Good work!

Most of you are probably expecting a run down of my boot scooting experience from my first country and western concert, but unfortunately, this cowgirl was up to her big brass belt buckle in readings.  My only outing yesterday was with one of Canada's favourite (but largely forgotten) exports, Shania Twain.  Shania and I (and three fun-loving hounds) went for a quick study break walk in the snow last night.  So, while I procrastinate a little more, I'll fill you in on some of my thoughts about my studies so far - after all, self reflection is important.

This corner of my apartment is where most of my time is spent now.

Positive thoughts first.  I'm loving the readings and feeling quite enthusiastic about applying my new knowledge some time in the future if I am lucky enough to work with some 'gifted' kids (but, hey, all children are 'gifted', right?  Just ask their parents!).  I'm enjoying pushing my brain further, it's been a little challenging getting back into the swing of writing academically.  My problem is with the way university courses, particularly those dealing in education, are run.  It seems that they don't practice what they preach.  I remember during my undergraduate course we learnt about different learning styles and how we must cater for all learning styles in our classrooms.  Well, during the exam, a particularly creative friend of mine responded to the questions with drawings.  She failed.  Hmmm, so much for honouring different learning styles.  During this course, the consistent message throughout all the texts I have read outline the need for giving specific feedback (if you want to improve, 'Good work!' hardly cuts it) to gifted students (just to clarify, I'm not regarding myself in this category), yet when I received some feedback on my first assignment (top marks to Monash for offering feedback before the final assignment is due), the only comments I received were positive.  Of course, I was happy to be on the right track but some suggestions for improvement would have been very handy.  But, as a student who knows how to 'play school', I'll keep my mouth shut and just get on with learning about asychrony, overexcitabilities and emotional intensity.  Back to the positive thoughts - this time next week, I'll be in New York, sipping a Cosmopolitan.