30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 22: My Worst Habits

Okay, so some of my worst habits: 

(1) Getting caught up in one thing and then not having time to do another.

(2) Letting my apartment get cluttered 

(3) Not reading as much as I'd like to read (i.e. making the time to read)

(4) Getting Distracted

(5) Not eating as healthy as I should

(6) Not exercising as much as I should

(7) Spending an excess of time on Social Media

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 21: What Makes Me Sad

Here are some things that make me sad in no particular order:

(1) Loved ones being sick and/or hurt

(2) Sad television, movies, and moments in books (yes I will cry at sad commercials or sad television shows and movies)

(3) Life's Sad Moments (We all have them)

(4) World Problems

(5) Children living in sad situations

Hey, I'm happier more than sad these days so not much makes me cry, but every once in a while something will make me sad or even make me cry, but it's hard to go into much details here as usually when something makes me sad it's in the moment. 

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 20: What Makes Me Happy

Here are some things that make me happy in no particular order of importance:

(1) Being around children--sometimes children can just be so quirky and funny and innocent (this is why I volunteer at my church in the nursery and why I enjoy my job as a teacher) [It should also be noted at this time I do not have children of my own]

(2) Spending time with my family, pets, and loved ones

(3) Spending time with friends

(4) Working on my direct selling businesses and sharing them with others

(5) Funny movies, television, and books (yes I am known to Laugh Out Loud even when home myself) 

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 19 My Favorite Movie

Okay, so I have to say this one is very tough for me as I love a lot of different movies and there are many that I could watch over and over again, no problem. In fact, I'm not even 100% sure that I have a FAVORITE favorite movie. I guess if I have to pick one for the purposes of this blog then I will pick Sex and the City 2.

So I tossed up on whether to pick the first one or the second one and I have to say, the second one for me is better and it's because it's all about the fun of spending time with your girlfriends and the fun of the series Sex and the City. I own the entire series on DVD as well as both movies and I've read and own the book by Candace Bushnell. It's just a fun series to watch and read. Yes, there were episodes I didn't like and yes there were parts about the series I didn't like, but what series or movie do you like 100%? I like that there is this relationship with the girls that you really only experience if you have friendships like the ones in the series between Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha. The friendship chemistry is incredible and really just cannot be matched anywhere else. It's also great that it's showing how friendship can last over time through life's tough moments, but your girlfriends will always be there for you. And I like the second movie over the first because it is focused more on the friendship and less on the relationship drama like the first movie. The first movie was just a little too drama filled for me, even though I love it as well, but I think the second one is just icing on the cake to the series and if they had ended it with the end of the first movie, I'm not sure I would have liked that ending. 

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 18 A photograph of Me

So I have a couple of pictures of myself on my blog already, but here is another one of me. This one was taken at my parents house last spring and the dog is my brother's dog Troy. He's such a cutie! I love labs and have grown up around them (my parents also have a chocolate lab Kodiak). Eventually, I hope to have my own lab once I get a nice house.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 17 My Favorite Blogs

This post will be fairly short as I am still working on following the blogs of others. Usually when I read a post on a blog it is because it is shared to social media and the topic seems interesting to read. I will list some types of blogs that I try to keep up with though.

1. First and foremost, I try to look at blogs from top leaders in the network marketing and direct sales industry. The main ones I look at are top leaders in AVON as that is my primary direct sales business as it is the one I have been working the longest. I will not list them here because the list is too long, but if you are an AVON Representative or in direct sales I definitely recommend that you find some good blogs from famous people in the industry that have been successful at what they do.
2. I like to look at blogs that are about blogging. As someone new to blogging myself, I like to follow blogs that are about how to blog. It may seem silly, but it is truly very useful and helpful for me.
3. From time to time I look at food blogs because who doesn't enjoy eating? Plus, I am also working on becoming a food blogger myself as well as learning how to cook.
4. Blogs that my friends write. If I find out my friend is writing, I do try to follow their blog posts to show my friends and connections support in their endeavor. Love you guys if you are reading my blogs. :-)

I recommend following blogs that you enjoy reading, that's what I do and I think that's what most people do. I hope that you enjoy reading my blogs too. 

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 16 Thoughts on Education

The topic for Day 16 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge I found is "Thoughts on Education". Being a teacher myself, I have a few different views of this topic and I'm going to approach it in a couple of different ways. 

Let me start off with early childhood (pre-kindergarten) since that is where I am currently a teacher. It is so amazing what children learn from the time they are born to when they go to Kindergarten. Between my experience at church watching the nursery children (Infant-Two) and now my experience at work with children from Infants to Five (Primarily the Two-Three year olds) my eyes have truly been opened to how much impact early education has on a child. I know many two year old children that know all of their colors, some numbers, and some letters. Some of them even know the colors and numbers in Spanish. We have two year old children that know every letter A-Z and three year old children that can already count to 20. This is huge given that the goal for the end of Kindergarten (at least in my state of VA) is for students to know all of their letters and letter sounds and to be able to count to 100 by ones, fives, and tens. Think of it this way: If the student already knows how to count to 20 at age 3, give him two more years and he will count to 100 no problem by age 5. Then, in Kindergarten he can focus on learning how to count by 5s and 10s already knowing how to count by ones. 

There is a dramatic difference in children that have been educated either at home or at school prior to Kindergarten versus those who have not. During my schooling to be a teacher, I had a practicum experience in a Kindergarten class in September. There was a noticeable difference in the kids that had a knowledge base and the ones that did not. The best way for children to learn during these years leading to Kindergarten is through play as well as observation and definitely listening to books. Games and reading are the best way for kids to learn. They have to learn without necessarily knowing they are being taught. Get out a game of Candyland and use it to teach colors. Buy a counting book and read it to your child. 

Now jump to K-12 years. As a former fourth grade teacher, it is my belief that currently (at least in the public school system) there is too much of a focus on testing. I don't understand why we cannot go back to even the days when I was in school in the 90s and early 2000s when there was not so much focus on testing. We actually learned for the fun of it. Yes we had formal tests, but the scores did not matter as much and we were not forced into a formal test literally every week. School is no longer fun for students because they are forced into so much testing. It's stressful on the teachers, parents, and even more so the students. I know part of it is the reality, so we have to get used to it, but bottom line some major reform is needed in our education system. As a teacher, there is so much focus on these standardized tests that you cannot plan lessons just for the fun of it. I remember the days of myself being a student and learning was always fun for me, but I also remember that we did not have nearly as much testing. Nowadays, it is very difficult as the teacher to teach without feeling like you are teaching to the test and it is difficult for the children to learn because you are forced to push through content so fast that the students barely have time to take it in before they are taking a test on it. I'm not saying there shouldn't be standards because there should be some sort of guide for a teacher to use as far as the topics to teach and even goals for what the student should accomplish by the end of the school year, but it shouldn't all be based on the scores of a standardized test. 

I will admit that the impact this focus on testing has on our education system is not as much of an issue for K-2 students. However, even in K-2 classrooms teachers are forced to do testing for data collection purposes and sometimes that can be overwhelming as well. Especially in math and reading, teachers even for K-2 are forced to give test after test to see where the child is at. As soon as you think you are done getting data, you have to go and do it again. However, in my experience students in many K-2 classrooms still seem to enjoy school and the teachers usually have more freedoms at these grade levels depending on what school they are in and how that school operates.

Please note this is coming from my own teaching experiences and your own teaching experience or experience with your school system may be different. I hope that it is different.

Now to totally switch gears, everything above is for the most part talking about "Formal education" in the early years. Even if it is more informal than formal as in a parent reading to a child, I am still talking about what we usually think about when we think of education. Now I am going to take a turn to self-education. 

I am someone that has always enjoyed learning. I seek out learning and do a lot of things outside of the formal school setting. Even as a college student, much of my learning was on my own through reading, etc. As a network marketer, I have sought out education to do with my direct sales businesses and growing them. I follow many other network marketers, inspirational speakers, representatives in my main company, etc. I seek out training, good books to read, and enjoy learning. 

As a teacher, I have sought out additional books to read to make me a better teacher. Since getting my master's degree I have worked on getting my gifted education endorsement added to my degree and in the future I may go back to school to add another little something extra if I can afford to do so. I also seek out the advice of other teachers as well as enjoy in-service learning experiences where I can learn from others that have done it before me. 

It is my firm belief that it is important to self-educate yourself in addition to any formal education you may receive going to school before Kindergarten, your K-12 education, and any college or postgraduate experiences. 

Then of course there is the whole matter of we learn through life's experiences. This is true from the time we are born to the time we die. There are many many things that I have learned through my experiences these last 25 and a half years (almost 26). There are many more things that I will learn over the rest of my life as well. We never really stop learning and if we do, then we aren't doing something right. Learning is constant each and every day.