Monthly Archives: February 2009

I Love Sushi

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Posted by Rob on February 20, 2009 – 1:16 pm
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So we went to a restaurant named I Love Sushi. It was my first time eating a pure-sushi meal. Previously, I have had sushi as an appetizer or something, but never as a whole meal. It was a delicious experience.

Everyone ordered about two different plates each, so there were over ten different types on the table. It was awesome. There was this one that had calamari and then some shrimp tempura, and it was sooo awesome. It was also very, very hot and spicy. We also had some pure sashimi, with tuna and salmon. I liked the tuna, but was not as crazy about the salmon. There was spicy tuna rolls, spider rolls, and some other interesting things. I was originally lame and ordered simple stuff like california rolls and philidelphia rolls, and everything else was so good in comparisson.

I was glad I tried the full-blown sushi experience. It is such a unique meal, but also a very fun meal.

Food

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Posted by Rob on February 19, 2009 – 6:28 pm
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So let me say this…Vegas has some good food.

Like, I have been very pleased with the food around here. There are so many great places to eat, ranging from simple fast food places that I dont have back home (like A&W and In and Out Burger) to chains (Red Robin) to unique higher-scale restaurants. Mind you, I didnt go to any of the high-scale places, but they looked insane, and their menus looked very tasty.

From where we have eaten though, its been nothing but good stuff. The burgers are great. The one I had at the beer place was amazing. It was huge, juicy, yet the price was in the right place, based on the size and quality. The BBQ place we went to was awesome. I had a St.Louis rib and pulled pork combo, and it came with two sides plus unlimited biscuits with an awesome apple cinnamon butter. It was sooo awesome. The sauce was very good, second only to good ol’ Brooks in Oneonta.

There are a lot of buffets, and I would have liked to have checked one out, but Shell is against buffets. We almost went to a nice seafood one, but it was like $40 per person, and that was a bit too rich for my blood. I mean, maybe $38, but $40 is going too far…

So tonight Shell’s older sister is taking out to a sushi place to celebrate our engagement, so that should be interesting. Tomorrow Shell and me are taking everyone out to lunch to thank them for letting us stay (we dont know where to go yet), and that night Shell and me are going to one of the nice restaurants in one of the hotels.

So all in all, its been a tastetacular week. I’ll be sorry to leave Vegas and the food behind…

No SNES for Rob

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Posted by Rob on February 19, 2009 – 6:15 pm
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Shell’s sister has an SNES, and I was excited to play Super Mario World. But I couldn’t because it doesnt work…

Vacation Update- Hoover Dam

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Posted by Rob on February 19, 2009 – 6:14 pm
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We just got back from seeing the Hoover Dam. Shell’s sister is doing her hair now, so I have some free time to catch up on blogging. Plus, since we are at her sisters house, there is no little three-year old asking me to play with him.

So the Hoover Dam was interesting. It cost us $11 to go underground and check out the power generators. It was pretty interesting. I remember seeing this show on TV called “Life After Humans” or something like that. It was saying that if humans were to suddenly disappear, then the Hoover Dam would continue supplying power to the area until it broke down. Basically, humans do little work, and the water does most of it naturally. It was pretty impressive, and is probably one of America’s greatest thingys, in my opinion. I mean, Mount Rushmore and other things are all nifty, but the Hoover Dam is just so huge, that its just insane. Im sure its not as impressive as natural wonders, such as Yellowstone, Niagara Falls, or the Grand Canyon, but it was still awesome. Im glad I got to see it, because I dont know when I will be in the area again.

My Vacation So Far

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Posted by Rob on February 19, 2009 – 12:56 pm
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So my trip to Vegas is more than half-way over, which is sad. Its been a blast so far, and I dont want to head back home to the evils of work or school.

So we got here late Saturday night and crashed. On Sunday, we didnt do much, and just hung out at Shell’s sisters house. Shell’s nephew is ridiculously cute, and very active. Hes definitely been wearing me out, and he constantly wants to play, whether its Legos, spiders, or Playmobiles. Although I must admit I have a guilty pleasure in playing with these toys…

On Monday Shell and me went to the strip during the day. We checked out some of the casinos. We gambled a little bit. Its a lot more complicated than I thought. Like, the slot machines are not simply put a quarter in and pull the lever. You have to determine how much you want to wager on that quarter, so the more you wager the less likely you are to win, but you get more if you do win. I lost about $3 and Shell gained 80 cents. Then we came back to the house and ate dinner. We didnt do much else.

On Tuesday we went to a chocolate factory. It was pretty lame, but we got some free samples, so it was all gravy. Then we went to an outdoor shopping plaza, and got lunch. The place we went to had over 100 draft beers available. I went for the Spaten Oktoberfest. Later on I realized that rather than getting one glass, I could have had six small glasses, thus enableing me to check out several beers, but it was too late. I also had a pretty awesome jalopeno cheeseburger. After that, we walked around, and took Shell’s nephew to the park there. Then that night we went to this awesome bbq place. It was very tasty, and had huge portions, however, it wasnt as good as Brooks.

Then yesterday (Wednesday) we went to the Pinball Hall of Fame. Basically, it was just an arcade. It had over 200 pinball and arcade games, but mostly pinball. The game dated from the 1960s to present day. Admission was free (since it was just an arcade), but you still had to pay to play (since it was an arcade). Most games were 50 cents. There were a good portion that were only 25 cents. Then there were some that were like a dollar (I avoided those). I played Super Mario, Jurassic Park, Simpsons, and a few old-school ones, since they were cheaper. I got Shell to play a KISS one. After that, we went to the Strip again, and met Shells sister. We walked around some more, and checked out the other hotels/casinos. I had awesome Chipolte (better than Taco Bell) for lunch. They make the awesomest carnitas (pork). We also snagged some gelato. I had strawberries & cream. It was tasty. There were guys lined up on the streets giving out stripper trading cards. I snagged a bunch. Then we came back home and hung out.

Today we head to the Hoover Dam. It should be fun. It makes me think of the episode of Pete & Pete when they go cross-country to the Hoover Dam. I think that was the pilot episode of the series actually. Then tomorrow Shell and me plan on going to the Strip again (at night) and getting drunk and whatnot. Thats where the real fun is!!! Then Saturday we will probably just chill, since we leave that night.

So thats the story so far. Peace out.

No More Heroes…or Lost…

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Posted by Rob on February 18, 2009 – 8:47 pm
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I was unable to watch Heroes and Lost this week. I’ll catch up next week. No one say anything to me.

Continental Is Out

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Posted by Rob on February 16, 2009 – 2:13 pm
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So let me tell you about how ridiculous Continental Airlines is.

So we went to Albany Airport. We were going to Newark, to get a connecting flight to Vegas. So I get up to the first checkpoint, and I give th security dude my boarding pass and ID. He checks the ID, and he checks on the boarding pass. He then marks it off, and lets me go on.

So I go to the second security checkpoint, which is the metal detector. I walk through, and hand my boarding pass to the guy there. He looks at it, and shouts “BACK UP! WRONG BOARDING PASS!!!” Im like, “what do you mean?!” Hes like, “BACK UP NOW!!!” Im like “whats the problem?” Hes like “BACK UP!!!!” So then I look down, and I see that its the boarding pass from Newark to Vegas, not the one from Albany to Newark. Now Shell had gone ahead of me, and she was looking at me like “what the heck is going on?” So I say to the guy, “she has the other boarding pass. Just get it from her.” All he said was, “BACK UP!!!”

So I finally go back and I have to yell to Shell, “I need the other boarding pass. Get it from my bag. Its in the back pocket.” So Shell goes to get my bag, but two other security guards rush over and say, “We’ll get it.” They then begin to search my bag, and while Shell is trying to tell them where it is, they ignore her. They finally get it out, and I go back on line for the metal detector. When I get through to the jerk, I say, “look, this is the one that the guy over there marked. Its not my fault he marked the wrong one.” He just looked at me, and motioned for the guy behind me to come through.

I just dont think that it was worth all this shouting and being ridiculous. It was insane.

So then we are waiting for the plane to arrive. Eventually it is over an hour late. We are getting nervous, because we still have to catch the connecting flight. So then the crew comes around the waiting area, and gives some people a blue tag to put on their suitcases, because they had to get a smaller plane with smaller overhead compartments. So they gave Shell one, and not me, so I assumed that mine was small enough. But sure enough, we go to finally board the plane, and this guy tells me that my suitcase is too big and that I have to get a blue tag. So I had to wait for a blue tag, and Im like “why didnt they give it to me when they gave out everyone elses?”

So we got the Newark in time, and also had time to grab lunch. So we get to the boarding area, and they start boarding on time. So everyone is in the plane and ready to rock, but we arent getting ready to take off or anything. Finally, almost an hour later, the captain comes on the speakers and says, “well, Im ready, the plane is ready, but we have to wait for catering.” I guess this was the beverage cart and first-class meals. Jerks. So we finally go.

Now this was a horrible plane ride. It was over 5 hours long. This particular plane had no TV, so there was no movie or TV to watch. Also, they gave us one beverage in the beginning, and thats it. They didnt even give out a bag of freakin’ peanuts.

This was the worst flight ever. Continental is ridiculous. I will never, EVER fly with them again.

‘Nuff said.

Shutting Down Operations

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Posted by Rob on February 14, 2009 – 1:22 pm
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I am shutting off the laptop now, so I can pack it up for the flight to Vegas. I will be reconnecting at some point tomorrow, when we get to Shell’s sisters house and I hook up.

Peace out.

I like wine

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Posted by Rob on February 13, 2009 – 8:05 pm
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Its tasty

Spring Break ’09- Part One

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Posted by Rob on February 13, 2009 – 6:25 pm
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So tomorrow begins my first spring break. My other one is near Easter, in April.

Tomorrow Shell and me head out to Vegas to visit her sisters. It should be a blast. I dont plan on gambling too much. Times are hard. And no, we are not eloping. What I do plan on is doing is going to the Pinball Hall of Fame!!!

http://www.pinballmuseum.org/

It should be a good trip. I’ll bring my laptop with me, so I’ll update as I feel necessary. I’ll miss my PS3 and Wii, but I’ll have my GBA with me, so at least I’ll have something game-wise. I’ll also be reading this ridiculous book for one of my classes about some Afghanistian lady. I dunno.

I hope to have a good trip. I’ll try and keep updated as time allows.

Student Teaching- Day Five

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Posted by Rob on February 13, 2009 – 6:21 pm
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So today completes my first full week of student teaching a class by myself. Today I ended up going over a few notes, and then had the kids watch the Simpsons episode “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington.” It is a decent episode, and I used it to teach about the responsibility of Government to watch over the people, and the people’s responsibility to watch over the Government.

The kids took to it well. As expected, all the kids were familiar with the show, so I didnt have to worry about introducing the characters. A few of them complained, telling me that Family Guy is better, and I explained that the Simpsons is a witty, intelligent show that does things that Family Guy does not. Anywho, once the show came on, they shut up, watched, and laughed. It worked well.

I had them answer a sheet with nine questions pertaining to the show, as a way of guiding them to see the hidden messages and whatnot that the episode had in it. It worked out well, they responded well, and I was happy.

So yeah, I survived my first week. It wasnt bad at all. The class is a great bunch of kids, and most of them are motivated and engaging. I look forward to continuing to work with them and rack up more experience.

Upset with Simpsons…

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Posted by Rob on February 13, 2009 – 6:16 pm
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So I was planning on using the Simpsons episode “Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington” for my class today. So last night, I am going through the episode, making questions up that the kids will have to answer, and its really a great episode about Congress. Basically, the Simpsons have troubles in the neighborhood, so they contact their local Congressman who agrees to help out, but he dies. So the Simpsons convince Krusty to run in his place, and after winning, Krusty goes to Congress and tries to pass bills, yada yada yada. Its very good.

The problem is, I couldnt show it in my class. Why? Three reasons. First, Kent Brockman says the word “penis” at some point. Im like, “ok, I can just mute it out when it comes up. Not a big deal.” Then a few minutes later, theres a scene where Krusty is smoking a huge joint and he says, “I call for a ‘joint’ session.” Im like, “I dunno about this…” And then a few minutes later theres a pic of Krusty with a topless lady, and her chest is covered only by a small censored bar. That was it. I simply couldnt show this episode to 12 year olds.

I was very upset. The show is witty and hilarious enough as it is…it doesnt need this kind of obscene humor. Its like something out of South Park. I was very upset, because these few stupid jokes ruined what could have been a very engaging class on Congress and law-making.

Using The Simpsons to Teach Social Studies

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Posted by Rob on February 12, 2009 – 10:16 pm
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Its true. The Simpsons is such a great show, it can be used in the classroom. It is more than just a stupid cartoon…it is a cartoon with really well-hidden gems of pop-culture and actual real-world knowledge. You just have to be sharp enough to dig through it.

I wrote up three lesson plans for a Participation in Government class, each using a different episode. The main one, which I actually “taught”, was on the episode “Much Apu About Nothing.” In the episode, it is revealed that Apu is an illegal citizen, and he must become a citizen before he gets deported. I tied this into the lesson on becoming a citizen/ immigration. It worked very well, and fit in with the rest of the lesson.

I also wrote up lesson plans for using two other episodes. One was the episode “Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish”, in which Mr. Burns runs for governor. This I tied into a lesson on running for public office. The other episode was “Sideshow Bob Roberts”, where Sideshow Bob runs for mayor. I used it in a lesson on political parties.

All three episodes were complimented with a worksheet with guided questions which the students answered while watching the video. These questions helped them pick out the actual, relevant facts that were hidden behind the humor. For example, in the Apu episode, Homer says “hey Apu, why dont you just marry someone as a sham marriage.” He then calls Selma on the phone and asks her. This is actually a fact, as if an illegal immigrant marries an American citizen, they can become a citizen (although it is a lengthy process to ensure it is not a sham marriage).

So tomorrow, I plan on teaching a class on the House of Representatives/ republicanism by using the episode “Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington.” In it, the Simpsons get upset and contact their Representative to argue for them in Congress. Eventually, Krusty happens to be that Representative, and he attempts to get the bill passed. Its perfect for the unit I just ended with my 7th grade Social Studies class on government, and the three branches.

I will post the results of the lesson tomorrow.

Student Teaching- Day Four

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Posted by Rob on February 12, 2009 – 4:45 pm
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So today it was back to the ol’ notes/lecture. One kid in particular asks a lot of questions, and I, being nice, answer them all, regardless of how odd they are. I was talking about the government (President, Congress, etc), and he asked me what would happen to the President if he stole a car, drove off a cliff and survived, but totaled the car.

I also asked for some feedback on the group work I did yesterday. They all prefer that to notes, which I figured. But what I did find out was that some of them prefer to work alone. I think next time, I will make it an optional group thing, so they can either grab a friend or work alone, whichever suits them best.

Now I need to figure out what to do tomorrow. I got through all the lessons for this unit, so I need something to do in class tomorrow. Im hoping I can find a relevant episode of The Simpsons…

Speaking of Suikoden…

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Posted by Rob on February 12, 2009 – 4:40 pm
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Amazing that I wrote about this earlier, and now they released an article on the upcoming Suikoden game for the DS.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/12/grab-108-friends-to-watch-this-new-suikoden-tierkreis-trailer/

If only I had a DS, I would probably check it out.

Suikoden

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Posted by Rob on February 12, 2009 – 7:58 am
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When I got my PS, I was RPG heaven. The first RPG I got on there was one of the best ever made…Final Fantasy VII. At the time, the graphics pushed the limit of any other game I have ever played. The game was huge, and Im sure I spent over 60 hours my first playthrough. Also, the story and the characters were amazing…it really drew you in. This was my first true RPG, with the party system and whatnot. After this game, I truly became addicted to RPGs.The next one on the PS was Suikoden. Let me tell you, this one blew me away. In it, you control a party of 6, but you make the choice out of 108 characters!!! It was insane. The story was solid, and it was very fun, and I played through it several times. Then Suikoden II came out, and that was even more awesome. It was the exact same that as the first game, but with a much better story, graphics, and army battle system. I played through this one several times also. By then I got the PS2, and Suikoden III came out. I was scared at first, because it changed EVERYTHING. Combat was still a party of 6 out of 108, but the way the party combat worked was totally different. The way you moved around was different. The dungeons were larger and tougher. The bosses were a lot tougher. And, the best part, was that there were THREE DIFFERENT STORIES!!! When you started the game, you chose to play as one of three characters. All three eventually join forces later in the game, but you can experience the game from either of their three perspectives. And each three are totally different stories. Its not like you played as a different character going to the same places and saying the same thing. Each one was unique. This blew me away totally. So when Suikoden IV came out, I was excited. However, this was the start of the end.

Suikoden IV, rather than building on the achievements of Suikoden III, reverted to the combat system of the older Suikoden games. Now that wasnt too bad, I could live with it. However, what made it horrible was that the party dropped from 6 to 4. So now, you had to make your selection of 4 characters from 108, and that was just nuts. Also, the game was somewhat based on water, where sailing your ship and having ship to ship combat was essential. But the ship combat was lame and way to easy, and offered no challenge. I never finished Suikoden IV. Then Suikoden Tactics came out, and it sounded good since it was a turn based tactical RPG. But it was horrible. I didnt play much before throwing it down in disgust. I never touched Suikoden V when it came out, as I had had enough of the series.

Suikoden was very rare in the U.S., and I eventually sold Suikoden 1 and 2 for almost $100 each (though I probably payed $20-30 for them used at the time I bought them.) Suikoden III I sold eventually also, but it didnt fetch as much. I never bought Suikoden IV, I think I just borrowed it from Steve or something.

A few weeks ago, PSN released Suikoden. I snagged it right up, and just finished playing through it yesterday. I was amazed that it only took me 12 hours. I didnt remember the game being so easy, but it really is. There isnt much of a challenge to it. Suikoden II was the same. Suikoden III, on the other hand, was a truly tough RPG. That said, I love the first three, and I hope that II and III find their way onto the PS3 also at some point in time.

Student Teaching- Day Three

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Posted by Rob on February 12, 2009 – 7:25 am
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So yesterday I had my first assessment/observation from the district supervisor. I wanted to be a little flashy in front of him, so rather than have the kids take notes, I decided to try for a group project.

I  had just talked to the kids about the Federalist Papers on Tuesday, so yesterday I brought in excerpts from the Federalist #10, and also excerpts from Brutus #1 (which were Anti-Federalist papers). They are important documents (at least in New York) as the Federalists wrote them in order to persuade the people of New York to adopt the Constitution, while Anti-Federalists wrote to counter what the Federalists were saying about the Constitution being a good idea. As it obvious, the Federalists won in the end.

I had threw some questions on the bottom of the sheets, and broke the class into six small groups. They had about 12-15 minutes with each document, then I went over the answers with them at the end. It went very smoothly, and most of the groups did very well. My only problem was one group of two, which I hadn’t realized until too late was a group of two. The third person ended up leaving early, and I didn’t notice, so it was just two very chatty, difficult, unmotivated friends who were left. They proved to be extremely difficult, and they complained a lot, and the worst part was that their group was right in front of the supervisor, so Im sure that he heard all their comments and knew they werent getting any work done. Had I noticed it earlier, I definitely would have split them up into the other groups (who had three each initially.)

However, all in all it went well. The kids definitely enjoyed the oppurtunity to move their desks around and work in groups, even though the work was very difficult. The documents were very wordy and unfamiliar, as they were written in 1787. But they pushed on, and succeeded. I was very shocked to see that one student, who is usually a big complainer and unmotivated when taking notes, really shined and turned around when in a group, and she actually was pretty much the group leader. To see that was very satisfying.

Skunk Attack!!!

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Posted by Rob on February 12, 2009 – 12:30 am
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So I was walking to get my mail after work tonight, and I see this white thing about ten feet away, in front of the mailbox. I assumed it was a plastic bag blowing in the breeze, but then I realized it was a skunk!

I backed up to a safe distance (out of spraying range) and then stomped on the pavement with my feet. That got it moving, and it slowly ambered along down the road. I think that was the closest I ever was to a skunk. Im happy I saw it before I got closer and got stinky.

Student Teaching- Day Two

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Posted by Rob on February 10, 2009 – 4:31 pm
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Today went much better. I decided to ditch power point, and did a straight-up lecture, using a similar note structure to what the teacher uses. It worked a lot better.

I was in front of the class, with the lights on, and everyone focused on me. They were much more engaged, and tried to answer the questions I asked. Also, several students asked me questions also…some good ones, and some not so good ones. For example, when I was talking about the 9th Amendment and its protection from excessive bail amounts, a student asked me, “How much was Michael Jackson’s bail for?”

I felt a lot better and much more confident after todays class. Tomorrow I am getting evaluated by the district supervisor. That is nerve-wracking. I have an insane activity planned for the class. Im not sure if it will work, but I will sure as heck try. Its just that I want to try something aside from just lecture when I am getting evaluated. Gotta look flashy.

Student Teaching- Day One

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Posted by Rob on February 10, 2009 – 4:27 pm
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Well, my first lesson on Monday did not go as well as I would have liked. In college, it is drilled into your head that technology is good, and power points are what kids want to see. Not true.

Power point is bad for several reasons. First off, I was stuck in the back of the room where the computer was, not the front. Thus, I was not in sight of most of the class. I feel that this lack of communication and interaction was lacking and caused the lesson to fail. Secondly, the lights were out, which also gives the illusion of relaxing and not paying attention. Thirdly, the kids would not interact with me, would not ask me questions, and would not answer my questions.

Thus, my first day was somewhat of a failure. Whats good is that I learned what not to do.