What Motivates Me

Motivation is the key to have success in all areas to me. If you dont have motivation nine times out of ten you will not be successful. I have can tell a child all day long that education is important, however if they dont have a great reason (a motive)to want an education it means nothing.

The formula for motivation is so true in my eyes. When you can see the value of something you are more interested in experiencing it. There will be times when you get tired and want to give up. If you understand what you will gain from finishing what you have started you are more than likely to stick with it.

This can also apply to your faith. I get so sad sometimes when I dont see what I know God has promised me, but I dont give up because I understand that delay is not denial. I have to remember that it will happen at the right time. Hard work is the key to any success in my opinion. Your motivation is based off what you believe, so keep telling yourself what you want and it will happen for you.

Learning How to Adopt a Creative Mindset

As I was reading the text this week, I found myself agreeing with the part about adopting a creative mindset. When I was in high school I suffered a great lost, my mother passed away. See everyone thought that I was going to fall apart and I was not going to finish high school. My mother was killed by a drunk driver a few days before I was scheduled to take my final exams. I could remember sitting in my room, I had to stop and say to myself, Norma you are not going to let mommy down so pull it together. That's just what I ended up doing, pulling it together. I finished my junior year out with a high GPA.

Was this an easy assignment that I had been given by God? No, it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. However I would get up each day an create a new mindset. I had to remind myself to do the best I could each day. The choices you make will have a effect on your life.

My name is Norma Johnson, am thirty (Blank) years old back in school. When I stop and look back over my life I can't believe that I am back here again. Grateful yes I  am! God allowed me to get accepted into Trinity. I start this journey about two years ago, back at South Suburban.  At the time I was not looking to attend a different college. Even though I knew it I wanted to be in the education program, I just did not know where to start.
  One day while I was on a break in between classes I ran into a representative for Trinity at South Suburban. He was gave me some information about the adult studies program here at Trinity.  I called to set up a time to meet with Sandy and here we are now two years later.  It was one of the best decisions I ever made deciding to join adult studies program at Trinity. Everything I was looking for was here. I needed to be in a classroom setting that was small and affordable. I was drawn right away when I was told about the education cohort,  it was designated just for me. I prayed and asked God to allow me to be accepted into Trinity if this was where he wanted me to attend.
I can remember my first day on campus, it was a Wednesday in July.  Everyone was in chapel, but I wondered around campus getting myself familiar with it. That September I started my courses, my first class was a college algebra. I was so scared not just because I did not like math at all, but because I needed to pass the class. Look at me now almost completely done!! I am so proud of myself.

Its All about You Week 8

Lifespan development actually did make me use the word why a lot. I've learned about the different stages and life span as well as the theories that attempt to explain the ways. Some theories I can put into practice and some theories I still don't quite understand. (P300) I've learned about theories that apply to the physical cognitive and social and some theories I have drawn to light and others not so much.
Now I agree that theories are just facts with meanings.

Piaget views on cognitive development have shaped children in the preschool years. He feels that children learn best by doing and experiencing things on their own instead of it being given explanations by an adult. (P62 theories of childhood) This is on of the theories I can agree with. Children are able to understand more when they play.  When we use the word learning we should remember it only discovering new ideas.

These developments for lifespan have started a lot of controversy especially when it comes to the expectations for teachers to cover specific curriculum concept and to meet the state standards. (303 life smart) so many teachers now are teaching just what the test will cover. They're not remembering to engage children in activities that are interesting and fun. It's important that we incorporate things that are children based in our curriculum as well as covering the material needed to meet those expectations. This can be very challenging indeed. Absolutely loved Diane Ravitch quote when she stated that academic performance is not for teaching but poverty.  So many of our babies come to school hungry, unclean, and tired. Many of them do not know where their next meal make come from and they do not have the proper supplies needed in order to have the best education.

I believe that we need to put more funding into our education system and into the health care of our children especially if we want to see the physical and cognitive and social aspects develop as they age. Being an educator is not an easy professional however it is a rewarding profession. As I look back over the lives that I've touched over the past few years,  I'm amazed at how God has entrusted me to empower and build the Next Generation. We are definitely building leaders one child at a time.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Death is a part of life week 7

Wow!! I would like to say "wow" was the first word to  come up when I was reading this chapter. Grief was explained as being an emotional response to the loss of a person including feelings of anxiety, despair sadness and loneliness. (248) I can truly attest to this being signs of grief, because I experienced it after the loss of my mother a few years ago. I was very fearful about what was getting ready to happen in the next stage of my life, I depended on her not only financially but emotionally and spiritually. I took on a large responsibility when she passed as well. She had adopted her biological grandchildren and because I had the same heart as she did I kept those children along with another family member. Even after my mom's death and planning her funeral I had to take some time to pause to make sure that I was doing things the way that she would have liked. If I had it all over to do again I would definitely do the same.

Not everyone deals with grief in the same way they are definitely different factors that go into how one processes it. (284) I have a great relationship with God and I did not understand his plan but I trust the process. Which allowed me to be able to deal with her death on a more relational level.  I missed her like crazy,  however I continue to ask God to give me strength and help direct me and what he saw fit to happen next. If I did not have his guidance and strength I definitely would haven't  been able to make it.

Distorted grief was very new to me and I could quite possibly see that occurring if a person wasn't able to deal with the death of a loved one. (286) Even though my mother's death was pretty sudden and unexpected she had discussed prior to her death her wishes. We were very clear that she did not want to be put on life support and have her life dragged out for an extensive amount of time. So a living will is definitely a legal document that's necessary. I would suggest  that each person would take the time to have one drawn up and include there family in on their wishes .(289) Her death was the result of congestive heart failure. Even with Her diagnosis she continued to live her life as a strong woman all the way up to her demise. She took vacations, she enjoyed rebuilding her home, and have a close family time with her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

 My sister and I held the health care power of attorney which allowed us to make the decisions because she was unable to make them. (289) I've witnessed people fights as a family over what should be done with the loved ones because they didn't have documents and place to help the transition.

Death is very painful so it's important that we all remember that this person live their life a certain way and you should respect that person's values even until death. Now we all know that death is going to happen. The only thing we don't know is the date that it will happen. So it's Our obligation to keep our affairs in line. When I said personal affairs.. I'm covering your spiritual, mental, social, and financial.

I believe if nothing else this chapter should help you put your life into some type of order. If it's the role of a funeral and how you want that to look, if you're dealing with some type of grief from losing a loved one, or your perspectives on how you want people to deal with your death. But the most important part was my spirituality my relationship with God. It made me go back and reflect on is my heart and my soul is pure and if God would be pleased if I was to leave this of today with the way I've lived so far great chapter!!

Being an adult #6

So this is what adulthood really is like. I wish my mom would have told me that it's not really amazing, great, exciting, yeah I am really not liking it all to much if I have to be honest. When I was in high school a few people I knew started to talk about how ready they were to graduate and be an adult.  I was the one in the group who wasn't all that excited. Dont get me wrong some parts of being an adult isn't that bad.

When I  was in my 20's I had a ball. I went to college, I traveled, I made a lot of connections with new people. My giant was awful I ate a lot of fast food and I gained so much weight. On (211)  in the book it talks about how and your early twenties or early adulthood determines a lot of the problems you face with your health when you get older. Considering the fact that my mother died from heart disease and so did my grandmother I have made better choices as I have grown over the course of time.

I also ended up in debt. Credit cards, car loans, doctor bills. You name it I ended up with it. I was in love and thought I found the man of my dreams, however it ended with nothing but my heartbroke! See at the end of my 20's around 29 or so is when I wanted to go back and be a teenager all over again. I was sad all the time and never had any money after paying bills. I can't remember saying to my sister this thing called a adulthood is not for everybody.

Now that am in my mid 30's the magical question is when are you going to get married and have some kids. See I was ready before however I am now. They make me feel like he can come down out the sky and say will you marry me Norma. Lol. But then I get a kind of nervous because I have a few friends that are now in their forties and are divorced. Sewing operated divorce in middle adulthood (247) I can definitely relate. Yes am ready but no am not anxious. The Bible says be anxious for nothing but in due time it will come to you so I'm learning to be content.

Adolescence week 5

The term adolescence really really speaks volumes to my life. My mother adopted and raised several of her grandchildren, because her daughter was addicted to drugs. So once I returned home from college I moved back and helped her raise them until her demise. I have seen the stages of adolescence change in a numerous amount of ways over the years in multiple different children.

We thought that the girls hormone imbalance was triggered puberty at different points in their lives and we were correct.  (Pg 187) puberty is definitely something that happens early and late depending on the child. One of my nieces started getting her. And her body begin to change right around the 11 year mark. However my other niece was well into junior high school before she began to develop. But each one of them shortly after the development of their body started their menstrual cycle.
Now prior to each girls starting their menstrual cycle they were both talked to and explained and given the proper tools to take care of themselves once their cycle started. And one was just fine a little nervous when her started, but the other one cried and wanted to sleep for days. Lol

Shortly after that the true adolescent Behavior begin to trigger the moment that they started High School. They became sexually active one of them got pregnant and the other one dropped out of school. And as a parent you want to believe that you've trained your child well so that when they get into the stages of adolescence they will not depart from what you taught them. See both girls started out in clubs and activities working in our local church voluntary and I'm babysitting from time to time. So this erratic Behavior made us very nervous.
They wanted to have their own identity and their Social Development skills definitely changed. They no longer wanted to be around us ,they wanted to be around their peers. We invited them to share their peers with us and their parents in order for them to have an outside relationship with them. Of course this was not something that they agreed upon, but those were the rules at our home. (Pg194-195) I totally believe that adolescent should pick peers that have their same personal interests and beliefs, however my nieces went in a totally different Arena. They develop cliques and they were with people that we did not agree they could have befriended. They didn't have good reputations and they did not have a good support system at home.
I tried to have a more open relationship considering my mother was Raising teenagers and she still had old-fashioned views. However it was very difficult because once the children started to have questions about sex and by me being a Christian I would always refer them back to the word of God . However their peers didn't have the same relationship with God as my niece is did so they were feeling embarrassed and didn't stand up for their values the way we thought they should have. So if they didn't want to appear as "lames"they gave in to the pressures.
Later after my niece gave birth to her daughter her senior year and my mother had already passed I still in force that she attends school and graduate which she did and go on to college and now that she's 21 and my great-niece is 4 years old my niece realizes the importance of continuing her education in the support system that she has. Or I would say to any parent that is dealing with a teen who struggle in adolescence stage don't give up hope one day they will understand that all that you do and say it's from Love. This is a rough stage the children go through that doesn't help if they have so many different people and things pulling on them while in this stage.