Sunday, October 24, 2010
My new job
Earlier this year I applied and was accepted for a federal work-study job. I finally started just under two weeks ago. The job I went for, and got, is with the AmericaReads program. I am working 5 days a week in the mornings at a nearby school, Vernon Elementary. This school is one of the most disadvantaged and underfunded schools in Portland and has a large minority student body who mostly come from broken or low income families. The first partial week was kind of hectic and I was doing all kinds of different things. I'm now on a regular schedule and work mostly with one 5th grade class. Since they do math in the mornings, that's what I'm usually helping with. On Fridays, I also read with a few kindergartners for about an hour. I'm working with kids who need the most help in both of these classes, so it is challenging. I have no real teaching experience and have been frustrated and humbled many times. But, it is already rewarding. The kids seem grateful (mostly) and they are always happy to see me. I won't make that much, working only about 10 hours a week, but it should be enough to pay my rent each month. I should also qualify for SNAP (food stamps) and am going to turn in my application and make a reservation to talk to someone this week. Hopefully I will qualify for about $200 a month, which will pay for most of my food expenses (I'm learning how to eat even cheaper than I was before). I might even be able to get college credit for doing this - 1 credit for every 30 hours. If I continue this throughout the regular school year I may end up getting 9 credits for it. I need to go to the Co-op Education office at school this week to try to get this going. I think you have to write several papers about what I expect to get from this experience and what I actually take away from it. I had no idea that these things would be available to me (except the food stamps) and it was a nice surprise to find it out. I think this may turn out to be one of the most personally rewarding things I have ever done.
I'm back - School update
It's been over a month since my last post here. I have no excuse other than I've been really busy and haven't felt much like writing anything. Take it or leave it.
As always, school takes up most of my time. This term I am taking my first calculus class, an English class on science fiction literature, beginning Excel, and a 1 credit PE class.
Calculus has been difficult, to say to least. It is very different than any of the math classes that I have taken. And I'm still having some difficulty with some of the more complicated reciprocal conversions, which is stuff I learned (apparently not so well) back in my first college level math class. So far we have covered limits, continuity, rates of change, and derivatives. I don't expect you to know what these are. I barely know what they are. Our instructor said that we have finished the most difficult part of the class. I hope so. I got a 76% on my first exam. Not so great, but at least it was a passing grade. We have our second exam on Tuesday. I'm feeling a little more confident about this one. I have been trying to change my study habits and no longer sit for hours at a time studying for an exam. I take it in 20-30 minutes chunks, then take a break and work on something else. This takes more time, but seems to be working for me. As long as I can improve at least a little bit on each exam I should do alright in this class. Commuting to the Southeast Campus two days a week is kind of a pain, but I really wanted to continue with the same instructor that I had for my last two math classes. I will also take him for my next calculus class next term. I have been trying to ride my motorcycle to this class, but I am not going to ride it in the rain. Getting to class wet is not fun. When I drive my car, I park several blocks away so I don't have to pay the $40 parking fee. So far this has worked out well.
My English class, Literature of Science Fiction (ENG261) is online. I don't care that much for online classes, but this one has worked out alright so far. There is a LOT of writing in this class. I still struggle with college level writing. At least the way they want it done. The subject of all the stories is dystopian societies, which really appeals to me. The stories, not the idea of dystopia. I turned in my mid-term paper last week, but still dont' know what kind of grade I got on it. I'm expecting the final to be particularly horrible. The weekly papers are much easier, but I feel that I'm not at the same level as some of the others in class. As long as I can get at least a halfway decent grade on the final paper I will do fine. So far, we have read, written about, and discussed E.M. Forster's short story The Machine Stops (available here if you are interested) and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I'm a little embarrassed that with as much science fiction that I've read throughout the years that I never got around to reading this novel. It is an impressive and powerful story to say the least. We just started Ursula K. LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven and have read the first 6 chapters. I haven't read much of LeGuin, but this story is fascinating so far. I have a paper due Monday night on these chapters. I have barely started on it and will probably end up waiting until the last minute to get it done. Although I don't like it, I seem to write better under pressure. Annoying. The last thing before the final will be on a movie, not a book. The movie is Brazil, which happens to be one of my favorite movies. I hope this makes the assignments a little easier.
There isn't a whole lot to say about Beginning Excel. I felt that this is something that I should know if I'm going into economics. It's a fairly easy class, but I decided to take it right before the term started and ended up having to take Sunday classes. I managed to forget I had class last week, but I don't think that will have much of an effect on my grades.
My PE class is also online. It's only one credit, so it doesn't take up that much of my time. As part of the class I have had to keep track of my exercise. It's helping me to stay motivated. Most of my exercise comes from riding my bike, which I have been trying to do at least 25-50 minutes a day. I hope this helps me develop some good habits.
As always, school takes up most of my time. This term I am taking my first calculus class, an English class on science fiction literature, beginning Excel, and a 1 credit PE class.
Calculus has been difficult, to say to least. It is very different than any of the math classes that I have taken. And I'm still having some difficulty with some of the more complicated reciprocal conversions, which is stuff I learned (apparently not so well) back in my first college level math class. So far we have covered limits, continuity, rates of change, and derivatives. I don't expect you to know what these are. I barely know what they are. Our instructor said that we have finished the most difficult part of the class. I hope so. I got a 76% on my first exam. Not so great, but at least it was a passing grade. We have our second exam on Tuesday. I'm feeling a little more confident about this one. I have been trying to change my study habits and no longer sit for hours at a time studying for an exam. I take it in 20-30 minutes chunks, then take a break and work on something else. This takes more time, but seems to be working for me. As long as I can improve at least a little bit on each exam I should do alright in this class. Commuting to the Southeast Campus two days a week is kind of a pain, but I really wanted to continue with the same instructor that I had for my last two math classes. I will also take him for my next calculus class next term. I have been trying to ride my motorcycle to this class, but I am not going to ride it in the rain. Getting to class wet is not fun. When I drive my car, I park several blocks away so I don't have to pay the $40 parking fee. So far this has worked out well.
My English class, Literature of Science Fiction (ENG261) is online. I don't care that much for online classes, but this one has worked out alright so far. There is a LOT of writing in this class. I still struggle with college level writing. At least the way they want it done. The subject of all the stories is dystopian societies, which really appeals to me. The stories, not the idea of dystopia. I turned in my mid-term paper last week, but still dont' know what kind of grade I got on it. I'm expecting the final to be particularly horrible. The weekly papers are much easier, but I feel that I'm not at the same level as some of the others in class. As long as I can get at least a halfway decent grade on the final paper I will do fine. So far, we have read, written about, and discussed E.M. Forster's short story The Machine Stops (available here if you are interested) and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I'm a little embarrassed that with as much science fiction that I've read throughout the years that I never got around to reading this novel. It is an impressive and powerful story to say the least. We just started Ursula K. LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven and have read the first 6 chapters. I haven't read much of LeGuin, but this story is fascinating so far. I have a paper due Monday night on these chapters. I have barely started on it and will probably end up waiting until the last minute to get it done. Although I don't like it, I seem to write better under pressure. Annoying. The last thing before the final will be on a movie, not a book. The movie is Brazil, which happens to be one of my favorite movies. I hope this makes the assignments a little easier.
There isn't a whole lot to say about Beginning Excel. I felt that this is something that I should know if I'm going into economics. It's a fairly easy class, but I decided to take it right before the term started and ended up having to take Sunday classes. I managed to forget I had class last week, but I don't think that will have much of an effect on my grades.
My PE class is also online. It's only one credit, so it doesn't take up that much of my time. As part of the class I have had to keep track of my exercise. It's helping me to stay motivated. Most of my exercise comes from riding my bike, which I have been trying to do at least 25-50 minutes a day. I hope this helps me develop some good habits.
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