Shout Out of Gratitude

      I realized something, quite some time ago. I am grateful for so many people, and I want them to be recognized for all that they've taught and helped me through. I was thinking about writing it down in my journal, which would be fine, but who sends out a journal entry to their friends and family members? Oh wait, nobody. How about Facebook? Nah, then it just seems like I'm bragging. (Which I kind of am, they're pretty cool.) I think that I'd have to start with my roommates. I can rightly say that nobody has had better roommates than I have had this past semester. Lindsey, (I can't forget about our adopted roommate Trent,) Bailie, Deborah, Luci (my adopted roommate) Lani, and Rachel. 

     Lindsey taught me to be more Christlike. She was always doing the dishes and cleaning the apartment. She's very selfless, and I really admire her for that. Trent (BOY!) showed me that USU 1360 would be nothing with a few games of solitaire, or last minute studying the night before. He also taught me that its okay to be sarcastic and have a good natured argument every so often. Bailie. Oh Bailie. Where do I even start with this girl? She's taught me to embrace awkward hand gestures. *insert awkward hand gesture here* She taught me to be confident in myself; it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about you, it only matters what you think about yourself. Deborah has shown me that being quick to smile is the only way to go, and that Avatar the Last Airbender is legit. (Thanks girl for watching it the night I came over to check out the apartment to see if I wanted to buy the contract; you sold me, watching Avatar that night with Chris.) Luci, for being my friend and letting me be an older sister to her. She's so happy and bright all the time with the sassiness of a Southerner. Miss Lani, the best adopted older sister. For showing me that it is important to be a good listener. Also, voices are fun to play around with. *insert random Lani voice here* She taught me to care deeply, for caring is never wasted.
     Rachel. She has taught me so many things, and thus deserves a bit more of a list. Rachel taught me that people come first. One night, she skipped class just to listen to my struggles. Another night she stayed up with me until I stopped crying after a particularly rough week. She taught me that I am a strong, independent women. Rachel taught me that God is there for me, and He always will be.  It's also perfectly acceptable to have a dance party anytime of day or night, with or without music. Randomly singing one line of a song is socially acceptable too. (But only if you sing in unison.) Rachel taught me that there is love, and it can come through a roommate. Thank you Rachel, for being one of my best friends. May we stay that way eternally.
   

L to R: Me, Lindsey, Rachel, Bailie, Deborah, and Lani. PC: Trent

Yes, that's Trent in the middle....

Rachel & Me PC: Andrew EC: Rachel

Next is for all the fun boys that I've had the opportunity to go on dates with this past semester. I've learned so much with each one of them, and had fun getting to know lots of people. One guy in particular is Andrew. One thing I know for certain is that God really blessed me when He had Lani set me up with him. I would have never guessed he would become my best friend. Andrew is generous, kind, funny, understanding, stubborn (in the best possible way) and downright sweet. I can't tell you how many times this incredible kid would blow my mind my doing my dishes, paying for food, or even just being there when I needed someone to talk to. When I grow up, I want to be like him. I want to have the eternal perspective he has and learn how to love life with the zeal that he has.

Andrew and I up at the wind caves. We're kind of excited.

We climbed a bit. Then almost got stuck. It's fine.

     My family. I would definitely not be where I am today without this incredible family of mine. I once heard that only time can heal all wounds. Time has definitely helped, but my family has made the healing process so much easier and smoother. They've given me support, love, and laughter when I most needed it. My Mom was so patient with me; I think I called her almost every day for a whole month, and I've never heard her complain about the time that I took up. She was angry, sad, and happy with me. She's simply magnificent. 

     The two people who I owe the most gratitude to though is my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Without them, I would have never survived this past semester. I would have given up. But because of Them, I have grown stronger and stronger each day. I have learned from the past and have developed myself because of it. I am happier and have more knowledge. I love Them and want to be with Them forever. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and am so grateful to know the truth.

A Challenge

I have a challenge ahead of me. Actually, to be perfectly honest, it's an assignment. "Stop it right there!" you say. "I thought this was a blog about photography!" Well, it's that too. My assignment was to create a blog (Hey! What do you know? I already have one!) and post about my teaching philosophy. So, I decided to combine the two by posting about my teaching philosophy and putting up pictures that describe this philosophy.

My teaching philosophy focuses around one central idea: constructivism. Constructivism is simple: the teacher provides the framework for the classroom, and the students are allowed to work within the framework. An example of this is rules. Now rules are tricky to address. Given too much freedom, students will run rampant within the classroom. Given to little of freedom, students will rebel or not engage within the classroom. Where is this middle? Constructivists handle the structure of the classroom in such as way where they allow and guide students to help find the routines, rules and procedures that best fit their classroom. The teacher has input in this way because they are allowing and guiding the students to make the rules. Students, in turn, are creating the rules (with guidance.)

Model: Meghann Nixon

Another aspect of my teaching philosophy is discipline. Discipline is a hard aspect to address within a classroom. Although many think of discipline as punishment for doing wrong behavior (which is one aspect) there is also the aspect of training students on how to obey rules. Discipline is also teaching students how to solve issues that stem from disobedience from rules. One way to address this is through class meetings. If students are trained on how to obey rules and solve problems, then the likelihood of the teacher using harsh discipline decreases. Class meetings encourage students (with a teachers counsel) to help solve potential or current problems due to disobedience of classroom rules; students agree on how to solve problems and the solution is then implemented. Students are disciplining themselves, under the teacher’s careful eye. One constructivist way to discipline within the classroom is to have class meetings.

Model: Meghann Nixon

The last part of my teaching philosophy is that of respect and safety. Students who feel like they are respected and safe within the classroom will unconsciously give themselves permission to learn. The feelings of vulnerability will diminish, and confidence will surface knowing that no harm, physically or emotionally, will come to them they begin to open up and contribute to the class. Students can be given a framework of how to establish a safe environment, and come up with ideas on how to best establish the feelings of safety. Together, teachers and students follow through with the framework to establish a safe environment. Upon implementing a safe environment, students will gain a greater desire to learn because they feel safe.

Model: Meghann Nixon

My teaching philosophy focuses around constructivism. Rules, discipline, respect and safety are four of many elements that are part of my teaching philosophy. I believe that when these elements are taught with constructivism, then students will be more willing to participate in class and to allow themselves to learn.

P.S. After searching, I found some educational blogs that I really enjoyed.

“Ms. Cassidy’s Classroom Blog.”

URL: http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org

Ms. Cassidy uses in blog to share with parents what her Canadian class has done throughout the week.

“Teaching is Elementary”

URL: http://teachingiselementary.blogspot.com

Mrs. S posts about what happens in an elementary school, more specifically, her 4^th grade classroom.

“4 The Love of Teaching”

URL: http://4theloveofteaching.blogspot.com

Mrs. Garan blog is about her fifth grade classroom in Georgia, family activities, and her Christian faith.

Happy Birthday Harry Potter!

As all of you Harry Potter fans know, yesterday was Harry Potter's birthday. Okay, so it was JK Rowlings too, but more importantly Harry's. Just kidding, Miss Rowling is important too. After all, she is the one who made the Harry Potter books and characters come to life. So yesterday, my cousin came over dressed as Luna, and upon me seeing her, got super excited(:  I put on my Harry Potter shirt I recently bought, and our adventures soon began after we created a list of four important things that we simply had to do:
1.) Make and drink butterbeer
2.) Make a pastry that sounds Harry Potterish and then eat that pastry
3.) Watch the first Harry Potter
4.) (My personal favorite) Run into a wall with a shopping cart while pretending that we are going into platform 9 3/4.

We successfully did all of these, and felt pretty awesome about accomplishing them. Here are a few of our triumphant pictures.

My cousin as Luna

We were hoping for a cat...but the bunny was just as good

Her pet owl

Going off to Hogwarts

She was actually running....

Homemade butterbeer! There is no better way to celebrate!
Taken by my little sister

My good friend Liz

Liz is a good friend of mine who is always kind enough to come over and do shoots with me. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of her!

The classic leaves in the hair

I love the lighting in this one!

This is my all time favorite of Liz! So photogenic! 

I love how the light shines all around her. She looks like an angel!

The reason why it is the way it is

The reason why this blog is called "3 E Photography" is because of my initials. E for Elise, M for Mikella, and W for Weaver. If you were to rotate the M counter clock wise, it would make an E. If you were to rotate the W clockwise, it too would make an E. Hence the name "3 E Photography" came about.

Taken by my amazing friend, Meagan Larsen.