Friends, families, and colleagues frequently ask me about the classes I am taking in my doctoral program. For most of the classes, they just smile and nod while feigning interest and that is the extent of our conversation on the topic. However, when I tell them that I am taking a “statistics” course, the most common reaction is a wide-eyed look with a grimace formed on their countenance. The usual comments are, “Statistics sucks!”, “I’m terrible at math!”, or “You poor thing!”. I just smile, because I have a little secret…I really enjoyed the two statistics classes I have had so far, 702 and 873. I LOVE math and taught middles school math for eight years, so getting to take a class that involves getting to use my math skills and enjoyment of analysis of data makes me giddy. Now, don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean that several times this semester I didn’t feel totally overwhelmed and wanted to pull my hair out while banging my head on the counter. I was there! THE most rewarding part of attempting something difficult and challenging is the point where the lightbulb comes on and understanding (or partial understanding with some concepts) is FINALLY reached. Overall, my experience in 873 was exciting because it was challenging and now I have a better understanding of statistics and I have developed further skills for analyzing and using data. These are important gains as data analysis is a big part of what I do in my job as an elementary principal. When I do
Dave Pelzer has endured so much in his past. The years of abuse that seemed like a never ending maze of torture, were like a routine of beatings to him. The wicked games that his mother played on him and the bizarre ways of practicing them, felt like an eternity for a 12 year old boy. Nevertheless, for every darkest storm there is a shining ray. The ray of hope that has fueled Pelzer's motivation to strive for the best, for his freedom, and for a brighter future. Pelzer's journey to finding the power to continue begins by acceptance; accepting the fact that he is an abuse victim. Once the acceptance has been initialized, the healing process begins to take place.
I am a very determined person and I am so competitive it's almost unhealthy. I have always been determined to be the strongest, be the best, be someone people won’t forget. I haven’t ever been the best until I was determined to be better than everyone else. Everything to be in a competition, I try to lift more than people, be faster than people, get better test scores than people; no matter what it is, I want to be the best. According to the book “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell, “it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field”
The premise of narrative therapy was developed as a way of removing the blame in sessions. This could allow the opportunity in hopes of gaining empowerment within the client. Narrative therapy is thought of as more of a collaboration between the therapist and the client to allow recognition of his or her natural competencies, expertise and unique skills that one possesses. By practicing the narrative therapy process it is conceived that the client can then return with a sort of plan or outline that can assist in guiding them towards more productive and hopeful positive changes within their lives. Humans are generally viewed as separate entities from that of their own issues at hand. This being said, humans take their problems and have way of either blaming themselves directly or tossing it to another directly, instead of matching the issues with the symptoms. We as humans need reasons for everything in order to compartmentalize our situations. It is just how humans are naturally wired.
As my transcripts reveal, I have taken substantial courses in both statistics and mathematics. Three years' painstaking study equipped me with a solid mathematical foundation and a deeper understanding of Statistics. I vividly recall the excitement of exchanging ideas with my peers and the achievement of solving questions independently. Moreover, sharing my passion, I helped some of my classmates for the preparation of final exams. I taught them the methods of regression analysis, the connection between stochastic processes and time series, and wide application of mathematical statistics, etc. Through teaching them, my devotion to Statistics became even deeper. In the final evaluation, I received scores above 90 in those statistical lessons. More importantly, my understanding was largely consolidated and
Often times, people live through painful events in their life that can alter their perception of themselves, their family, and the world. Narrative therapy offers the client the opportunity to re-write their story and gain a different perspective of specific events. It is important to understand that within the history of narrative therapy, therapists view client’s stories through a political lens. Often times, focusing on the oppression and cultural dominance that exists within the constructs of our society. Thus, empowering clients to change their story allows them to break free from the constraints that have shaped their outlook and allow for alternative ways of thinking.
The aim of the reflective essay is to highlight my own personal development skills that I have developed during first semester of my module. However, in this report I will make sure my learning ability phase and what this module has allowed me to work and understand in improving my personal skills and purpose. My major aim is to develop and assess an in depth range of my personal traits as a student in order to endorse my future development plan.
Ever since grade school I had never been the biggest fan of math. It wasn’t that I was bad at math, but I have never had a huge interest in the subject. With that being said I put off taking Stats 215 until my winter semester of my junior year, because I didn’t think I would have any interest in the course. I figured that it was going to be like every other math class I have ever taken, being boring with no real application to the career I want to pursue. After being in the class for a week I realized that I couldn’t have been more wrong. One example of how Stats 215 surprised me was on how I actually took a great deal of interest in the class. Going into the class my interest level was very low, and my only reason for taking the class was
Narrative therapy is one of the post-modern therapies used today. Narrative therapy helps individuals identify their values, skills, and knowledge they have to effectively face problems in their lives. The key ideas of narrative therapy are: people’s stories give meaning to their lives, stories are shaped by emotional themes, a person’s story shapes his/her personality, people seek counseling when their stories do not match their lived experiences, and people who have less social power benefit greatly from Narrative Counseling. The concern is with meaning making and there is an emphasis on mindfulness and positive psychology. The process of Narrative therapy starts in the initial stage exploring the client’s issues. It then transitions into the insight stage to a deeper understanding of the issues. The insight stage is followed by the action stage, where the client and therapist work to change the story and therefore change the outcome. Lastly, there is the termination phase.
It is also assumed that the act of telling a story can provide insight into past, present and future events (Espinoza, 1997). By going through this process, individuals can find the importance of certain events and assign roles to people who are a part of their story. This act can allow a client to find new meaning and understanding to their reality (Espinoza, 1997). Not only is a
During this semester, I have learned a great deal about my own writing, and writing in general. One of the main takeaways from this course for me was how to break down the intricate process of writing papers. In addition, I developed viable skills regarding going into more in-depth detail during each step of the writing process. I enjoyed having the freedom to write about a topic that I was able to choose. This allowed me to research and write about something that actually interested me immensely. Having to work with one topic for the entire semester taught me how to find reliable resources and how to pick out the essential research from each article.
What concepts, principles, or ideas that you have learned, do you think you will remember the most after you leave this class?
Students can learn from discussion and reflection of their classroom learning through journaling. The article Using Visual Narrative for Reflection by Narelle Lemon and Faculty of Education at The University of Melbourne (2006) discussed the need for using photography as a form of journaling in efforts to promote reflection and discussion in an early childhood classroom setting. The authors stated that visual narrative as a form of reflection has not been investigated in the (Lemon & Melbourne University Falculty, 2006). The purpose of the research was to provide students with the opportunity to use a digital camera to take pictures of their classroom activities. The participants in the study were students between the age range of five to seven at a from an inner city school in Melbourne, Victoria Australia. The methods used to obtain research on visual narratives in an early childhood classroom were requirements of student participation in all activities, students recorded events by use of a digital camera and class discussions were observed. The data from the classroom activities were collected and organized based
SUBJECTIVE/STATUS: The client presented for the session. The client spoke about her feelings towards life in general and about being at the facility stated, “I appreciate my life now more than before, I appreciate how much I am better that before because of therapy as I am grateful to the people who are supporting me at the facility.” The client shared that she is able to use her coping skills and having fun with her colleagues. The client discussed her feeling and thoughts with the therapist while she was at the church when she had negative thoughts about purging. The client stated, “I have thoughts about purging and I was depressed for no reason as I remember, but I was smart enough to ask for help and tell my one of my peers and the mental health worker about my thoughts and I promised them to not purge.” The client confirmed that she knows her triggers which are looking into the mirror, smelling or tasting the food, and eating too much, but this morning I did not experiencing any of them and I had thoughts of purging.” The client confirmed that she need to allow
The intent of this class is to give the student a well-rounded overview of the basic parts of a short story or novel. These include plot, character, point of view, strong openings to a story, dialogue and writing enhancement. It is intended to help writers. It is not intended to be a literary criticism class.
This school year, my high school English class read many literary selections. A few of these selections that stood out to me touch base on what life is like as a slave taken from home, as an adulterer, and as a mother of a stolen child. These three thoughtfully and carefully written pieces somehow corroborate each other. Now, I am not going to tell you what each of these stories is about, because you should have already read them! What I will do is give you perhaps a sliver more insight on how The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley, and “Demeter’s Prayer to Hades” by Rita Dove warrant each other.