Is anyone reading along? Am I talking to myself? Or maybe only to the voices in my head.
hmm....
hmm....
I guess I somehow forgot to update here with my winter quarter schedule. So far this quarter has been a breath of fresh air and I can see this being my favorite quarter... so long as my A&P instructor gets well and comes back! I anticipate the quarter taking a much different direction should she decide she is not well enough to continue the quarter and we are stuck with the boob that took over our last lecture. For now, let's think positive.
This quarter I'm not on campus nearly as much, and I'm loving it! I have A&P Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5:30 to 9:10. Half of that is lecture and the other half is down in the lab. The instructor is fabulous! I love her teaching style, I walk away from class feeling like I've learned a ton and not feeling like I need to go home and attempt to muddle through the text alone. She also give the impression of truly caring about her students and being invested in each student learning as much as they possibly can. Then I have a class on Saturday from 8:30 to 1:00. Everyone I tell about my nutrition class seems to think it's horrible to have to go to school on a Saturday, but I find it very peaceful. The class is filled with people who are there to learn instead of the random mix of people filling their time until they grow up. Plus the instructor is the same instructor I had in biology and we get along swimmingly. As an entry level class (that also gets me extra points on my nursing application, bonus!) the material is not very challenging. And since it's such a long class the instructor has decided that it would be best for us all if he limited his lecture time and gave us time to complete our homework with our peers.
All in all, I have little to complain about. I can't believe it's almost time to submit my nursing school applications! I have been spending time reviewing each schools requirements to make sure I have all my ducks in a row. It's a little scary and overwhelming, to tell you the truth.
Oh, I made the dean's list! Exciting! Wish I knew more about the significance of this.
This quarter I'm not on campus nearly as much, and I'm loving it! I have A&P Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5:30 to 9:10. Half of that is lecture and the other half is down in the lab. The instructor is fabulous! I love her teaching style, I walk away from class feeling like I've learned a ton and not feeling like I need to go home and attempt to muddle through the text alone. She also give the impression of truly caring about her students and being invested in each student learning as much as they possibly can. Then I have a class on Saturday from 8:30 to 1:00. Everyone I tell about my nutrition class seems to think it's horrible to have to go to school on a Saturday, but I find it very peaceful. The class is filled with people who are there to learn instead of the random mix of people filling their time until they grow up. Plus the instructor is the same instructor I had in biology and we get along swimmingly. As an entry level class (that also gets me extra points on my nursing application, bonus!) the material is not very challenging. And since it's such a long class the instructor has decided that it would be best for us all if he limited his lecture time and gave us time to complete our homework with our peers.
All in all, I have little to complain about. I can't believe it's almost time to submit my nursing school applications! I have been spending time reviewing each schools requirements to make sure I have all my ducks in a row. It's a little scary and overwhelming, to tell you the truth.
Oh, I made the dean's list! Exciting! Wish I knew more about the significance of this.
- A&P- 3.3
- Chemistry 121 4.0
- Developmental Psychology- 4.0
GPA for this quarter 3.74. Cumulative GPA 3.9.
I'm just glad it's over. I am officially taking a slacker quarter in winter, A&P 2, Nutrition and a 1 credit early childhood education class that is mandatory for Cam to be in the preschool. I will only be on campus 3 days a week... Tues and Thurs nights and Saturday! I'm so looking forward to this break.
A group of us from A&P got together at a local restaurant after the final for drinks. Yes, we were waiting for the doors to open. And yes, we ordered alcohol well before noon. Grow up? Yeah we probably should... but it felt great to kick back as a group and cut free from the stress of the quarter. We all hung out for a good four hours, so no one was unfit to drive home. I can't wait to see some of them in class again next quarter!
So here's the thing, if you tell your students no less than 3 times that something will not be on the exam and then have no less than 12 questions devoted to it.... chances are good that it's not what we spent the weekend studying and we probably wont get the answers correct. And yes, I am aware that I should know everything that has been lectured on, but I mistakenly paid attention to what you said and thus devoted my studying in other directions. Thankfully those were also on the test or I just may have broken out in sobs.
And to my chemistry instructor... when you hand out the group exercise and no one in the class has ever seen anything even remotely similar, and none of your lecture print outs even pretends to hint towards how to start tackling these problems.... you have a problem. 2 days to figure this out while studying for a test... just ugh!
And now I will go back to trying to figure out my chemistry project. Anyone really great at figuring out energy resulting from a chemical equation? The big lesson in all this is to study it all, even what they promise will not be on the test. Otherwise your high A score will suddenly shatter to a mid B and you will want to smack your head on your desk.
And to my chemistry instructor... when you hand out the group exercise and no one in the class has ever seen anything even remotely similar, and none of your lecture print outs even pretends to hint towards how to start tackling these problems.... you have a problem. 2 days to figure this out while studying for a test... just ugh!
And now I will go back to trying to figure out my chemistry project. Anyone really great at figuring out energy resulting from a chemical equation? The big lesson in all this is to study it all, even what they promise will not be on the test. Otherwise your high A score will suddenly shatter to a mid B and you will want to smack your head on your desk.
Really I have too much to do this weekend to take the time to post here instead, but I need a moment to collect my thoughts. This quarter continues to just be hard. Lots of tests, lots of papers, little free time. I'm feeling totally out of touch with my family and friends, I really hope next quarter is better.
Chemistry is frustrating as I don't feel that I'm learning anything, so far everything we have covered was already covered in my previous chem class.... only each teacher has their own particular way of doing things. I'm finding I know how to get to the answer but my path is often different than the one currently being taught.
Anyway... there's some new features on my blog. I felt the need for a more wintery theme and then added some links. One of the links should, if it works right, take you to the notes I've been taking for Chemistry and A&P. I haven't done much testing of it, so we'll see if it works as intended. The other new thing is the list of school work. I'm going to try to keep it updated on the weekends so there is a list of the things I know I have coming up in the next week. It's good for me to write this out, I had forgotten that I have chemistry homework due on Monday!
Chemistry is frustrating as I don't feel that I'm learning anything, so far everything we have covered was already covered in my previous chem class.... only each teacher has their own particular way of doing things. I'm finding I know how to get to the answer but my path is often different than the one currently being taught.
Anyway... there's some new features on my blog. I felt the need for a more wintery theme and then added some links. One of the links should, if it works right, take you to the notes I've been taking for Chemistry and A&P. I haven't done much testing of it, so we'll see if it works as intended. The other new thing is the list of school work. I'm going to try to keep it updated on the weekends so there is a list of the things I know I have coming up in the next week. It's good for me to write this out, I had forgotten that I have chemistry homework due on Monday!
My school week was only 2 days long this week and I am exhausted! Unfortunately, instead of going back to bed after dropping the kids off at school this morning I have to head out to take care of some things. I picked up my financial aid check today and there seems to be a huge error. I'm not pleased. I'm not sure that I can cash this check and still expect them to fix it so first priority today will be to figure out where the other $1100 of my financial aid is. I also need to hit the grocery store for coffee. I can't believe I let us run out of coffee. Then I'm going to hit the thrift store to see if I can find a lab coat. It is required for A&P and we get extra credit if we have it in Chemistry. I know there is more, but it's slipping my mind at the moment.
Cameron has started preschool. So far he loves it. I was worried about how he would adjust, but it looks like the fast pace the keep there works really well for him. He has already made some friends and tells us all about them when he gets home. He's off at class today so that means I have the whole school day alone!
Grey's Anatomy returned last night! It was great having Lynessa over to watch with me. We were both disappointed at the end of the show to hear that the next episode isn't for 2 weeks!
Cameron has started preschool. So far he loves it. I was worried about how he would adjust, but it looks like the fast pace the keep there works really well for him. He has already made some friends and tells us all about them when he gets home. He's off at class today so that means I have the whole school day alone!
Grey's Anatomy returned last night! It was great having Lynessa over to watch with me. We were both disappointed at the end of the show to hear that the next episode isn't for 2 weeks!
First day of school update...
I think the world was against me today. First my caregiver showed up an hour late, putting me in a tizzy about getting to class. This also caused me to get out the door late, by about 13 minutes. Apparently 13 minutes at the beginning of the day is what it takes to throw off the whole rest of the day.
I arrived on campus only 5 minutes late to find that there was no parking to be had anywhere. After circling the lot a couple times I called my friend who I knew had just gotten out of class and asked where she was parked. And then I waited... she pulled out, I pulled in. Made it to my first class, found my husband had saved me a seat and started trying to figure out what the instructor was saying. It seems my college has decided to employ Robin Williams to teach A&P. Fabulous. He finds himself quite humorous, I assure you. Seems like a nice enough guy. Lecture was over and then it was on to lab. 2 hours later and it was time to run to the cashiers office to grab my financial aid check. The school seems to have lost 1/2 of the transfer forms that move our checks from the campus 25 miles away to the local campus. There were lots and lots of us not so happy. No big deal I figured, since my next class was at the other campus, I would just pick up my check while I was there. I had an hour to get to the other campus, and decided not to stop to check on Cameron and instead head over and make sure I could find my next class.
Once back in the truck heading to the other campus I realized that I had forgotten my map to the other campus at home, and that piece of paper also had my class room number written on it. Did I mention that I'd never been to the other campus before? I get out the the general area that the college is supposed to be in and get horribly lost. After driving in circles getting directions from anyone I can think of, I finally get to the campus only 4 minutes late. Still no idea where my class is, and lucky me... the college is under major construction. After wandering around, and asking for help, I find my class about 13 minutes late. All eyes on me as I slink into the back of the room.
This class goes well other than this is the first instructor I've had that not only lectures up until the very last second... he also held us over. Now I don't have time to pick up my financial aid check and still pick Cameron up on time. Of course, since I was so hopelessly lost getting to the school, getting back to the highway was also a bit of a guessing game. After several wrong turns I make it back to the highway and manage not to be late to pick up Cameron... this is great news as I need every last possible second on Mondays when I will also need to pick up the older kids from school.
Bad news, I wake Cam from his rest and discover that he has wet himself in his sleep. *sigh* It takes us about 20 minutes to get out of there, pack up his blanket and get into clean clothing. Look at the clock as I get back into the truck and realize that if I had had to pick up the other kids I would already be late. Lucky for me I don't have to pick them up today. Cam and I head over to the cashiers office and fill out the form again that will transfer the check to the local office... check should be there for me to pick up tomorrow.
Now we are finally home, I have a headache and do not have the energy for dinner. I think Friday will be spent putting a bunch of meals in the freezer for next week.
I think the world was against me today. First my caregiver showed up an hour late, putting me in a tizzy about getting to class. This also caused me to get out the door late, by about 13 minutes. Apparently 13 minutes at the beginning of the day is what it takes to throw off the whole rest of the day.
I arrived on campus only 5 minutes late to find that there was no parking to be had anywhere. After circling the lot a couple times I called my friend who I knew had just gotten out of class and asked where she was parked. And then I waited... she pulled out, I pulled in. Made it to my first class, found my husband had saved me a seat and started trying to figure out what the instructor was saying. It seems my college has decided to employ Robin Williams to teach A&P. Fabulous. He finds himself quite humorous, I assure you. Seems like a nice enough guy. Lecture was over and then it was on to lab. 2 hours later and it was time to run to the cashiers office to grab my financial aid check. The school seems to have lost 1/2 of the transfer forms that move our checks from the campus 25 miles away to the local campus. There were lots and lots of us not so happy. No big deal I figured, since my next class was at the other campus, I would just pick up my check while I was there. I had an hour to get to the other campus, and decided not to stop to check on Cameron and instead head over and make sure I could find my next class.
Once back in the truck heading to the other campus I realized that I had forgotten my map to the other campus at home, and that piece of paper also had my class room number written on it. Did I mention that I'd never been to the other campus before? I get out the the general area that the college is supposed to be in and get horribly lost. After driving in circles getting directions from anyone I can think of, I finally get to the campus only 4 minutes late. Still no idea where my class is, and lucky me... the college is under major construction. After wandering around, and asking for help, I find my class about 13 minutes late. All eyes on me as I slink into the back of the room.
This class goes well other than this is the first instructor I've had that not only lectures up until the very last second... he also held us over. Now I don't have time to pick up my financial aid check and still pick Cameron up on time. Of course, since I was so hopelessly lost getting to the school, getting back to the highway was also a bit of a guessing game. After several wrong turns I make it back to the highway and manage not to be late to pick up Cameron... this is great news as I need every last possible second on Mondays when I will also need to pick up the older kids from school.
Bad news, I wake Cam from his rest and discover that he has wet himself in his sleep. *sigh* It takes us about 20 minutes to get out of there, pack up his blanket and get into clean clothing. Look at the clock as I get back into the truck and realize that if I had had to pick up the other kids I would already be late. Lucky for me I don't have to pick them up today. Cam and I head over to the cashiers office and fill out the form again that will transfer the check to the local office... check should be there for me to pick up tomorrow.
Now we are finally home, I have a headache and do not have the energy for dinner. I think Friday will be spent putting a bunch of meals in the freezer for next week.
