Tag Archives: Teaching

News

Teaching in the age of misinformation

22 Oct 2021 Jackson Reichardt

It’s unarguable that politics is now a part of modern society more than it ever has been before. With the growth of the internet, and its spread in accessibility across the world, more and more people across various demographics have entered the world of politics. One of the most important and potentially most impressionable demographics exposed to this topic are children and teens. Kids and teens are being exposed to politics more than generations prior, primarily through social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, just to name a few. Unfortunately, this has also led to this young demographic being fed political misinformation and exposed to extreme and polarizing views on various arguments. Thankfully, efforts are being taken across society to help combat the spread of misinformation, as well as helping kids learn to educate themselves on various political issues and topics.

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Mount Saint Joseph’s own Mr. Ryan Folmer is an alum from the class of 1996 and has been teaching at the Mount for 17 years. He aims to help combat political misinformation within his class curricula. When asked what period of history was most significant for him to teach, Mr. Folmer stated that learning the origins of humanity is essential for his students to learn, as it helps students understand the concept of race.

There are many, but I think my core, central goal is for us to do and understand history as it really is, not a set of facts or dates to be memorized, but a process of argument and understanding about the past.
Mr. Ryan Folmer

“There are many different lessons that students need to learn, but if I had to pick one, it would be understanding the origins of our racial issues in this country; how race is a construct that has been used by people to gain and maintain power over people for centuries, but it is not natural. It is a decision people have made and continues to be made.”

When asked about his core goals as a teacher at The Mount and the Social Studies Department Chair, Mr. Folmer had this to say:

“There are many, but I think my core, central goal is for us to do and understand history as it really is, not a set of facts or dates to be memorized, but a process of argument and understanding about the past.”

Learning about how history has affected our society is the first step to understanding the spread of politics in modern society. Without this understanding of the evolution of humanity throughout history, we won’t be able to know how politics is a critical factor in our modern society’s growth.

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With politics being a primary factor in society more than ever, it’s affected how human society views and reacts to politics. With how rapid-fire political memes and messages are shared on social media, kids and teens are being exposed to more radical and polarizing viewpoints from all sides of the political spectrum. On the one hand, it is good that kids are being exposed to political topics at an earlier age, as it will help these kids develop a thinking pattern of detecting lies and misinformation early on in their lives.

When asked about kids being exposed to politics sooner, Mr. Folmer responded with this: “I think the younger students start having these conversations, the better; they will have these skills as older students and adults without succumbing to prejudices, biases, and lies.”

Ryken Award winner, Mr. Phil Campbell has been teaching at Mount Saint Joseph for 25 years. When asked about politics being more readily available, he had this to say, “I feel that it has been helpful in providing an array of resources available to students, but it places more responsibility on the students to find accurate, less biased news.”

The Social Studies classroom holds a quintessential role in teaching students how to evaluate and corroborate sources, whether for a research paper or just while reading your daily news.

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Unfortunately, while kids being exposed to politics at a younger demographic can be positive, every reaction has an opposite and equal reaction. With social media comes the spread of misinformation, both through fake news articles and political and satirical memes shared around. With how widespread the internet is, people are being exposed to incorrect information daily, forming political opinions purely based on misinformation and not fact-checking their sources.

Mr. Folmer stated that the spread of misinformation has already impacted the previous election results and will continue to affect voter stances for years to come. “If you look at those who wrongly believe that the last election was illegitimate, it’s clear this is already having an impact and likely will in the coming years.”

However, all is not lost. Mr. Folmer is taking action in his classrooms and class curricula to help combat information. When asked how he is taking action against the age of misinformation, Mr. Folmer said, “I am asking my students to take a critical look at sources, ideas, narratives, their own positions, etc., and understand media biases and their own biases is at the core of so much of what we do; whether that is in a history class, a current events class, or a government and politics course.”

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Social Studies in our schools is more critical than ever. We rely on Social Studies to prepare students, and future voters, to think critically and carefully examine the facts. Social Studies drives us to continue to question and discover the truth. In the earliest days of our nation, our Founders believed in the importance of civic engagement and working for the greater good; these tenants are at the heart of any Social Studies curriculum and very prominent here at The Mount. Social Studies classes will continue to provide the skills to combat false narratives, fake news, and misinformation campaigns if we are only willing to practice the valuable lessons they offer.

Jackson Reichardt is a senior member of the Multimedia Journalism class

Features

What’s behind the philosophy of Philosophy?

25 Nov 2020 Cory Presser

While most of the classes that students take at Mount Saint Joseph High School are taught by a singular, dedicated teacher, the elective of Philosophy has not one, but two teachers: Mr. Clay Bonham and Mr. Michael O’Donnell. It makes Philosophy stand out in this respect, but why aren’t more classes taught by multiple teachers?

“You get two teachers for the price of one. Hearing the same teacher every single day gets a little old, you start to zone out to the voices. I think bringing in new people and different perspectives definitely enhances the class.”
Mr. Clay Bonham

Both teachers have worked amiably with each other over the years of co-teaching the course. Mr. O’Donnell is officially registered as the course’s teacher, but both have an equal role in the administration and grading of the class assignments.

I, in fact, signed up for the course of Philosophy this year, both teachers being familiar faces to me. Mr. Bonham did my admissions interview and Mr. O’Donnell runs the Classic Film Club that I was a part of prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It takes a little bit of flexibility,” said Mr. Bonham, co-teacher of the Philosophy course. “Teachers by nature are territorial with their classrooms.” Mr. Bonham, himself a Theology teacher, along with Mr. O’Donnell, have a background of teaching philosophic units in their previous classrooms before making Philosophy an elective itself.

Interviewing Mr. Clay Bonham, one of the teachers of the Philosophy course.

“Mainly it was Aristotle and virtue.” He said, when referring to philosophic teachings in Theology. Many Catholic theologians, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas, based their writings and beliefs upon the philosophical sayings of Aristotle.

In order to successfully share a class with a teacher, both must have a friendly relationship, and an ability to work well together. “It certainly helps that you get along with the person you’re co-teaching with.” Mr. Bonham and Mr. O’Donnell share a close friendship that resonates in the lessons they teach.

“I think students kind of pick up on that we’re friends.” Mr. Bonham said, “There’s several philosophers Mr. O’Donnell enjoys, and I do not, and so that flexibility really comes into play. This is your guy, you take this person, and overall we’re on the same page 80% to 90% of the time.”

Having a co-teacher helps to mitigate the challenges of lesson planning, assessment creation, and grading. It really makes it fluid.”
Mr. Greg McDivitt, Assistant Principal

The co-teaching setup does have its benefits, as Mr. Bonham explains, “You get two teachers for the price of one. Hearing the same teacher every single day gets a little old, you start to zone out to the voices. I think bringing in new people and different perspectives definitely enhances the class.”

“That idea really came from the Theology Department,” Assistant Principal Greg McDivitt commented, “that’s how that class was proposed as an elective.”

“Having a co-teacher helps to mitigate the challenges of lesson planning, assessment creation, and grading,” he said. “It really makes it fluid.” Having a co-teacher provides different opinions and thoughts, and enables the student to hear perspectives from different teachers.

“The main challenge singleton classes (only meet once per day) like Philosophy present is that a lot of different students request a lot of different courses,” Mr. McDivitt said. Speaking about the logistics behind creating schedules, “there’s never a year where everyone gets every class they want to take.”

When asked whether other classes might benefit from having multiple teachers, Mr. McDivitt said, “Absolutely. There are benefits to being able to work with colleagues and to share the work and share the perspective and learn from one another. Philosophy is successful due to the fact that it’s an elective where there is some room for creativity, and that it’s relatively small scale in terms of scheduling.”

Both Mr. McDivitt and Mr. Bonham recommended the concept of co-teaching. It has been tested and proven as long as both teachers have the time and share a sense of trust that co-teaching can work, and from a personal standpoint of being a student in the class, I can say that it works well.

Cory Presser is a junior member of the Multimedia Journalism class.

Features

Why be a teacher?

20 Nov 2020 Andrew Gonder

While teaching is a mostly overlooked profession by students and even some parents, it often doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Especially with the pandemic, teachers not only have the responsibility of keeping their students in check, but they also now have the responsibility of figuring out how to use technology effectively in their teaching.

I went out on a mission to finally get the answers to questions every student has been asking. With the help of two teachers at Mount Saint Joseph High School, Mrs. Allison White and Mr. David Dutrow, I now believe I have answered some of these questions and can finally give this career the respect it deserves.

First of all, it’s important to know what qualities a teacher needs to have in order to be successful. According to both my interviewees, they both came to the conclusion that a good teacher needs to be flexible and be able to adapt quickly. “We’re always changing the way that we do things,” Mrs. White said. Mr. Dutrow also brought up that he was able to connect with the students in a way that makes them excited to go to his class, like I was the prior two years when I was one of his students.

Mount St. Joseph Science Teacher Mrs. Allison White (Photo Credit: Jon Bleiweis / Baltimore Sun Media Group)

Being able to interact and engage with the students was not only a good way to be a successful teacher, but that’s also many teachers’ favorite part about teaching. Having a face-to-face interaction with the people you teach, especially during this difficult time, is important when it comes to the students wanting to learn. “Having that human interaction really makes what we do here so special”, said Mr. Dutrow.

As I’ve learned over the years of being in high school, every teacher has their own unique style of teaching. I actually chose to interview Mrs. White and Mr. Dutrow because I liked their teaching styles when I had them as a teacher. Mrs. White said that she started with mostly lecturing. Now she focuses more on getting the students involved in what she’s teaching by doing group work and hands-on assessments rather than just PowerPoint presentations, saying “I want students to learn other things other than environmental science.”

When I was in her class, there was one project we did that really exemplified this, when we were studying different species of trees. Mrs. White gave us the chance to go around campus and pick out leaves of the trees we were gonna study and put them in a book. The next day, we went behind our baseball field to look at leaves of trees and try to identify them. This was a great example of a non-lecture style and getting the students involved in what she wants them to learn.

“Teaching is a demanding profession”
Mr. David Dutrow

Mr. Dutrow was also very lecture based in the beginning, but now thanks to technological advances, he is able to use that to his advantage by engaging with the students in something they are familiar with. One way he was able to adapt to the ever-changing technology, while still keeping the students active in his class, was he found this website where students go in groups of three and pick characters. Each character had an ability related to things in class such as helping one of your teammates out with a question or a free answer on a quiz to the person who used the ability as well as their teammates. It added competition to the classroom and we all really enjoyed it.

Mount St. Joseph English Teacher Mr. David Dutrow.

With students focusing on the work they have to do, they don’t think of all the work every teacher goes through to make their hybrid or virtual school experience as fun and worthwhile as possible. I would think that most teachers tend to spend a little less, if not just as much time, outside the classroom as they do in it. They spend so much time preparing for classes, grading papers and just keeping everything under control. Mr. Dutrow specifically told me that he spends around 40 hours a week in the classroom and around 30 hours a week outside the classroom. When you think about it, there isn’t a lot of time in between for free time or to take care of themselves.

If this still sounds like something you would be interested in pursuing, do you need to have a degree in education as well as your field of teaching? Mrs. White said that most teachers major in the field they want to teach then possibly minor in education. Mr. Dutrow said that while an education degree is required, you should be able to teach students if you are passionate about what you’re teaching. For anybody who may want to be a teacher in the future, keep those things in mind when you go through high school and college.

With everything teachers go through, from spending extra hours at home preparing lessons to going out of their way to making students succeed in their classroom, teachers deserve a serious pat on the back for their work and effort. The next time you step into any classroom (whether on campus or virtually), just take a moment to appreciate your teacher. And when you have one of those really worthwhile, and eye-opening classes, make sure to thank your teacher – I know they will appreciate hearing that their hard work made a difference.

Andrew Gonder is a senior member of the Multimedia Journalism class.

Features

Ms. Jenna Gallagher: “MSJ has offered me many opportunities to improve as a teacher”

1 Nov 2018 Justin Cruz

gallager — MSJ Yearbook Photo of Ms. Jenna Gallagher

Going into my senior year, I realized what I might want to do for a living when I get older. I’m seriously considering a career as a math teacher for younger students. Coming from a Baltimore City public middle school, the private school environment is a huge change. My experience in middle school was filled with memories but the education I was getting was filled with nothing. The teachers at Saint Joe make sure you understand the material and are willing to meet with you if you don’t understand it.

Ms. Jenna Gallagher is one of the mathematics teacher at Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, Maryland. She has been teaching at the school for four years, and has definitely had an impact on my learning of math. Over the course of my four years at MSJ, I have had Ms. Gallagher as teacher once for Algebra II.

To find out more about the experience of being a math teacher, and the path to becoming a teacher in general, I talked to Saint Joe math teacher, Ms. Jenna Gallagher. Also, I wanted to understand why and how she became a teacher. It can be hard sometimes choosing the right career path, but if you know a few things you might want to do, you can narrow it down after you have finally decided. “When I went into college I knew that I wanted to major in either math or education. I ended up majoring in math because the school that I chose had a good math program. After I graduated from college, I decided that I wanted to put math and education together and I became a math teacher.”

Senior, Connor Rudel, getting tutoring during his free period from mathematics teacher, Ms. Gallagher.

“I had a difficult time choosing a school during my senior year of high school. I narrowed my options down to UMBC, Mount Saint Mary’s University, and the University of Delaware. Out of the three options, UMBC had the best mathematics program and was financially the best option.” In the transition from high school to college, choosing the right school to go to can be a tough decision, but if you choose right, it can lead you to your calling in life.

Another factor teachers have to put into play is what kind of school to teach at. “When I decided on UMBC, I did not think that I was going to become a teacher. I had decided that I was going to major in math and I thought that I was going to use my math degree in some other manner. When I graduated, I realized I did not necessarily want a job in the mathematics field and then I decided that I would look into private schools.” Whether that be at a public or private middle or high school or a public or private university is up to the teacher. Generally speaking, public school teachers get paid more than private school teachers, and college professors get paid more than the two.

Mount Saint Joseph has a reputation for having a good teaching environment. Most of the teachers at St. Joe have been at the school for over five years. Gallagher is in her fourth year of teaching at MSJ, and the students recognize that she is doing a good job in growing into the life of the school. “MSJ has offered me many opportunities to improve as a teacher. One of the main things that they have provided me with is the opportunity to go to graduate school and grow as a professional. Since I have been at MSJ, I have obtained my Master of Arts in Teaching. This has helped me because of all the feedback that I was able to receive.”

Teachers can also help shape the character of their students. Connor Rudel, a senior, said, “I would describe myself as a hard working persistent student because I always go to teachers for help when I need it and I continue to go until I understand. I persevere through all my hard work.”

Senior, Connor Rudel, working on a math quiz.

Rudel continued, “Ms. Gallagher is a great teacher and she explains everything in depth. And she doesn’t teach vaguely and she makes sure all of her explanations are clear. Her teaching environment is relaxing so you don’t ever feel like somebody is on your back. You don’t feel rushed while she is teaching you.” Ms. Gallagher interacts with her students and enables them to get involved during class. If the student doesn’t understand some of the material, she makes time for them to see her for before or after school tutoring.

At St. Joe, students often have the opportunity to have a teacher again for a different class. The teachers at MSJ usually teach more than one class and depending on the course selected by the student, they could have the same teacher again. Some students would like to have a teacher for another year but are sometimes unable to. “I would definitely choose to have her as a teacher again, because on Junior Retreat I got to know Ms. Gallagher a lot better than I did before and in class, you don’t really talk about personal things. I developed a better relationship with her over time. And she made math a lot easier for me.”

It is obvious that Ms. Gallagher is positively impacting the lives of her students on a daily basis. From class, to retreat experiences, to organizing the Sarah M. Roach tutoring that students participate in, Ms. Gallagher shows her dedication to the school and to her students in everything she does. But of course, if you are struggling with your math, she is always available to help you through that too.

Justin Cruz is a senior and a member of the Multimedia Journalism class.

Features, Men Who Matter, News

A graduate of Loyola-Blakefield, Mr. Shawn Turner’s path leads him to The Mount

31 Oct 2018 Christian Avara

During the interview process, Mr. Turner became convinced of the positives of Mount Saint Joseph High School. Photo Credit: Christian Avara

Mr. Shawn Turner, one of the newer teachers here at the Mount has a lot to offer, for not only the students and the faculty, but the mathematics department as well. I was given the chance to speak with Mr. Turner to learn more about him as a teacher, and as a person, and to come away with a better understanding as to why he came to teach at Mount Saint Joseph High School.

Mr. Turner told me first, the reason he came here to Mount Saint Joseph High School, was due to his interview with Mount Saint Joseph Principal Mr. David Norton. “Circumstances played out that I really wanted to be a part of this community after my interview with Mr. Norton.” Mr. Norton told him that Mount Saint Joseph will stand by justice and will condemn any kind of injustice or unwelcoming behavior in the school. Mr. Turner said that a lot of the schools that he applied to did not really have this type of statement. “A lot of the schools where I applied did not have that solid of an admission.” Mr. Turner said that he knew that Mount Saint Joseph, because of this policy, was not just a normal high school. Mr. Turner said that Mr. Norton believed we are doing good things for the world and that we have men that really do matter. “When Mr. Norton said that I knew that Mount Saint Joe was not just a normal high school, we were trying to do some things that were for the good of the world so that we have men that actually matter.”

Mr. Turner works at the board with one of his math classes. Photo Credit: Christian Avara

In my interview with Mr. Turner, I also found out more insight into what really led him to want to start teaching in the first place. Mr.Turner started out by saying that when he was young he would like to teach his younger siblings in his room. Mr. Turner got a chalkboard from his mom, and he and his siblings would pretend that they were in class and Mr. Turner was the teacher. Mr. Turner’s grandmother when he was in first grade would make him check her spelling, “we had spelling tests and my grandmother instead of making me spell words would tell me to check her spelling of words, to see if it was correct or incorrect. So I got a very early start in checking papers.” Mr. Turner also got to check his aunt’s papers and would teach when she was not teaching. Soon Mr. Turner realized that he liked what he was doing and enjoyed the prospect of teaching.

“I am paving the way for my younger brother, I am paving my way as an African American teacher for other African American male teachers, for you all, and for you all and the way that I teach, and I am paving the way for your understanding of Mathematics. I have to be a model for that kind of thing.” – Mr. Shawn Turner

Mr. Turner said that in college he did not pursue teaching, but he did pursue mathematics. He also said that he did a lot of internships in college, teaching at middle schools and elementary schools. Despite what many students assume, Mr. Turner did not attend Mount Saint Joe, instead attending Loyola-Blakefield for high school, but he did say a lot of the values of the Jesuits are similar to the Xavier Brothers. He said that he likes how at Mount Saint Joseph those values seem to merge, “we say ‘Men Who Matter’ here, guys in Jesuits schools say ‘Men who form with others’.”

Mr. Turner also told me a little about his personal life. He told me that here at Mount Saint Joseph one of our fundamental statements is to be the man who God intends you to be. Mr.Turner said that in his world that “we stand on the shoulders of giants” and “to whom much is given much is required.” Mr. Turner said that he loves that in his family, everyone seems to support one another. “When things really [go badly], we are always a phone call away, a block away, or a car ride away.” Mr. Turner also said that he has realized that the things that he does in his life will have an impact on future generations. “I am paving the way for my younger brother, I am paving my way as an African American teacher for other African American male teachers, for you all, and for you all and the way that I teach, and I am paving the way for your understanding of Mathematics. I have to be a model for that kind of thing.” Mr. Turner also said “I am always giving to people what I expect to be given to me.”

Towards the end of the interview Mr. Turner said that he considers himself to be a very consistent person and that he cares a lot about what he does. “I’m real, I love hard, I fight hard, I care hard and a lot of that has shifted from my upbringing as a “Baltimorean.” Mr. Turner talked about how he has had to deal with injustices in his life and how that has led him to be where he is now, adding, “I am standing on the shoulders of giants so those who gave to me, I am paving the way for the next generation you, the guys younger than you, that I am going to become a giant to whose shoulders others can stand.”

I am very grateful that I got the opportunity to interview Mr. Shawn Turner to learn more about him and I think the school is blessed to have Mr. Turner as a teacher here at Mount Saint Joseph High School. His life path has made him the teacher that he is, and he is hoping to share that journey with his students as they move beyond the walls of St. Joe.

Christian Avara is a senior and a member of the Multimedia Journalism class.

Features

Senior Project Journal: Teaching Biology & Anatomy

11 May 2017 Nick Viennas

For his Senior Project, Nick Viennas chose to shadow and teach alongside Mrs. Pat Abrahms. Nick also decided to journal each of his days to give us insight into his Senior Project. This is his first entry, detailing his first week teaching Biology and Anatomy.

Day 1

May 1, the first day of senior project. I arrived at school around 7:20 trying to be early, but as soon as I walked into the room I was bombarded by students waiting for help with their DNA labs. Before 8 AM I had already helped about five students. The first day of classes I spent most of the time shadowing Mrs. Abrahms. When I was not observing, I was busy grading Mrs. Abrahms’ freshman biology homework or running off labs. As school came to a close I was left with a feeling of excitement, I could not wait to become more hands on in the classroom.

Nick Viennas helping students in Mrs. Abrahms Anatomy class.

Day 2

The second day of Senior project there was a little less to do. A few late assignments came trickling in that were due yesterday, but that only took me a few minutes to grade. When grading these late assignments I had to take off 10 points, so they start off with a 90. It was very interesting being the one to grade the assignments. A part of me wanted to grant mercy to the students, but the other part of me knew that they did not put much effort into it. Most of the day was spent studying the Cardiovascular system PowerPoint and finding videos for my lesson starting on Thursday. As the day progressed a few biology students would ask me to either answer a few questions they had on a in class assignment or they asked me to tutor them. Tomorrow I will really start to get hands on. I will be helping Mrs. Abrahms lead the online frog dissection with her Freshman classes, and I will also finish my prep for next weeks fetal pig dissection.

Day 3

The third day was a very relaxed day. St. Joe had a half-day, due to the Freshman presentation of their Solutions Showcase projects. With only 25 minute periods I spent most of the day working with the biology class. In the biology classes I assisted Mrs. Abrahms with the online frog dissection and checking their homework assignments. With the anatomy classes I usually spent the time looking over the Cardiovascular systems PowerPoint for tomorrows class, just making sure that I was ready. When I was not doing that, the class was watching a Crash Course video to summarize their lesson. Tomorrow I will start my lecture, I am very anxious to start getting hands on.

Day 4

Today is the day that I begin teaching. First period is anatomy, so I can get started right away. The first anatomy period was a little shakier than I wanted it to be. I was not confident with what I was teaching, trying to be perfect and trying to teach like Mrs. Abrahms. Mrs. Abrhams took some pressure off of me once she filled in all of the areas of the Cardiovascular system that I missed. As the day progressed I began to get a hang of teaching and was less reliant on Mrs. Abrahms helping me in the class.

Students dissecting fetal pigs in Mrs. Abrahms class.

Day 5

Today was a very slow day, my lecturing only lasted a few minutes. The rest of the time the students were doing their homework assignments or asking questions about blood flow in the heart. Mrs. Abrahms’ biology classes had tests. During the free periods we had, Mrs. Abrahms taught me how to run the tests through the scantron machine and put the grades in the grade books. Monday we will begin the fun part, the fetal pig dissection.

Day 6

Today was the beginning of the fetal pig dissection. I have been waiting for this day since I found out that is what I was going to be leading. First period today was the H period anatomy class, so I was able to begin right away. All the anatomy students had to do today was to begin examining the oral cavity of the fetal pig. I was very impressed with all of the class’s willingness to examine the pig; usually there is some hesitance in the beginning. For the biology classes, they began their lesson on evolution and Darwin’s theory of evolution. I am very excited for tomorrow with the anatomy class to proceed with the dissection.

Day 7

Senior Nick Viennas helping students examine the fetal pig.

Today was my favorite day of the Senior Project so far. The fetal pig dissection progressed dramatically; the students got the opportunity to examine the pig’s thoracic and abdominal cavities. The students removed the liver from their pigs and proceeded to examine the small and large intestines, gull bladder, spleen, and pancreas. After they examined these organs Mrs. Abrahms and I instructed the students to dissect out the heart and identify the four chambers, aorta, pulmonary artery, and pulmonary veins. The biology class’s day was pretty easy, Mrs. Abrahms had the class watch a video about Darwin’s five year expedition where he started to developed his theory of evolution.

Day 8

Senior Nick Viennas looking over the dissection manual.

Today the anatomy class’s finished up the fetal pig dissection. There was nothing left to technically dissect, but they had to examine their pig’s urogenital system. This meant that; depending its gender. They had to identify the genitalia of the pig. After each group did this, they had to throw away the pigs and start to finish their labs. For the biology class’, Mrs. Abrahms moved away from the Darwin video to continue her lecture on evolution.

Day 9

Today Mrs. Abrahms had a doctor’s appointment which kept her from coming in today. She told me yesterday that I would not be needed for the day. I spent this day making sure that I was prepared for my presentation tomorrow and finishing up a few things. It is crazy to think how quickly senior project and this year flew bye.

Day 10

Today is the final day of senior project, and I have mixed emotions. It’s bittersweet to say goodbye to St. Joe after four years, but I am extremely excited for my new chapter at Mt. St. Mary’s. The anatomy classes took a test today, so I actually spent most of the day with the freshman. At the beginning of each class I spoke to the biology students. I tried to give them words of wisdom, and let them know that they need to start taking school seriously. The rest of the day I spent working on my presentation with Mrs. Abrahms.