I got a place to live!!!

It's all coming together!
Yeah.
I'll be staying in Evanston, which is funny cause at first I didn't really want to.
And I'm also paying more than I wanted, but it's all good gee.
And I'm not moving in  until Aug 15, which is later than I wanted.
So basically I kinda got a place that I wasn't looking for.
My place is gonna be dope, hopefully.

I just don't have anything, well I have a bed, tv, and a dresser. But I don't have any furniture or anything really for my apartment. But to say the most I'm pretty excited, and ready to get outta this place.....like you don't even know........

I think about that place everyday, how it'll be my place, I know I can go to it and not be bothered with anyone. I'm just excited for the most part.......

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this summer I'm weirdly becoming a 'reading machine', at least when it comes to books. I've read a second book and now on my third.
I think I just need to find stuff that interest me. Novels do not. that's for sure. haha, more realistic, life applicable stuff works for me I think.
My second book is called Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife.

It basically chronicles the history of the idea of zero (or the idea of void, nothingness) which also brings about the idea of infinity. But this books gave a pretty good history of not only the number zero, but also mathematics, which I think is really interesting for me going to be a teacher, because I didn't know this stuff at first. now I can share random tidbits with my students such as Pythagoras was part of a secret society of mathematicians/philosophers who totally killed a guy for talking about irrational numbers....or that Indians started Algebra, but it really didn't catch on until the Muslims took over the Western world..

This books is also interesting because it connects the idea of math, philosophy, and religion, which some people may see as separate things nowadays. I think this book just showed me that people were really invested in math, because it was closely connected to their beliefs of life, and that really why the stuff we study has stuck around for so long. Not so much that it's all actually true. I mean people had arguments over math.

Anyway I loved reading the book, it just showed me math is rooted in humanity and its not just this abstract stuff that came outta no where, which I guess is the point I would also like to demonstrate to my students as a result from reading this book.

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also Big Brother 13 started a week ago. This cast has 3 black people, one which got voted off today. yeah.
Started with 8 newbies, and 6 veteran returning to the house and tons of twists. I'm def not going to be updating here or anywhere about the show. Not as invested as I used to be, but I'll be watching.....

alright
Random Picture Time:

i thought this was funny...

tis all
PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!!

Rambling about Book (yes a book)

ETHS gave me this book that I actually read (and it made me want to read more, for reals)

basically it talks about how there's two mindsets that us humans live in. fixed mindset and the growth mindset. In terms of intelligence (and basically any other facet of human existence it seems), people with fixed mindset basically see themselves as really smart or stupid. Basically in this mindset, you avoid challenging things in fear of failure, and when you do fail, you view yourself as stupid. Basically you put in no effort because you are already smart. Success is measured by being smart and failure not. In the growth mindset, you basically recognize your deficiences and try to build those up. When you fail, you learn from them. Success is measured by learning, you fail when you don't learn anything. People with this mindset like challenging things because they grow from it.

I LOVE this book. Basically because it really affects your life because I think it challenges you to evaluate your own mindset, in different areas of your life. I think for most of my life I have been in the fixed mindset as far as intelligence, I smart, I'm good at math, I'm good at this or that. I thought all of these things were inherent, and they very may well be, but now I realized it was more because of the effort and the time I put with learning that allowed me to become smarter, or greater at this or that. 

I realized a turning point for me, when I made the transition from a less fixed mindset to a growth mindset in the area of mathematics was in last fall. I was taking this Probability course, and I'd never considered myself good at Probability, it was just always really difficult for me. And this definitely showed in the beginning of the course. I was not doing that well on quizzes and test. And I just didn't understand what was wrong, why couldn't I get it. Too the say the most I felt really really stupid, especially in this class everyone else was doing considerably well. Eventually putting in effort, reaching out to the Professor and TA's, working with other students in the class, I did start doing better in the course. And came out with a B, instead of C which I thought I was. I realized now I had to grow because I didn't know anything about Probability. And as I did better definitely my confidence in the course grew. It's all about your mindset. 

The great things is I think it can be applied to everything in life, especially the spiritual side. As a Christian, I think sometimes its hard to change your ways. You figure God made me this way, then this is what he want me to be, and that I can't get better. But it's all about your mindset, you have to take on this growth mindset, that I can be what God wants me to be, even though I may not be there now, but I'm getting there. So I think that's really great. This book often reminded of this scripture Romans 12: 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. You have to renew your mind, change your mindset, which is all the book is calling for you to do. 

But what I'm really excited about is how I'm going to implement this theory in my classroom. Because I definitely think specifically with mathematics, students will view it as something I inherently wrong with them that they can't do the mathematics. Or that they are really good at, so they don't need to do the problems, more so they don't want to because fear of failure. They will be stuck in the fixed mindset. And one of my upcoming goals, will be to change their mindset. I want to teach them that they can actually grow and learn mathematics. Nothing is hindering them but themselves. Euclid, and Pythagoras were humans just like you, they had a brain. All you have to do is work yours. So I recommend anyone whose everyone to just read this so they become knowledgeable of their mindset.  

I really think this book is life-changing. It's really how you define success I  think in the end. And with a growth mindset you can always be successful. 

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!

Book Rambling

Never thought a book would be a post on my blog
cuz im not an avid reader at all...i mean AT ALL...
but thanks to the miracle of academies and Northwestern
i have been able to read this book called There are no Children Here..
by Alex Kollowitz

its about two brothers Lafayette and Pharaoh, actually based on a true story...
well i should actually say its true...very good though
actually depressing at times because it details the very poor conditions of these brothers and family
in the Chicago ghetto's back in the 1980s.....
very depressing but actually im hoping positivity comes in some form......i'll let you know what happens in the book...maybe
but so far very interesting...

Apparently also made into a movie in 1993, starring Oprah,

I'll have to check that out also...and I'll get back to you on that...