curriculum

I posted before about my group social studies curriculum project being finished. Last Thursday we set up a display with inofrmation about our curriclum, the curriculum itself, treats, brochures, books, etc. We really impressed everyone! In fact, I'm pretty impressed, myself. Wanna see pictures?

it's finished

FINALLY. All semester I've been working as part of a group of four to design a social studies curriculum for first and second grade. At the beginning of the semester, I agreed to coordinate and edit and format and compile every one's work. I had no idea at the time what a big job that would turn out to be! Today I printed the curriculum. It took an entire color printer cartridge and over an hour just to print (not to mention the two solid days - 9 am to 10 pm - I spent writing and editing this weekend, plus all the other time over the course of the semester). It's 368 pages!!! And it looks fantastic, if I do say so myself. Now, I have to get back to work on my Master's Thesis - Action Research Project. The final version of that is due next Tuesday, and, right now, the thesis is 120 pages long. I've never written so much in my life! And, in addition to all the school work I have to do, I have to (and get to) spend time with Brian, who's here from today through Friday, and Heidi, Katie, and Mrs. Hintze, who are here from Thursday through next Monday. I don't think I'll have time to breathe until the semester is over!

waterworld

When I watched the news at 11:20 last night, we'd gotten 6.4 inches of rain in Central Park - yesterday alone. This morning on the news they said we're up to 7.5. The usual rainfall for the month of April in New York is 4.3 inches. We're soaking wet! It's my first nor-easter! There's flooding everywhere, and transportation problems abound. Luckily (yeah right) I had so much work to do that I didn't have to go out in the rain. The curriculum project I'm coordinating for my group reached 330 pages yesterday, and it's still not done. I wonder how many hours it will take to print! So, if you're wondering what I'm up to... it's writing papers. I am in grad school, so I suppose it's to be expected!

Here's the picture from the front of the New York Times for today. The caption? "Think of May flowers..."

that's my school

We're Number One: Teachers College tops rankings in U.S. News and World Report

In its annual rankings, released on March 30, 2007, U.S. News and World Report magazine named Teachers College the nation's top graduate school of education. The U.S. News rankings -- contained in the issue headlined "America's Best Graduate Schools" --are based on two types of data: the opinions of experts in the field about program quality and a range of statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school's faculty, research and students. The statistics underscore TC's ability to achieve top quality while also maintaining a much larger and more academically diverse program than most other schools of education. In addition to topping the list for the amount of funded research (at $37.5 million), TC awarded 231 doctorates in 2006, nearly 40 percent more than the next-largest program on the list. TC moved up from the number two ranking last year. Stanford's Graduate School of Education was ranked second this year, followed by Harvard and Peabody (Vanderbilt) in a tie for third.

thursday night on the computer

Awhile ago I mentioned a professor who tries my patience. It's been a continued struggle, but I've been working to remeber that "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger," (Proverbs 15:1). I've been trying to hold my tounge and avoid her more than anything. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one in the class who feels this way. Most of the class ignores the prof. when she talks, and we all feel as though we haven't learned anything from the course. And the really bad news is we have to have her for another course next semester! Anyway, I thought I'd share a picture of the group project we completed for the prof. this week. It's a visual representation of the struggles of a first year teacher - personal convictions vs. the realities of teaching. The pictures are midly indicitaive of how we feel about the course...

And after class was done...

I sorta missed out on the "Cyber Monday" thing (this is the first year I've heard of that, by the way), but I've had fun surfing around the internet searching for gifts for my family and for things to add to my own wish list. This evening I found three funky sites on which to while away tons of time!

I love the artsy, creative, kooky things on this site, though I'll admit some of them are a bit too wacky for me to actually put in my home.

http://www.uncommongoods.com/

This site has some interesting girly finds and is updated daily.

http://www.outblush.com/

And here's the guy's version. "A web magazine for guys who love stuff." Lots of gadgets and gizmos.

http://www.uncrate.com/

one word

Wondering what I've been up to lately? One word: papers. On Thursday I turned in a 16-pager, and yesterday I turned in 113 pages of baloney. That's what I've been up to. What's keeping you busy?