Just about everything is making me cranky this morning. I have a longer list on my other blog, dimberly.
Right now though I'm trying to focus on getting myself organized for school. One of the first things I like to do with my online classes is enter in all the due dates onto my calendar. It helps wonders with planning and knowing what you need to do and when.
RODP has 22,000 students this semester - I really have no clue what is a lot or a little in this scenario, but I had to email the online coordinator for my school on the first day of classes because I didn't even SEE my class. He responded that classes on that system wouldn't be available until the next day because they have 22,000 students this semester... so I guess that some there's some inference that that is a lot of students.
So there's a lot of students - and the system is so danged slow. I click on a link to go to a different page and I nearly forget what I wanted to look at when the page finally loads. This is incredibly painful and aggravating!
I really need to CHILL OUT - I have no idea what my problem is. I should eat something, and then when Chris gets home I can go to the gym. Maybe THAT will help me. maybe.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Chemistry Day One
Well, there was a bit of bad news with my Chemistry class but it doesn't really pertain to THAT class.
As I told my family last night, I'm able to see the class lists of who is in my classes, whether its online or on the ground. I can see all my classes on the online area for classes. And looking at my Calculus class I saw that my friend Robert is in there plus 6 other names I recognized from our Pre-Calculus class. There was a group of middle eastern guys in that Precalc class and they were extremely disruptive with their chattiness all throughout the class. Honest to God and Allah, they were chattier than a pack of 13 year old girls on the phone! The instructor was too nice of a guy to them. He actually gave them assigned seats to break them up so they would finally shut it. By the last few weeks of class though they kind of migrated to one another and while the chatter was much more mild, it was still CHATTER. There was a particularly obnoxious guy in that group, just off-the-charts obnoxious. Several times I think he was deliberately trying to rile me up. Since that day I've refered to him as being 'drunk on his own ego'. His name was Mena - and there was a Mina in that class also. I was never sure who was who.
So I saw on my Calc. class roster that Mena is in that class with me. Ughhhh... was it the good Mena or the Bad Mena? I told my family about this question I had last night.
Today was the first day of my Chemistry class - and sure enough there's 3 of those chatty guys from my PreCalc class in there. Ugh. And the Good Mena was there. Well, he must be Mina, the good one. He was quiet and shy, and almost seemed embarassed by his friends. He's young, and probably values HAVING friends more so than having decent good friends. I actually saw them CHEAT on the precalc final - I saw it with my own eyes, instructor left the room and they immediately put their heads together and swapped answers for as much as they dared.
So Mina is in Chemistry with me and that means Mena is in Calculus with me. GREAT. Now all I can hope for is that the instructor, Ms. Jones, can be a REAL BITCH and that he will cross her and she'll throw him out of the class. HA! I would LOVE that.
Otherwise there's 6 other people in that class of 22 that I will already be familiar with - and THEY seem to be great people and I truly look forward to being in class with again.
Chemistry otherwise went fine. The professor, Dr. Anderson is younger than I would have expected - late 30's likely for him. And the way he talks, his diction, everything is just like my husbands cousin who is a physician and I only see him once a year at Christmas while we're up there. They kinda resemble each other as well. Kinda interesting. Hopefully though, Dr. Anderson will open up some and be a bit more personable. Its fine if he's not, I guess we're only spending 3 hours a week with him - but still, it would make the class more fun.
As I told my family last night, I'm able to see the class lists of who is in my classes, whether its online or on the ground. I can see all my classes on the online area for classes. And looking at my Calculus class I saw that my friend Robert is in there plus 6 other names I recognized from our Pre-Calculus class. There was a group of middle eastern guys in that Precalc class and they were extremely disruptive with their chattiness all throughout the class. Honest to God and Allah, they were chattier than a pack of 13 year old girls on the phone! The instructor was too nice of a guy to them. He actually gave them assigned seats to break them up so they would finally shut it. By the last few weeks of class though they kind of migrated to one another and while the chatter was much more mild, it was still CHATTER. There was a particularly obnoxious guy in that group, just off-the-charts obnoxious. Several times I think he was deliberately trying to rile me up. Since that day I've refered to him as being 'drunk on his own ego'. His name was Mena - and there was a Mina in that class also. I was never sure who was who.
So I saw on my Calc. class roster that Mena is in that class with me. Ughhhh... was it the good Mena or the Bad Mena? I told my family about this question I had last night.
Today was the first day of my Chemistry class - and sure enough there's 3 of those chatty guys from my PreCalc class in there. Ugh. And the Good Mena was there. Well, he must be Mina, the good one. He was quiet and shy, and almost seemed embarassed by his friends. He's young, and probably values HAVING friends more so than having decent good friends. I actually saw them CHEAT on the precalc final - I saw it with my own eyes, instructor left the room and they immediately put their heads together and swapped answers for as much as they dared.
So Mina is in Chemistry with me and that means Mena is in Calculus with me. GREAT. Now all I can hope for is that the instructor, Ms. Jones, can be a REAL BITCH and that he will cross her and she'll throw him out of the class. HA! I would LOVE that.
Otherwise there's 6 other people in that class of 22 that I will already be familiar with - and THEY seem to be great people and I truly look forward to being in class with again.
Chemistry otherwise went fine. The professor, Dr. Anderson is younger than I would have expected - late 30's likely for him. And the way he talks, his diction, everything is just like my husbands cousin who is a physician and I only see him once a year at Christmas while we're up there. They kinda resemble each other as well. Kinda interesting. Hopefully though, Dr. Anderson will open up some and be a bit more personable. Its fine if he's not, I guess we're only spending 3 hours a week with him - but still, it would make the class more fun.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Spring Semester 2009
Well, it's about time to get this blog fired up again. Its fun to do, its a release for me, and what little attention its had I got great feedback on it.Spring Semester starts tomorrow and I've just got the last textbook I'll need. It was a BITCH of a book, $214 from the bookstore, and not much better prices elsewhere. ugh.... TWO HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN DOLLARS FOR A BOOK. That is just ridiculous. I mean really - IT'S A BOOK!
Well, I thought it would be fun to take of a pic of my books so you'll know what I'm taking this semester:
- Foundations of Education - an early class for an education major. Education will actually be my minor (taken online)
- Art Appreciation - gotta take care of one more Fine Arts and/or Humanities credit. (taken online)
- Chemistry - part one of two. This will be a class I'll really have to work at. No biggie, just gotta stay up on the work. and THIS IS THE $214 BOOK. (taken on the ground MWF)
- Calculus I - part 1 of of 3 eventually - hahahaha, I'm going to be a Math major - soon enough it's going to be at least TWO math classes per semester! hahahahahha. (taken on the ground MW).
ALL A's this semester is totally within in my realm of abilities.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Textbook Deals
I shop around for my textbooks and have had excellent luck at ordering them all online (and receiving them before classes start. I've added up the "new" costs and "used" costs for the books at my schools bookstore to compare to how well I did with my shopping.
NSCC Best price total: $487.25
My shopping total: $327.41
Wow!! That's a pretty damned big difference!!! I'd gladly pay 327 instead of nearly 500 ANY DAY.
My ethics book looks pretty intense, the Fiction book is immense and I've peaked at the Photography book as that was the first book to arrive - and the first chapter is sailing right over my head but I guess that's why I'm taking the class... learn something, not rehash something I already know.
NSCC Best price total: $487.25
My shopping total: $327.41
Wow!! That's a pretty damned big difference!!! I'd gladly pay 327 instead of nearly 500 ANY DAY.
My ethics book looks pretty intense, the Fiction book is immense and I've peaked at the Photography book as that was the first book to arrive - and the first chapter is sailing right over my head but I guess that's why I'm taking the class... learn something, not rehash something I already know.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Am I a dork or what?
I just ordered this shirt.
I'm going to be a Math Major, I guess I've got to find great humor in things like this.
Plus, imaginary numbers really ticked me off with I learned them. OMG!!! What a freakin' mess? It really makes me wonder about the people who created/discovered/invented/smoked crack while they did it. I really consider imaginary numbers as some seriously messed up. you-know-what. Really.
But I'll be wearing this shirt with pride. Wagering is welcome... How long will it take me to wear this shirt to my math class? It's a M-F class (super yuck). I'll be begin posting about fall semester tomorrow. I've already received 3 out of 5 book orders I placed on Saturday. Classes start in 5 days!!! wooo-hooo!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Should Math be this much fun?
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
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
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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