Starting Grad School

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever get my Masters.  I wasn't interested in it and couldn't afford it.  Now I'm getting it in Educational TECHNOLOGY.  unbelievable.

I'm getting a Masters of Arts in Educational Technology through Michigan State University.  I go to school for a month every summer for 3 summers and I have to take one on line class during the school year.  I did not have to take the GRE to get in and I don't have to write a thesis to get out :) This year the overseas program is held in Dublin.

It is being held at Dublin City University and we are staying in the dorms.  I live with 4 other women.  We each have our own room and bathroom but share a living room and kitchen.  I can't imagine students living here for a whole year.  The bathroom is the size of a cruise ship bathroom.  The room is even tinier than my dorm room in college.  The closet is laid out weirdly and there are NO drawers.

Jessica is in year 3.  The rest of us are year 1. She's really cool and laid back.  She's lived all over the world - just left Uganda, is delivering her baby in Uraguay in September and is moving to Chile this fall.  She is originally from Uraguay.  Blair is young and bubbly.  Only been teaching 2 years - she has boundless energy and is nice to everyone.  She teaches in Michigan.  Janine is from Wisconsin but is currently teaching in Jakarta (she is on the same 1st grade team as Mrs. Studtz - the wife of the man I replaced in India!) Laura is the person most like me I think.  She is from Wales but teaches in Seoul.  She's quieter and needs more alone time (like me and Jessica).  She teaches PE and is really nervous about school like I am.  It takes us a little longer to understand material.

Michele and Kristen are our instructors.  They are doctorate students at MSU.  They are super sweet and helpful.

There are 14 in our year one class and there is a good mix of overseas and Michigan people.

We go to school from 8:30 - 3:30 with an hour for lunch.  not bad.  and the teachers will stay after to help you.  after school I go workout then do homework and chat with my roommates.

This week we had a famous literacy specialist from Ireland - Bernadette Dwyer - come to speak with us, she was great.  We got to take a fieldtrip to Trinity College - one of the oldest universities in the world  - to see the Book of Kells.  It was a beautiful day!

We get to sign up for a topic for "unclass" time.  It is ungraded time but we are supposed to discuss a topic then present something to the group.  My topic is Flipping the Classroom.  Basically that means having the kids do the instruction/learning part at home and then doing the homework/practice part in class where I can monitor it.  We have a pretty good group and I am excited about it.

I have a school blog where I present my school projects if you want to check it out.
http://bobbijostaleymaet.wordpress.com/

On Saturday I went on a group trip to the Cliffs of Moher.  I had gone last week but signed up for this because most of the students were going and I thought it would be a good way to socialize. Also we got to go to this family farm that has been operating for 300 years.  One of the owners took us on a hike up their "mountain" and told us history and geological and biological information.  It was cold and raining.  Then we got to go to Grandma's house on the property where family members bake pies and cheesecake and you can sit in the living room by a fire :)  We were supposed to go to Galway but there was a boat race going on and we couldn't get there due to traffic.  So the guide took us to another town to get dinner.

We went through a town that I've been through before where they hold a Match Making Festival every September.  Tons of people from all over the world come to get matched up by a 4th generation matchmaker.  :)

We left at 7am and got home around 10pm - long long day.

Ireland Day 4 Bunratty and cliffs of Moher

Ireland Day 4 Bunratty Castle and the Cliffs of Moher

I stayed at Noraville House B and B for a second night.  The mother/daughter pair that stayed there with me last night left to stay at a place closer to the center of town so I was on my own.  Eugene got up early to make me a continental breakfast since I was getting picked up at 7:15 which was before he makes breakfast.  Ed and Marie were in the car and we were the last to get on the bus.  The bus was packed and I sat with David again. He was one of the 13 people from Seattle who went to the Isle of Mann on business (they raise trout eggs and sell them around the world).  We rode to Limerick and met people coming on the train from Dublin.  They transferred us to a bigger bus since there was 51 of us. 

Our first stop was Bunratty Castle.  It was completed in 1425 and was still in great shape.  You could actually tell that it used to be a home – unlike Blarney Castle which seemed like an awful place.  There is a Folk Park at Bunratty – they found buildings still standing in the area from that time and took them apart brick by brick and rebuilt them so you could see what a typical town would look like.  It was great to walk around.  I wish I’d had more time to explore.  The castle serves medieval feasts at night and you can make reservations to eat in the great hall with music etc – sounds like fun!

Bunratty Castle

drive from Cliffs to Galway

After Bunratty we drove to Doolin where we ate lunch at a pub called O’conners. They specialize in making food really fast for bus groups.  They sold traditional soups, stews, fish and chips etc.   Our tour guide always tells us to be on time and that he’ll wait a few minutes but we have to stay on schedule because to have to catch a train in the evening.  After lunch we were missing a person – he waited, he asked around to see if anyone knew who was missing.  He even called my name to make sure I was there.  He knew I was by myself, but I make it a point to make friends on these tours so people notice when I’m gone!  We ended up leaving without the person which some people think is harsh, but he said to be on time.  We got to the Cliffs of Moher and by the time we left there, the person had been located and put on another Railtours bus and was back on track – they were one of the new people that joined us today.  The Cliffs were amazing.  No wonder they are the top outdoor attraction in Ireland (indoor is the Guiness factory J  It was cold and windy.  I actually put my jeans on in Limerick today – I couldn’t stand it anymore. 

The Burren

Cliffs of Moher

After the Cliffs we drove to Galway through the Burren, which they pronounce “Burn” It is a “unique lunar landscape of limestone” and was described in 1649 by one of  Oliver Cromwell’s men as “ No tree to hang a man, no water deep enough to drown him and no soil deep enough to bury him” We got to Galway and grabbed some dinner – you can bring food and alcohol on the train.  It was about a 3 hour train ride and I sat with Dave and Kara – a very nice couple from the states – she’s an art teacher so we discussed education.  There was wifi on the train so I got to load some pics post a blog.  We enjoyed the scenery and saw LOTS of rainbows and occasionally someone would spot a patch of blue in the sky J  Kara showed me how to take the tram to my hotel and I got there a little after 9.  I am in the Temple Bar area so it is loud.  I have to get up early for my tour tomorrow so I hope it quiets down.  

Ireland day 5 Celtic tour

I stayed at the Mercantile Hotal in the Temple Bar area and didn't like it as much as the Jury Inn. It was much louder and the people weren't as nice. I got up and walked to the nearby tourist office on Suffolk street to join my Extreme Ireland tour of Celtic sites. It was ok, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the other tours. I don't know if it was the guide, the other tourists or the sites themselves. We were on a small bus - there were only 10 of us. We drove throu the Boyne valley. Out first stop was the Hill of Tara.

It was the political and spiritual center of Celtic Ireland. The hill was the seat of the high kings. There is a statue there of st. Patrick who converted the area.

We got to go in a passage tomb and see the carvings. I am hoping to get to New Grange where there are supposedly great ones. We went to Trim Castle in Trim which was a Norman stronghold on the Boyne river. It was freezing cold but we walked around the castle. Trim was the backdrop of Mel Gibson's "Braveheart"

 We visited Clonmacnoise a medieval monastery. There were some beautiful Celtic Crosses there. Scenes from the Bible were carved into them to teach the Bible to illiterates.

 We stopped at a pub near Slane for lunch. It was warm and served turkey,stuffing, carrots, and mashed potatoes. thanksgiving on the last day of June! Hill of Slane is where st Patrick is said to have lit the paschal fire as a challenge to the pagan high king of Tara. The event symbolized the triumph of Christianity over paganism.

 Our last stop was Drogheda. It is a Norman port near the mouth of the River Boyne. St. Peter's catholic church is there and house the head of Oliver Plunkett, an archbishop martyrred in 1681. He was hung and drawn and quartered and the pieces of his body burned but a follower got his decapitated head and it is on display in the front of the church by the alter. Weird.

St. Oliver's head is in there!

Supposedly a Relic of the True Cross

 Got back the Dublin around 6.Got some food, walked around and read my boom "leaving microsoft to change the world" from the guy that started Room to Read.