Hockey Night Part Two!

 Just a quick update - I just got back from the Men's D1 Hockey Game vs. Air Force and WE WON!!!! It was a great game, we won by a margin of just one goal, 3-2. The student section will tell you that there may have been some questionable calls....but hey, what kind of student section would we be if we didn't? ;-) We were very loud and definitely proud to be Mercyhurst Lakers!
Anyways, it was Mustache night tonight - so since I can't grow a mustache, I made one :) I even added a little blue behind it! Not only is blue one of my favorite colors but it's also one of our school colors - Blue, Green & White.
Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

It's a Mercyhurst Mustache!!

Again, my mustache for the Hockey game!

Hockey Night at Mercyhurst College!!

Hey Everyone!

Hope you've been having a great week! I just wanted to let you know what I've been up to lately! This week was our last week of classes. So I turned in my portfolio, and my curriculum this week. Now this weekend I'll be finishing up my Geology paper, and studying for my Geology final and Promoting Literacy final. Both my finals are on Monday - but I'm not too worried, I've been studying this week and I feel prepared for both!
Tomorrow is Open House here on campus! Because I'm an Ambassador I will be working Open House tomorrow giving tours to prospective students and their families! Open House is always a lot of fun, there are tours, talks given by admissions, you can meet faculty and staff from all the different majors and departments on campus and there are even some of our student clubs represented too! Maybe if you are coming I will get to meet you! If you see me feel free to come up and say hi! I'll be in my spiffy green Ambassador jacket.
Now, on to what is really exciting - HOCKEY!! Last weekend our Men's D1 team had two huge Hockey games against UConn here on campus! It was so much fun! A bunch of students got together on capus and decided to theme the Saturday night game "Classy" night - so we all dressed up super nice and went to cheer our boys on to Victory for a sweep! :) This weekend we had two games, again and tomorrow's game is themed Mustache night. My roommates and I are just going to make paper mustaches and wear them, haha! But it should be a good time! I'm off to finish working on my paper now... but tomorrow night is a Hockey Night at Mercyhurst!! GO LAKERS!

Classy Night at the Hockey Game! (That's me in the front row, 2nd from the left!)

Halloween and Movember!

Hey Everyone :)

In case you were starting to think I hadn't partaken in spooky activities this weekend, I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know that I had my best Halloween ever! I had two pretty awesome costumes - if I may say so myself! Friday night my friend had a costume party so I dressed up as Raggedy Ann. I bought the dress and shirt from Salvation Army, and then added the heart and pockets, and yarn belt! I also had my roommate braid yarn into my hair. I wasn't into wearing a wig and I read the blog ABeautifulMess - which has great DYI tips and that's actually where I got my costume idea from! Then on Monday night I dressed up as a "Party Animal" - again a borrowed idea from a friend who did it last year, but I made it my own! I found a tutorial on Youtube for leopard makeup, wore a fun party dress and teased my hair (which didn't last very long). Most people thought I was Ke$ha.... but hey she's a party animal so I guess I was on the right track!

Now it's November! (Crazy already!) And as you may or may not have heard it's "Movember" or "No Shave November". Just as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - November is Prostate Awareness Month for men! A lot of guys will grow mustaches or not shave for the whole month in order to raise money for the cause! Pretty neat :) Here is the official Movember website! So I won't be growing a beard or mustache this month - but I'll definitely be supporting those who do! :)
Have a great week (and Happy Movember!)

Party Animal with a Gryffindor!

Raggedy Ann!

Looking at Graduate Schools for Education

Hey everyone! I hope you guys are having a great Halloween Weekend!
I just wanted to give you a quick update on what's going on here with me :) I just finished up a crazy week here. I spent my whole week working on my presentation, lesson plans and paper for my Cultural and Linguistically Diverse Learners class. Last time I wrote I told you guys about my long nights in the library and it definitely paid off! I was really happy with my lesson plans and I think presentation turned out really well! For my third lesson plan I found this great experiment to use and I thought you might like to see it here!
So what I really came to write about is that I am starting to look at graduate schools for education. So right now I am looking at graduate schools that offer programs in English as a Second Language (ESL). I had thought about this kind of program before, but my Cultural and Linguistically Diverse Learners class and experiences at the International Institute of Erie have really confirmed that this is definitely something I want to do! I've enjoyed going down to the Institute so much that I'm going to continue going even though my required classes are over. I have been looking at schools like University of Pennsylvania, Duquesne University, Findlay University in Ohio, and Pitt, just to name a few :)

Dream Grad School for ESL!

U Penn would be my dream school because it's a great school, and it's out near Philadelphia. On the other hand Duquesne and Pitt are both great universities right in Pittsburgh, so I could live at home and save money. Lots of options to consider, but for now I'm looking at the programs, how they are structured and what kind of classes they offer. I've got a lot more research to do, and I'll definitely keep you updated of what I'm doing :)
Happy Halloween!

Dear Library...

Dear Library,
I'm sorry I have not been in to see you much lately. I hope you can forgive me for doing homework in my apartment. You see, I hadn't had too much work to do earlier this term, but now all my projects are due in these next 3 weeks, so I'm back once more to use you. You see, you are so much quieter than my apartment, and far less distracting. I can't clean you if I don't want to do my homework. I remember the good old days when I would sit here for hours, writing papers, studying and checking Facebook a little too often. I'm here for the long haul - I've got quite a few things to accomplish.

For my Promoting Literacy PreK-8 class, I am writing my Philosophy Essay. This is a 2-3 page, single spaced essay explaining my philosophy of teaching and how as an educator in an inclusive classroom I will ensure that my students are literate. I will have to apply all the different teaching strategies we have learned over the term. I will also discuss how, no matter what subject I am teaching, I will work in many different kinds of instruction that will promote reading, writing, comprehension and vocabulary. Yeah that's a lot of thinking.... and it's due Monday the 24th!

Some of the Curriculum kits we have in our Education Library!

For my Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners class I have several things to do. First I have to write an essay on my experience at the International Institute and how I used and observed some of the techniques I learned in class there. Second, I have my Curriculum project due next Friday the 28th. This entails creating 3 lesson plans for my subject area and grade level, that provide accommodations for students who are English Language Learners (ELLs). I will also have to accompany this with a 3-6 page paper talking about ELLs, state standards and good, tested practices for classrooms with ELLs. Again, this is a cumulative project that will require me really to look at what I have learned this term and apply it. Not to mention that I have to present all this to my classmates on the 28th when I turn it in!

Our Children's Literature section in the Education Library. 

Finally for my Historical Geology class I am writing my final term paper - about 6 pages - on a topic of my choice. Our professor is really pretty cool (in the quirky, nerdy, I love geology and make bad rock jokes in class kind of way). We were allowed to choose our own topics - as long as they had to do with geology. So some people chose super volcanos, and underwater vents, I chose to write mine on the formation of the Giant's Causeway. When I studied abroad (See my study abroad blog here or the tab up top!) I visited the Giant's Causeway and thought it was pretty awesome!

So that's what I've got to do. Now Library - I hope you'll forgive me for my absence, because I have to get back to work now!
Love,
Monica