classes are going to keep me busy
Ya, it's only the second week of school and I already can't keep up with all the reading. I have a feelilng that this semester is going to cause a LOT of stress. Just to freak myself out even more, I decided to jot down on a sheet of paper all my major assignments due this semester (both by class and also by date - yes, I'm a freak). It doesn't even include all the reading that I have to do each week. The list is realllllly long (as seen below).
In case you are wondering, I am taking 18 units this semester. Classes are: Art for Children, Infant/Toddler Development, Transitions in the Family Life Cycle, Action Research Methods in Child and Adolescent Development, Observation and Assessment with Children, and an Internship at the Child Study Center on campus (which counts as a individual study course too, but I'm mostly doing it just for the experience).
So the internship is 8 hours per week (4 hours both on Wednesdays and Fridays). The interns are the preschool teachers, plus there is a one-way mirror for other students to observe - hence the name Child Study Center. But in addition to the assignments listed below, the internship also involves planning and implementing a curriculum project each day that we meet. We also have to keep a journal and have certain focus topic questions assigned to us each week that we have to write up our answers to, plus we are assigned two children who we need to write observation reports for each week and compile their work and progress in a memory book which we give to their parents at the end of the semester. So on top of keeping up with all the course readings and curriculum projects, my assignments/exams are:
9/15 - Internship - Journal due (just focus topic questions)
9/21 - Research - Internet assignment due
9/28 - Family Transitions - Exam
9/29 - Internship - Journal due (focus topics, child observations, curriculum write-up)
9/30 - Research - Literary critique and bibliography for paper due
10/5 - Research - Quiz
10/6 - Internship - My week to pick out 8 library books and read to the class
10/13 - Internship - Journal due (focus topics and child observations)
10/13 - Observation/Assessment - Exam
10/14 - Research - Literary review of 5 journal articles due
10/18 - Infant/Toddler - Research critique #1 due
10/27 - Internship - Journal due (focus topics, child observations, curriculum write-up)
11/1 - Infant/Toddler - Exam
11/4 - Family Transitions - Exam
11/8 - Infant/Toddler - Infant Observation paper due
11/9 - Research - Book report due
11/10 - Internship - Journal due (focus topics and child observations)
11/15 - Infant/Toddler - Research critique #2 due
11/17 - Observation/Assessment - Exam
11/23 - Family Transitions - Research paper due
11/23 - Research - Exam
11/24 - Internship - Journal due (focus topics, child observations, letter to parents, curriculum write-up, rough draft of memory books)
12/1 - Observation/Assessment - Child Observation paper due
12/6 - Infant/Toddler - Toddler Observation paper due
12/7 - Research - Paper due and Presentation
12/8 - Internship - Finalized memory books due
12/8 - Observation/Assessment - Group debates in class
12/8 - Art - Project due (model unit with 3 lesson plans & art project), Presentation of project, last day to turn in 5 papers on theory (which can be turned in any time during the semester)
12/13 - Infant/Toddler - Final Exam
12/14 - Family Transitions - Final Exam
12/15 - Observation/Assessment - Child Assessment paper due
I'm also supposed to be able to find time to move into/paint/unpack our new house around mid-November.
Yes, I do believe I am crazy.
Lauren said:
i know it's a lot of stuff and i know it will be stressful, but it's going to work out and it's going to be easier. You never know, some of those assignments might not be difficult at all. And even if they are, this is only for one semester and then you can take fewer units next time, to reward yourself for your hard work. :)
Posted on September 2, 2004 06:45 PMAlison said:
Well they will be difficult, but it is just a few months and I know it will be okay. It will just be a LOT of work. I took just as many classes last semester (even though it didn't include an internship) and I did okay. I don't care, as long as I can graduate in May!
Posted on September 5, 2004 12:56 PM