Whew! I haven't added any entries for quite a while. The on-campus component of the APT is now 50% complete. The school where I will be completing my nine-week practicum is J. Percy Page School, which is really close to my house! No more daily commutes by bus! I will be teaching chemistry and science.

I dread interviews. A lot.

Yet, in the next few months, (hopefully) I will have some. These are for teaching positions (what else can you do with a BEd?). At the moment, after having attended the Education Career Fair, I learned every school board has their own application process, their own hiring process, their own requirements ... how am I supposed to keep track of all of these?

Stuff I still need to do on top of my APT:
- get reference letters
- fill out application forms to various school boards in Alberta, some online, some on paper
- develop a teaching statement
- send $200 and a form to Alberta Education for an interim teaching certificate
- send $60 to the ATA to have my professional qualifications evaluated
- write an introductory letter to my APT cooperating teacher

What is an educational theory? What is the nature of science? Integrating these concepts into a lesson plan is clear as mud.

New iPod shuffle announced by Steve Jobs today at Macworld Expo SF 2005. I guess $129 ($1 discount for education students) for a 512 Mb USB 2.0 flash memory drive with a built-in audio player isn't too bad of a deal. You also get a free pair of white earbuds!

Dear Blog:

Today I returned to school, where I sat with twenty other students, sipping on a medium almond amaretto coffee. I received my syllabus. I had not written the last final of my career last month, after all. Final exam on February 16th!

Being a keener, I tried to log onto WebCT to do my first mini-assignment, but the course hasn't shown up on the list yet.

Alberta's Lieutenant-Governor, Lois Hole, has passed away at the age of 71. In the future, Mrs. Hole will be succeeded by a new representative, but will never be replaced.

I'm a bit behind on my applications for teaching jobs. I just don't know where to start...applications, resumés, letters, portfolios. The holidays are almost over!

Tell me this isn't the coolest digital camera you've ever seen...another item to add to my technology wish list.

Great product idea #1,729: a pizza box disguise for your notebook computer.

Why does God cause things like tornadoes and train wrecks?

- lyric from Swimming In Your Ocean, Crash Test Dummies

The tsunami on 26 December in southeast Asia was a terrible disaster. With the death toll increasing with each passing day, take the time to reflect: the world is small and we are all connected ...

... and a happy new year to you all.

I tried one of those self-checkout counters at Superstore today. I don't know how this is any faster or more efficient than a traditional cashier. Upon arrival, I had to get it reset by a cashier before starting (not my fault), and if you buy a dozen of something (like I did), you can't just type “12” or anything like that. Nope. You have to scan one, wait for the computer, then repeat the process eleven more times. Afterwards, you have to sign on a digital screen with a stylus (for credit card purchases). My signature was loopy and looked nothing like my autograph.

For groceries, Wal-Mart has the upper hand on Superstore, price-wise. However, if you wanted to return something at Wal-Mart customer services today, be prepared to wait in excess of 30 minutes. In addition, every checkout queue snaked across the main aisle into the clothing section. People with children holding French fries from McDonald's lined up steering shopping carts piled high with leftover Christmas wrapping and cards.
--
How evil are your favourite web sites? According to the Sect of Homokaasu, the web site I developed for my EDIT 486 course is 99% evil, 1% good. Maybe because it's organic chemistry.