What’s on your mind? (Students/school edition).

[goldmac2006]

Hey everyone! As per your requests and the moderation team’s suggestions, I’ve created a new thread based around a popular off topic thread that we discussed our life experiences in “What’s on your mind?” This thread is all about off topic things that ain’t Apple, but more towards school-related stuff, internships, fellowships, college, and educational opportunities.

Feel free to share your school stories and experiences here.

I’ll kick things off by sharing a bit about my life. I recently caught up on some lab papers after my friend in physics class suddenly dropped out. On top of that, I’m starting L’Space MCA this Tuesday! Can’t wait to dive into it.

 

[decafjava]

Been a long time since I was in university but I am eager to read other's experiences for sure.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

An excellent idea, and I shall follow it with interest.

 

[goldmac2006]

Been a long time since I was in university but I am eager to read other's experiences for sure.

So how long ago did you finish your masters degree 📜 and what was your thesis?

An excellent idea, and I shall follow it with interest.

Go for it! 👊

 

[Clix Pix]

As the saying goes, "if you build it, they will come......"

 

[goldmac2006]

Alright, let’s dive in!

Today was a whirlwind of activity for me.

I ended my day with my first meeting for the L’Space program. That Zoom meeting was intense and dragged on forever! Lots of things we were introduced to how things are run.

I had a longer-than-usual Zoom call during my lunch break for an evaluation. And guess what? I ended up with an even longer in-person meeting with the student council. This is the second-to-last meeting for club administrators and officers to discuss funding, chartering, and the functioning of our clubs and organisations at school.

I missed out on a lunch event because of all these meetings. There were just too many to attend!

On top of that, I had to film a video in my machining class for a final project. I’ll have to clean it up in iMovie tomorrow. But hey, at least I got priority to get it done before everyone else. My teacher made adjustments to excuse me from class early to attend work meetings and had to adjust my finals times.

 

[VisceralRealist]

Finals begin for me on Monday June 9. They are approaching fast. Next week I will be reviewing for an oral exam in Japanese, which I am very nervous about. I did okay on the last one, but I did have a moment where I got stumped and briefly went into panic mode. I'm trying to avoid that this time.

Other than that, I have a paper on Mexican poetry due at the end of next week, which I've been working on for a couple months now. I don't think I can polish it anymore. Just going to have to submit and see what happens. 😮

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I'm a teacher at a higher education Vocational School in Bergen, Norway, and teaching at the 2 year Program in Frontend Development.

My students will deliver their exam project tomorrow. Then they have just one more assignment before graduating.

Unfortunately there won't be a new intake of students at my campus come August, so I'll probably be teaching an online class the next school year. I'm a campus/classroom teacher, and apart from some Teams-lectures during Covid this will be a totally new experience for me. Hopefully we'll get a new class in August '26.

 

[goldmac2006]

Finals begin for me on Monday June 9. They are approaching fast. Next week I will be reviewing for an oral exam in Japanese, which I am very nervous about. I did okay on the last one, but I did have a moment where I got stumped and briefly went into panic mode. I'm trying to avoid that this time.

Other than that, I have a paper on Mexican poetry due at the end of next week, which I've been working on for a couple months now. I don't think I can polish it anymore. Just going to have to submit and see what happens. 😮

😱 Guess what? My finals start next week on June 6th! I thought I only had both of my finals on June 10th, but my engineering professor asked me to move his final exam for me earlier. So, I have two finals on different days! That’s a relief because I don’t have to worry about packing lunch.

The first final is on June 6th for CNC machining. It’s all on a computer in a testing center, which is awesome. I even got to choose the time, so I picked 11 am so I can squeeze in a workout before school.

But finals got moved, so I had to adjust my Fitness+ routines. I also have to attend Zoom meetings for work every Tuesday evening and put my rowing sessions on hold until the rowing machine is fixed. The cord snapped earlier this week, so I had to cut my rowing workout short.

The other final is physics on the morning of June 10th, just 3 days before graduation! It’ll be all on paper.

To make up for the lost time, I’m using Memorial Day weekend to do as much computer science and engineering homework as I can. I also have to finish the huge 13-question physics assignment that I had to hold off because a friend in my class dropped out at the last minute. Also I was without my laptop for a weekend as the internet dropped like crazy, I had to get a replacement from the bookstore. I’ve already submitted all the lab paperwork that I had to end up doing everything, including writing and graphs, in my classmate’s absence.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Finals begin for me on Monday June 9. They are approaching fast. Next week I will be reviewing for an oral exam in Japanese, which I am very nervous about. I did okay on the last one, but I did have a moment where I got stumped and briefly went into panic mode. I'm trying to avoid that this time.

Other than that, I have a paper on Mexican poetry due at the end of next week, which I've been working on for a couple months now. I don't think I can polish it anymore. Just going to have to submit and see what happens. 😮

The very best of luck.

I'm a teacher at a higher education Vocational School in Bergen, Norway, and teaching at the 2 year Program in Frontend Development.

My students will deliver their exam project tomorrow. Then they have just one more assignment before graduating.

Good luck.

Unfortunately there won't be a new intake of students at my campus come August, so I'll probably be teaching an online class the next school year. I'm a campus/classroom teacher, and apart from some Teams-lectures during Covid this will be a totally new experience for me. Hopefully we'll get a new class in August '26.

While I have done some online teaching (and yes, I must admit that I found the technology fascinating), I far prefer campus/classroom and face-to-face teaching.

 

[goldmac2006]

I'm a teacher at a higher education Vocational School in Bergen, Norway, and teaching at the 2 year Program in Frontend Development.

My students will deliver their exam project tomorrow. Then they have just one more assignment before graduating.

Unfortunately there won't be a new intake of students at my campus come August, so I'll probably be teaching an online class the next school year. I'm a campus/classroom teacher, and apart from some Teams-lectures during Covid this will be a totally new experience for me. Hopefully we'll get a new class in August '26.

So you’ll be switching into only offering virtual classes next school year? It also happened that one of the newest electrical engineering faculty members at my school is doing PCB design online as the only course he teaches next year. He has to do it all virtually as he is continuing to work at Panasonic as PCB engineer which is like an hour away from my school.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

So you’ll be switching into only offering virtual classes next school year? It also happened that one of the newest electrical engineering faculty members at my school is doing PCB design online as the only course he teaches next year. He has to do it all virtually as he is continuing to work at Panasonic as PCB engineer which is like an hour away from my school.

We already have an online program, in parallel with campus.

The curriculum is the same, but the teaching methods differ somewhat. The main difference: There's less lectures/classes online, but more guidance over Teams.

One major difference for me will be that as a campus teacher I'm teaching all the courses, from basic design principles up to javascript frameworks, while the online teachers typically teach two or three courses. So I could end up with one of the more "boring" ones...

I'm not 100% up to date on precisely how the online teachers are working though, but I'm hoping I get a nice onboarding.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

The very best of luck.

Good luck.

While I have done some online teaching (and yes, I must admit that I found the technology fascinating), I far prefer campus/classroom and face-to-face teaching.

Thanks.

I think I'll miss the classroom interactions, yes.

But - on the other hand - the more complex the codebase that the students need guidance on, the more I actually prefer to do it over Teams. Being able to read through the code, and even test it locally, and then start hinting at where they may start to look closer is better than doing it over their shoulder in most cases.

Though for simpler things and/or simple configurations it will probably be a drag...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thanks.

I think I'll miss the classroom interactions, yes.

Online classes - while extraordinarily convenient, especially for second chance students who may need to travel to class and have many other commitments calling on their limited time - family, work, etc - is no substitute for face-to-face teaching, in my experience.

But - on the other hand - the more complex the codebase that the students need guidance on, the more I actually prefer to do it over Teams. Being able to read through the code, and even test it locally, and then start hinting at where they may start to look closer is better than doing it over their shoulder in most cases.

Fascinating.

Though for simpler things and/or simple configurations it will probably be a drag...

Thankfully, my online teaching was confined to the subject of history.

 

[rm5]

Finals begin for me on Monday June 9. They are approaching fast. Next week I will be reviewing for an oral exam in Japanese, which I am very nervous about. I did okay on the last one, but I did have a moment where I got stumped and briefly went into panic mode. I'm trying to avoid that this time.

Other than that, I have a paper on Mexican poetry due at the end of next week, which I've been working on for a couple months now. I don't think I can polish it anymore. Just going to have to submit and see what happens. 😮

I think we’re on the same schedule, because my finals are June 9-11. I don’t have any actual tests though, just final projects. Other than that, concerts and recitals and whatnot.

 

[splifingate]

Last year, I received a call from a good friend, letting me know that a Teaching Position was open at a local School (which is tightly-integrated into a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (a PRTF with whom I've been regularly Volunteering for about a decade)).

So, here I am, re-viewing my mirror-maze experience having daily-assumed the role of a Teacher of HS Science. Rather, ALL the Sciences . . . I recently guided a Client proceed through her own, personal understandings of "Zoology".

One of my school Mentors shared her Mantra:

"If you can't reach 'em, you can't teach 'em!"

To wit: the energy which I apply to Relationships continues to eclipse that of the Content I guide.

To reach full Certification, I have embarked upon a complicated journey into my own re-education.

This is a rather special placement, and the daily demands have succeeded any to which I have ever faced, before.

I had a young Client last month ask me a pointed question about Stoichiometry . . . I completed Chemistry 102 more than three decades ago, and this was a real "oh! cripes!" moment.

It took a lot of work on both of our parts to come to a real understanding.

SO, it's so: last week, I passed (at a "Professional Level") my State Required Assessment covering just about every point of understanding in Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, Physical Science, Physics, and Astronomy.

On Friday, I was Accepted into an alternative-pathway Program; it's basically a fast-track Masters in Special Education Teaching, with an emphasis on High School Science.

Two weeks of intensive "The Science of Teaching" this Summer, with monthly classes/assessments/mentoring every month for the next two years. All while I continue to occupy my Role as our School's HS Science Teacher.

Back to School I go!

 

[splifingate]

Online classes - while extraordinarily convenient, especially for second chance students who may need to travel to class and have many other commitments calling on their limited time - family, work, etc - is no substitute for face-to-face teaching, in my experience.

Hear, hear, Sister!

 

[goldmac2006]

We already have an online program, in parallel with campus.

The curriculum is the same, but the teaching methods differ somewhat. The main difference: There's less lectures/classes online, but more guidance over Teams.

One major difference for me will be that as a campus teacher I'm teaching all the courses, from basic design principles up to javascript frameworks, while the online teachers typically teach two or three courses. So I could end up with one of the more "boring" ones...

I'm not 100% up to date on precisely how the online teachers are working though, but I'm hoping I get a nice onboarding.

At my college, professors who are deciding to offer fully asynchronous online classes on Canvas are required to complete training if they haven’t done so before their hiring. Newly hired professors receive this training to avoid having to do it later. However, those who were hired before the acquisition of Canvas for our school months before COVID or who were not hired during COVID must complete this training from the district before offering online classes.

At my school, all computer science teachers teach Java and C++ classes, which are required for computer engineering or computer science majors. Python and discrete structures are also offered, but only by one teacher. Discrete structures is considered a computer science class in the catalog, despite its mostly math-focused nature and the inclusion of C++ code activities. I often have to cross-enroll with another college on the district for online courses if my home school doesn’t offer them. This was the case this semester because the discrete structures class was not offered due to the all the computer science teacher’s focus on Java and C++.

I learned JavaScript when I took APCSP, a beginner computer science class that covered software, information technology, and the basics of computers. We used block code on Code Org’s app lab and completed a capstone project with the AP exam.

 

[goldmac2006]

On Friday, I was Accepted into an alternative-pathway Program; it's basically a fast-track Masters in Special Education Teaching, with an emphasis on High School Science.

Two weeks of intensive "The Science of Teaching" this Summer, with monthly classes/assessments/mentoring every month for the next two years. All while I continue to occupy my Role as our School's HS Science Teacher.

So you are going to get special education licensure into your teaching credential right?

That’s a great idea. So once you finish that masters degree you can start teaching science classes for students with disabilities right?

 

[splifingate]

So you are going to get special education licensure into your teaching credential right?

That’s a great idea. So once you finish that masters degree you can start teaching science classes for students with disabilities right?

I already do!

Currently hold a Provisional License, but I have been working (daily) towards making it full-cert

Intensive OJT.

It's complicated...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Last year, I received a call from a good friend, letting me know that a Teaching Position was open at a local School (which is tightly-integrated into a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (a PRTF with whom I've been regularly Volunteering for about a decade)).

So, here I am, re-viewing my mirror-maze experience having daily-assumed the role of a Teacher of HS Science. Rather, ALL the Sciences . . . I recently guided a Client proceed through her own, personal understandings of "Zoology".

One of my school Mentors shared her Mantra:

"If you can't reach 'em, you can't teach 'em!"

To wit: the energy which I apply to Relationships continues to eclipse that of the Content I guide.

To reach full Certification, I have embarked upon a complicated journey into my own re-education.

This is a rather special placement, and the daily demands have succeeded any to which I have ever faced, before.

I had a young Client last month ask me a pointed question about Stoichiometry . . . I completed Chemistry 102 more than three decades ago, and this was a real "oh! cripes!" moment.

It took a lot of work on both of our parts to come to a real understanding.

SO, it's so: last week, I passed (at a "Professional Level") my State Required Assessment covering just about every point of understanding in Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, Physical Science, Physics, and Astronomy.

On Friday, I was Accepted into an alternative-pathway Program; it's basically a fast-track Masters in Special Education Teaching, with an emphasis on High School Science.

Two weeks of intensive "The Science of Teaching" this Summer, with monthly classes/assessments/mentoring every month for the next two years. All while I continue to occupy my Role as our School's HS Science Teacher.

Back to School I go!

That sounds absolutely brilliant; the very best of luck with it.

 

[splifingate]

That sounds absolutely brilliant; the very best of luck with it.

It is! Thank you.

When I once asked a friend “Does luck really have anything to do with it?” she replied "Luck: not so much but sorta kinda maybe sometimes, every now and then perhaps ”

No better example of how I, personally, view ‘luck’.

Jung’s idea of “meaningful coincidence”—when one event is apparently not directly responsible for the other, yet the two are seemingly and meaningfully related—lends directly to how I ‘feel’ about such encounters.

As he wrote, “…it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity.”

Our synchronicity in not a product of random overlap, but a direct result of our being here; now

It is in the synchronicity of timelines as they continuously weave themselves together in conscious moments which provide us with our singular moments, in-time.

Still; I definitely appreciate your sentiment, Sister.

 

[rm5]

Other than that, I have a paper on Mexican poetry due at the end of next week, which I've been working on for a couple months now. I don't think I can polish it anymore. Just going to have to submit and see what happens. 😮

This specifically I wanted to touch on. Mexican poetry sounds fascinating! I don’t know anything about it. Although it doesn’t seem like the thing I would be particularly good at analyzing. Me bailing on the Soviet Literature class last term should be enough evidence of that. If you’ve been working on it for several months, it sounds like quite a big project!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Finals begin for me on Monday June 9. They are approaching fast. Next week I will be reviewing for an oral exam in Japanese, which I am very nervous about. I did okay on the last one, but I did have a moment where I got stumped and briefly went into panic mode. I'm trying to avoid that this time.

The very best of luck.

Other than that, I have a paper on Mexican poetry due at the end of next week, which I've been working on for a couple months now. I don't think I can polish it anymore. Just going to have to submit and see what happens. 😮

Sounds fascinating.

There comes a time (and I write as someone who understands that dilemma more than most, - I remember that life and world - how you were (one was) driven by that thought that you could find another source, a different perspective, a fresh idea - before finally submitting your work) when you simply have to let it go and submit it and leave it in the lap of the academic gods and your supervisors.

This specifically I wanted to touch on. Mexican poetry sounds fascinating!

Agreed.

Me bailing on the Soviet Literature class last term should be enough evidence of that.

That is a pity - Soviet Literature is fascinating.

If you’ve been working on it for several months, it sounds like quite a big project!

Agreed.

 

[goldmac2006]

I already do!

Currently hold a Provisional License, but I have been working (daily) towards making it full-cert

Intensive OJT.

It's complicated...

Ohhh that’s why. I heard it is lotta work to get the full teaching license, especially that the program for the masters/undergraduate program must be approved by the teaching commission and all the required credits/courses be done prior to applying for the full/Clear credential (depending on your state).

Still got some student teaching to do?