Mike Vigilant » General

“The Meaning of Intelligence”

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:45:18 +0000

I just wanted to share a great program I listened to today that I think anyone reading this might enjoy. It’s from a radio series called “Speaking of Faith” which deals with a spectrum of issues, from religion to ethics and, in this case, education. Last week’s episode: “The Meaning of Intelligence” was a superb discussion about some of the ways we think about education and working, and I think it’s definitely worth listening to. Overall, this is a great series and I enjoy updating my iTunes every week to download a new episode–it is definitely worth subscribing to. You can also listen right off the website if you so choose.

There is another podcast from this show that relates to personal finance and I will dig that one up for a future post. Enjoy! I’d love to hear some feedback.

More Coming Soon

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:05:46 +0000

It’s been a long time since I updated last, and I apologize for that. I’ve had a lot of things going on this month, but I’m looking forward to a somewhat quieter February and I have a lot of things on my to-do list for this site: new pages, updated files, more postings. I’d also like to look for a new theme, as I’ve had this one for almost a year and a half now.

While I’m working on that, if there’s something you’d like me to post about, discuss, change, remove, or add, I’d love to hear from you! Let me know how I (and this website) can serve you, and I look forward to the discussions to come.

More soon.

Application Excitation

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:08:22 +0000

I had today off from work, and spent it working on teaching applications. There’s always a challenge in making sure you cross your i’s and dot your t’s, but after some frustrating moments involving PDFs I think I made some pretty good progress. I’ve had to start a spreadsheet to keep track of what forms I have and haven’t filled out, reference forms given out and mailed back and such, and it’s good to be able to check some things off on that.

In the background, I’m also considering the future of this site. What do I want this to be? I was hoping to produce a whole semester plan and associated content for each of my subject areas, but now that I’m up to five certifications (and counting!) I’m not sure how practical that is. I am considering creating a sort of rough outline of the things I would teach in each particular class.

I’m also on the hunt for a good book. Though I trend towards economics books, I’m trying to keep an open mind, and may read a history book next. I am especially interested in books that give me some insight into subjects taught in school, and I’m always looking for the next good book review on here!

Still also considering my next GACE options, which I hope to make a decision on soon. I said I wouldn’t reveal anything until I was ready, but I’m learning towards Middle Grades Science. Totally out of my comfort zone, but that actually kind of excites me, and I think that would be a great topic to teach. I’m going to review the GACE study guide for it the next chance I get and see if I think I can make sense of it. I still have a couple of months before the next test.

Finishing those applications–well, except for the reference forms–has given me a much-needed boost of inspiration and motivation, and I’d like to be able to get up early tomorrow and try to build on that. Here’s to a productive morning!