A New Focus

Perhaps an assignment to "blog thoughts" is seen as mundane or unnecessary for some of my students. However, I have learned a great deal from many posts this weekend. Whether or not they knew I was reading them (I would hope so..since they are getting a grade for participating!) I appreciated the honest feedback from the somewhat disaster of a class last week.

My intentions were good - my delivery was not. And, luckily, it's early enough in the semester we can slow down and fix what problems we've caused -- er -- I've caused.

Tomorrow we have class again. We will focus on our one project - and make it powerful and successful.

Now that everyone has had a peek into what goes on in my mind, perhaps you feel sorry for my husband... :)

Students, please continue to provide feedback.. I do appreciate it.

a MiX-e-D up Class

Wow.
Class has been over for approximately 6 hours, but that doesn't mean I haven't stopped thinking about it. Although I had the class planned as I walked up the three flights of stairs, as soon as I got to the top, things somehow changed. As students shared their first publications, I got inspired. I had so many ideas for future publications in my head - I'm pretty sure I overwhelmed every single student that sat in front of me today.

I need to STOP or at least Slow Down. Making students confused will not get desirable results. I will spend this weekend getting organized, as much as I can. When Tuesday comes, hopefully we can iron out some details - and students will feel confident in themselves and their work. That is, after all, a main focus of this class.

On another note, I was able to take some time out of my busy schedule and watch a softball game tonight. It was refreshing - and my daughter loved playing in the grass and watching the balls getting hit and caught. As we drove the short drive home, she crashed in her car seat. She was worn out.

On the happiest note of all, Jim was promoted on 'The Office'. Ah, I love Thursday TV.

Have a great Thursday night everyone!

My Mirror Image

It may be easy for some people to mix up the terms self-concept and self-esteem. After all, they both are focused on ourselves. However, there is significant differences. To explain in simple terms, self-concept can be thought of as how you see yourself. Self-esteem, on the other hand, is what you feel about yourself. Perhaps someone else has a different way to describe the differences. For me, that makes the most sense.

A mirror image of me...
educated and yet still learning, positive but frustrated, impatient but working on changing that, situational about everything, knowledgeable yet passive, creative yet lacking outlets, family-oriented which is growing deeper every day, focused on positive side of people, complex mind with so many ideas.

Some theorists believe that our self-concept is developed in the formative years. For the most part, I can look at my self-concept and believe that to be true. However, there are things that I believe have changed throughout life given my specific situations or feedback from others. Am I wrong? Perhaps, but is there a "wrong" answer? Perhaps not.

With school counseling as my true "love", I think we need to focus on children developing a positive self-concept - something that will stay with them throughout their entire lives (with fleeting changes perhaps), rather than self-esteem, which tends to be focused on how others see oneself. It can easily be seen how that could be more damaging in the future.

My self-concept today has been pretty icky - as I have spent most of the day sick in bed. I am sure that this will go away when I feel better and am able to accomplish more tasks, but right now I feel pretty un-accomplished (if that is a word!)

Here I go!

What would I change about myself if I could? There are many things, as I suppose there would be with anyone. If I knew these wishes would be granted, then of course I'd disclose all of them. However, one area that I want to focus on this semester is my level of exercise. Why is that I KNOW exercise is beneficial for keeping oneself healthy, yet I don't do it like I should? One excuse is time, another is a place to do it. My neighborhood isn't the best area to go jogging in - especially at night. But, there are many other drivable places that I could enjoy a nice area to exercise in. Time is tough - there will never be enough time in a day -- but I need to make time for the most important activities. With my family is where I like to spend most of my free time. Perhaps I could think of a few ways to incorporate exercise with my family. Nevertheless, I am going to focus on changing my exercise habits this semester. I want to work up to exercising at least 4 times a week. I have a lot of room to grow - and a lot of ideas on how to make my goal become successful.