I emerge victorious from my first semester back in school. All in all, I am impressed with the program at Northeastern so far. The professors enforced academic rigor. It was a lot of work, and we were held to high standards, and I'm so glad about that. Here's the thing: it always bugs me when people complain about their grad classes being a lot of work. It's supposed to be! It's a master's degree! So yes, it was a lot of work, and I was mired in how much work it was and felt like I was pulling myself through it times. However, it is worth it.
One thing that has shown through like a ray of sunlight on a clowdy day (like the one we're having right now) is that I have made the right decision. Part of the program involves classroom observation, and I observed two 6th and 7th grade math classes for 20 hours as part of this course. Those kids were hillarious! And I got to see some excellent teaching as well as some excellent examples of how to making a loving school environment without a lot of money. The school at which I observed was in Roxbury Crossing, otherwise known as one of the poorer communities in the Boston area. It was an amazing experience. The kids responded well to me right away, which, as the teacher told me, doesn't happen that often. I've already been offered a placement for student teaching there whenever it comes around at the end of my courses (about two years from now).
Otherwise, I am REALLY looking forward to warmer weather and the sun coming out. I feel lucky to live a couple hours south of Union, Maine right now, where we are approximately three weeks ahead. We have daffodils. There is less of a chill in the air. Green grass is showing its head. Good for my soul.
All's well. I start class again this week, so one of these days I should pick up books for it and do some reading. In the meantime, I'm enjoying some good, old-fashioned lazing around.
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