Time Flies

Is it really just a few more weeks til the end of the semester? Is 2016 really almost over? Seriously, where did the time go! This week is Thanksgiving and before you know it, Christmas will be here and then a whole new year will start. Crazy. Things went by way too fast for me without even being conscious of the days coming and going.

But ending of the semesters means piles of work to do. I have so much presentations and projects from my other classes that I have yet to complete. Midterms are this week, two of which are on the same day. Not to mention exams are coming up in about two weeks or so. And on another note, since the holidays are coming up, my work has been getting busy. Good for business, good for my paycheck, but not so good for my exhausted soul.

However, once the semester is done. Once all the work, assignments, and exams are over with, I get to have a mini break during intercession because I don't plan on taking classes this time around. I'm actually extremely excited because in January, I'm going to LA for the first time with my boyfriend. It will be my very first time traveling to the states so I am very much looking forward to this trip. This is my motivation to finish off the semester strong.

Starting somewhere...

I may have already mentioned this but I am a Secondary Education major with an emphasis on the subject area of Art. And although it is completely irrelevant to what I want to do in my life, I have been in the Food & Beverage industry since I graduated high school. I am currently a server at a local restaurant, and I absolutely love it. It's a family business that I'm proud to feel I am a part of. With working as a server, I meet new people every single day and quite frankly, it's a great opportunity to network with people.

I'm aware I have quite the talent with art. People always compliment my works and I guess it's "amazing" to them. However, I've always, in a way, doubted myself. I've always been afraid in the back of my mind to do what I love as a living because of the heated competition to other amazing artists and great works. I may not be the best, but my bosses at work have seen my work. They had given me the amazing opportunity (along with another coworker of mine who is just as talented) to do some art on our wall. And although it was a bit difficult to do this on a large scale at our restaurant, after completing some designs and taking a step back, I realize the ending reward is worth the stress and fear of judgment. Like, "Did I really just do that?" is an example of what I say more than half the time with all my works. 

This is my second time my work has been on display for other people to see. The first time was a couple of years ago in high school and my painting was chosen to be displayed at the courthouse. But seeing my art in public always gave me that encouragement and push I need to continue my journey. And this is the reason why I generally want to be an art teacher. I want to encourage students to express themselves and push them towards their creativity, I want them realize things don't have to be perfect for them to be proud of what they create.

The 45th President

As the election came to an end, the shocking results of Donald Trump's victory as the 45th President of the United States shook the country and even the world. Once the results were finalized, my social media accounts were swamped with shock, disappointment, angry, and even fearful posts. It's so insane! There are videos of protests all over the nation. And even just one day of Trump being POTUS, there are many reports and stories of racism arising and how Muslims are even afraid to wear their hijabs out in public. It's actually very sad to see what the country is currently going through. Choice has simply started a sense of segregation from each other,

Personally, I wasn't for Trump. I was with her. On the upside of things, I know Trump has SOME good issues he plans to take of to actually "make American great again."Although I am not for the wall at any costs, if it was someone else other than Donald Trump himself, then maybe the plans he has wouldn't look so bad. However, I think Donald Trump as a person isn't fit to be POTUS. The president is a role model, someone the nation looks up to, someone the nation needs, and someone who needs to care for their country. Trump does not fall into any of these categories. He doesn't even have any experience in politics!
He is a bully, he is racist, and he talks down on woman and other minorities. The reality that America has voted for this man to lead the country and set our course is embarrassing. The children of this generation are the ones who will be exposed to it the most.

But things happen for a reason. And I still have hope for our country. Maybe this is the kind of waking up the people need. Maybe this is what we need for our country to realize what is best. Right now, we can just hope things actually turn out well.

Registration

So today, I finally registered for classes next semester. It took about a two week process for me to actually finalize my schedule. I kept changing my mind on the classes I wanted to take, talked to my advisor, had to change classes again, but ended up being happy with the final schedule. At first, I've decided I needed to knock out my GEs by next semester, which was only two left - my second language class and a biology class with a lab. But since I still have sophomore credits (hate how I am literally one class shy of being a junior), I had to wait a few days before actually registering and the marine biology class I wanted to take was already full in a span of 3 days. Because of that, I needed another class to be a full-time student. I was so torn choosing another class or to just be part-time because I do have to leave early next semester. My parents will be getting remarried in the Philippines for their silver anniversary. I guess it's a tradition they do in the Phiilippines for a couple's 25th year of being wedded. Their anniversary falls on May 17, which falls on finals week! But I opted to be full-time because (1) I was worried about not getting my full financial aid as a part-time student, and (2) I realized I needed the credits to catch up if I wanted to be able to try and graduate on time.

For education majors, we are required to talk to our advisor, get their signature, and register for classes in person. I used to think this was ridiculous and such a hassle. But now, I actually find that talking to an advisor upon registration is extremely helpful. My advisor for secondary education helped me realize what classes I needed to take. Since I had not declared my specialty area in Art yet (though I thought I did), she recommended that I declare a double major or a minor. I had decided to add the minor because it meets the 124 credit requirement without me having to take so many classes, but still go over the requirements for certification in art.

Since I will declare my minor in art, I would have to follow the current catalog which knocks out one class (PY202 Adolescent Psycholgy) I was going to take next semester because it is no longer needed for me. I am quite happy and excited to say I am finally starting my studio art classes! The classes are AR102 Studio for Non-Majors, AR103 Drawing 1, and AR220 Basic Ceramics. I am soooo excited for these hands on art lessons and ready to learn some new techniques to better myself as an artist and build skills and knowledge as a future art teacher. The only downside is that I am taking only four classes, including my language class, but my weekday schedule for school is FULL. Art classes are MTWTH, which is insane for just ONE class. My three art classes are four days a week! I don't know how well this is going to drain me, but art is my passion and hopefully the classes will be interesting and inspiring enough to keep me motivated.

Promethean Flipchart

Recently, in my ED271 class, we were introduced to Promethean ActivInspire. We were assigned to create a lesson on a topic we chose by creating a flip chart through ActivInspire. ActivInspire has a wide range of tools to use for students to be interactive in the lesson. We had many other examples to look at through Promethean Planet and get inspiration from. I knew that I wanted to teach something about art, but wasn't sure which specific content in that area. I was leaning towards "elements of art" because there were a wide variety of examples on Promethean Planet, but as I explored a bit more, this one flip chart on abstract art caught my attention. The flip chart had a creative way for students to create their own abstract art using the tools from ActivInspire, and that sparked the ideas for my own lesson.



 We worked on our flip chart during two class meetings. After the second time meeting, I realized I still had more to work on. Using my personal laptop, I installed ActivInspire and continued to work on it at home. As I explored more and toggled with the toolbars, I was amazed at how much you can really do on this application! I think it is such a great way for students to be interactive. As technology becomes more evident and more complex, the classroom should also adapt to the growing use of technology along with the rest of the world. If the classroom environment continues to be the same as 10 or 20 years, it will not be effective for the new generations to come who are more tech-efficient. Promethean ActivInspire is an example of what a classroom today should involve.

Nonfiction = Fiction

As we continue unit 2 on culture and identity in my literature class, we are introduced to a Native Indian author named Sherman Alexie. Upon reading his story "War Dances," I am intrigued by the writer's sense of rawness and truth in the text. It was like reading a diary. No fancy word play or any censorship. He is actually quite humorous, especially when using foul language multiple times in his text.

Referring to the concept of culture and identity, Alexie writes as if he is more in the white American culture rather than his Native Indian background. He believes those who continue to practice Native Indian rituals or even sing songs from before are people who are living in the past. Alexie strongly believed that it is ridiculous to keep something from the past alive if the present is much more different.

As our class mentioned how some Chamorros are examples of living in the past (such as we no longer wear coconut shells and grass skirts, but still showcase it as part of our culture today), we came to a discussion about nonfiction historical articles. Nonfiction means it is true. Fiction means it is made up. My professor further discussed nonfiction cannot be entirely true. There will always be a bit of fiction in every story. He went on to talk about historical articles on Spain and Guam written by a Spaniard. Would it be positive or negative? Most likely positive. If the article was written by a Chamorro, would the article be positive or negative? Most likely negative. There are two sides to every story. Each person goes through different experiences. Every experience can be told hundreds of different ways from hundreds of different perspectives. So..how can we tell which stories are fiction and which ones are nonfiction? There is no solid answer. It is based on the reader's perspective and, therefore, the reader determines the final opinion. 

Exhausted

It has come to that point in the semester where there is just so much work being thrown at you all at once. Presentations, essays, worksheets, all of the above. I have not had a whole day off to just rest. The days either consist of either school or when I don't have school, then there's work. When there's no work and I'm home from school, then there's still homework and studying to be done. It's finally catching up to me and I'm feeling mentality and physically exhausted.

But well, that's the life of a college student. I imagine this is preparation as a teacher grading hundreds of students' assignments overnight, so glad I'm getting the experience. Haha. Nonetheless, all this stress and exhausted can really teach you about time management. I've learned how to space out the assignments needed to be done and take the breaks I need.