Bucket List, One Year Later

One year ago today, I published THIS post. It's a list that my college's program council made, "100 Things to Do Before You Graduate", or as I like to call it, "The College Version of a Bucket List". Since it's been a year since I originally posted it, I thought it would be fun to do a re-post and check off anything I've done in the past year. Do you have anything extra special on your bucket list?

100. Attend International Street Fair
99. Go ice-skating at Bird Arena
98. Meet with your advisor and declare a major
97. Slip on ice during winter quarter
96. Join a student organization
95. Play a game on an intramural sports team
94. Bowl at Rollerbowl Lanes
93. Dress up and attend OU Halloween
92. Participate in Homecoming Weekend
91. Walk into the wrong classroom on accident
90. Go to a UPC meeting on Tuesdays, at 7:30 p.m.
89. Cook and eat at a vegan workshop
88. Watch a UPCinema Movie
87. Become a member of O-Zone
86. Grab dinner at slice night at Courtside Pizza & Sports Bar
85. Find a seat at Shively Dining Hall … Good luck!
84. Go to an open mic night at Donkey Coffee & Espresso
83. Go to at least one event for each sports team
82. Experience Walmart late at night
81. Bring sibs for Sibs Weekend
80. Try Miller’s Chicken79. Hang out on Radar Hill
78. Play golf at the OU golf course
77. Watch an independent film at the Athena Cinema
76. Get involved with the Campus Involvement Center
75. Create a resume
74. Find out about Greek Life and decide if it's for you
73. Play with puppies at Petland!
72. Sing your heart out at a late-night karaoke
71. Stand up and cheer with The Marching 110
70. Chow down on mango salsa from Big Mamma's Burritos
69. Network at a career fair
68. Ride a CATS bus
67. Order D.P. Dough
66. Be a participant in a psychology experiment
65. Attend a Performing Arts Series event
64. Wake up to early morning construction on ANY green
63. Get creative at Beads & Things
62. Do your laundry in one of the residence hall’s laundry facilities
61. Befriend your landlord and sign your lease early
60. Witness the pickle eating contest at Bagel Street Deli
59. Play in a sand volleyball game on South Beach
58. Climb the rock wall at Ping
57. Walk/run/rollerblade/bike on the bike path
56. Apply for an internship or a job!
55. Take a tumble down Morton Hill and count every step up Jeff Hill
54. Rock out at a school concert... For free!
53. Walk in the annual Mom’s Walk for a Cure
52. Experience a dining hall brunch and themed dinner
51. Pull an all-nighter at Alden Library
50. Get serenaded by Singing Men of Ohio and Woman’s Chorale at a concert
49. Be a pool shark at the bottom of Baker Center
48. Complete the crossword puzzle in Friday’s Post without cheating!
47. Find a mentor on the Bobcat Mentor Network
46. Eat Naan at Star of India
45. Read the wall under the art building
44. Check out Galbreath Chapel
43. Go to Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant
42. Smoke hookah at Athens Pyramids Café
41. Say hi to students and parents on a campus tour
40. Go to an art show in Baker Center and visit the art galleries
39. Go on a trip with Outdoor Pursuits
38. Eat lunch on the monument and on the Athens City Courthouse steps
37. Buy some fruits and vegetables at the farmers market
36. Do crafts at The Dairy Barn
35. Hear yourself echo in the middle of the 4th floor of Baker Center
34. Get a huge slice of Good Fellas Pizza
33. Go to Taco Tuesdays at Taco John’s
32. Swim laps in the Aquatic Center
31. Take pictures of the cherry blossoms during spring
30. Soak up the sun at Stroud’s Run
29. Read the literature on the Ellis lavatory walls
28. Kiss someone in the kissing circle
27. Sled down Jeff Hill
26. Experience the history of The Ridges and The Kennedy Art Museum
25. Spray paint the graffiti wall
24. Eat at all the uptown establishments
23. Choose to dance at Dance or Die
22. Visit the Athens Mall
21. Participate in a community service project
20. Explore Old Mans Cave in the Hocking Hills State Park
19. Play a game of putt-putt at The Ridges
18. Take a late-night trip to a buggy
17. Break a sweat in an exercise class at Ping
16. Revisit your younger years and check out 90’s Night on the Green
15. Rent a movie from the library
14. Go to the Fun Barn in Nelsonville
13. Utilize 594-RIDE
12. See a show at The Union Bar and Grill
11. Enjoy all of the Senior Week events
10. Relax during finals with a massage at Ping
9. Be amazed at the Senior Dance Concert8. Leave with an Athens brick
7. Introduce yourself to President McDavis when you see him on campus
6. Walk through the College Green Campus Gate
5. Groove with the piano player on Court Street
4. Trip on the bricks
3. Make the Dean’s List
2. Visit your Alumni Association
1. DON'T STEP ON THE OHIO UNIVERSITY SEAL

New, New, New!

I made some changes to my blog's appearance! What do you think? If you like what you see, check out www.thecutestblogontheblock.com to get a fun background for yourself!

The Best Weekend (part 2)

You might remember a post I made last year in the early days of this blog about an amazing weekend that I had with my little cousins. Sibs Weekend. The 2012 Sibs Weekend was a couple of weeks ago and it was even more fun than last year's. The girls got to stay in my apartment this time, which they thought was the coolest thing ever.

I picked the girls up on a Friday night and we headed straight to see a magic show. Let me just tell you that it was amazing. I have no clue how he did those tricks. Of course we had to take a picture before it started. Tradition, ya know?

Then we headed back to my apartment for some pizza and Wii. They completely put me to shame on Just Dance 2. Like domitated. But they had a blast.



The next morning, Riley had to be up early for ice skating, so after she left, Mary Kate and I took a long walk around campus. It was so, so, so nice. I hardly ever get to see my girls anymore because we're all so busy, so it was nice to just have some time to talk with her and catch up. We spent forever sitting by the pond watching a little groundhog scurry in and out of his burrow. Simple things are the best things :)

Then we got Riley back and it was off to lunch at Applebees. Yum.

After lunch, Mary Kate had to leave for her basketball game (I told you we're busy!) so Riley and I headed off to the student rec center for some bouncy house fun. Last year this was one of their favorite parts. We bounced, climbed and slip slided for two whole hours. See the 2nd picture? That's my girl going up the rock wall. She did SO good and I couldn't have been prouder.





Please excuse the poor photo quality. I had my flash on soft and didn't realize it until the end of the day. Boo.

We left RecFest a little early so that we could be back at the apartment to meet Mary Kate, whose basketball game had just finished up. We got her back and headed up town for some pregame Subway. Sidenote: I just started eating Subway a few months ago. I'm not exactly what you'd call an adventerous eater. But now it's one of my favorites.

After we ate, it was time for the game. As a special bonus, it was a Blackout game. Hence the shirts. The girls had a blast and thought it was so cool that we got to sit in the student section right by the band. Of course we had to get a picture with Rufus when he walked by. Did I mention that we have the coolest mascot ever? And we won the game which was the cherry on top of a perfect night.





That was supposed to be it. Our night was set to end after the game ended. But as we were walking back, we saw posters advertising a carnival in the student center. With bumper cars. Yes, bumper cars. Inside. Of course we HAD to check it out. It turned out to be one of the coolest things ever. The line for bumper cars was long but so worth it. See? And as my own special form of payback for beating me at Just Dance, I completely DOMINATED on the bumper cars. Ha.

Another fun activity that we found was the horse race. There were three large plush horses. You sit on them and literally buck up and down to make them go forward. It may look childish but, oh man, was it fun. Notice that I am on the unicorn. I dibsed it before we even got in line.

After a very intense race, we grabbed some of the free popocorn that they had and headed back to my apartment to gather their things, then I took them home.

No longer little kids, my 10 and 11 year old girls are the sisters I always begged for but never had. They are my rocks, my sunshines, my world. I am so, so, SO proud of the beautiful and intelligent young women that they are turning out to be. 





EDCT203: Week 9

We had our very last class of the quarter this week.

As an in class activity we made concept maps. This is a great way to organize your thoughts and ideas. It can be used in classrooms for many things. For example, you can have the children use it as a prewriting activity to jot down ideas before they begin writing a story. I will say, though, that the website can be a little confusing.

We also made newsletters. Newsletters are a great way to keep parents updated and to let them know what you are doing in class. There are many templates available to you, or you can make your own. I definitely plan on using this in my own classroom someday.

Some ISTE Student Standards from this week are:

• 1a, 1b- both of the activities can be used to express creativity
• 2a, 2b, 2d- we collaborated with each other
• 3b
• 4b, 4d
• 5(all)
• 6a, 6b, 6d

Some ISTE Teacher Standards from this week are:

• 1a, 1c
• 2a
• 3(all)
• 4(all)
• 5b, 5d

EDCT203: Week 8

Week 8. Wowwwww where did the quarter go? Fastest quarter ever? I think so.

This week in class we played around on a program called Crocodoc. It was hilarious to say the least. People came up with some very, um, creative submissions on that one. Ha!

We also worked on creating podcasts, which I already had some experience with because that was the topic that our group had when we taught the class back in week 3. Seems like forever ago, right? There are many ways that you can use a podcast in your classroom. Some podcasts are educational and could be used to teach your students something. For example, there are some podcasts that talk about literature that could be used in an English class. You could also have your students create their own podcast as a means of creative expression and also to see how well they know the material.

We also made rubrics in class. Rubrics are a great way to evaluate students' work/performance. I was really impressed with the website, RubiStar and how user friendly it is. Anyone can use it! If you aren't sure what to put in your rubric, the website has many suggestions for you to use.

Some ISTE Student Standards used this week are:

• 1a, 1b
• 2b
• 3d
• 5(all)
• 6a, 6b, 6d

Some ISTE Teacher Standards from this week are:

• 1a
• 2a, 2b
• 4(all)
• 5b, 5d

In other news.... I have officially completed my 2nd full day of teaching! Wow.

EDCT203: Week 7

This was a fun class. We learned how to use a program called Voice Thread which allows you to comment on media created by other people. I clike that you can provide different types of comments such as video, audio and text. I also like how you can doodle on the slides to show exactly what you're talking about. I think that kids would really like the doodling part.

There are many ways that you could use this in a classroom. You could put some of your lessons on Voice Thread so that other teachers can give you feedback. You could also use it as a way to encourage the students to work collaboratevly with a group. You can also use it as a way to communicate with parents- if they have a Voice Thread account they can contact you via it.

On a side note, this is probably the most fun class we've had so far. My crazy friends make everything so much fun. Sure, we might have procrastinated a little a lot, but man did we laugh.We got it done in the end, though, so its cool!

Some ISTE Student Standards from this week are:

• 1a, 1b, 1c- yay for new ideas!
• 2a, 2b, 2d- we collaborated a lot this week.
• 4b, 4d
• 5(all)
• 6a, 6b, 6d

Some ISTE Teacher Standards from this week are:

• 1(all)- we used new ideas and collaboration!
• 2(all)- the different types of comments in Voice Thread allow us to adapt this to multiple learning styles
• 3a, 3b, 3c
• 4(all)- very important
• 5d

EDCT203: Week 6

This week in class, we used Movie Maker. I already had some experience with this, because we used for a tech class in middle school. I like all of the effects that you can add to the movie and the transitions that you can use between slides.

I think that there are many ways that you could use this in a classroom. You could make a movie to show the kids a concept in an interactive way. You could also have the kids (depending on their age) make a movie of their own to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge on a topic. Like I said for the week when we used Picasa, you could also take pictures of the kiddos working and put them together in a presentation to show the parents what you've been doing.

Some ISTE Student Standards used this week are:

• 1a, 1b
• 2b
• 4d
• 5(all)
• 6a, 6b, 6d

Some ISTE Teacher Standards used this week are:

• 1a, 1c, 1d
• 2(all)
• 3a, 3c
• 4(all)
• 5b, 5d