Blog Post #1

About Me
     My name is Cari Raymond and I am the youngest of three.My oldest sister is Rachel and the middle sister is Britney. Being an Army brat, I have recently lived in Satsuma, New York City and Newnan, GA over the short span of seven years. I came to The University of South Alabama as a transfer student from the University of West Georgia last fall. My dad decided that he will be retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Army this March. One aspect of me that most people don't know is that I have a "Bucket List" that I add to or alter every few weeks that holds the dreams I pray will one day come true. My parents have said that things like skydiving and owning a motorcycle will have to wait until I'm on my own insurance. Though I have never been able to actually write it down, I believe this year might be different. I love to draw, paint, cook, write children's stories and most of all, I still have that same joy to read as I did all throughout grade school. While others were content with learning only the minimum of what we needed to know, I wanted more. When others saw this quest for knowledge strange, I found my only haven to be the library. There, it wasn't strange to see me going from shelf to shelf collecting a book or two from every genre and finding a chair to hold my body, while my mind to flight beyond my own world. And though I didn't understand why I could get lost in words that could be anywhere between 2,000 years or one week old, I knew that I had a passion for reading. Wanting to know why and how something was in the past and how it has changed today drove my hunger.
     It wasn't until I was about eighteen years old my family and I discovered that I had a mental disorder called Asperger's Syndrome. Basically, those with Asperger's Syndrome have minds that are mainly wired for book smarts, facts and logic. While they may be very intelligent, they can't understand sarcasm, jokes, personal space, social cues or even when someone is getting angry. The most popular examples of these personalities are Dr.Temperance Brennan from "Bones" and Sheldon Cooper from "The Big Bang Theory." I had to relearn how to talk to others, to plan my day, even being shown that when I thought I was laughing with my friends, in truth, I was being laughed at. I'm happy to say that these years have produced a more confident me than what I could have been had I not been diagnosed. College offered me a new challenge -what did I want to be when I grew up? Looking through research and comments about the work placements of those with Asperger's, I found myself  at one woman's comment that "she thought back at those who were kind to her and told her she was not strange before she learned of her disorder and chose to teach others about children and disorders so that they could have a better childhood than she did." I thought back to the library, about my teacher showing me a website of Media Specialists and what they do. I decided that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I want to show other children that same hunger for books that I still have so that they can have that same firm first step in their school days too.


My Future Classroom
     In my future 5th grade classroom, my teaching style will be a mixture of lecture, class discussion, hands-on assignments, presentations, field-trips and special guests. I am neither a simple person, nor do my tastes run in only one or two genres. Simply look at my music list, and you will find songs ranging from rock and country to opera and jazz. My classroom will reflect these traits. No one is able to learn a new task or lesson the same way twice and I am no exception. While I may be able to understand a new lesson by sitting and listening, I know that if I can ask questions, hold what we are learning in my hands and see its place in today's world, then the lesson gives new meaning that I will want to remember. Looking back at my past teachers, the ones that I can remember the best were those who told me exactly what they expected from me. That is the type of teacher I want to be for my own students: one that tries to show that they can be more and do more simply by following the rules and pushing yourself more than they did yesterday.
     On the syllabus, I will list what we will be learning each month and try to have at least one class discussion in the middle of a new lesson. If there are any questions they students want to ask or topics that they want to know more about, I can use those new ideas topics to create real world connections. I also plan to assign several projects throughout the year where each student will have an opportunity to present it to the class. One example of this idea might be to have the students bring in their favorite books and tell what they learned over the years from each. Another idea might be to allow them to come dressed up as their favorite historical figure and do a Q-and-A with the class. I never enjoyed school when all I was asked to do was memorize what to learn for an exam. I want to teach with a variety of different methods to prevent this from happening to others.
     My students will be asked to look around the room their first day, to touch the computers in the "Mini-Lab" and to sit in their "Reading Time" seats near the book section. I want them to see all the new settings they will be spending time in for the new school year and to be able to ask questions. When they are seated back in their desk, I will explain that what it means to be respectful of our classroom. I will explain that taking care of our classroom would look like returning books back to their spot on the shelves, picking up paper off the ground if they see it, or helping each other clean messes. Ultimately, I want to teach them responsibility and respect. I believe that if you teach a child to follow the rules in a classroom that they will begin to follow the rules in their own home, which instill responsibility long after they have graduated to the next grade.
     If at all possible, I will overlap different subjects together so that my students can see that even though they might not seem to have anything to do with each other, they can learn more because of their differences. For example, if we are learning about spiders, I can utilize the computer to have them research different kinds of spiders. Then, I could have them read Charlotte's Web and create graphic organizers. I could also take them to an exhibit where spiders are showcased and give them hands-on experience with biologists. I never want my students to go home and say that what they learned that day was boring, but that they had an adventure.

Dr. Pausch and Time Management
     The first time I heard anything about Dr. Pausch, my Mom told me about a book called "Last Lecture" and that I should read it. I was not able to read it until we moved to Newnan, GA and began to read what Dr. Pausch taught. I don't think I knew what its impact would be for my life. This professor, this husband and father who was slowly dying from a cancer that he could not win over, used the last time he would be able to teach from his classroom to show his students how to embrace life. I do not know if I would be able to look my students in the eye and talk to them about living a fulfilled life when mine was being cut so short. But, that is what Dr. Pausch did and many, many people, both in that classroom and around the world, are better for it.
     Watching Dr. Pausch's short clip from his famous "Last Lecture" left me laughing, crying and learning within its few minutes. Though he is gone, his works still help to bring new lessons that I have been trying to stride for in life. Though I have never be taught or heard an example of time management that involved eating a toad, let alone three, I understand what he means by starting with the most difficult task first. In my first semester of college, it was not unusual to find me on a Friday night making a list of what needed to be done. But, just because I made a lists did not mean that I accomplished those goals in an appropriate time frame. And, more times than not, my grade would reflect such a lack of effort. It took a great deal of time for me to begin a new pattern of time management. Thankfully with the help of my sisters, mom and several calendars, I have been able to change and place my steps in order to reach my goals. This journey, not the one called EDM 310, college or even a degree but life itself, can only be successful if we begin to see what the hardest parts are in our paths and take action.

Optional: Time Management Exercises and Lessons
     Any one who knows me, whether they are family or study group members, know that I have a very big problem with time management. I cannot count the nights my Mom has come into my room at midnight asking what I was doing and I would give her an excuse like, "I forgot to finish the assignment," or "Rachel is looking over the essay for tomorrow." Not to joke, but when you keep missing your "How to Use Time Wisely" meeting with your adviser, you know that you have a problem. I like how the author of the website was truthful of the reasons why people procrastinate. Though they did give clear ways to fix these problems, not once did they say "these people are lazy and stupid," but offered help instead. The main piece that I believe will help me the most is the part where you write out on calendars everything that is on the syllabus from the first day to the end of the semester and other parts of your life that are have already been planned such as trips or a set work scheduled. Then, begin to plan out when you can study, start projects and what you can do the night before to make the next day better. Many times I tried and failed and tried and failed again to make a calendar that I would stick to. Shortly after I created them, my work would begin to reflect the fact that I was not using the calendars that I had just created. I still have a fairly large planner at my work space and my Mom just showed me how to link up the calendar from Gmail to my smartphone so that I can keep track. So, maybe this year, I have a fighting chance against my procrastination. I can't wait to see how improving my time management skills is going to improve my GPA.