It is finally over!!!

Well, this is my last blog to you class. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking this class with all of you. It was fun to hear everyone's thoughts on the book and to see what everyone had to draw for the graffiti board and the sketch to stretch. As for these online forums and blogs, I will miss this interactiveness that we get with each other even though we haven't met in class for awhile. I've missed you all. But that will soon be over when I get to see all of your bright and shining faces next Tuesday for the start of another class. Thank you to my group members for being so great and for supporting everyone and giving helpful advice and hints as needed. You were a great group to work with. I couldn't have asked for a better group. To the entire class, good job, we finished and now we can finally relax for a few days. Thanks for always sharing such wonderful thoughts and comments. I always looked forward to reading what you all had to say. have a great weekend and I will see you all on Tuesday. Take care.

Farewell to Dr. Rivera, but see you next week classmates!

Yes, we did it! I am soo relieved now...we can all enjoy our fourth of July weekend before our next classes begin :) Today, I completed all my assignments and uploaded them to LiveText. Although I need to play around and become more familiar with LiveText, it is nice to have an online portfolio!
Well, I would like to take this time to thank Dr. Rivera for ALL of the fun activities and resources that she introduced us to. I had a great time engaging in all of them, and I am excited to use them in my future classroom. Dr. Rivera, I appreciate all of the motivation and encouragement you've expressed to me, and I look forward to seeing again. To my fellow classmates, thank you for your continuous support and hard work. I appreciate all of you, and I am very glad to be going through this program with you all. Although this class is over, we will definitely see each other on Tuesday :) So, I hope you all enjoy your weekend...and I'll see you then.

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

Our final blog for ED641..A fond farewell...

Hi there fellow classmates and group mates. Here we are, at the end of another completed course. I must say that although it has been trying at times, it has also been very inspiring. This course and the assignments completed will help us to bring reading to a whole new level in our content area. For Rosenblatt's Transactional Theory, our literature circle, and reader response activities (plus other great stuff we learned) has been introduced to us and we can now add these new educational tools to our teacher toolbox. I want to thank each and every one of you for the great work and the unselfish ways you made our class fun and interesting. I especially want to thank Dr. Rivera for her undying encouragement and support. And what we have learned here we will take with us into our classrooms. Thank you all and see you next week Wednesday.

I am in disbelief that a month of summer has come to an end. My head is still spinning from the information overload. I learned more in one month than I ever anticipated. I feel prepared and confident to tackle my role as a middle school language arts teacher in the fall. The multitude of knowledge gained in this class is priceless. I look forward to utilizing the myriad of strategies to promote literacy and critical thinking among learners.

I am so thankful for the members of the cohort for their wonderful teamwork. I am grateful for the opportunity to work, learn, and grow with such a passionate and gifted group of individuals. Saina Ma'ase, Dr. Rivera. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, your words of encouragement, and for a very challenging course.

See ya next week.

Where do I start it has been a long four weeks and it is finally over. Oh yeah it is fourth of July on Sunday and I hope everyone is going to relax and have a little fun. Well the only person I might not see next week is Dr. Rivera. Dr. Rivera I hope your trip has been fun and exciting. Thank you for teaching us this term and we learned several strategies and some times it felt so much at the time,but I am glad we did it. Til we meet again adios and have a great life...

Farewell, at least until next week

This will be the last post blog that I post for this class. It has been a very fun, interesting, and educational four weeks. I would like to say that I had a great time learning in this class, and I hope that all of you guys did too. Also,I would like to say thank you to Dr. Rivera and each one of my classmates for all the help and support that you have given me this whole time. We got a lot done this session, and I hope that everyone is able to take the few days that we have off to relax both physically and mentally and just let loose. Thanks again everyone and God Bless!!
I think we all deserve a round of applause!!

Closing Credits

I have never, in my whole post-secondary school existence, have ever taken a summer course. However, I do have to say that it was a definitely worthwhile and self-assuring experience as a teacher. Every class that we have taken since the beginning of the MAT program has given me the tools I need to become an effective teacher, and has given me more reason to pursue my Master's degree. Seeing a new set of faces with the same ambition and struggles that I am also experiencing has really helped me to push forward with the program, as difficult and sacrificing as it may be. If I were to do this on my own, with only my own personal reasons, I would probably have many doubts about continuing.

Thank you all for being kind and helpful to the 'Saturday' newbie =) You all are brilliant people that will definitely be an asset to the young people of Guam, or wherever else you decide to teach. Dr. Rivera: you are a wonderful mentor. Thank you for introducing us to the many strategies and tools out there that will help us to be better teachers. Good luck to you all!!

Evelyn's Final Reflection

GOOD JOB EVERYONE! We have a little breathing room until the next class. This picture illustrates the goal that I am closer to achieving and I am so glad to have shared the experience with all of you. Dr. Rivera has given us so many tools that I feel weighted down by my tool kit but it is fare better to be over prepared than not. If it were not for all the assignments due for both classes (ED641 and ED609) I feel that the two classes complimented each other. Thank you to my cohorts as we make for a very effective and productive team especially since our goals are the same – TO BE A…KNOWLEDGEABLE SCHOLAR…REFLECTIVE DECISION MAKER…EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR. Enjoy our short break and see you next week!

Totally Done and Exhausted!

Ever feel so tired you crashed out looking like this? I have a mental picture of myself looking exactly this way for the ENTIRE 3-day weekend. I'm serious. I'm going to party and celebrate sleeping like this little fellow. Anyway, I want to thank all of you for being there for me whenever and however I needed assistance. I could not do this alone-ok maybe I could, but I would be procrastinating 105% of the time and turn things in really late. Speaking of things late, that 5-page paper really caught me off-guard! Thanks for the constant reminders from my group members. Thank you to those of you who always turned assignments in super early on Moodle because you pressure me to do that too. Thank you for the new found knowledge Dr. Rivera. This classroom experience was something very different because it not only demanded writing, reading and thinking, but also laughter, sharing, and an appreciation for all things literature. Ok everyone, enjoy your 3-day weekend, stay safe, and see you all next week for Round 2!

We Made It!!!

Finally, we have the chance to relax and enjoy the weekend because we have finished everything for this class. It wasn't easy and there were times when I just wanted to put my hands up in the air and quit but thought otherwise. I did enjoy doing all the activities in this class and I'm looking forward to using the strategies that we've learned.

I'd like to take this chance to say a big "Thank You" to Dr. Rivera. There were a lot of firsts for me in this class: first blog, first hybrid class experience, first class to 'require' livetext :) I have never written so many papers in such a short amount of time, and for that I thank you for giving us the confidence to explore new things and the way you supported us with any of our questions. This experience has been awesome.

To my MAT family, we have been through so much together and I am so blessed to be a part of this crew. I know that this is not the end for all of us, as a matter of fact, we'll see each other next week so there's no need to be sentimental. I am just glad that WE MADE IT!!!

That's All Folks ...!

I just want to start by saying, "Thank you lord" for helping me throughout this summer class. I can't imagine all those assignments on the syllabus has been done and gone from my shoulders of workload. Also, I just want to add that this crew we have makes this program attainable by the same challenges we face as crazy individuals taking Graduate courses in four weeks.

On the other hand, we did it and I am so glad I did not drop these classes after reading and looking into syllabus of which seems 10 to 20 pages long. I will be missing this class and seeing you all, but I have a feeling I will see each one of you next week. Til then, Eat, Watch, Sleep, Swim, Chill, and enjoy the following days.