Art in the Park 9

When I was a non-traditional student, I took a Journalism class as part of my English and Allied Arts certification classes (Journalism in the Schools with Professor Bretz).

It was a good class, covering learning how to be a yearbook advisor and/or newspaper advisor. (Or - - as we were warned... maybe both!)

It was fun because I always liked working for the paper in high school, and almost took a job with AP long ago.

As part of a class assignment I interviewed non-traditional art students. I met several who said that they wanted to continue with their art their whole lives, and were so happy to finally pursue their dreams.

One older lady, in late 70's, was a painter. She was very excited about her art projects, and talked easily to other, younger students in the Art Lounge.

It is my opinion that nobody is too old to start going after his or her dream. Talking about dreams, one of mine is to get back into my art. I am lucky to be able to be a non-traditional student at the Pots Place downtown, where I am learning how to be a better potter.

You can see more photos of the downtown Art in the Park event that took place in Bowling Green, Kentucky here at my personal blog site.

Non-Traditional Musings and book idea

This photo is of some bearded irises in my back yard. Does anyone else grow flowers?

My Mom gave me these iris bulbs, and at first they were multi-colored - that is, I had several varieties of Iris in the garden. Now only this 2-color variety is left. I like it, but I probably will add some other colors next year.

Well, back to my Non-Traditional musing for the day.

As some of you know, I went back to school to get my Teaching Certification. I had a choice between English and Allied Arts (quickest to get) and Art (I had a minor in that). I chose English and Allied Arts because it was quicker and there were actual JOBS available in that area.

I went on to complete my student teaching and even taught my own classes for one semester. Now I have a book idea that I think non-traditional students who are going back in Education will like.

This book will be an ebook, and available via download. It will include all my advice for completing college with good grades, and also my advice about how to complete student teaching and hints for a successful first teaching year.

I had SO many things happen to me my first teaching semester. I learned a lot by the mistakes I made (like how NOT to make the same mistakes!) I think this will be a great resource for new teachers. I will put a link here when I get it done. I have about 1/3 of it completed already.

A NEW YAHOO GROUP?
I have gotten several requests from Non-Traditional students to have a Non-Trad group online that includes students from across the country. I think this is a great idea.

There was a great group online (Kat's group) that recently shut down. I am not sure why, but I will try to find out. In the meantime, please feel free to join the Non-Trads group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Non-trads/

The bush and I... what we have in common

This bush and I have a lot in common. We are both starting over. Again.

The situation for the bush:
We had a hard freeze here in Bowling Green a couple of weeks ago. Everything had already bloomed! The apple orchard had a total loss.

You can look all over town and see brown bushes in the front of people's homes. I thought these Rose of Sharon bushes in my yard had died for sure.

Then yesterday I went really close to them - and to my surprise I saw green coming out all over!

The situation for me:
I need to decide in the next 4 years whether or not to go back to college. Again.

My sister says that if I went back to school I could take Elementary Education instead of Secondary, and I might like it better. After all, she said, everybody likes their teacher when they are young enough.

The good part about this idea is that it would be a much nicer situation to be in a class with students that actually wanted to learn.

****I had to come back here and change this. First: it would be a total dream to imagine that there could be such a class - - and maybe a nightmare, because it would mean Stepford Children. But realistically, I think there will always be people in a class who really don't want to learn - - but it would be nice if most students in a class would be able to learn and enjoy it.

****I don't think that No Child Left Behind is working for all students. Some are indeed falling through the cracks. I hope that a law gets passed that helps these students. Oh -- and it's one thing to PASS a law, (Like NCLB) - - it's another to make sure it is FUNDED. 'Nuff said. I think most people agree that it all comes down to MONEY.

****Now we have the war in Iraq. It is costing SO MUCH MONEY. Besides which, it is a very unpopular war. I surely hope it ends soon. It would be nice to be able to dream again -- and to help the students here and everywhere.

Back to ME (haha) - - I think I should try other things first, and then decide.

It's not like there is a deadline. There isn't. Except for the 4-year one - when I'd have to take my Praxis exams over again if I didn't do another semester of teaching.

Right now, I am doing things I've been putting off for years. I have even started my own business - and am writing a lot!

Going back to school again would mean I would not be able to do those things. I would have to put them off, AGAIN.

Back to the picture here. Check out these bushes - they have taken a bad situation and turned it into a good one, just like I have. Who knows? They may come back greener than ever.

I am watering these bushes just in case -- to make sure they keep growing the green part.

I am doing constructive things to make sure I keep growing, too.

Doing the Non-Trad student website is part of that. I also hope that more people will join the discussion boards and will also send me their Non-Trad groups to put on the site. That is one project -- and there are so many more.

I think putting campus non-traditional student groups on the website, and emailing them is a good idea. I will do that after re-doing the site.

Spring Break!!

Well. Non-trad students are counting down now. Some are on Spring Break. I remember last year Spring Break was spent WORKING on my teaching assignments. Whew.

When I was first in college, Spring Break meant... well... SPRING BREAK!!!!! Time to do something fun. One year I went out West with some friends on a car trip. I saw the most amazing horse on a cliff in Montana. He was a paint, red, black and orange spots on white - and actually pawing - just like in the movies. He was so proud of himself.

This Spring Break seems like just another week this year, but I know plenty of people are WORKING or going on vacation.

Thinking about school, teaching, tutoring

I'm still trying to decide. Should I research and do one more year of school to better prepare for teaching? OR should I jump right back into another Intern position? And what about tutoring full-time? Writing AND working? Other options?

It's worth weighing my options right now. There are always pros and cons to every choice.

I'll bet there are a lot of people who think about their career and school choices seriously each day. People with responsibilities and families have very limited options. I am lucky that I have a supportive husband and family. I know that some people don't. Today I again feel very thankful.

I was a Non-Traditional Student in Education

Don't you love this old train cut? I found it here at the (free) rail art page.

BACK TO THE SUBJECT.
I was a non-traditional student in Education. I went back to get my teaching certification in English and Allied Arts, having already gotten my undergraduate degree in English and a minor in Art.

ENGLISH VS. ART... WHICH TO DO?
It was hard to decide which to do - English or Art. I knew there were more jobs in English, so eventually I made the choice to go for the English certification. I only recently finished my college work.

While I was doing my work towards my initial certification, I was required to observe other teachers' classes. I was allowed to also look at Art classes to see if I was making the right choice for me. I realized I still loved art, but loved English as well, especially the writing part!

I have now completed 1/2 of my required First Year teaching English. I have learned so much. I would like to complete the second half - and may do another year. Then I can decide whether teaching English is for me. Right now I am enjoying the computer lessons I am doing in my new business, Betsy's CGC. I am online a lot, putting books on Amazon for sale, and also putting items on Ebay.

I want to also start (FINISH!) my book this year. SO, I will be very busy. Eventually I may want to continue my schooling and at least take a few more classes. I want to take a class in Grant Writing and also make some pottery and jewelry. I may teach myself those, however. The Pots Place in Bowling Green offers classes in pottery, and since I'm already an Associate there I can go in and try my hand. I already took a class at Western Kentucky University, so I will be building on that.

This summer (or spring!) I want to continue building on the Non-Traditional Schools website. There are even more articles I could write for there. I want to offer some online classes and podcasts to help students get back into school. I am glad that I went back to school as a non-traditional student. I feel more self-confident now than I did knowing only one field (the Printing field). Sometimes a person can get stuck in an area of expertise and never try to learn and grow.

That's why I think non-traditional students are doing a great thing for themselves. They are not just staying in the same old rut... they are discovering other, new possibilities. Thinking about going back to school is a good thing, and actually DOING IT is even better.

Learning New Things!

I am thrilled to be learning new things this semester. First, I plan to continue this blog about Non-traditional Students and keep my other blog at the Betsyanne blogspot too.

THEN, I plan to learn how to record some podcasts and start my own radio station. ALSO, I want to teach myself how to make videos and also post these online.

Some subjects: NOT giving up, how to motivate yourself to get good grades in school (high school and college), where to get scholarships, how to choose the right University, etc. etc. I know there are plenty of good subjects out there. Motivation interests me especially -- and how does somebody put their mind on a project and actually DO it?

I want to talk about procrastination and how to avoid it, too. Also, I have learned MANY teaching tricks I want to put online.

I feel SO good that I am finally getting a chance to do these things. I will put a link here to my podcasts and videos when I get them done. It should be a LOT of fun. Let me know if anyone out there has any hints for me, or subjects they would like me to do a podcast or video about.

My writing - blogs, poetry, non-fiction and fiction...

I love the idea of going back to writing. There will be no more putting off my writing like I've been doing. PLUS I want to get my garden plans done.

This week I'm going to see all the movies I possibly can. It's been months and months without doing anything but grading and planning.

Non-traditional students -- I may join your group again -- it all depends. This could be a month of changes for me.

I guess being a non-traditional student when I was (as an older student) really woke me up to the fact that I could do ANYTHING I wanted to do -- or at least could TRY to.

I deeply respect all the other non-traditional students out there who are trying their very best. KUDOS!!!!

Another good Twain picture

I found some others at the American Memory site. It's fun to look through.

Back to lesson planning...

Now... back to lesson planning. Good picture, huh? I got it at the government site at the Library of Congress. Now to figure out what to study for my Master's. Hmmmmm......

Jury Duty?

Well... I actually missed it when I went to Jury Duty this week. I am trying to get it postponed until the school year is over. We'll see.

Doing Jury Duty plus teaching is NOT easy. Today I had to work until late and then go at the proverbial crack of dawn to school to get the handouts and lesson plans ready for the sub. Augh!

I heard that the students behaved well for her. I'm glad!

What I am doing right now

Well....

I tried to download a photo tonight but the program seemed to be down.

Later, I'll add one.

Some new people have joined the WKU Yahoo Non-trads site and I'm glad about that.

I will BE a non-trad student of some kind in a year or so. Today I met a teacher who is a non-traditional student who was doing a paper for an online class on her computer. She is getting a Master's in Education, I think.

To jazz this up, maybe I'll try different colors of background and ink, since there won't be a picture for awhile.

The Non-Trad Students Page

Here is a picture of me last week as I started decorating my room at Butler County High School.

As a reminder to other non-traditional students, I have made a Non-trad students page here:

http://www.nontradstudents.com

It's a place to get information and links that will help you navigate school this year.

Sometimes it's just good to know that you are not alone -- that other students are out there to connect with and talk to. It can really help.

Non-traditional students and families

I think more and more teachers are realizing how hard it can be to go back to school and take care of a family at the same time. I had two classes in which people actually took their children to class. I go back and forth about this in my mind. One: people sometimes have emergencies and must put their children's needs and safety first. Two: sometimes there is not physical room in the class for children. Three: sometimes people won't really say what is really on their mind remembering that there are children in class.

Plus, being there MUST be so boring for them (the children forced to attend class with Mom or Dad.) Though it's true Mom or Dad brings homework or coloring books, those activities pale after the first hour of a 2 1/2 hour class.

Perhaps in the future students of all ages will know that they can both go to school AND take care of their children. Some colleges have daycares on campus. Others (like Western) have an office that directs parents to daycares around town.

What is the solution? I know that child care can be a problem, whether a person has to be at school in a class, or is working at a "regular" job. Any thoughts out there?

Deciding which classes to take

A major decision students have to make is what classes to take - how many at once, etc. Making a written plan with an advisor is a good step to take, whether or not your college requires this. You can zero in on your goals much easier this way.

Do you need basic requirements or are you getting a post-graduate degree or teaching certification? What kind of schedule do you require? Luckily, most colleges offer classes both during the day and at night or online.

Find out what constitutes full-time status at your University or college. And read the fine print on your loan or grant papers. Some loans or grants require full-time attendance.

REGISTER EARLY. The earlier you register, the better class schedule you will obtain. Always look into pre-requisites, which are the classes that are required before other classes. Sometimes a class you need will only be offered in the Spring or Fall semester. Take the time (at least a day) that you need to really look carefully at your class choices.

CHECK OUT YOUR PROFESSOR - there are a couple of good websites you can check out your professor with. One is ProfEval at http://www.profeval.com and the other is PickaProf at http://www.pickaprof.com