sleeping, napping, cooking, reading, lounging, not conforming to any major schedule, working on week nights as oppsed to weekends, catching up with friends, day trips, wednesday night trivia, a major cleaning of my apartment, going for a long drive to n. vT. to listen to some good LIVE music, a mid afternoon pale ale, snowshoeing adventures with my pup, taking some pictures, holiday reunions with family and friends, home made pizza pie making party (excuse to sip lots of red wine and talk in an Italian accent), sandy klaus, thursday night darts, limited responsibilities, options, catching up on 3 months of great magazines including Caribbean Travel and Life, National Geographic Explorer, and Adirondack Explorer, new schedules, change, long runs, full days of eating holiday treats, no more Christmas music, new friendships, snowflakes, quiet solitude, out-of-control nights, STOWE, shoulder weight being lifted for a few weeks, a deep tissue massage, leaving the mall after finishing my annually 1-day holiday shopping trip (i totally have to transition into a full blown out internet shopper), giving lucy a bath and watching her run in circles around the pad like a maniac, making a huge breakfast with hotcakes, fresh blueberries, turkey bacon, and souped up bloody mary's with a certain overnight "friend", late night bike rides, making a fire in my parents backyard, NOT logging on to a computer for consecutive days (aaahhhh), taking a week off from coffee, trip to Hoboken for a good pal's surprise 30th, cheese fries from Nathan's off the NYS Thruway on drive home from Hoboken 2 days later!

these are a few of the things I am looking forward to over the short break in between semesters. so maybe not a masterpiece but in my eyes, this has all got me beyond ecstatic to be brerathing air.....

fun while it lasted, but enough F-U-N for now!

Peace and Happy Whatever!

Dylan

apologies, but i find myself in very much need to talk about something rather than academics at this very moment in time. tonight, taking a break from (heavy and hard gulp) "writing a paper"..i found myself deeply watching a special on WMHT, the local public television channel on Bob Dylan from Newport (California I am assuming) from 1963-1965. WOW, what an act. i couldn't change the channel...at some times i really wanted to but he was just such a poet at one time...! maybe he still is but when i went to see him at the Knick some years ago, i remember being very frustrated with show and found it almost impossible to understand anything that was coming from his mouth. it was very unclear, and unless you knew the words, you really had no idea what his lyrics were all about.

the shows they were showing tonight the 60's were very different. he was a young man, with an insatiable voice. and the audiences...well, they just sat in amazement and wonder. was this before the dancing to live music....i found it to be odd but very interesting...the differences between times.

i read a post from one of my peers regarding the use of musci in the classroom. surely e.l.a. teachers could find some use for Old School Dylan when his words and voice were comprehendable...and what about me, a social studies teacher. i would have to agree...much of his lyrics are about the events going on around him in an age when the US culture was on a verge of exploding, lyrically speaking and politically!

just thought i'd go someplace different this evening. i think i HAVE JUST ONE MORE OF THESE LEFT (OOPS, i am coming to you this evening from a laptop so getting the hang of the keys are a tad perplexing to me right now...my brain is what would be called FRIED)...

yada yada yada. promise to make my last post a masterpiece! till then.

Education via the WorldWideWeb (www)

No, no thank you! Not for me. Never, ever again! From previous posts one can easily determine that I am very big into setting daily goals/objectives, reaching these and then moving on to the next assignments. Today, a rare Saturday off for me and I have allocated much of the day to go to writing a few extra credit reactionary papers for 502, an online class. The only online experience I have yet to have. The problem, none of the online podcasts that I am suppose to open and listen to are ctually opening and allowing me to listen. There is nothing. Zero, zip, zilch..! I am frustrated right now, to say the least. I had wanted to do these today in hopes of obtaining an additional 20 points to my grade but it seems to be working against me. AND, unfortunately...unless these may be completed after Wednesday, December 12, which I am hoping...I simply do not have the time to get to these in the next 4 days.

So, I may find myself out 20 potential points. I am not a fan of online. An e-mail inquiry regarding this matter will surely go unnoticed until tomorrow night at the earliest, and that is a favorable estimate!

There is a rant! Now, time to go do something that'll make me feel like today was not a total waste. The gym beckons....

Thoughts on Sage

Very slightly more than one year ago (Spring 2007) I embarked on my graduate journey at SGS. It all started on a Tuesday night when I walked into a small conference style room and sat down with 10 other individuals whom all seemed very close to one another. Now I know that that was because many have been through the entirety of their programs with one another and in doing that, relationships are fostered, friendships are made, and you find yourself ranting and raving about bieing locked out of BlackBoard or hating transferring data from one file onto the LiveText program!

With just a week left in the Fall 2007 semester, I find myself entering what will be my final full academic semester. That is of course if I don't decide to further this thing callem my education even further...which by no means has been counted out yet. My parents still chuckle every so often and say, "Maybe soon Mark, soon you will be 40 and you will be entering your career. You have never shyed away from doing things YOUR way!"...

To say the least, I have enjoyed attending classes at Sage. There was a time in my undergrad work where I actually dreaded going to class. My experiences at SGS, for the most part have been very different. I really do look forward to attending classes. Probably because it allows for a break from sitting behind the computer completing endless papers, online tests, lame discussion board posts and all else that gives me sores on my backside!

Sometimes it is so difficult to hang on to a thought while I am at work...! There was a 45 minute time span that elapsed in between writing PP's one and two of this blog...! anyways, SGS experiences, friends, and nearing the end of my program! It has been a wondeful experience thus far and I am looking forward to new academic challenges this Spring Semester...all with the comfort and support of some "new" but close friends here at Sage.

p.s. (Obviously feeling sentimental and cheesy this evening at work. Maybe it's the weather!)

1 Class Meeting Remaining

Yup, just 1-week of classes remaining after tonight's meeting with Dr. S. Schechter. Another day closer...! It is most certainly going to feel really good after this wknd. when work is all over, %99.9 of academic assignments are complete, and the light at the end of the tunnel will be reached. I will finish my integrated unit later on today, wrap all most loose ends regarding 502 work later tonight and on into Thursday, utilize Saturday for completing Xtra credit assignments and then have Monday-Wednesday of next week for that last paper. An 8-pg. piece, NOT a book review, and NOT a biography but a historiographical essay on Ben Franklin. Historiographical meaning what do scholars have to say about the life of this man. How is he perceived in history? What methods do the author's use to account for their findings and are on they on the mark, are they significant by any means, what new questions do they raise...? Ahhh, the wonders of S. Schechter's historiographic essay...

Tonight in 511 I completed my PowerPoint presentation that was leftover from the previous week. I thought it went well but hoped when it was all said and done that I did not portray the Alternative Program where I have completed a fair amount of my observation hours in too much of a negative light. That was not my intentions. It really is a wondeful place and one that I feel I may have something to offer to students who meet those needs. Anything else on that would be considered "jumping the gun". I gues I am suppose to be happy with whatever job offers I receive my rookie year. Well, maybe that will be the case and maybe it won't. It hasn't seem to ever be the case for my personality yet in my 30 years so I doubt it will start when I'm entering the teaching profession.

A tad after 1am so I am about to venture to that cold and lonely pillow calling out for me across the room. You know, maybe I'm starting to enjoy writing in this blog daily. It's a good tool to clear my thoguhts on what has been accomplised today and what needs to be accomplised tomorrow. Maybe an experiment for me will be to blog daily during the upcoming academic break...those topics assuredly would get interesting.

Next blog there will be no academic chatter...I'll make it more personalized...

Till then...

Update

Well now, let's see...I have spent the last 5+ hours working on my integrated unit plan and have on the checklist (rubric) just about half done. Although I feel that the first half is by far the most in content, especially the rationale (and writing out all those standards)! I have to admit that I veered from my original plan of challenging myself and building a unit around an area that I was not all too comfortable with. Not that I wasn't up for the challenge! I simply finding myself very stressed over the amounts of academic work I need to complete over the next week and was just too worried about time. I am finished with the unit plan for now but will come back to it tonight after the gym, which will be after class of course!

anyways, some random thoughts. my plan is based around the Revolutionary Period. by far my favorite in American History. Makes me wonder what the hell I am going to do with myself when in my rookie year i will either have to teach ECON or World Religions. Gosh, I hope there's a World Religions for Dummies book out there someplace. Anyways, so far so good. Like I said the goal is to be finished with this plan by Noon tomorrow. Then, on to 502 revision of my Lit. Review, which for a second time was absolutely hacked up by Professor "Z". And to think, I previously considered myself a fairly "strong" writer...but he has done a very good job at refuting that! It's not like I am submitting this research to a journal for publication...??? Anyone else feel the same way?

The gym, and moreso very long runs have been my savior over the past month or so. If I had time, I feel like my mind and body would be much more in sync if I could get one done right not but that is just impossible. It'll have to wait till later this evening...my least favorite time for running!

So, there it is. A quick one. Not too interesting but 1 more down and 1 more closer to yet another assignment completed! See ya'll ini 1 1/2 hours! PowerPoint presentation tonigth...ohhh, how exciting!

A Delightful Surprise

a tad after 8 this morning and i received a phone call from work asking if i'd prefer to work a 9-4 shift as opposed to my usually scheduled 3-11pm monday night shift. i jumped at the chance, especially since most of my productive work occurs at night, with the exception being writing papers, for some odd reason my best writing occurs sometime between 5-8am...???

ok, goals! i often find it more beneficial to write out what needs to be done before any actual planning occurs. here we go. this week i need to finish (and start) the integrated unit for 511. i do have a topic, and one that i stated in my previous post that'll be more of a challenge for me. it is on ancient civilizations including chinese, greek, roman, indian, and mayan. should be interesting, probably more geared towards a younger audience, middle school, 9th grade tops. what else? i have to write 2-three page reactions to online podcasts for X-tra credit (502)...which i have a feeling is needed much, unfortunately...! there goes straight A's through the grad program! That is all until Saturday. From saturday on, my focus will solely be on an 8-pg. capstone essay on Ben Franklin....due next Wed.

ok, with more of a clearer mind now re: what exactly needs to be done when, it is time to get started! i'm off...