I’m glad that’s over with

I just got done taking an exam that my life depends on!! It was for my assessment class which is a class that I need to take and pass before I go into block in the fall. So…if I would fail the class, which would be a C- or less, then I would have to take it in the summer. The only problem is, as of right now there are only 14 spots left in the class offered in the summer. So if I can’t take it in the summer, I can’t take my first professional block in the fall. And if I can’t take that in the fall I can’t take my second professional block next Spring. And if I can’t take that next Spring, I can’t student teach in Fall 2012. And if I can’t student teach in Fall 2012, I can’t graduate in December 2012. December 2012 is the deadline for when every student under the old program for teaching certificates has to graduate by. So if I can’t graduate in December 2012, I’m going to have to take a bunch of new classes to get certified on the new program. And then I would have to spend a lot more money. So…you can see that there would be a domino effect happening there and it would be all because I failed one single class.
Here is how I feel…

But I’m going to try and stay positive about it. I’m going to pass the class. I am. I just know it. (ok, no I don’t know)

So anyway…there’s nothing else I can do for my grade in that class so now it’s just time to play the waiting game. Have a great night everyone!!!

4 weeks left!!!

So I can’t believe it, but there are 3 more weeks of classes and finals week and then the semester is over!!!! This has been a pretty easy semester seeing as how I have 6 classes instead of 5. But two of them are really easy (music and instructional technology) so both of those classes just seem like one. Then I have 3 more easy classes that involve a little more work than the two easy ones, and then comes the class that I’m just hoping to get a C in. I know I told myself that I can’t get anymore C’s because I gotta keep my GPA up, but this class is so tough that all I’m hoping for is a C. That’s the grade I need in order to pass and I need to pass the class so that I can take block in the fall (Click here to read my post where I explained what block is). But, if worse comes to worse and I fail, I can retake the class in the summer. Sure I’ll have to pay about $800 for the class, but I will work my butt off so I’d be able to pass. Because if I wouldn’t take it in the summer, I wouldn’t be able to take block in the fall. But I’m gonna stop looking at the negative and just think positively about this. I will get at least a C, I will get at least a C, I will get…. That’s what I gotta keep saying to myself everyday!! Thanks for reading!

Linking to…

Registration time again...

So, it's that time of the semester again...registration. I'm going into my senior year so I thought that it would be a breeze when I went to register. Well, I was wrong. When I've registered in the past, it never failed that I had a class fill up before I got to register. This time, a class got canceled because of the Governor's budget cuts. Now there will only be one section of the class instead of two. And the one that got canceled was the one that I needed. I need to take a night class in the fall so I can't take the other one, which is during the day. Luckily I found out that they will be offering 2 sections of the class in the spring, so I'm hoping one of them will be a night class.

So, I just registered for my first professional block. For those not familiar with block, it is what education majors have to take before student teaching. Since I am a special education/elementary education dual major, there are 2 semesters of block that I must take before student teaching. I just can't believe that I'm so close to my senior year!!! Three semesters left and then I'll be graduating!!!! Have a great Thursday everyone!!!

Linking to...

School tax cuts

Yesterday I got an email from the president of the university I go to. It was explaining Governor Corbett’s proposed budget. Because of the budget cut for education, my universities funding would be cut by 50%. Those cuts will affect the programs and services that they can offer and it will even affect the ability for students to graduate in 4 years.

So I am asking everyone to contact the PA senator and local representatives and let them know that the proposed budget just doesn’t work. As the president of my university said, “The future of Pennsylvania's children is at stake.”

So here is the link to send them an email:  Click here

I have already sent an email and I got an auto reply from the senator, so it is really going to important people, it’s not just some email address. So again, please click on that link and send an email, it will take you less than 2 minutes to do. Then pass this on to all of your friends!!

Some food for thought…

I would just like to share something with you that happened today. I was doing some research on an assignment where we have to find some kind of assistive technology and write a little bit about it. I decided to try to find a mobile app to do mine on. I found this one called iPrompts. It is an app where you can create schedules with pictures, give individuals choices between 2 things, and it has a timer where you can time how long until an activity ends or starts.
Here is a video if you would like to check out what the iPrompts app is about.

I saw on the company's website that in their mission they had written "disabled persons". This goes against what I have been taught over and over again in my education classes. We always talk about people first language, which is stating the individual first and then the disability. Because after all, the disability is just a part of that person and it doesn't define who they are.

So after reading this I thought, "I'm going to email them and tell them what I think about this." That was at 12:08 today and when I got out of class, I saw that I got a response at 1:26. The response said as follows:

“Nicole,
Thanks for the suggestion. As the father of a boy with autism, I am all for being sensitive. We will incorporate your suggestion next time we make changes to our website.”

That just makes me feel like I have made a minor difference in the field of special education. Sure it isn’t that much, but it is still something.

This also leads me to something else. Does it really matter if you state the person first or the disability first? I believe that it does. I’ve had arguments with some people and they don’t think that it matters. But I truly believe that you should always talk about the person first and then the disability, because they aren’t a disability, they are a person. I would love if we could get everyone in the world to believe this but that would be an impossible task. So because I can’t change the world, I will just continue to try and change the people around me. I want to encourage everyone else to do the same. When you hear someone talk about a person with a disability, if they mention the disability first, just politely suggest to them that they use people first language. Well, that’s all for now. Please leave me your comments and share this post with a friend!