Friday, November 2, 2007

Less stress, sort of

I have my lesson plans for all five classes done all the way up to Thanksgiving break! Woo!! We get the entire week off, so I'm really looking forward to the vacation.

We go to my grandparents' farm in western Oklahoma every year. They don't have internet, and my cell phone doesn't even get reception. Nothing to do but RELAX! Oh, and the EATING. Oh, my. It's positively sinful, the relaxing and the eating. The only interruption to the napping is the snacking. Well, usually, anyway. This year will be different for me.

I have to write a paper. Ewww. It's to get my teaching certificate through ACSI -- an international Christian schools association. I've had to get Biblical CEUs, too. Those were actually pretty interesting. I did some correspondence courses from Moody Bible, and I'm such a nerd that I loved studying them! :)

The OTHER part of the application process is that I have to write a six page paper over the/my philosophy of Christian education. I could talk forever about how I love my job and I believe that Christian education is, to quote our superintendent, a cultural necessity. But to write a SIX PAGE paper??? Eww.

Before I can write the paper, though, I have to "read" six books on Christian education. Five of them are required, and I "get" to pick the sixth one from a list. (Pardon me for not jumping for joy, but I'm afraid I might injure something, like my pride.) I've attempted to read one of the required books, and I was ready to pry my eyeballs out with a screwdriver by the end of the fifth page or so. I know it must be horribly boring, because I usually devour anything having to do with education or teaching. I'm very interested in and passionate about the subject. This first book, though? Ugh. Maybe I'll pull a teenage stunt -- read the first and last pages of each chapter and try to glean something from them... at least enough to slide a quote into the paper to show that I cracked the book.

Speaking of teenage stunts, please, for the love of all that is holy, do not ask me how long I've had to do this paper, or when it was due.

(P.S. The "read more" button isn't working just now, so don't click it. You can already see the entire post. Sorry!)

4 comments:

Ry said...

Welcome back, Mr. Kotter! *snort*

Wow, I can't believe you have to read all of those books! I mean, it can't hurt, but it's not like you don't have a clue how to write on such a subject! Sheesh!

Anonymous said...

Well, it's nice to see a post from you! If you give yourself the right mind set, 6 pages is not too tough. Just make an outline of what you want to say and the paper will come so easy after that.

Damsel said...

Teacherbee, funny you should mention that. I never outlined first, even when it was required. I always just wrote the entire paper and then turned in an outline of it. Weird, huh?

Maybe I'll try the outline this time, though. I'm hoping I can jot down a few quotes from each book and form a cohesive, progressive idea from those. Throw in a few original experiences, and I think it'll be good enough. I hope.

Ry said...

I always did the outline last, too.