Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts

The Beginning 

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Today was the first day of my teaching adventures. I don't really know how true that is since I've already taught many lessons (I'm so very wise, you see), but we'll call it that anyway.

I am currently typing on a brand new spanking* laptop, and....well. Let me make a list or two.

Things I Like About New Laptop
-it's new
-Kid Pix plus other various kid-related programs
-built in webcam
-case that has many zippers and compartments

Things I Do Not Like About New Laptop
-huge
-heavy
-ugly
-expensive
-I have to bring it with me to class every day
-it's a Toshiba
-all of the neat programs get wiped at the end of the year

Awesome?

My first day of teacher's college taught me a couple of things. First, some teachers ask a lot of unnecessary questions: "Can we use our laptop to check our email when we get home after class?" or "Where do we buy books?" or "Where is the bookstore?". To me these questions are like asking plot-related questions within the first 10 minutes of a movie. Unnecessary, because you'll find out the answer if you are quiet and keep watching. Or in this case, if you commonly buy books in a bookstore.

Another thing I learned today was that the vast majority of teacher's college students are warm, friendly and lovely people. I think...this is going to be good, laptop and all.

Speaking of which, if you have a suggestion for a name for the new beast of a computer, please feel free to leave a comment.

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Speed Stick 

Saturday, April 4, 2009 - Posted by Amanda Bast
On my last day of placement, the kids were working on commercials to advertise a product that they would find in their bathroom. I took videos of most of these commercials, and I really wish I could post one, but that would probably be illegal. BUT I can post a transcript of my video:

H: This is the best deodorant. If a dragon comes to your school, get in a fight. Who do you think's gonna win. The dragon. No. Think again. It's gonna be the human.

(silence)

Another kid in class: Huh?

(more silence)

Teacher: Alright you gotta show us the deodorant. You hid it. We couldn't see the Speed Stick. For dragon fighters, right? You gotta show us the product. Do you want to try it again?

H: Sure.

Teacher: Action.

H: Hey, this is the best deodorant because if you wear it then a dragon comes to your school then you get in a fight. Who do you think's gonna win. The dragon. No. Think again. It's gonna be the human because um. This deodorant gives you special powers to fight it.

(long pause)

(said in quiet but authoritative voice) SPEED STICK.

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hygienic revolution 

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
This morning I sent an email to someone in charge:

"To whom it may concern,

I am a fourth year student here at the university, and I've noticed something over the past few years I thought I would share in light of the ecoli outbreak. When I have paid a visit to the UC washrooms, I've noticed (on more than one occasion) staff from hospitality services wearing an apron when they enter a stall. These are the same aprons they wear when preparing food.

I'm not saying that wearing an apron in the washroom is a cause of ecoli contamination, not by any means. Guelph hospitality services has an excellent reputation, but isn't it important to look at the little things like this? I do realize that it is impossible to be 100% sanitary at all times, but I really think this is a simple issue that needs to be addressed. As a student, it is important to know that hospitality services have our best interest in mind.

Thank you for your time and consideration."

This afternoon I got two responses. The first:

"Thank you for your email. We will follow this up. David B."

The second:

"Hi my name is Chris and I am the manager of C6 foodcourt. I thank you very much for your observations regarding aprons being worn into the public washrooms and I agree with you. Today we have informed all staff to make sure when using the washroom they are to remove their aprons before washroom use. We are making every effort to increase awareness among our staff regarding food safety and we thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Please do not hesitate to approach me directly in C6 if you have any further concerns. Sincerely, Chris"

The world is a little cleaner thanks to me, and this feels like an accomplishment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go wash my hands.

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Avant-Garde 

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
The following is a personality profile of everyone in my Avant-Garde music class. Why? Because I can't sleep, and because I find everyone so fascinating.

Excessively smiley guy - sits at the front, fidgets, and legitimately loves avant-garde music. I think he's the only one.
Guy who belongs in a boy band* - wears big diamond studs and has extremely styled hair. Definitely visits a salon on a regular basis.
Bad facial hair guy* - he carries a skateboard to class.
Guy who got out of doing a presentation because his laptop is crappy* - seriously.
Princess girl - her job is to be Disney princesses and sing at functions (I know, I'm jealous too)
Girl who sounds like she has a retainer in her mouth, but doesn't - I know that sounds mean, but it's the best way to describe her.
Girl with annunciation issues - hangs out with Retainer Girl...it's ridiculous.
Girls at back of room who don't say anything - I think there are two of them.
Girl with boyfriend - they play tonsil hockey before every class
Big computer science guy* - he likes computers.
Sufjan* - he looks like Sufjan Stevens, but wears Mr. Rodgers cardigans. He also played a washcloth in class. I mean that quite literally.
Migrating Sean - started at the back of the class, ended up beside me. We're friends because we both wear glasses.
Guy who never had to do the presentation because I've never heard him speak - pretty sure he's a robot.
Strange Sarah - she's super tall and looks like she belongs in Strange But Delightful Clothes magazine.
Piano Hands Guy* - Refreshingly weird. He did a presentation where he attempted to put a sock on his foot, with tiny keyboards taped to his hands. He says something every class that makes me laugh, but I don't, because I'm never sure if he's kidding or not.
Old lady Laura - she's 70 something and is auditing the class just because she wants to - wicked awesome.
Tiny brown guy* - he's tiny and brown, and looks like he's 12.
Migrating Sean - started off at the back of the class, and ended up beside me. We're friends because we have glasses.
Quiet Craig - I have been sitting beside him for 9 classes and the only thing I know about him is that he is in history. Oh, and his landlord has a dog. He doesn't speak.



*wears excessively tight pants

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why I love CYF* girls, part 2493 

Friday, April 4, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
In the MINS lounge, our regular hang out spot, someone mentions something about Seniors Nude Swim in Toronto somewhere, which leads to a discussion of pool sanitation, which spurs us to talk about little kids peeing in pools.

Amy: I wonder if your eyes would burn if you opened them.

Anna: Well, is urine acidic?

Trista: Well, are you swimming in a pool of entirely pee, or a regular swimming pool, and someone has just peed in it?

Amy: Oh...I don't know.

Me: I'll go with the entire pool of pee.

Britt: I think it would burn.

Trista: But what about if it splashes up in your eye?

Me: How...would....what?

Becca: You've had some interesting babysitting experiences, haven't you?



We were unable to come to any sort of a conclusion. What do you think? Burn, or no burn?


*CYF = Child, Youth and Family

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Irony? or Amanda's self fulfilling prophesy? 

Thursday, March 27, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Staying up too late working, and then being dead tired the next day and worried about falling asleep during a presentation about sleeping disorders.

I also remember having a difficult time writing a paper about children with ADHD last term because I was so distracted with other things. I'd start writing, but whenever I'd get on a roll I would completely abandon wh

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real life improv, scene one 

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
If you haven't heard of the group Improv Everywhere, I strongly urge you to check out their site. They're a group of people that get together and do improv in the streets of New York. This isn't small scene improv. This is hundreds of people getting together to complete a mission. For example, 200 people wore blue polo shirts and khaki pants and went into a Best Buy and wandered around. A really cool one worth checking out is when hundreds of people froze simultaneously in place for five minutes at Grand Central Station. They do it just to get reactions. It's awesome.

I got a very small dose of this at school today. By very small, I mean I was the only one involved. Some of the girls were doing an hour-long presentation on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (which is a pretty fascinating disorder, by the way) and asked me to be a secret and special part of their presentation. Throughout the hour, I displayed obsessive compulsive behaviour. It had to be noticeable enough to cause small disruptions, but not overly distracting because they still had to carry out a presentation. To aid me, Anna switched the powerpoint slides back and forth four times every time she changed it. Here are some things I did (always in groups of three):

-unzippered and zippered my backpack
-drinking from my waterbottle (this was a whole obsessive process of wiping the lid and taking it off and...it took awhile)
-flipping my paper over
-moving my pen around the desk
-getting a binder out from my bag (which involved more zippering and flipping papers around)
-at one point I got up from my desk, walked to the door, wiped the door handle with my sleeve three times (OC people are massive germaphobs) then left the room. To make it more authentic, I actually went to the washroom and washed my hands so I had paper towel in my hand to open the door with. I then opened and shut the door (three times, of course) and straightened the garbage cans that were askew, and threw the paper towel away. I then walked back to my desk, flipped the little writing desk open and closed and straightened my coat (all three times)
-folded my scarf in three. If I didn't do it right the first time, I had to redo it until it was in thirds.
-rolling my sleeves up and back down

I think that's about all. Remember, I was going for an hour. It was amazing, because by the end of it, some people still had no idea what I was doing and thought that I had completely lost my mind. The girls presenting said some people glared and me with disgust whenever I did something disruptive.

It was a really bizarre experience, but I'm glad I got to do it. It was pretty fun causing a ruckus on purpose, but I was in a really weird headspace after the presentation because I was so focused on doing things three times over. It was amazing the response it got from people, though.

If anyone else has any slightly insane improv performances for me to participate in, I'd be more than willing!

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Fascinating. 

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Oh baby, the world is getting weirder by the minute.

I'm getting good marks again. Frankly, it's starting to freak me out. I can't figure out why I'm suddenly good at school. Fascinating.

Professors are people too. I've had a conversation (extremely brief, but still I talked to him) with a prof, and an amusing email exchange with another one. You laugh, but this is a first for me. Fascinating.

The guy who started a conversation using a Kit-Kat is the grand poobah of all things improv at Guelph. Anything improv at the university is because of him. There are weekly improv workshops that are open to anyone. These workshops fit perfectly into my schedule. Fascinating.

This just in: The Haus boys are slacking in the hlog department. Not so fascinating.

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discussion in strategies for behaviour change class 

Friday, January 25, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Maureen (teacher): "blah blah blah, I can't teach. Stimulus and response are co-dependent. You can't have one without the other. I'm a horrible teacher."

Laura: "So, what if you poke a paralyzed guy in the leg, and he doesn't see you do it? Poking him is the stimulus, but what is the response?"

Britt: "The response is that there is no response."

Laura: "No response isn't a response. Doing nothing is not responding to a stimulus."

Maureen: "But you're talking about a physical response only."

Tasha (this was not said in a joking manner): "But the paralyzed guy could have an emotional response to the stimulus. Like, he might feel sad that you poked him and he can't feel it."

Rachel: "NO, he didn't see you poking him. He didn't know it happened."

Girl behind me: "You said earlier that a stimulus is something that impinges on the senses. If the paralyzed guy couldn't see or feel the poke, then it wasn't a stimulus."

entire class: "OoooOOOoOoooooOOoooh!!!!!!"

another girl: "So poking the paralyzed guy isn't a stimulus?"

Girl behind me: "Not in this case."

Maureen: "But would it be a stimulus for someone else?"

Britt: "Yes, if they could feel it."

Maureen: "So it would depend on the context?"

Another girl: "Yes."

Maureen: "So making meaning depends on the context."

me (to Mel): "It took Maureen three classes to try and teach this concept, and it was summed up and clarified by poking a paralyzed guy."

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"What about Twix? Do you like Twix?" 

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Today was a very eventful day. I baked cheesecake for Dawn's birthday and small group. Cheesecake seems unimportant, but today was the second time I have ever eaten cheesecake in my LIFE (the first time courtesy of Jessimeca...hey, do you still read this??). Mom and I discovered that you can recycle tinfoil. That was pretty monumental this morning. We also ate some extremely good salad for lunch. Again, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but man, it was some mighty fine salad.

That is all I have to write about today, but I leave you with a challenge that I really hope you'll consider. This is inspired by my newest friend, Thomas. It worked for him, so maybe it will work for you. Start a conversation with a complete stranger using the following line:

"Do you like Kit-Kats?"

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here we go again, whoa-oh whoa-oh 

Monday, January 7, 2008 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Every morning when I wake up, before my feet hit the floor, I lay there and try to figure out what I have to do that day. Some days I wake up and I know there is something important/exciting to do that day. This morning, I woke up and tried to figure out why I felt this impending sense of dread.

Ah frick, school.

Then I tried to figure out what class I have on Mondays.

Ah frick, Maureen.

Needless to say, I'm in a horrible mood right now.

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Something atrocious 

Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Page 226 of my parenting research textbook talks about "child-first language". Basically what this means is that when discussing children with exceptionalities, you say the child first, and then the exceptionality. For example, you would say "a child with a visual impairment" as opposed to "a visually impaired child". This is a big deal in this field. A very big deal. We get docked marks in papers sometimes.

The author ensures that this issue is stressed. Turn the page, however, and you will see on page 228, a heading that says "Parenting the Autistic Child". A HEADING!! Not just slipped in a paragraph by accident, a freaking heading. A page after it talks about child-first language. There are a few more instances like this throughout the chapter (Parenting the Physically Impaired Child etc.). Terrible! Slightly funny, because the two headings are only a page apart, but still pretty terrible.

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directly from my research methods textbook 

Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - Posted by Amanda Bast
"Another obvious closed-ended question is about gender. To leave such questions open-ended runs the risk that some respondent will either purposefully or inadvertently answer in a way that provides meaningless data. (Putting "sex" with a blank after it, for example, is an open invitation for some character to write "yes" rather than the information wanted.)"


Yeeeeeeah, I'd probably do that.

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I've been thinkin' bout the future 

Friday, October 19, 2007 - Posted by Amanda Bast
I'm having a "I am going to quit school and join the circus, run a bingo hall, or start my stand-up (sit-down) comedy tour while supporting myself by scrapbooking other peoples' marathons/triathelons and making pretty earrings" kind of day.

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The first ever blog written that mentions Starbucks 

Sunday, March 18, 2007 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Today I thought it might be a lovely idea to take my little self over to Starbucks for a drink and a little uninterrupted study time. I find studying at home especially difficult, and since librarys tend to make me antsy, I opted for the Starbucks in Chapters.

Apparantly Starbucks on a Sunday afternoon is the place to be - it was packed! I really had my heart set on a chai, so I decided to take my chances on finding a seat. The Starbucks staff were who you would expect to be working at Sb's - the metro guy with one pierced ear, the funky artsy girl, and a cute indie rocker-esque bearded guy. Metro guy took my order and was smiley and super douper, the bearded lovely smiled with plenty of eye contact, and funky artsy girl messed up my order, and I felt like a HUGE jerk correcting the order from non-fat milk to soy. I wanted to apologize and say that I wasn't in fact a snob, but that milk makes me wheezy. But really, I don't want to say that, what if she yells, "Grande soy tazo chai for the wheezy kid!" when my order is up? Yeesh.

I found a spot on the purple couch next to a blonde girl deep in a book. There was an old guy by the window to my left and a guy most likely in his mid-thirties but single and on the prowl. He knew everyone. He chatted it up with blonde girl, clearly trying to make an impression. Blonde girl was upset about leaving her Yorkshire Terrier at home because she was afraid he'd run off one day. The guy (later I found out his name was Dan) suggested some sort of an alert system for the dog to push with his nose to let blonde girl know he was ok. A cute attempt at trying to make her feel better, but I don't think she was impressed. Then a friend of blonde girl's showed up and they discussed their puppies some more. As they got started on organic food for the dogs, I had to stifle my laughter.

I tried not to laugh again when the old guy came up to Dan and told him half his life story. I love older people who talk to anyone. My mom always gets stopped by these people in the grocery store. I hope I'm one of those people when I'm old.

One of my favourite pasttimes seems to be sitting and watching people (in a completely non-creepy way, of course), and then analyzing them. I noticed several groups of people at Starbucks:

1. the classy, I read this highly intellectual book for my own pleasure and cognitive stimulation and feed my dog only the finest of organic food and dress posh to sit and drink my grande-mocha-choca-latte-frappe-no whip-non-fat-shaken-not stirred coffee, while wearing dark rimmed glasses and thinking about how wonderful my Starbucks life is

2. the hippy bookworms with funky clothes and crazy hair who only drink Starbucks because it's fair trade

3. the parents who bring their children to Starbucks, and feed them cupcakes while they sit and read (I have issues with this...would it kill you to pay attention to your kid?? I could write a whole blog on this topic alone, but I digress.)

4. students who are so clearly students (ie, UW/WLU sweatshirt, gross hair, huge coffee, backpack, textbook) that it makes me feel at home

5. Paul McIllwraith

The beauty of sitting and observing is that you realize how similar people actually are. It doesn't matter if they're in Starbucks, at a concert, or a rollarskating rink, there seems to be a desire for community, to belong, and to know that someone is listening. I think within any subculture, there is the guy who is everyone's friend, the old man, the blonde girl, the parents, the kids, the hippies, the students, and the in-betweeners. Its just a matter of when and where these people's lives happen to cross that makes the difference. I think next weekend I'm going to study at an old folks home to see what fascinating things go on there.

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Spring? 

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - Posted by Amanda Bast
Today I drove home from work with the windows rolled down and the music blaring. The Golden Dogs made for a lovely soundtrack whilst driving through the UW/Laurier area around lunchtime. I love how University Plaza is always bustling no matter what time of day it is, and it's most often crawling with students. Sometimes (a lot of times...mmm ok, all the time) I really wish I went to university in the 'loo and not Guelph*. That part of the city feels so cool and special and awesome, but I'm not "legitimately" a part of it all. As long as I don't wear U of G clothing, and I talk in a loud voice about studying in the Laurier library, I can always pretend that I fit in...shhhh they'll never know. I think I used the word whilst wrong.

I bought a new hairdryer while at University Plaza. It's red and 1860 watts. The lady at the store told me that it's only recently become legal in Canada to have a hairdryer over 1600 watts. I own a previously illegal hairdryer, and that makes me feel slightly badass, for lack of a better word. But what I want to know is this: who the heck makes up laws about hairdryers? Maybe the same people who make up names for paint colours.

Speaking of which, Mom picked out a paint colour she thought would be good for the kitchen, but upon bringing it home she decided that she no longer liked it because it was "the colour of your spit after you eat black licorice." Personally, I think that would be a good name for a paint colour, along with "stubbed toe" purple and "infected nose boogie" green. I should submit names for paint colours to Gliddon or Pittsburg Paints a la Adam Sandler and Hallmark greeting cards in Mr. Deeds. I was thinking recently that I should set goals for myself...maybe that's a start.

Mom just came downstairs and turned on the TV. Tyra Banks just popped this dude's pimples on air. Classy. If Tyra Banks has a talk show, then I could have a talk show. OooOOohh, goal #2!

Goal #3: write a stand-up routine.

Oh boy, I have alot of work to do.







*side note: I love the University of Guelph, and all the lovely people at the University of Guelph, I just don't like the city of Guelph or it's atmosphere as much as I do Waterloo.

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