And that's done. My first official semester as "Professor Troy". All semester, only one student actually called me that. And it was at the end when he was picking up his final paper and exam. *sigh* Maybe if I act like more of a bad ass next time someone will actually call me Professor Troy during class...
The semester overall went well. I had failures, drops, and no-shows for the final but for the most part my class passed. Not too shabby I think.
I know that there are several areas that I need improvement in, not counting on my notes, walking away from the podium, and having a bit more interaction with the students, but I'm learning and I know I'm going to do better next semester now that the nerves are gone. I didn't have that many rough experiences with students misbehaving or anything, I think it being 830am helped with that, lol. I honestly don't really care what they think about me, like me or hate me, they're stuck with me for four months so get over it!
Things I need to work on:
-Having more classroom participation
-Not counting on my notes but counting on my knowledge
-Being more strict with turn-in dates
-Not being intimidated by the students
But overall from this semester, I've learned that you gotta be tough, but even the those that act tough can still be a pushover. This happened several times this semester and I'm going to be better for next time. At least I can say that I didn't have a favoritism attitude. When someone asked for help or extra credit, I offered it to entire class.
I know that one of the things that WILL change next semester is my grading technique. New grading scale cause this last semester was too hard and I STILLLL haven't received my grading software. grumble grumble...
It honestly was a great semester: I learned a lot and I had some great experiences on what to do and what NOT to do. I can't wait until next semester and hopefully I can teach a 1302 class as well.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Memorium
Tomorrow I, along with a lot of other people, will say good bye to a beloved man, Rick Cox. He was a member at the gym I work at and he was one of the first members who learned who I was when I first started almost four years ago. The world lost a great man and I lost a great mentor and champion who always encouraged me and my fellow coworkers in all the things that we did. Rick was a great believer in education and his kind words, and also those of his wife Chris, were always much appreciated. Rick was one person who I could always count on to say hello. He was encouraging, wise, and his friendship and smiling face will be much missed at the fitness center. Thank you, Rick, for all the encouragement, wisdom, and kindness you showed me these past four years. RIP.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Stolen From "A Girl in the Real World"
Jinny put on her blog the other day about Three Things that she would change about herself, and it sounded like a fun time to reflect...
1. I wish I would be more consistent with my habits and goals. I tell myself all the time that I don't want to do this because it'll lead to X, Y, and Z. But I let myself slide which in turn hinders my overall goals. I'm working on it...
2. I wish I could be happier in the morning. I work very early in the morning and sometimes it's hard to muster up energy let alone a smile. I do smile sometimes, but often I find myself just staring into space and wishing I was still asleep, lol.
3. I wish I wasn't so awkward in large social situations. I'm good at holding my own, but if I walk into a place where I don't know anyone it's sometimes hard for me to get "into a room" if you know what I mean. If there's alcohol involved it's a bit easier, but still, crowded bars sometimes still intimidate me. Oh well. I don't hang around in enough bars or whatnot to really make a big deal out of it, but there it is anyway.
So that's all for now. School is going okay. There are some problems and some awesome things, but otherwise it's not going that bad. Life is hectic and moving very fast these days. Can't believe it's already almost my favorite holiday! St. Patty's Day! I'm heading to Austin to party on 6th with the broski and anyone else who wants to join :)
In other news...I went on a date the other day, er, week. It went really well :) We'll see what happens, life is rather cumbersome sometimes when it comes to this kinda stuff, so we'll see what happens.
Hasta amigos! PS: I'll be in Angelo this weekend, so you loyal blog followers hit me up in the SA, I will be sans car so come pick me up and we'll hang out! Peace!
1. I wish I would be more consistent with my habits and goals. I tell myself all the time that I don't want to do this because it'll lead to X, Y, and Z. But I let myself slide which in turn hinders my overall goals. I'm working on it...
2. I wish I could be happier in the morning. I work very early in the morning and sometimes it's hard to muster up energy let alone a smile. I do smile sometimes, but often I find myself just staring into space and wishing I was still asleep, lol.
3. I wish I wasn't so awkward in large social situations. I'm good at holding my own, but if I walk into a place where I don't know anyone it's sometimes hard for me to get "into a room" if you know what I mean. If there's alcohol involved it's a bit easier, but still, crowded bars sometimes still intimidate me. Oh well. I don't hang around in enough bars or whatnot to really make a big deal out of it, but there it is anyway.
So that's all for now. School is going okay. There are some problems and some awesome things, but otherwise it's not going that bad. Life is hectic and moving very fast these days. Can't believe it's already almost my favorite holiday! St. Patty's Day! I'm heading to Austin to party on 6th with the broski and anyone else who wants to join :)
In other news...I went on a date the other day, er, week. It went really well :) We'll see what happens, life is rather cumbersome sometimes when it comes to this kinda stuff, so we'll see what happens.
Hasta amigos! PS: I'll be in Angelo this weekend, so you loyal blog followers hit me up in the SA, I will be sans car so come pick me up and we'll hang out! Peace!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Teaching
So...I started my job on Tuesday. Yesterday. Whatever.
Not only was I running a bit late, I still got to class in time before it started, but there were already kids there.
Let's back up a bit...
I had passed out at 9 o'clock the night before, but woke up to a text message at 2:14. I woke up pretty much every hour after that, convinced I had overslept and I was late.
I finally get out of bed, when my alarm goes off, get ready, have breakfast and everything. My original plan had been to get to school early, make copies of the syllabus and print off my role sheet.
I walk out of the house and head out, half-way there realizing I forgot my stapler. Shit. Not to mention, I had a complete brain fart on how long it would actually take me to get to Quad-C. During rush hour. That's what I get for working so early that traffic is non-existent, makes the brain all mushy.
Anyway, so here I am, running late, realizing I have forgotten my stapler and decide to stop at Kinko's to use theirs and just make the copies there. Well, I pull into Collin Creek mall for a short cut, and take a turn too fast. Shiiiiiiiiiit. My car skids, goes over the curb and almost into another parking lot.
Whoa.
I sat there for maybe two seconds, looked around, realized my car would still go and just left. There was no one around I didn't hit anything besides the curb.
So let's recap. I'm running late, I nearly banged up my car, and now I'm even more agitated than I was before I was running late, it's the first day of class.
I walk into school, knowing I don't have enough time to print off my roster so I just head into the classroom. As I'm walking by the windows heading towards the door, I see about twenty kids in there, looking around. Crap. I walk in, and everyone knows that feeling of the first day. Everyone already in class checks out everyone who walks in the door. I have all these eyes on me, looking at me as I walk to the podium. I could almost hear their heads churning...What?? That's our professor?!?
I waited for about another five minutes, and still people came in late. It didn't really matter since people came in as late as fifteen minutes. But I went through my schpeel....and realized that I was finished after fifteen minutes.
Panic sets in. I start sweating.
OMG, what the hell are we going to do? I didn't plan a lecture for the first day because I knew I was going to let them out early, but still...not like a Full HOUR early! So I have them go around the room and introduce themselves...takes all of two minutes. So I stumble through quickly explaining the difference between primary and secondary sources and then let them go.
I stuck around for another ten minutes, answering questions and waiting for any others to come in. Out of the 35 kids I had posted in my class, 31 showed up.
I left that morning thinking that I failed. I let my nerves take over and I was still shaky from that accident, but the bottom line is, I went too fast and let myself have my confidence shaken. I know this material. At least I thought I did. Now? My confidence is shaken. I was talking to my Dad about it and that's what it felt like. I walked out of there feeling like I'd done the kids and myself a great disservice by not being as prepared as I should have been. I've had plenty of time. I can't skate through this like I did a lot of my prep work for class. This is MY class. I'm in charge and I need to be the one in control. I can't let them see how much my confidence was shaken. And it was. I thought that I was ready for this, but it seems that I need to focus and button down more. And NOT let my nerves get the best of me.
I was a bit negative yesterday, so I apologize to everyone that I talked to for being negative. I'm staying positive and I already have the next week of reading assignments planned, just gotta make them into lectures. Tomorrow's is pretty much all in my head, just need to put it in word form....
Not only was I running a bit late, I still got to class in time before it started, but there were already kids there.
Let's back up a bit...
I had passed out at 9 o'clock the night before, but woke up to a text message at 2:14. I woke up pretty much every hour after that, convinced I had overslept and I was late.
I finally get out of bed, when my alarm goes off, get ready, have breakfast and everything. My original plan had been to get to school early, make copies of the syllabus and print off my role sheet.
I walk out of the house and head out, half-way there realizing I forgot my stapler. Shit. Not to mention, I had a complete brain fart on how long it would actually take me to get to Quad-C. During rush hour. That's what I get for working so early that traffic is non-existent, makes the brain all mushy.
Anyway, so here I am, running late, realizing I have forgotten my stapler and decide to stop at Kinko's to use theirs and just make the copies there. Well, I pull into Collin Creek mall for a short cut, and take a turn too fast. Shiiiiiiiiiit. My car skids, goes over the curb and almost into another parking lot.
Whoa.
I sat there for maybe two seconds, looked around, realized my car would still go and just left. There was no one around I didn't hit anything besides the curb.
So let's recap. I'm running late, I nearly banged up my car, and now I'm even more agitated than I was before I was running late, it's the first day of class.
I walk into school, knowing I don't have enough time to print off my roster so I just head into the classroom. As I'm walking by the windows heading towards the door, I see about twenty kids in there, looking around. Crap. I walk in, and everyone knows that feeling of the first day. Everyone already in class checks out everyone who walks in the door. I have all these eyes on me, looking at me as I walk to the podium. I could almost hear their heads churning...What?? That's our professor?!?
I waited for about another five minutes, and still people came in late. It didn't really matter since people came in as late as fifteen minutes. But I went through my schpeel....and realized that I was finished after fifteen minutes.
Panic sets in. I start sweating.
OMG, what the hell are we going to do? I didn't plan a lecture for the first day because I knew I was going to let them out early, but still...not like a Full HOUR early! So I have them go around the room and introduce themselves...takes all of two minutes. So I stumble through quickly explaining the difference between primary and secondary sources and then let them go.
I stuck around for another ten minutes, answering questions and waiting for any others to come in. Out of the 35 kids I had posted in my class, 31 showed up.
I left that morning thinking that I failed. I let my nerves take over and I was still shaky from that accident, but the bottom line is, I went too fast and let myself have my confidence shaken. I know this material. At least I thought I did. Now? My confidence is shaken. I was talking to my Dad about it and that's what it felt like. I walked out of there feeling like I'd done the kids and myself a great disservice by not being as prepared as I should have been. I've had plenty of time. I can't skate through this like I did a lot of my prep work for class. This is MY class. I'm in charge and I need to be the one in control. I can't let them see how much my confidence was shaken. And it was. I thought that I was ready for this, but it seems that I need to focus and button down more. And NOT let my nerves get the best of me.
I was a bit negative yesterday, so I apologize to everyone that I talked to for being negative. I'm staying positive and I already have the next week of reading assignments planned, just gotta make them into lectures. Tomorrow's is pretty much all in my head, just need to put it in word form....
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Fight
So the roommate and I had a huge thing last weekend. We're both very upset with each other and I tried to reach out today with a note telling him that I wanted to talk about this and hopefully move past it to save our friendship. I also mentioned that I had paid our re-key fee earlier in the week. What did I get back? "I already paid the $25 a week ago."
That was it.
I have no idea where to go from this. I have these horrible nightmares that we're going to end up losing the great friendship that we had because of misunderstandings and all that crap. Because in the end, that's all it is, and I would think that we could talk about it and move on from it, but it doesn't sound like he wants to at all. I tried to reach out and tell him that I miss my best friend and I get nothing back.
I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose our friendship at all, the crap that we're fighting about is not worth this. And if we could talk, I think that we could clear up any misconceptions either of us have. But I'm not sure that's going to happen. I'm terrified to come home to an apartment where I don't feel 100% comfortable living there. I actually went and stayed three nights last week with my Aunt because I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to have that stony silence within the entire apartment with the both of us trying to avoid the other. Or at least me trying to avoid him. For all I know he just doesn't give two shits about me anymore and I think that it's all a misunderstanding that can be cleared up if we actually talked about it. But like I said, I'm not sure that's going to happen. Because I'm afraid that if I try and reach out, like I did today, I'm just going to get shut down and I'll have to live with this festering wound for the next five months. I don't wanna live like that. I want to be able to laugh with him, talk to him, and have fun with him again. I'll apologize for any wrongdoings that I actually did commit and hopefully we can move past this.
But I'm not sure. I have a feeling that it's going to blow up in my face and I will have lost 10 years with one of my best friends. I don't know anymore. I cried, I got sad, angry, confused, and now I'm mostly just scared.
That was it.
I have no idea where to go from this. I have these horrible nightmares that we're going to end up losing the great friendship that we had because of misunderstandings and all that crap. Because in the end, that's all it is, and I would think that we could talk about it and move on from it, but it doesn't sound like he wants to at all. I tried to reach out and tell him that I miss my best friend and I get nothing back.
I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose our friendship at all, the crap that we're fighting about is not worth this. And if we could talk, I think that we could clear up any misconceptions either of us have. But I'm not sure that's going to happen. I'm terrified to come home to an apartment where I don't feel 100% comfortable living there. I actually went and stayed three nights last week with my Aunt because I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to have that stony silence within the entire apartment with the both of us trying to avoid the other. Or at least me trying to avoid him. For all I know he just doesn't give two shits about me anymore and I think that it's all a misunderstanding that can be cleared up if we actually talked about it. But like I said, I'm not sure that's going to happen. Because I'm afraid that if I try and reach out, like I did today, I'm just going to get shut down and I'll have to live with this festering wound for the next five months. I don't wanna live like that. I want to be able to laugh with him, talk to him, and have fun with him again. I'll apologize for any wrongdoings that I actually did commit and hopefully we can move past this.
But I'm not sure. I have a feeling that it's going to blow up in my face and I will have lost 10 years with one of my best friends. I don't know anymore. I cried, I got sad, angry, confused, and now I'm mostly just scared.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Awesome
Awesome things that have happened to me in the last 24 hours or will happen in the last 24 hours:
-Pay day! At both my jobs!
-One of the members brought us coffee today :)
-I won something at work which equals two tickets to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags.
-Because me and two others at the Front Desk, we get a pizza party today! :)
-I'm having a dinner party for my friends at school tomorrow, doing an early Bird Thanksgiving dinner. I have to make the turkey, or buy it (lol), and there are a lot of people coming, so that makes me happy.
-Just overall, it's been a good day. So far. =)
-Pay day! At both my jobs!
-One of the members brought us coffee today :)
-I won something at work which equals two tickets to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags.
-Because me and two others at the Front Desk, we get a pizza party today! :)
-I'm having a dinner party for my friends at school tomorrow, doing an early Bird Thanksgiving dinner. I have to make the turkey, or buy it (lol), and there are a lot of people coming, so that makes me happy.
-Just overall, it's been a good day. So far. =)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Countdown
The Graduation Countdown has officially begun!
38 days til Graduation :)
I'm starting to have slight panic attacks that I'm not getting as much stuff done as I usually need to get done at the end of each semester. One of my classes doesn't have a final paper, just a thematic syllabus. And the other one I haven't even thought about just because I don't like writing historiographies. Bah.
I'm getting apprehensive for what's going to come next. More anxieiting. Plus I'm also thinking about Christmas stuff and what I want to get everyone and who I was going to buy for this year and yada yada yada.
As for my Christmas list? I really only have one big one: For all of us to get jobs so we can move to Portland without any problems. Small stuff? It's not that big of a list, which I don't really know yet and I can't think of at the moment, so that's that. And I'm done for now. Lol.
38 days til Graduation :)
I'm starting to have slight panic attacks that I'm not getting as much stuff done as I usually need to get done at the end of each semester. One of my classes doesn't have a final paper, just a thematic syllabus. And the other one I haven't even thought about just because I don't like writing historiographies. Bah.
I'm getting apprehensive for what's going to come next. More anxieiting. Plus I'm also thinking about Christmas stuff and what I want to get everyone and who I was going to buy for this year and yada yada yada.
As for my Christmas list? I really only have one big one: For all of us to get jobs so we can move to Portland without any problems. Small stuff? It's not that big of a list, which I don't really know yet and I can't think of at the moment, so that's that. And I'm done for now. Lol.
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