Blog Assignment 1

About Me
My name is Victoria Kaplan. I live in Lucedale, Mississippi, and I grew up both there and in Pascagoula, Mississippi. I am a 2009 graduate of George County High School. I started attending South the Fall 2009 semester. My major currently is Elementary Education, although it was previously Psychology with a Minor in Biomedical Sciences. I teach dance at Center Stage in Lucedale. I started taking dance lessons when I was 3 years old and have taught for close to seven years, starting out as an assistant, and now choreographing and instructing technique. I have a small immediate family that consists of me, my mother and father, and my 18 year old, younger brother. He is currently at Southwest Mississippi Community College playing soccer. My extended family, however, is quite large. I love having a big family; especially around the holidays.
I have always loved children, and obviously teaching them. Before making the switch to Elementary Education, all other profession ideas that came to mind had something to do with children. Some things that I had considered were pediatrics, adoption law, and child psychiatry. Once I discovered that I didn't really want to attend medical school the decision to go into education was pretty easy. I told myself that everything I have ever wanted to be was tied in some way to children, and what better way to help a child than to be an educator? So, that is why I want to enter the field of education.
I love to read. I feel like the easiest way to just get away from the world is to pick up a book and enter another. I mainly read fiction, but any well written book on a topic that I am interested in will hold my attention for hours. I also love to watch TV. It's horrible how much TV I watch. I never have time to actually watch a TV show when it airs though. So, mostly I have to catch up on my TV shows later, and by later I mean after I get off work or home from school and I have no more homework. (In other words, at 11 and 12 at night.) I also love to watch all types of movies. Dance has always been a huge part of my life. I took classes for 16 years and competed for around 11. I love to watch all genres of dance and spend a lot of time on YouTube doing just that. I hope to be able to remain a part of the art of dance for as long as I possibly can.
Randy Pausch on Time Management
Randy Pausch starts his lecture by making a statement about Americans being bad at time management. Throughout the video he gives tips on becoming better at managing your time which includes making to-do lists and planning and also asking yourself a series of questions along the way. He states that you should ask yourself why you are doing the task you are doing, and what will happen if you chose not to do it. People focus too much on doing things right instead of doing the right thing. In order to get his point across he uses the metaphor "It doesn't matter how well you polish the underside of the banister," meaning that no matter how beautifully you do the wrong thing, it is still wrong. Pausch also talks about how experience comes with time and from bad judgments. You will never get the experience you need without making mistakes first. Pausch talks about how important it is to make plans as well. He also gives the advice to break down your to-do list into smaller steps, and to always do the most unpleasant tasks first.
Time Management Exercises and Lessons
After looking at the pages from Penn State on time management I found a few tips that would help me out personally. I haven't ever really had a bad problem with time management, but these tips should help me rule out the small problems I might have.
One thing that I can do is to use my waiting time. If I made note cards in the past I always used them during my study time. If I use my waiting time more efficiently I will be able to get in a little more study time each day. Another time I found that could be useful is to keep a note pad or paper out while I'm study to jot down thoughts that may enter my mind. Everyone has this problem. You sit down to study and all of a sudden you start thinking about conversations you had with your friends, or a new movie that is coming out, or in my case I start making up dances in my head or get a song stuck in my head and I absolutely have to figure out those lyrics that I can't remember. By having a note pad beside me I can quickly jot down what I'm thinking about that has nothing to do with what I'm studying for a later use. I will be able to go back to that paper when I'm finished and know exactly what I needed to tell my friend and will remember that I need to go watch the trailer to that movie I was thinking about. Another thing that was suggested that will help me is to do one more thing before I go to bed. Even if it is just the smallest thing on my to-do list, I should get it out of the way before bed just so I don't have to deal with it the next day. This site had a lot of neat tips to help manage one's time, but these few are some that I will definitely try.

EDM 310 Second Post

This is my second post for EDM 310.

My First Post Title

This is my first post. I clicked the HTML button which I should always do in EDM 310. I am now a blogger.