decided I want my students to have something practical when they finish this semester, so I decided their final project (with parts all along the way) is going to be a book project. I want them to pick a book that they could teach to a class of ESL students. After we talk about each of our topics, I want them to create an activity or two that will correspond with their book that they have chosen. Then when they are finished with the semester, they will have a complete book project that they can take into a classroom that they enter. It would also be good if they are able to share, so not only will they walk away with their own, but they will also have one from each of their classmates. I hope they don't hate it! I think it would be really useful, but their viewpoint is often different than mine. I feel a little bit mean because they are going to have a lot to do, but I feel that it will be valuable.

So, I went to my Learning Theory class and I was the only person signed up for the class. I talked to the professor and we decided that it would be best if I just took it in the Fall. I am really pretty excited about it because I will have a break this spring. I have talked to the Center for Teaching and Learning and I will work for them starting on some projects probably next week. I'll probably only work 10 hours per week and then I'll teach my class. It is going to be a great summer!!!

End of Semester

The semester has finally finished. I submitted my project and my grades today!!!!! Hooray! I was so excited about my final project (excited that it is finished, that is). It feels s/o good to have it done. You can check it out at this website
http://ipt.byu.edu/~johnsonc/menu.htm

It is the last project listed (Units 7-8).

So now it's time to prepare for my first class on Wednesday. I need to work on a new syllabus. Shall I be a mean teacher or shall I be nice? I hope it's a good summer. I only have 8 students signed up for class. Won't that be nice?

Congratulations to Lori! Jordan, good luck on your last final!
And everyone else - Love you all!

Sweet Sunbeams

Yesterday I got to church and sat down in my pew and was getting ready for the meeting to begin when my twin Sunbeams came up to me and handed me a rose and said, "This is for being a nice Primary teacher." They were so cute and I just thought the flower was so pretty. It really was the sweetest thing!

I think the kids are getting used to what Primary is all about. They are doing a lot better!

I love you all!

Being grateful

Yesterday and today I attended the Utah chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (Utah NAME) conference. My friend Ramona was the chair of the conference. This morning they had invited a group of Native Americans to post the colors. They did it to a drum song on a really big drum played by about 8 of them. It was one of the most touching experiences I have had with the posting of the colors. I stood and cried during most of it. Then after they brought the flags down, one of the girls sang The Star-Spangled Banner. Once again, the tears just came. I was so moved by the gratitude I felt in being here and the blessings that I have. I feel that I often take my blessings for granted.

One of the sessions I attended today was about the refugee placement that is going on here in Utah. Utah is one of the sites that receive a lot of refugees. The presenter talked about how so many of these refugees have lived in refugee camps for 30 or 40 years because they escaped horrible conditions in their countries. The refugee camps had very few amenities and many of the people have been malnourished. Now the US has agreed that they can come here and receive protection. Life is very difficult for these refugees because they have lived in fear for so long, and now they have come to a new land and culture where they have so much to learn. Just listening made me feel even more grateful. We have so much and we don't even think about how much we enjoy. Even things as simple as being able to read and having clean drinking water.

In like a lion

I decided (it wasn't very hard) that March has come in like a lion. Hopefully it actually will go out like a lamb.

This last little bit has been so busy. However, I'm hoping that will change a little bit. Two of the classes that I have been co-teaching have gone out to do a practicum in the schools, so they are not at BYU during the day for the next five weeks. So that means I can hopefully write a paper for our conference in Washington DC (March 28-April 1) and write a proposal for a paper to present at the Evaluation conference in Denver next fall. So it actually won't slow down any, but hopefully I will be able to focus on my writing a little bit.

My classes are going well. I really enjoy all of them. Right now in my programming class, I am learning how to write a quiz. So that is a lot of fun. It has been interesting to me how the concepts I learned when I took programming in BASIC lo these many years ago at Adams State have come back to my memory. It has been amazing. It has just been so long ago.

In my distance education class on Monday we talked about creativity. I was excited to think about the fact that creativity doesn't necessarily mean "artsy" because I'm certainly not that. But really, it is being able to think about things in a new or different way.

I have also been thinking about the power of networking. Some of that networking is virtual, but a lot of it happens in everyday interactions. I listened to a presenter (David Wiley) talk about the benefits of networking and how to go about doing it (to listen to his presentation, go to iptso.wordpress.com) and I realized that the "pick me" syndrome that I have is really a good networking tool because I am able to work with so many people. So being a "pick me" person is not all bad. :)

New Hair

Yesterday I decided it was time to do something new with my hair. So Lori was home from school and had some time, so we went to Fantastic Sam's and I got a haircut. Then the stylist styled it for me. Wow, was it big when she finished. We went back to my house and "fixed" it so it wasn't quite so big and fluffy. I really like it. Of course, today, I tried to do something similar, but it didn't turn out like I thought it would. Oh well. That's how it usually happens. Que va a hacer?

Proud of Myself

Hehe. I just finished a little programming assignment from one of my classes where I am learning to do web programming. So all I can do are simple little things...but I wanted to post the link to my project page so you can see what I have done. It is exciting what you can do with a few little tags and words and numbers. I got really excited when it actually worked!

http://ipt.byu.edu/~johnsonc/menu.htm

Enjoy!