Reflective Journal #3:

Well everyone, we are officially in the sixth week of the semester- I love that the weeks are moving fast and the weather is getting cooler (but not too cold yet!!). Today's REFLECTIVE WRITING is all about ME :), and all the planning and ideas that I have running through my head about my college education plan. I recently sat down the other day and made some big decisions about my college experience. I picked out a minor in addition to education, I chose a time for my recital, and I decided on a student-teaching semester. These were all things that have been racing around in my head for a long time, and it felt good to get them all nailed down. When I reflect back to my initial search for universities and colleges to attend, I am so glad that I decided to pick a liberal arts college. Where else would I be able to have a vocal music performance major and a double minor in education and english? I was highlighting classes that look interesting in the new academic catologue not too long ago, and there are too many to fit inside my next five semesters. I think I'm going to end up taking some classes at the University of Minnesota this and next summer- my mom did it as a young adult and really encourages me to pursue an academic lifestyle of life-long learning. We talk about this in Ed. Psych a lot; it is important to practice a life of curiousity and ambition, and subsequently pass these values on to students. I think about my senior Modern Problems teacher; her goals in life are to become a Fullbright scholar, travel and teach all over the world, and continue to acquire degrees after degrees. In short, "when she grows up" she wants to be a student, which I really really admire. SO- my point of today's journal is to annouce- I FINALLY FEEL ORGANIZED AND IN CONTROL OF MY NEXT 2 YEARS AT LUTHER! I am an English minor, and I am going to take classes at the U of M to keep on learning about things I am interested in. Woohoo. Sorry, there is no fanciful transition here into my INTERVIEW section. Today I met with my advisor, Sandra Peter. I had some general questions about completing a music-ed major at Luther. We talked about recitals, student teaching, and about getting "the first job." I asked her many questions about her experiences and about the benefits and drawbacks to certain decisions about teaching. I've wondered since I came to Luther about the 8th v. 9th semester student teaching option. What is right for me? I've always assumed that it would be beneficial to student teach in a semester where I can see how a classroom is set up and established in September. I always thought that coming in to a new classroom in February would be disruptive, and I wouldn't be able to see how the classroom had changed and progressed throughout the year. I spoke to Mrs. Peter about this, but she seemed to think that the experience of student teaching, no matter where or when, is a very beneficial experience. "When you get your first job, you just end up figuring it out," Sandra told me. What she said really makes sense with what we've been hearing in Ed. Psych. We will probably learn more in our student teaching semester and our first year of our first job than in all the education classes throughout college. In the end, if I decide to do an 8th semester, I will figure out how to establish rules and expectations for a class in September. My attitude these days is that I just want to get done with my degree and get started with the rest of my life. Just because I have been on this kick about Luther and decisions that we as students are beginning to make, I will reivew education.luther.edu for my WEBSITE REVIEW. Absolutely everything we need to succeed (and graduate) from Luther's education program is offered here. I printed out a music education planner and was able to plan out my years; I was informed of the application to the education program and found forms to apply; I looked at stellar student websites, and I was able to answer some general questions about the music education program. One thing to note- some of the course numbers listed on this site are NOT updated from our new course catalogues, just keep this in mind when you're using the academic planners and the wrong numbers are listed. We as Luther students should learn to be familiar with this website, because it is going to serve as a crucial resource for us in the coming semesters. Play around on it today!