Archive for July, 2004
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U-Haul fiasco update.
By Karen | Friday, July 30th, 2004 | No Comments »
We’re in town until 11:15am on Wednesday, August 4th. The original date of my final exam. Thank God I had rescheduled for August 6th way back in May.
So we didn’t bother with U-Haul anymore. We continued to look for other full-service movers, and secured 2 seats on a Jetsgo flight on Wednesday. Thanks a huge bunch to Kathy, Jordon, and Kathy’s unknown Air Canada friend for giving us advice for getting a cheap flight. Our flights were only $215 each, compared to the average price of $355. For you cheap/ wallet-strapped travellers, it’s www.cheapticketscanada.com.
After some shopping around, we secured a pick-up date for Monday at 3pm, even though Monday is a stat holiday. We dealt with Two Small Men (with Big Hearts) and with Portage Cartage & Storage. Bob Carr from PC&S was extremely helpful and empathetic to our plight. Unfortunately, we needed to get our stuff out of the apartment ASAP, and Bob was only able to offer a Tuesday pick-up date. Tara and Carmen from TSM were also helpful, gave us details up-front, and were quick to secure a cost of $1500 plus GST. Both companies offered quotes between $1500-1600, and scoffed at the high price of our U-Haul reservation. In fact, TSM is $137 dollars cheaper than U-Haul, and they’re driving it there for us! Nice.
I will reserve further comment on TSM until the move is complete. So we don’t get further screwed in our cross-province experience, we’re also taking some good advice and taking digital pictures of each piece of luggage, at load time and at unload time. Bit of insurance that our stuff will be accounted for. I hear that’s something to be careful about.
Better get started on my final exam studying. Could probably use some relaxation time on Tuesday if any of you Winnipeggers want to hang out then. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
Don’t ever use U-Haul! They’ll F*CK you over.
By Karen | Friday, July 30th, 2004 | 2 Comments »
I am the Traffic Control Manager at U-Haul’s regional
office in WINNIPEG,MB. My team of Reservation Managers is now in charge of your
reservation. Someone will call you by 5PM, on the day before your reservation to
schedule a pick up time and location for your rental. If your moving plans
change, please contact anyone on our reservation management team at
204-987-9510.Below is the information that we have about your reservation and
how to contact you. If any of this information is not correct, please contact
me immediately.Reservation Document No.: 28910555
Customer Name: KURT HAMILTON
Primary Phone No.: (204) 885-0559
Secondary Phone No.: ()-
Reservation Date/Time: Jul 15 2004 5:02PM
Pickup Date: Jul 30 2004
Pickup
City/State: WINNIPEG, MB
Destination City/State: BURNABY, BC
Equipment & Rate:14′ MOVING VAN 1637.00
That was our U-Haul reservation. However, we don’t have a truck today like we expected. According to Ryder Canada, whom we called as we searched for alternatives, at least 3 other people called them saying the exact same thing. Unlike them, I expect that we are the only ones that are moving out of town to Vancouver.
When we called to investigate our reservation, they said that our reservation was only a PREFERENCE to pick up in Winnipeg (the city, as opposed to a particular Winnipeg location). Jennifer from U-Haul said that it is not their fault that a truck is not available in Winnipeg, but in Regina or Ontario, and that we would have to DRIVE there to pick it up.
We’ve looked around and found a terrific company called Portage Cartage & Storage, who quoted us a price in the $1500-1600 range for a full-service move. When they heard that U-Haul quoted us more than that for a self-drive rental, they were flabbergasted. That, and U-Haul didn’t have the truck for us anyway.
Hopefully, PC&S will have something for us on Tuesday and that our stuff will be there by Thursday-ish. I’ll have to find a flight for Monday or earlier to make my first day of work at BMO (the 3rd). Kurt will have to find a flight for after the movers pick up the furniture.
Which means after 3 years of long-distance dating, over a dozen flights, several road trips, etc…we still have not yet been on the same flight together.
These are words?! Maybe in Canada.
By Karen | Thursday, July 29th, 2004 | No Comments »
Thanks to Justin’s blog, I was directed to some pretty nifty articles on the CBC. One was about the addition of 5,000 words to the Canadian Oxford dictionary. The full article is here, but highlights include (re-)definitions of:
The CBC also posted a list of distinctly Canadian terms, most of which I have not heard before (though since coming to Winnipeg, double-double has become a regularly used phrase in my vocabulary…oh I miss Starbucks!).
Want a Gmail account?
By Karen | Wednesday, July 28th, 2004 | 4 Comments »
Here’s one more post to end today’s message spree. Turns out Gmail, from the makers of Google, has been extremely popular, even though it is still not officially ready for the public. I have three invites left. 1000MB, and they don’t read your email. Leave a comment if you’re interested. Will cater to the first 3, though family members may have to take priority.
If you reach me too late, check out the comments and see if you can hit up those brand new Gmail owners!
If you don’t know anyone to extend you an invite, go here. It is an Updates sign-up list. They’ll probably state when they’ll create more beta accounts, and how to garner one for yourself.
Hint: I got one for being an active Blogger user, since Google is its parent company.
Our new digs: 24 Ellesmere Ave, Burnaby.
By Karen | Wednesday, July 28th, 2004 | No Comments »
Kurt picked me up during his lunch break to tell me about this place.
It is NOT in metrotown but on the Hastings corridor, equidistant from where I need to be (SFU, Burnaby BMOs) and where he will likely work (downtown Vancouver). Tell me what you think. I especially love the fireplace!
Guess Kyle won’t be able to move in with us, which I’m sad about, but we’ve been mega-stressed at not having the housing situation settled, and this is the best alternative we could find since the Thurston homeowners have apparently snobbed us. Well…such is life. Hope he will find something good for himself.
Almost packed, but still homeless!
By Karen | Wednesday, July 28th, 2004 | No Comments »
Still no luck getting in touch with the owners of that fabulous 2BR, 2Bath from my last post. My brother is moving in with us so he can be closer to BCIT, so at least we can share the housing cost until I graduate in December. Anyhow, it’s been bittersweet saying goodbye to the family and friends here. Everyone has been so great! Winnipeg is now more than ever my home away from home. I wish everyone could have the benefit of both cities: beautiful weather, scenery and city life mixed with the friendliness and community of Winnipeg.
Today’s mega-errand / studying day so will update more later.
Potential home: 3913 Thurston.
By Karen | Monday, July 19th, 2004 | 7 Comments »
My dad visited a couple places tonight and took pictures. One of them looks real good so here I am sharing the images for your consideration.
Where is it?
What does the house look like?
What does the living room & kitchen look like?
What does the bathroom look like?
What do the 2 bedrooms look like?
The only qualms we have about this location:
-$850, even with utilities included, is expensive! may need my brother as a roomie, or someone else…
-not sure if we have a washer & dryer in the house
-not sure if there’s a long term lease
We just left a message for the homeowners to call us, so hopefully we get these concerns addressed by tomorrow or Wednesday. If it doesn’t pan out, oh well. My dad tells me there are some postings out on Grange Street that he’ll write down and send to me. If you see anything, let us know! Thanks!
Househunting in Metrotown.
By Karen | Saturday, July 17th, 2004 | No Comments »
T-minus 15 days till August and we still don’t have a home settled. We’ve decided against the West End for the meantime, unfortunately. Too much money for a cramped little space. Now we’re looking in the Metrotown area. I got a job offer at Bank of Montreal branches in the Burnaby area so that would work out for me, plus Kurt has the skytrain that he’ll need to get downtown for work (once he finds something). It’s a little frustrating that the househunt is taking so long, but I guess we haven’t really been putting in the effort.
If you see any vacancy postings around the Metrotown area, please leave a comment about it or call/email us. Thanks!
Assignment 9.
By Karen | Thursday, July 15th, 2004 | No Comments »
Teaching in a classroom requires more than expert knowledge in a subject. To be an expert teacher, effective management techniques are also essential (Woolfolk, Winne & Perry, 2003). Unfortunately, mastery of classroom management is very difficult for most beginning teachers. In addition to teaching well, the novice teacher must adopt personally effective methods for 1) establishing rules and procedures, 2) enforcing rules, 3) handling conflicts, and 4) focussing attention to learning. Drawing from these areas of classroom management, this paper will recommend some techniques that a novice teacher of teenage students could use to prevent behavioural problems.
Clear rules and procedures are crucial to the management of classroom behaviour. Without them, students will not have a clear understanding of the consequences of their actions. For teenaged students, who have begun to question absolute authority, arbitrarily set rules are easier to break than conventions that are upheld by peers (Woolfolk et al, 2003). It is therefore recommended that students be involved in the development of class-specific rules and procedures. One way of involving students in the process is to create a Charter of Rights, created by the class with the teacher as facilitator (Woolfolk et al, 2003). Having students sign the Charter demonstrates each member’s acceptance of and commitment to the rules outlined.
Once a set of behavioural guidelines are in place, reinforcement of these guidelines must be consistent. Enforcing consequences for incomplete work is of special consideration for high school students (Woolfolk et al, 2003). Another special consideration for these students is the high influence of observational learning in this developmental and social stage (Woolfolk et al, 2003). When a rule is broken, adopting an assertive disciplinary style ensures that consequences deter inappropriate behaviour in the future. Ignoring errant behaviour or not enforcing consequences only serves to reinforce the undesirable actions. This reinforcement applies students that observed the misbehaviour and consequence, as well as the misbehaving student himself. It is therefore necessary that consequences be applied to all instances of misbehaviour each time they occur. Behavioural problems will lessen as students are better able to assess the risk of breaking the rules (Woolfolk et al, 2003).
Even with the most effective rules and procedures in place, conflict between students and teachers will occur. For student-owned problems, such as a difficulty with material, use empathetic listening. The roots of a student’s concerns can be determined through paraphrasing, which is a form of active listening (Woolfolk et al, 2003). Paraphrasing also creates a safe, positive environment for resolving the conflict. Nurturing this type of environment is key for the classroom; according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, an environment that conveys safety and care allows the student to fulfill higher-level learning needs (Woolfolk et al, 2003). For conflicts that interfere with teacher goals, assertive discipline is again useful. Assertive discipline calls for clear expectations and enforced consequences (Woolfolk et al, 2003). Establishing a set of class rules and ensuring consistent enforcment of these rules, as mentioned previously, are ways to demonstrate teacher assertiveness. By being assertive, students are more likely to 1) perceive misbehaviour as actions that are in clear violation of personally accepted rules, 2) perceive riskier consequences for rule-breaking, as misbehaviour is consistently dealt with, and 3) perceive sincere teacher concern for student welfare and education.
While rules, enforcement, and conflict resolution skills are useful management tools, keeping students focussed and interested in learning may be the best way to prevent behavioural problems (Woolfolk et al, 2003). Inattentive students, either from boredom, frustration, or lack of teacher engagement, are more likely to distract themselves and other students with inappropriate behaviour. With attentive students, absorption and retention of material is more likely (Woolfolk et al, 2003), since the focus is on the task at hand.
Methods of increasing student attention are limited only by the teacher’s imagination. Interactive software can be used to teach concepts in a non-lecture style. Lectures can be livened up by asking controversial questions, calling out for suggestions, using multimedia materials, or changing the pace and tone of verbal delivery (National Education Association, n.d.). Techniques should be chosen that can add activity and variety to the learning experience. By keeping students engaged in learning, there is less time to be engaged in inappropriate classroom behaviour. And if, despite this, misbehaviour still occurs in the classroom, then there is still the support network of rules, enforcement, and conflict management. Once these techniques of classroom management are mastered, the novice teacher moves one step closer to being an expert in teaching.
REFERENCES
National Education Associate (NEA) (n.d.). 10 Ways to Help Kids Who Have Trouble Paying Attention. Retrieved on July 13, 2004 from http://www.nea.org/neatoday/9803/cover.html.
Woolfolk, A. E., Winne, P. H., & Perry, N. E. (2003). Educational psychology (2nd. Canadian ed.). Scarborough: Allyn and Bacon Canada.
Assignment 8.
By Karen | Wednesday, July 7th, 2004 | No Comments »
Setting effective goals is crucial for motivating learning and performance in this Distance Education course. With a full-time job and a cross-country move in August, it is mostly my short-term performance goals and long-term learning goals that spur me to master the key concepts of Educational Psychology. This paper is an exploration of the influences of goal-setting on motivation, as related to two of my personal goals for studying for the final exam.
Motivation is influenced directly by the types of goals we choose to follow. Goals that are self-set are easier to follow and achieve than those set by others. Goals that explicitly describe the path towards achievement are perceived easier to act on. Goals that provide a both complexity and a reasonable chance of success inspire students that are intrinsically motivated (Woolfolk, Winne & Perry, 2003). Goals that are relatively short-term are less likely to be disregarded in favour of more time-pressing tasks. From this, many researchers observe that specific, challenging, but attainable goals should increase motivation and persistence (Huitt, 1999; Pintrich & Schunk, 1996 and Stipek, 1996, both cited in Woolfolk et al, 2003).
Motivation is also indirectly influenced by goals that enhance or mitigate other factors, such as self-efficacy. Succeeding a goal that is challenging but attainable provides satisfaction and increases self-efficacy; higher self-efficacy leads to greater motivation and persistence when a similar goal is not met (Woolfolk et al, 2003). On the other hand, failing a goal whose attainability depends on external, stable, and uncontrollable factors would lower self-efficacy. This could stimulate learned helplessness in a student–a large demotivator.
From prior research on information processing theory, I had chosen to use flash cards as part of my final exam learning strategy (Clement, 2004). In light of the impact that goals have on motivation, I now devised two goals to wean maximum value from the flash cards:
Learning Goal–Complete flash cards for the assigned chapter by Monday night.
Performance Goal–Achieve 100% mastery of the assigned chapter’s definitions, and at least 75% mastery of accumulated cards, by the following Monday night.
Used together, these goals are quite effective in motivating a pattern of distributed practice (Woolfolk et al, 2003) for the final exam. The learning goal serves as a counterbalance to the performance goal (Woolfolk et al, 2003) of creating the flash cards. Knowing that my learning will be tested soon, I would be motivated to understand the chapter definitions as I type them out, instead of blindly copying the words. Likewise, I would be motivated to use my flash cards as a review tool, in order to ensure my 75% mastery of the material to date.
The two goals provide a reasonable chance of achievement and are an instrumental tool in learning all the chapter definitions. They are valuable to have for review in future study sessions as the exam nears, since the work of creating flash cards is incremental and manageable. According to expectancy theory (Huitt, 2001), this combination of high success probability, high instrumentability, and high value would keep me motivated to complete the flash cards by the weekly deadline.
The effectiveness of these goals can be further demonstrated using attribution theory (Huitt, 2001; Woolfolk et al, 2003). Even if I did not meet my goals one week, the possibly damaging consequences of failure are mitigated. These internal, unstable, and controllable goals would help me attribute my failure to a lack of effort–an internal factor that I can change and control in the future. Knowing this would motivate me to improve my performance by increasing my effort. Self-efficacy would not be undermined (Woolfolk et al, 2003) as it would be had I chosen goals whose attainability were dependent on internal but uncontrollable factors.
Finally, these goals are effective at dividing the larger goal of doing well on the exam into smaller, specific, and more manageable tasks. By succeeding at these sub-goals, my self-efficacy for understanding the chapter definitions will increase, which will increase my motivation and persistence in understanding the other key concepts of the course. Combined with time management strategies, my other course sub-goals, and the study skills discussed before (Clement, 2004), I should look forward to doing well in the exam despite the hectic schedule that I face in the upcoming weeks.
REFERENCES
Clement, Karen (June 2004). Assignment 6. Retrieved July 6, 2004 from http://www.sfu.ca/~kclement/ psych/2004_06_23_archive.htm.
Huitt, W. (November 1999). Conation As An Important Factor of Mind. Retrieved on July 6, 2004 from http://chiron.valdosta.edu/ whuitt/col/regsys/conation.html.
Huitt, W. (April 2001). Motivation to Learn: An Overview. Retrieved on July 6, 2004 from http://chiron.valdosta.edu/ whuitt/col/motivation/motivate.html.
Woolfolk, A. E., Winne, P. H., & Perry, N. E. (2003). Educational psychology (2nd. Canadian ed.). Scarborough: Allyn and Bacon Canada.
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