Reading for Pleasure...

With all of the homework and projects I have, it is no wonder I don't get much time to read for pleasure. Fortunately, for the past few days, I have been having more and more time to read for fun!

I am currently re-reading 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny by Phillip Done. This is about the 10th time I have read this book. It is one of the reasons why I want to become an elementary teacher. I long for the funny moments in Mr. Done's classroom to occur in my classroom. What great rewards they would be!

The back of the book states: "32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny is for anyone who has ever taught children - or been in third grade. It is a testament to the kids who uplift us - and the teachers we will never forget..."

I recommend that everyone reads this book. I promise that you will catch yourself laughing out loud. It is hilarious!

If you catch yourself enjoying this book and long for more, don't worry - Mr. Done has another book! Close Encounters of the Third Grade Kind will guarantee more laughs!

Phillip Done won the Schwab Foundation Distinguished Teacher Award. Nominated for the Disney Teacher of the Year Award, he has taught elementary school for twenty years. He lives in Mountain View, California.

Visit his website at www.phillipdone.org

Unfortunately, Ball State doesn't have these books in the library - but I am sure you could use the loan thing if you wanted to. I never had to loan them, as I received both books as gifts!

Someday, I hope to meet Phillip Done. He has been to Purdue and Indiana University, so I am hoping he comes to Ball State sometime. I just
want him to autograph my books!

-Br@ndon

Life As We Know It

Last night, my friends and I went to see Life As We Know It. Staring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, it is one comedy that you must see! It is so funny and I cannot wait for it to come out on DVD.

The movie was right around two hours long. After it was over, I heard some people complaining that it was long. I kept thinking to myself that most movies are two hours long. If you can't stand this one, how can you stand the forever-long Harry Potter movies?

Before the movie began, they had some movie posters to give away - just like the picture to the left. Unfortunately, I didn't win one, but one of my friends did! I hope I win a movie poster sometime. My dorm room walls are sort of bare...

- Br@ndon

Just in case you were absent:

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Today we intensively reviewed three papers. The desks were arranged in a large circle, and we went around, person to person, criticizing the author's work. Everyone received great advice to help improve their papers. We did not fully finish Kim's paper, so hopefully you remember who you sat by, as we will finish reviewing her paper next week.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

We quickly reviewed the readings from a while ago - chapter 4, 5, 8, and 9. McArdle said to look over them again so we can finish talking about them next Thursday. Then we got into our peer review groups and discussed each other's papers. McArdle also went over the intensive review concept. Make sure to have a copy of each person's paper with comments written on them for Thursday.

Surprise!

This afternoon, my parents and little sister decided to surprise me and come up to BSU. It was nice to see them - since I haven't seen them since I came back from Winter Break. I invited my friend Emily to join my family as we went to the mall and out to eat. We just chilled at the mall - not really looking for anything. I did buy the book, It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. I love the book and cannot wait to see the movie! Then we went on over to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was ridiculously crowded and had to wait about an hour for a table - but it was definitely worth it. The rolls and cinnamon butter are amazing! I got some burger that was delicious and couldn't even finish the whole thing.

I am now nice and full - and just finished my rough draft for our National Gaze paper. Since I am free, I will be watching a movie with my friend and going through the stack of mail my mom brought from home! What a great evening to come!

-Br@ndon

Icy Observations

For my Elementary Education class (EDEL 200), we had our first day of observations today.

The day started out normal - I got dressed and was very excited to watch the class. I walked over to meet my friend - who is in my class - and almost fell because it was so icy outside. We made our way to the nearest shuttle stop, with my friend falling once, so we wouldn't need to walk all the way to the elementary school just off of campus - saving ourselves from potential falls.

We got to the school and were given our room assignments. My friend and I were to both observe a third grade classroom. However, the normal teacher was absent, so we had to observe the substitute.

Things were going really well. The students were listening, participating, and behaving well. Then, the sub's cell phone went off, playing some fast Mexican-like song. The kids jumped up and started dancing like we were at a school dance. The sub, obviously embarrassed, quickly silenced her phone, and got the children settled down. It was quite the observation, and I learnt that when I teach, I hope to remember to silence my cell phone before class.

Then, after an awesome morning, my friend and I headed back out to face the ice again. We were nearing the shuttle stop when we noticed one waiting for passengers to get in. We both had classes in less than 10 minutes and started "speed walking" to catch the bus. This time, however, I was the one who fell. I totally wiped out on the sidewalk near a smoking area. The smokers who were there all stared at me with mouths wide opened. I was so embarrassed. To make things even worse, when we got to the shuttle, it was completely full, so we had to wait for another one. Uh! I was not a happy camper - until I got to my next class - which ended up being cancelled!

Fortunately, most of the ice has melted. Now all we need to do is prepare for all of the snow we are supposed to get!

Better get out those snow boots!

-Br@ndon

Movie Marathon!

This weekend, my friends and I decided to have a movie marathon. With our favorite movies in hand, we settled down on bean bag chairs, popped a couple bags of popcorn, and began watching.

Here was the playlist:

1. The Proposal

2. 500 Days of Summer

3. The Blind Side

4. National Lampoon's European Vacation

5. Eat Pray Love

Out of the five listed above, I would have to say The Proposal, 500 Days of Summer, and The Blind Side are my favorites. They are just such amazing movies! 

I have seen The Proposal and The Blind Side tons of times. The Proposal is hilarious and for some time, made me consider becoming an editor in New York. But I decided to scratch that idea. The Blind Side is such a touching movie - and I love how it is based on a true story. It really makes me appreciate what I have. 

This weekend was the first time I had seen 500 Days of Summer. The movie is set up in such a neat way - jumping around from the good times and the bad times. My friends said that they should make a sequel titled, The Rest of My Life with Autumn, where they end up getting married and living happily for the rest of their lives. I think that would be neat.

If you can't tell, I really love movies. Here are some movies I look forward to seeing:

1. The Social Network

2. It's Kind of a Funny Story

3. Morning Glory

4. The Tourist

5. Little Fockers
6. The Roommate

Fortunately, a majority of them are coming to BSU for Friday Night Filmworks. I will definitely have to hit them up with my friends! Yay for BSU having awesome movies on campus for FREE!

Thanks for reading!

- Br@ndon

Hello! Let's Get to Know Each Other...

Since these blogs are to gain information about the other students in our class, I guess I will give you some information about myself.

I come from a small town in Ohio - basically on the border of Indiana and Ohio. I come from an area nicknamed "The Holy Land" due to the amount of Catholic churches around. There are over 15 Catholic churches in less than a twenty-mile radius! With that being said, I am Catholic. I come from a family of five. I am the oldest and have two younger sisters. We also have a dog named Koda. He's a he and is some kind of Shih Tzu mix.

Now isn't this adorable? :)
(Note: No, I do not have an interest in lighthouses.
I don't know what my mother was thinking when she put
up that wallpaper. I don't even care for beaches and water.
There are way too many creepy things that crawl on the sand
and swim in the water that might bite, sting, or simply brush
against my feet or body.)

I graduated from a small high school, in a class of 101 students. I decided to come to BSU because:

1. The Teachers College has nationally-ranked programs, has great faculty members, and is overall fantastic!

2. I was able to get in-state tuition - a huge plus!

Like I said in my profile box thing, I am majoring in Elementary Education with Language Arts and Social Studies concentrations. So I do like English to some extent. Writing papers...no. Reading books...yes! I love reading books and I hope to instill a passion for reading into my students. I also love Social Studies and hope to get students interested in the world around them. During the summer of 2012, I will be traveling to England with some other BSU Elementary Education majors to teach some little London children. I am super excited for this amazing experience and it can't come fast enough!

Hmm...I think that should do it for now. Thanks for reading and enjoy the long weekend! :)

- Br@ndon