Sunday, November 9, 2008

Greetings from Chestnut Hill

Hello Everyone! My name is Katie Kelley and I'm a senior in the Lynch School of Education, where I am a human development and psychology double major. I'm originally from Oregon, but I grew up in the Netherlands.

As a Human Development major, I'm not going into the field of teaching, but I do intend to work in an educational setting. Many Human Development majors go to work in counseling or human resources jobs. I've really enjoyed my two majors here at BC. Psychology is in the College of Arts & Sciences and gives me a look into the more scientific side of people, whereas Human Development offers the practical application of psychology to the field of Education.

This was a very exciting weekend at BC sports-wise: Notre Dame was here for both Hockey and Football. Last year our Hockey team beat Notre Dame in the National Championship, but sadly this weekend we did not relive that glory. We did beat them in Football last night though, for the 7th time in a row! It was a great game! Before coming to BC, I had never seen a football game before in my life, but now I'm on ESPN.com all the time and I actually watched the draft last year. Matt Ryan, our quarterback last year, is kind of a big deal; he got drafted 3rd! He now plays for the Atlanta Falcons, so I'm actually a bit of a Falcons fan now!

Football at BC is amazing though. Freshman year, at Orientation, you get your Superfan Shirt, which is this obnoxious gold colored shirt, with Boston College, Superfan and a little fighting Eagle on the front. Then each class has their own saying on the back; they're a little cheesy, but great anyways! The seniors this year are "Talons of Fury...Get Ready", juniors are "Eagles Take Action", sophomores are "For Here All Are One" and the Freshmen are "On the Hunt for Excellence." Anyways last night's game was phenomenal; we beat Notre Dame 17-0 and at the end of the game the entire student section, which is just a sea of gold, stayed for like 25 minutes after everyone else was gone, singing along with the marching band. They play some great hits, like "Sweet Caroline", "Build me up Buttercup" and of course "Shipping up to Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys.

Outside of the classroom I'm involved in several different things on campus, which I will discuss over the next couple months in this blog. Right now I am preparing for a retreat called 48 Hours. 48 Hours is a retreat offered to freshmen at the end of first semester and the beginning of second semester that gives you a chance to step away from BC for the weekend, hear stories from Senior Leaders about their transition into college about several different themes like "The Challenge of Academics" and "Friends and Relationships." I went on the retreat my freshman year and it was a great chance to stop for a weekend and get a break from the fast pace of the college campus and really look at the decisions and the experiences I was having and whether or not they were living up to my expectations of college. So I am leading this along with 9 other Seniors next weekend.

I'm super excited and I'll be sure to report back after the retreat and talk about some other exciting BC happenings!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Chalkboard Introductions


Hello, hello. I'm Nick Grasso, a senior in the Lynch School of Education. I am originally from East Haven, CT. I am majoring in English and elementary education. This semester I am actually taking very few classes at BC because I am student teaching. Above is a picture of the classroom I am working in all set up for the first day of school back in September.

The teacher education program at Boston College strongly connects theory with practice. Education classes taught at BC all include some field based assignments. These assignments give you the opportunity to try and test the theories you are reading about and discussing in class with students in "real" classrooms. You complete three pre-practicum experiences, where you work one day a week in a school for a semester. The program culminates in a full-practicum experience in which you work in a school every day for a full semester.

So I spend every day this semester teaching 22 5th graders at a Boston Public School in Brighton along with a veteran teacher. I've mainly been teaching math every day. We are doing a social studies unit on the election and have just started a reader's theater unit with a play called, Revenge of the Nerd. The student's love sharing their acting skills and even give up recess time to rehearse!

Although teaching has been a lot of fun, the challenges of urban education are both exciting and daunting. My 5th graders have a lot of energy, but it takes a lot of work to focus that energy on learning.

I look forward to blogging this semester about my experiences in the classroom. Feel free to post any questions about the School of Education or about my teaching, I'll be happy to answer them.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting the Boston College Student Admission Program blogs! This blog is maintained by undergraduates in the Lynch School of Education who are studying or interested in studying for a degree in education.

If you are a prospective student who is interested in applying to BC's education program, look no further! Here we try to give you a window into the life of Boston College students, who will be posting about what daily life is like on the Heights. Bookmark this page and keep coming back for more; this blog will be updated regularly by one of many of our Student Admission Program volunteers! We all have stories to share that we hope will help you determine if BC is right for you.

These blogs can be as interactive as you make them. Want to hear about a certain aspect of college life? Curious as to how we survive without home-cooked meals and laundry done for us? Ask and you shall receive. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to post them! We'll respond in our next entry as soon as we can.

Thank you so much for stopping in! If you'd like to hear more about BC, visit the official site of Boston College! You can also learn more about visiting campus and our tours and infamous Eagle Eye sessions at the SAP webpage! We'd love to have you!

Good luck!

Sam Lipscomb
SAP Technology Coordinator '08-'09
Boston College A&S '10
lipscoms@bc.edu