A friendship like no other

A proud moment in our friendship

Steve and I have been friends for years. We knew each other well in high school, but it was my first time through college where we really became friends. We had fun together, most of which I won't write about due to fear of self incrimination.We have stayed best friends through more than I can describe. After graduation Steve moved away. He moved to Las Vegas to work in his families restaurant. We continued to talk oh-be it not consistently (mostly my fault) we would talk. He would call ask for updates on my life, and I would ask for updates on his. On one such phone call I was informed he was having troubles out there. In terms of this post it doesn't matter what the troubles were, just that they were sending him home. Back to where we had originally met. As selfish as it may sound it made me smile. I missed my best friend I wanted him back in my life on a more consistent basis. Fast forward a  few months. Steve is home. He is working in a fine dinning restaurant in the city having to live with his dad 20 something miles away, with no car. His dad would drive him in and nag him about bring in his late 20's and having to get a ride from his dad. Sometimes I would go pick him up and drop him off. It got to be a bit much. I had an apartment, I loved the kid, there was a place for another bed, "Steve just move in" I said.... "I can't afford it, I am broke" he said. My response required no thought, "Who said anything about paying for the place". Steve continued to live with me rent free for 5-6 months. He got back on his feet. He is doing very well for himself now. I learned an immense amount of things about our relationship from him living with me. Not only did I learn that I would do anything for him, but I also learned that the feeling is mutual. There have been numerous times where he would/will drop everything he is doing to come help me out. When I ask there is that same no thought response by him. "What do you need? I got you" No questions, no hope for getting something in return, just a friend being a friend for friends sake. I feel it is very rare to find a true best friend. I am one of the lucky ones. I have found one. It is an amazing feeling to know you have someone that you can unconditionally count on. For that I am grateful. 

What Do you want in a Job

What do you want in a Job

I recently had the opportunity to read Rodrigo Joseph Rodriguez's piece " The meaning of work". At the end of the reading there is a question stating "what do you value in a job or career- Flexibility, fulfillment, a high salary, or something else? Has this always been your view, or has it changed as you've matured? The answer to the first question is most definitely fulfillment. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and want to go to work. I want to love my job. I am currently pursuing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. I feel this job will be very rewarding. I will be able to help people get back to a physical state what makes them feel comfortable.They will be able to perform tasks that they previously couldn't. It will give them a higher quality of life. That will be so fulfilling. Helping people will be a sort of payment in its own. That will make me want to go to work, and love my job. The answer to the second question is it has changed. I have not always felt this way. At first I wanted a high salary. Not just high, but I wanted it to be exuberantly high. I wanted to be a stock broker. I went to school for it. I graduated with honors. I worked in a bank. I hated it. Money can only make you so happy. I have always enjoyed watching other people smile because of my actions. Being a stock broker is not a personal job. You don't really care about the person, you care about the returns you get for your firm. I am excited to enter into a world where I will be able to help people on a daily basis.    

Rose's mathematical experience aligning with Tobias

"Rose's mathematical experience aligning with Tobias"

When Rose explains his mathematical experience in " I just want to be average" he explains the sheer frustration that is coming along with his mathematical skills, or lack there of. The reason that Rose has experienced this is because his teachers up to this point have been largely ineffective. Rose sees problems that he knows are lower level material. He knows that he has seen this before. He knows he should know how to do it. The frustration begins to build. He tries to fight through it. He sets the problem up. He thinks back okay "How did Jones do this". There is no light bulb, no moment of clarity where the sweat stops beating down his forehead. He attempts to relieve this frustration with a little day dreaming. He thinks about football, the new attractive girl, he thinks of anything to try to take his mind of his mental inadequacies. After a few moments of reprieve he tries again, only to have the mounting frustrations boil over to a crumpled paper and a case of the F it's. This is similar to a few examples in Tobias's "Symptoms of Math Anxiety". In her piece she states " It is not hard to figure out why failure to understand mathematics can be hidden for so long. Math is usually taught in a discrete bits by a teachers who were taught this same way". (150) Rose was maybe no even taught this well. Rose might not have been taught at all. It might have been a chalkboard lecture with no attention to the students who didn't pay attention. Where it is similar is in the next few sentences. She (Tobias) then goes on to say "Some (students) never get a chance to integrate all the pieces of information, or to even realize what they are not able to do"(150). Rose definitely never got a chance to explore what he might be able to do. He was not taught right because he was considered a remedial student with not upside potential. Because of this Rose turned into one of the students that Tobias later describes as the an avoid errors at all cost student "Instead, they just sit in the back of the room hoping the teacher will put those flash cards away". I just wrote a piece on the "effective teacher". With an effective teacher both articles could be very different. 

The effective teacher

"The Effective Teacher"

The effective teacher. They are something to marvel at. They grasp your attention, the time flies by in their class, you want to impress them with your work, they are kind yet strict, they are someone to look up to, they are so unappreciated, they work for pennies, and they love every minute of it. For them it isn't about the money. For them (at least in my opinion) its about that light bulb that goes off in the students mind, about seeing that smile on the students face when they receive a grade they never thought they could obtain, its about turning a troubled student into one that excels, that is their paycheck. The gratification that they receive from the student is what they long for. For me these qualities are what make a teacher effective. I have had both sides of the coin in my life when it comes to teachers. I have had the teacher that makes me enjoy class so much that I can't wait for that period/ day that I get to see them. I have also had the teacher that I have been "scared" to go see. The teachers I was scared of not only didn't grab my attention, but didn't understand me and didn't want to. The wanted to do things a cookie cutter way for every student. Not all students learn the same way. You can not present the same material the same way day after day, and expect the student to grasp it the same way others have. It always boggled my mind why there weren't more of the Brother Clint's that could recognize when someone wasn't in the right class, or the Jack MacFarland's whose goal was to get the student into a higher education at all costs. The teacher that went the extra mile to ensure that a student would obtain the highest that they should. I question, why get into the profession ? It is simply because you like summers off? I have spoke with one of my most beloved professors here at Plattsburgh State at large about this, and about why she does it. Simple put it is the gratification she gets from the few students that end up loving her subject, and loving learning overall, it is those students that make the paycheck. She undoubtedly could be doing many other things (she is one of the smartest women I have met). I personally don't think my life would be the same outlook on studies that I do if I had not met her. I've been able to get by very easily when it comes to academia, but cause of this professor getting by was not enough.  It is teachers/professors like that, that are needed. Teachers/ professors that inspire, they light the fire inside of the student. The ineffective teacher sees bright burning fire in few. The effective teacher sees the fire in all. Some of those fires need to be nurtured, to have some gas (encouragement) put on them. The effective teacher relates to the flames on the tinders and turns it into a bright burning fire. I have been lucky here at PSU to get many professors like that. Not to say I haven't had a few I would put in the "I'm scared of you" category. Overall though, I have lucked out. I am not sure if this is really what I was suppose to write about but its just what I think..... I could probably go on for hours but for Taz's sake I won't  

Take This Quiz!

Principle # 5

 In Adam Robinson's article "Take this quiz" he sets forth the smart student's credo, which is a list of 12 principles. One principle particularly caught my attention, principle # 5. Principle # 5 states: "Making mistakes (and occasionally appearing foolish" is the price you pay for learning and improving" (Robinson 160). I cannot agree with this statement more. I have made numerous mistakes throughout my educational career. From these mistakes I am able to learn from them. For instance I did not perform up to my standard in A & P 1 at SUNY Plattsburgh. I received a B+. This was mainly due to my study habits or lack there of. I was motivated by this, I learned from this, I corrected this, I received an A in A and P 2. I have helped fellow students with material and seen it first hand, after making a mistake they then learn from it. It is also rewarding after the 3rd or 4th time of making a mistake to finally have your eyes opened to the solution. It is a huge motivating factor. So yes mistakes make you smarter.  

Symptoms of Math Anxiety

       The article "Symptoms of Math Anxiety" by Sheila Tobias outlines many reasons why people suffer from math anxiety. These reasons include: Jumping to the conclusion that it is just to hard and they are not smart enough, being afraid that they are "faking it" and everyone will soon find out how dumb they actually are(150), using "memorize-what-to-do approach" (Tobias 150), math being taught in segments and the student really not being about to put all the pieces of the puzzle together (151), teachers rewarding accuracy only and not celebrating mistakes (151), and lastly the mathematical minds myth. 

       I myself have always done fairly well when it comes to mathematics. I still have anxiety when it comes to the subject though and I can relate to some of these catalyses. I have always had a nagging fear that I am "faking it". Yes I would do go on the test, but my overall understanding of the material your evaporate soon after the test. I believe that can be attributed to the "memorize-what-to-do approach" (Tobias 150). If I did not understand a concept I would make sure to find the easiest way to complete the problem accurately. I would do this by looking for key words that would indicate to me what I was supposed to do. To this day I am still not sure I understand half the concepts of which I have received an A for.

       I do believe that these problems are inter-disciplinary. Especially that teachers do not celebrate mistakes enough. This is not true for all teachers, but I would say most. Mistakes will help one learn. With mistakes come a lesson, with the lesson comes an understanding of why that approach was wrong, which will inevitably lead the person to the right answer. I have heard numberous times that someone has a "mathematical mind", or an aptitude for English, by saying these things to some students it can make others feel inferior. This makes me think that the problem of saying someone is gifted in a subject over others will make students think that no matter how much work they do they can never be as smart as the "gifted" student. For that reason this problem is also inter disciplinary. 

I Just Wanna Be Average

                                                          I Just want to be Average

First off I want to say I enjoyed this piece a lot more than I thought I was going to. The title gave me the idea that I was going to like it. I strive for better than average. I strive for top tier so the title gave me a sour taste. That being said, I liked it!! Author Mike Rose informs the reader that he carried around the grades he earned from Jack MacFarland's class "like a club emblem". The main reason he is doing this is because he is proud of his work. He was in the vocational track prior. He had minimal if any guidance from his teachers. He now has someone he looks up to, someone that has stoked that cerebral fire, he is finally interested in a subject, and he is doing well. The grades that he receives are his visual evidence that his hard work is paying off. Rose is so proud that he wants to show them off as if they were a "club emblem".

I have had a few Jack Macfarland's in my day. In grade school it was Mrs. Tuller, in high school Ms. Roach, the first time through college Dr. Petrova, and most recently and possibly the best Professor Gregoire. Rose writes "but I worked very hard, For MacFarland had hooked me" This is 100% the truth when it comes to professor Gregoire. Her Anatomy and Physiology class is difficult. There is a lot of information and what seems like not enough time before the next time, whether that be Lab or Lecture. But there is something about the way that she presents the information to you. She makes the material fun. She can almost read the students mind when things are becoming convoluted and confusing; you can undoubablty count on her to notice that and make one of the corniest a and p jokes to lighten the mood. The material captivated me, but it was the teacher that projected it to me in the correct way to make me love it. The first semester I did just alright in my book. This drove me even more to do well in her class. I would find myself in open lab for 3 hours at a time if not more. I would then go home and read through the text book. I enjoyed the class so much that I wanted to further my knowledge on it so I decided to TA the class. I still read the text book refreshing my mind on the material that as already been presented to me. Its a great class that is true. But without her presence the class would have been just that, only as class.