Scholarship: SAWE Scholarship / Frank Fong Memorial Scholarship

Scholarship: SAWE Scholarship / Frank Fong Memorial Scholarship

Application Deadline: April 1, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/sawe-scholarship-frank-fong-memorial-scholarship/

14.02.2016 // one essay written this weekend and now it’s on to critical pedagogy. ☀️

MedEvac Foundation International Children’s Scholarship

Deadline is July 31, 2017

http://usascholarships.com/medevac-foundation-international-childrens-scholarship/

07.05.16 It’s crazy to think that my freshmen year of college is over. I can’t wait to go to Italy this summer and begin my sophomore year in September.

xx Sunny

Scholarship: Nordson BUILDS Scholarship Program

Application Deadline: May 15, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/nordson-builds-scholarship-program/

I Lie About My Teaching

Here is an interesting article I came across in The Atlantic. 

The story of a Teacher and how we portray our lives to others in the field. What are your thoughts? 

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I liked Devon. We were all first and second-year teachers in that seminar—peers, in theory—but my colleague Devon struck me as a cut above. I’d gripe about a classroom problem, and without judgment or rebuke, he’d outline a thoughtful, inventive solution, as if my blundering incompetence was perhaps a matter of personal taste, and he didn’t wish to impose his own sensibilities. When it fell upon us each to share a four-minute video of our teaching, I looked forward to Devon’s. I expected a model classroom, his students as pious and well-behaved as churchgoers.

Instead, the first half of Devon’s four-minute clip showed him fiddling with an overhead projector; in the second half, he was trotting blandly through homework corrections. The kids rocked side to side, listless. For all his genuine wisdom, Devon looked a little green, a little lost.

He looked, in short, like me.

Teachers self-promote. In that, we’re no different than everyone else: proudly framing our breakthroughs, hiding our blunders in locked drawers, forever perfecting our oral résumés. This isn’t all bad. My colleagues probably have more to learn from my good habits (like the way I use pair work) than my bad ones (like my sloppy system of homework corrections), so I might as well share what’s useful. In an often-frustrating profession, we’re nourished by tales of triumph. A little positivity is healthy.

But sometimes, the classrooms we describe bear little resemblance to the classrooms where we actually teach, and that gap serves no one.

Any honest discussion between teachers must begin with the understanding that each of us mingles the good with the bad. One student may experience the epiphany of a lifetime, while her neighbor drifts quietly off to sleep. In the classroom, it’s never pure gold or pure tin; we’re all muddled alloys.

I taught once alongside a first-year teacher, Lauren, who didn’t grasp this. As a result, she compared herself unfavorably to everyone else. Every Friday, when we adjourned to the bar down the street, she’d decry her own flaws, meticulously documenting her mistakes for us, castigating herself to no end. The kids liked her. The teachers liked her. From what I’d seen, she taught as well as any first-year could. But she saw her own shortcomings too vividly and couldn’t help reporting them to anyone who’d listen.

She was fired three months into the year. You talk enough dirt about yourself and people will start to believe it.

Omission is the nature of storytelling; describing a complex space—like a classroom—requires a certain amount of simplification. Most of us prefer to leave out the failures, the mishaps, the wrong turns. Some, perhaps as a defensive posture, do the opposite: Instead of overlooking their flaws and miscues, they dwell on them, as Lauren did. The result is that two classes, equally well taught, may come across like wine and vinegar, depending on how their stories are told.

Take the first year I taught psychology. I taught one section; my colleague Erin taught the other.

When I talked to Erin that semester, she’d glow about her class. Kids often approached her in the afternoons to follow up on questions, and to thank her for teaching their favorite course. Her students kept illustrated vocab journals totaling hundreds of words. They drew posters of neurons, crafted behaviorist training regimes, and designed imaginative “sixth senses” for the human body. Erin’s mentor teacher visited monthly and dubbed it an “amazing class” with “incredible teaching.”

Catch me in an honest mood, and I’ll admit that I bombed the semester. I lectured every day from text-filled overhead slides. Several of my strongest students told me that they hated the class and begged for alternative work. I wasted three weeks on a narrow, confining research assignment, demanding heavy work with little payoff. One student openly plagiarized another. I wound up failing several students who, in hindsight, I should have passed. Yet I know that this apparent train wreck of a class was, in truth, no worse than Erin’s.

That’s because I made Erin up. The two classes described above were the same class: mine. Each description is true, and neither, of course, is wholly honest.

I’m as guilty as anyone of distorting my teaching. When talking to other teachers, I often play up the progressive elements: Student-led discussions. Creative projects. Guided discovery activities. I mumble through the minor, inconvenient fact that my pedagogy is, at its core, deeply traditional. I let my walk and my talk drift apart. Not only does this thwart other teachers in their attempts to honestly evaluate my approach, but it blocks my own self-evaluation. I can’t grow properly unless I see my own work with eyes that are sympathetic, but clear and unyielding.

I had a private theme song my first year teaching: “Wear and Tear,” by Pete Yorn. It was my alarm in the mornings, my iPod jam on the commute home. The chorus ended with a simple line that spun through my head in idle moments and captured the essence of a year I spent making mistake after rookie mistake: Can I say what I do?

It’s no easy task for teachers. But I think we owe it, to ourselves if to no one else, to tell the most honest stories that we can. I’ll only advance as a teacher, and offer something of value to those around me, if I’m able to say what I do.

Source: The Atlantic

Share some feedback. What are your thoughts of the article? 

Scholarship: Forest County Potawatomi Foundation Lois Crowe Scholarship

Application Deadline: March 30, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/forest-county-potawatomi-foundation-lois-crowe-scholarship/

Jourdan Lewis, that is how you end a game

Scholarship: Freeman Awards for Study in Asia

Application Deadline: March 1, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/freeman-awards-study-asia/

Imagine calling Woozi (and the rest of Seventeen) whenever you start getting nervous because you know their voices and sweet words can help you calm down.

Scholarship: The No Bull Sports scholarship

Application Deadline: March 1st, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/no-bull-sports-scholarship/

Rotation Recap #4: Orthopedic Surgery/Sports Medicine

This is a little late, but I finished up my 4th rotation about a week and a half ago! This was my 2nd elective rotation, which I did in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine. I really enjoyed this rotation, and learned so much more than I expected to. In 5 short weeks I felt like an ortho pro! I had 3 clinic days a week and 2 OR days. Although I have a general surgery rotation to do still, this was my first surgery experience! 

What I liked about ortho: I really enjoyed how focused my practice was. The practice was huge, so each physician focused on their own specialties. The physician and PA I was with were focused on sports injuries, knees, and shoulders. So I learned almost all there is to know about these types of injuries and conditions. I personally like how “definite” ortho diagnoses can be due to so many special physical exam tests and imaging. I also enjoy specialties in that you can go more in-depth with these patient’s issues. 

What I didn’t like about ortho: As I mentioned, the practice is highly specialized. Due to that, I didn’t get to see many patients that had issues with other body parts besides knees and shoulders. I would have loved to see some trauma, spine, neck, and hand patients but I didn’t really get that opportunity. 

Favorite things about my site: The PA and surgeon I worked with were extremely enthusiastic about helping me learn. They were both extremely smart, and they were very easy going and friendly (which is opposite of the stereotype of orthopedic surgeons that I’ve heard!). The PA even had lesson plans set up for me, something I have yet to have gotten from a preceptor. The demographic variety of patients I saw was very wide (I even saw prisoners). Many of the facilities were also extremely nice. The surgeon had two fellows he was teaching at the time on surgery days, and they were also very enthusiastic about teaching me things, even though they had no obligation to. The site was very fast-paced, which I really liked.

Things I didn’t like about my site: On clinic days, I had to travel between offices throughout the day. Often times the offices would be on opposite sides of the city of Pittsburgh! It put a lot of miles on my poor car. 

Common things I saw: Meniscus tears, collateral ligament sprains, ACL tears, osteoarthritis, rotator cuff sprains and tears, knee contusions, patellar subluxations, Bakers cysts, and minor joint effusions.

Uncommon things I saw: Osgood-Schlatters, shoulder dislocations, patellar fracture, tibial fracture, and large (like, 120 cc of aspirate) joint effusions. Common procedures: Joint injections, joint aspirations, brace placements, and suture removal. I also got to first assist in surgery, which consisted of procedures such as suturing, suctioning, extremity maneuvering (sometimes I’d have to hold an arm above my head for 20+ minutes!), ACL graft preparation, and placing sterile dressings.

Overall thoughts: I enjoyed this rotation so much! It really helped me solidify my musculoskeletal physical exam, reading x-rays, gave me some tips on reading MRIs, and made me very confident in the OR, which I’m sure will carry over to my surgery rotation. I got so much out of this rotation and I’m really hoping that someday I can work in an ortho practice as fantastic as this one was. I was really bummed to leave this rotation, but I have already planned to go back for a few OR days during my scheduled breaks from rotations to get some more experience! 

Up Next: Family Medicine

Scholarship: The No Bull Sports scholarship

Application Deadline: March 1st, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/no-bull-sports-scholarship/

Here’s a quick desk tour! Its rather minimalistic, which I love because it keeps me concentrated on things.  I also have my favourite figures (bokuto & akaashi) bc I’m bokuaka trash 🙌🏻 

Scholarship: Freeman Awards for Study in Asia

Application Deadline: March 1, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/freeman-awards-study-asia/

Preparing to ravenously stuff his face, the grad student catches the confused and pitying glances of two of his students.

Free Online Course on Disability

The course will starts on 20 February 2017.

http://usascholarships.com/free-online-course-disability/

Why Most Professionals Prefer Free Online College Courses?

From last few years, competition among trainees, learners, students and on job professionals has been becoming tough and complex. Many well known academies and educational institutes have started dozens of specific free online college courses to make the people able for different sensitive jobs and positions. It is quite simple to join such websites to learn required course. But, you must be able to understand basics and logical benefits of the training programs which you want to attempt and start immediately. Free online courses with certificate are more popular and common among technology related professionals who need latest updates and information about systems which they are managing.

Free online college courses include different main subjects that are massively useful and worthy in professional life, especially in business trade and office management. Value of such certificates is greater and acceptable in global business market. While, on the other side you can practically learn many new and beneficial things which can perfectly support you in starting the professional career or any business. If you are interested to join some websites to learn free online courses with certificate, then for this you should first get registered and then login to dashboard. After this you must look at a line in which dozens of specific and latest courses have been mentioned with approved certificates. In next step, every registered learner or student has to look for relevancy of selected courses with his/her previously completely degree. It is necessary for students to choose only relevant free online college courses instead of random selection. If you are doing a job as executive or management member, then surely you go to admit for learning office and business management courses with certificates. First, you should check out detail and worth of selected Free Online Courses With Certificate and then you should move ahead for admission or registration.

Scholarship: Freeman Awards for Study in Asia

Application Deadline: March 1, 2017

Link: http://usascholarships.com/freeman-awards-study-asia/

7/1/17 // spent this morning organising my uni room before working on some prokaryotic genetics work