I am really having fun with Pre-Calculus!!! I just love the feeling when I "get it". I'm cranking out the right answers left and right, my graphing calculator and I are the best of friends... this is FUN!
Damn! If I knew this would be so much fun, I would have done this years ago. Also, as a disclaimer I should mention that I had a Red Bull late this afternoon to help me with my studies tonight. I swear, it works, it helps me wonders. Summer classes, even just two, have been harder to juggle than I thought it would be. I've just been so tired at the end of the day with the two kids and their bickering and whatever activities we've been part of during the day.
I had to move out of my fabulous chair, my regular study spot. My legs got sunburned today and the very warm laptop even with some insulation between, made me WAY too warm. I'm now at the kichen table with the heat of my laptop well spaced away from my legs AND a fan blowing cool air above me.
It is getting a bit late, I'm running out of steam a little bit, plus I opened a beer for a refreshing beverage when I moved out here to the kitchen. Kinda made myself wind down for the evening. I feel I got lots done though. :D
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Summer Semester - week 1
I have this horrible horrible tendency to totally freak out the first week of classes. My stress level is through the ROOF and I seriously doubt my ability to learn anything at all.
Arghh!!!!!!! When will I learn to take the proverbial chill pill BEFORE classes start? This is the 4th semester I've begun, and I do this same thing to myself every time.
I've just got two classes going on this summer. History and Algebra. The History is a continuation of what I've taken before, American History since 1877. And the Algebra is my very first EVER college level math class.
My history class is quite different than the previous class I had. Definitely not a lame instructor here. There's no textbook in fact and no tests. Only 100points total for the class and they all come from essay question quizzes that will we have each week. The quizzes are due each Friday (god, I loved the Sunday night due dates, Friday kind of blows). We'll see how this instructor is... I just kind of slapped stuff together for the first two quizzes. He may rip those to shreds and that would be deserved. I'll be okay with C or D grades for the first round. At least I'll learn what exactly he's after. We'll see. I'm anxious to see how slow/fast this instructor is with getting grades back to us. Again, if his standards are HIGH high High and he's going to preface every sentence about expectations with "you're in college now"... I will want to hold him to similar expectations. gahhh... it's only fair.
Math: I've just finished up my first batch of homework. It wasn't too hard, as long as you don't count the hour I spent on one problem. I would swear to god that my new graphing calculator (the TI-83+) smokes crack. It was just being insane and not doing what the "TI-83+ Graphing Calculator for Dummies" book was telling, or the text book or the class videos. The machine was just being loony and I was about to cry it just wasn't working. So after nearly an hour of this, I gave myself permission to just SKIP that question. Jeeze, I should make myself skip troublemakers after 15-20 minutes max. I had four sections of math to get done, it was only my goal to get 3 done, but I actually pushed through and got all four done.
My goal for the coming week will be to do the practice exercises for each section and do the practice quiz/test for Module One. That will be due in 8 days. Plenty of time. There's weird stuff too I haven't read over yet for the class, like the dropbook. I need to read about that. I guess we need to show our work for a few problem per section. Yippee... and then there's the stupid discussion. I will talk about my calculator smoking crack when I'm not around and I'll recommend the "For Dummies" book for specific calculators.
Two weeks ago I got three novels out of the library. I've barely started one. I'm still not even halfway through the Andrew Jackson biography I'm still interested in, and I have another novel given to me by a friend I want to read. Its from an author I've heard great great things about, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. There's a few books of his I definitely want to read. This one I have, The Autumn of the Patriarch isn't very long. I look forward to Love in the Time Cholera and One Years of Solitude.
Time... I really need time. I often think of sleep, and doing without. But then I've read about how the government has REALLY studied this issue as well. With the space program, they wanted to get the absolute MOST out of the astronauts they were sending into space... initially they hoped the astronauts could work work work the entire time they were up there. Well, it just simply turns out humans NEED to sleep. Bummer - because that would really be a nice chunk of time to get things done. :D
Arghh!!!!!!! When will I learn to take the proverbial chill pill BEFORE classes start? This is the 4th semester I've begun, and I do this same thing to myself every time.
I've just got two classes going on this summer. History and Algebra. The History is a continuation of what I've taken before, American History since 1877. And the Algebra is my very first EVER college level math class.
My history class is quite different than the previous class I had. Definitely not a lame instructor here. There's no textbook in fact and no tests. Only 100points total for the class and they all come from essay question quizzes that will we have each week. The quizzes are due each Friday (god, I loved the Sunday night due dates, Friday kind of blows). We'll see how this instructor is... I just kind of slapped stuff together for the first two quizzes. He may rip those to shreds and that would be deserved. I'll be okay with C or D grades for the first round. At least I'll learn what exactly he's after. We'll see. I'm anxious to see how slow/fast this instructor is with getting grades back to us. Again, if his standards are HIGH high High and he's going to preface every sentence about expectations with "you're in college now"... I will want to hold him to similar expectations. gahhh... it's only fair.
Math: I've just finished up my first batch of homework. It wasn't too hard, as long as you don't count the hour I spent on one problem. I would swear to god that my new graphing calculator (the TI-83+) smokes crack. It was just being insane and not doing what the "TI-83+ Graphing Calculator for Dummies" book was telling, or the text book or the class videos. The machine was just being loony and I was about to cry it just wasn't working. So after nearly an hour of this, I gave myself permission to just SKIP that question. Jeeze, I should make myself skip troublemakers after 15-20 minutes max. I had four sections of math to get done, it was only my goal to get 3 done, but I actually pushed through and got all four done.
My goal for the coming week will be to do the practice exercises for each section and do the practice quiz/test for Module One. That will be due in 8 days. Plenty of time. There's weird stuff too I haven't read over yet for the class, like the dropbook. I need to read about that. I guess we need to show our work for a few problem per section. Yippee... and then there's the stupid discussion. I will talk about my calculator smoking crack when I'm not around and I'll recommend the "For Dummies" book for specific calculators.
Two weeks ago I got three novels out of the library. I've barely started one. I'm still not even halfway through the Andrew Jackson biography I'm still interested in, and I have another novel given to me by a friend I want to read. Its from an author I've heard great great things about, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. There's a few books of his I definitely want to read. This one I have, The Autumn of the Patriarch isn't very long. I look forward to Love in the Time Cholera and One Years of Solitude.
Time... I really need time. I often think of sleep, and doing without. But then I've read about how the government has REALLY studied this issue as well. With the space program, they wanted to get the absolute MOST out of the astronauts they were sending into space... initially they hoped the astronauts could work work work the entire time they were up there. Well, it just simply turns out humans NEED to sleep. Bummer - because that would really be a nice chunk of time to get things done. :D
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