Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Dissent in the Ranks

This week is the last of the summer term. Things are getting pretty heated for many of the students in this program, whether it is the amount of assignments that are due this week or because of peoples' opinions about this program. There have been some feelings expressed from some of my classmates that show that they are unhappy with this program and that we are learning somewhat irrelevant things. My advice to those people is to stick it out for one more week and use the month of August to decompress. Come the fall we will have some different flavors to add into the mix and things will be different enough to form a new opinion with. There will always be hoops that need to be jumped through and we need to figure out how to do the jumping in ways that cause us the least amount of stress. It is a skill to be learned.
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5 comments:

  1. Kerri ThelenJuly 28, 2009 at 11:10 AM

    You are a wise man Drew. Well put. I think that the tension is from the mounting assignments, and that stress management is a skill that needs to be learned. That may be one of the lessons that summer is teaching us... to get organized, manage our tasks, and take things one step at a time.

    As my Dad says, "cheer up, it will get worse." I think that in the fall we will be much busier, however I think that we will be able to apply what we learn in the classroom. When you can get your arms around what you are learning and directly apply the lessons, it becomes more bearable.

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  2. Ben LusterJuly 28, 2009 at 11:16 AM

    Drew,

    You, Kerri and I all posted similar ideas on our blogs which I think confirms our ideas. People are getting frustrated and it has become more apparent as me move through this program. But you are right, we may need some time away from each other in August to come back with new vigor and excitement.

    Thanks for the post Drew!

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  3. CrashJuly 30, 2009 at 10:24 PM

    Thanks for the positivity, Drew! It is so hard this semester to feel so overwhelmed with work and feel like it may or may not be helpful in the classroom. I understand how people are feeling so negative, but it's so nice to hear something encouraging.

    I once heard a sermon called "keep your fork." It really wasn't that religious, but it had a good point. After eating at a restaurant, the waiter reminds us to keep our fork for dessert. And if we look at life situations like this, it's a good lesson, because it's the notion that you should keep your spirits up, because it gets better!

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  4. living on the edgeJuly 30, 2009 at 10:55 PM

    Thanks Drew et al.
    I'm already feeling better. Seriously though, I believe we may actually find ourselves incorporating this knowledge -- maybe even subconsciously -- in our student teaching.
    As a U of M prof once told me, no knowledge goes to waste or something to that effect.

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  5. Kathryn RiddleJuly 31, 2009 at 12:28 PM

    I like your way of thinking Drew :) I think August as a decompression time will do everyone some good!

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