Life speeds by….

It’s a very strange feeling, when school ends for the year. It’s exciting because classes and homework aren’t an issue, and you get to RELAX! But of course, you realize that you’ll be back in the fall to start the whole process over again.

Unless you’re a senior. Although I’m not graduating, I won’t be on campus in the fall at all because of student teaching. I won’t see my friends and I won’t see my professors, at least not as much as I used to. It’s kind of crazy when I think about it.

My summer plans are gonna rock. I will be relaxing of course, but I also found out (just today in fact) that I will be a permanent sub for a school district up near where I live, and it’s a music position! HOW LUCKY AM I?!?! I think it will be great experience and lots of fun. After that ends, I’m going to work at a graphic designs place and just hang out with friends. I have trips planned to Virginia to see my friend Jenna perform at Busch Gardens, and also to Alabama to visit my buddy Ian and his new wife Leigh. I also want to make it to Cincinatti to see my friends Tim and Josh perform at King’s Island. I hope I can get to all of these places!!!

So, I’ll leave you with these few pieces of advice, about college in general:

1. Ball State is a GREAT place. It may not be a perfect fit for everyone, but it was a perfect fit for me. I’ll miss it here!

2. Don’t procrastinate…oh wait, we ALL procrastinate. Seriously though, if you can get work done before it’s due, you get a really special feeling deep in your soul…kind of like hot chocolate on a cold, snowy winter day.

3. GET INVOLVED! I am now a retired member of 11 campus organizations (by my count). Contrary to popular belief, college isn’t all about studying! There’s so much more to it…college is an actual world within itself. The studying is just a tiny little country in that world. Discover the rest!

4. And of course, last but not least, always keep your goals in needed perspective. Four years ago, I didn’t think there was any way that I was going to become a teacher. However, I’m about to leave school and do just that. It comes up faster than you think! Make the most of the time you have on your college campus, wherever that may be. You can’t repeat these years!!!

Thanks for reading! Best to you!!

-Ben

I can’t believe we’re almost through this semester, and this school year!  I really find that time flies when you’re having fun…

This is my last two weeks on this campus since I’m student teaching in the fall.  I’m not sure that it’s really sunk in yet.  My roommate is graduating, which is even more surreal…I’m not sure if I’m ready for all of this to end!  I’ve had such a good year, and I’ve met so many neat people.  It just doesn’t seem right for summer to come along and ruin that.  I won’t miss classes, but I think there are some other things that I will miss about BSU.  Stay tuned for a list within the next week!

Oh, the nightmare of every single education major…the e-portfolio.

Ball State (and the State of Indiana) require all aspiring teachers to have some kind of a portfolio of the work that they have done throughout their college career, and into their teaching career as well. They say that it is a way to hold us accountable, and to make sure that we up to par and understand the requirements that are necessary to become teachers. They say it’s also a great way for us to show off our work to potential employers, kind of like an electronic resume.

Anyway, throughout my four years here, I have been keeping writings, reflections, lesson plans, certifications, handouts, and much more, which have all been going into something called an e-portfolio. An e-portfolio is just like a regular portfolio, or collection of work…it’s just all kept online. One of the nice things about that is that you don’t have to keep a huge binder filled up with all of this stuff. You can just publish it to the internet. Most of my education classes have required me to keep what are called “artifacts,” or evidence that I know about and can relate to the 10 INTASC principles that, according to the state and BSU, make a good teacher. In addition to the INTASC stuff, it’s also where I have my philosophy of education (the way I want to teach), my professional growth plan (what I plan to do to make myself a better teacher) and a list of coursework that I have taken.
I’ve been submitting various artifacts each year during each of my education classes, and the time has now come for me to consolidate my portfolio and choose two of my best artifacts for each of the 10 INTASC principles.  Part of the project is due tomorrow, and I still need to choose 3 more artifacts for various principles. It’s the life of a college student…you procrastinate and then feel like crap about it. This is a huge part of my degree and license, because if it is incomplete, you cannot be licensed and you cannot get your degree. No pressure, right?

Even though it’s not perfect yet (it hasn’t been through final revisions for grammer, spelling, and whatever else) You can check out my portfolio and see for yourself:

Ben’s e-portfolio

Everyone has to eat.  And let’s face it, although the dining experience on campus here at BSU is actually quite good, it’s nice to get out every once in a while and taste the other things that are out there.  Since I am a HUGE fan of food, I will give you a run down (with a few pictures) of some of the most popular food choices here in Muncie that you can eat at.

1. Scotty’s Brewhouse

I absolutely love this restaurant, I basically live there.  This amazing little find is located in the village, which is right next to campus  (easily walkable from anywhere on campus).  The menu is pretty extensive. They have burgers, chicken, salads, and all kinds of other stuff.  And, if you’re of age, they have a nice selection of beers to try out.  My personal reccomendation is the Hoosier Chicken Frisco Sandwich, Midwest Burger or Chicken Fajita Salad…but with this menu, you’re sure to find something for everyone’s taste!

This is my friend Jenna enjoying her FAVORITE Scotty’s food, a TENDERLOIN!  Notice the laid back atmosphere…it’s very cool.

2 Thai Smile

This restaurant is one of my other favorites, a real gem in the midst of chains.  If you like food that hails from the far east, this is a great place to go.  It’s not right next to campus, but it’s close enough that you could walk (if you’re feeling adventurous) or take the bus.  It’s on Tilltotson right next to the Family Video, across from the Alumni Center and Scheumann Stadium.  Anyway, the menu is very unique, featuring all Thai stuff.  They have chicken, beef, shrimp, pork and even DUCK prepared in various ways.  I’m a big fan of the Thai Iced Tea, and the Chicken Basil dish.  I also love me some steamed dumplings!  MMMMMMMMMM!!!!

Here is the Thai Iced Tea…it’s very sweet, and it’s DELISH!

3. The Hot Dog Man

Go out at night, REALLY late…like after midnight, to the village and get yourself a hot dog.  They are to DIE for, really.  You can get cheese, chilly, onions…mmmmmmm so good.  And they’re priced well.  I believe that every student at BSU should have a Hot Dog Man hotdog once before they leave school.  Make it a priority!

And of course, we have some of your usual chains, like McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, Subway, Fazoli’s and all that.  And the more upscale ones like Panera, Outback Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, Red Lobsters, Johnny Carino’s, and Chile’s. All in all, Muncie is a GREAT place to eat….and oh how important that is!

What does Ben Yoder do on Spring Break?  Absolutely nothing.  Hahaha.  I’m literally sitting around my house doing absolutely nothing, and do you know what?   It’s GREAT/

Some of my friends have gone to Cancun (my little sister included) and Ft. Lauderdale, and other places too.  It’s very  nice, I’m sure.  But I think for me, this Spring Break has just been about relaxing and not having to do anything that I don’t want to do.  It’s refreshing and awesome.  Sometimes the best things in life are free!

Team U.N.I.T.E.D. Initiative won the elections over Vote Bare by a very slim margin…only 298 votes!  It was very close…but the final breakdown was:

U.N.I.T.E.D. 54%

VOTE BARE 46%

Just thought you might like to know!

One of the many things that new college students may not know about is the Student Government Association.  It’s basically the elected governing body of the students at BSU, and they represent the student interest to the administration, among other thing.  Every spring, the time rolls around to elect a new set of officers.  I serve on the Elections Board this year, which is in charge of making sure the elections stay fair.  If you’d like to check out the two slates for this year so that you can see the type of effort that goes into these elections each year, take a look at the slate websites:

Vote Bare: http://www.ivotebare.com

The United Initiative: http://www.unitedwithu.com

You can also Google “Ball State Daily News” and find a recording of the slate debate, which happened this past Wednesday night.

The School of Music’s annual opera was performed this past weekend on BSU’s campus in Emens Auditorium. This was my first year not playing in the pit orchestra, so it was definitely a new experience. I was really excited because I got to see it from the other side of the curtain this time.

Madama Butterfly, an Italian opera by Puccini, was written in 1904, and is the story of a woman named Butterfly in Japan who marries an American naval officer. After the marriage, the navy officer sails back to America, and Butterfly waits patiently for his return, along with their new son. When he finally comes back, the naval officer has a new American wife, and Butterfly is heartbroken. She ends up killing herself with her father’s sword, and that’s the end of the show! The musical “Miss Saigon” is based on this story.
The costumes and scenery were absolutely amazing! I was very impressed with what the stage looked like from the moment the curtain opened up. We were also very lucky to have two special guests for the production. We had a guest soprano who sang the part of Butterfly, named Joan Gibbons. The Ball State Symphony Orchestra, who accompanies the singers, was under the direction of Fiora Contino, who is an internationally known and respected opera conductor. They all did fantastic!

We here at BSU are very very lucky to have an opera program that is alive and well, and to be able to have world renowned guests come in to participate. It’s a great way to spend a Friday night! In addition to the concerts and shows that the school of music does, there are also touring shows and concerts that come to BSU that students can see for free or almost free by using your BSU ID. People like George Carlin, Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, BB King and Rascal Flatts have all been here recently. I’m going to see the Broadway show “The Producers” when it comes here next week. It’s great to have these cultural things here and so accessible to us as students.

Check out some pictures from “Madama Butterfly.”

This is the scene when Butterfly is first introduced to her husband-to-be, the naval officer.

Butterfly signing the marriage license.

Butterfly is scolded by her uncle and other members of her family for marrying an American man, and trying to adopt his religion.

Butterfly and her son wait for the naval officer’s return.

If you are planning to come to Ball State University, don’t come because you want a nice climate.  We here in Muncie have one of the most messed up weather patterns of anywhere that I can think of right off hand.  We aren’t far enough South to miss storm systems, but we’re not far enough North to get lake effect snow.  We get big storms in the spring and fall, and we get almost no snow during the winter…at least most of the time.

Recent frigid temps (I went to class with a 4 degree temp reading..wind chill had to have been around negative 10 or so) have had students on the BSU campus freezing our royal you-know-whats off, along with most of the rest of East Central Indiana.  We got various dustings of snow, but nothing too significant…as most of you know (at least those from in-state) it has been a fairly mild winter.  However, as usual, Muncie surprises us all by getting 6 inches of snow in a matter of hours…about 3 inches more than the combined totals this entire season so far.  Wonderful.

On campus, when the snow falls, the ice buffers come out to clean our sidewalks and trails so that we don’t have to walk through a bunch of snow on our merry way to class.  However, the stupid things do more harm than good, because they sweep snow off paths while leaving a small POLISHED layer of snow that then becomes ice.  So, instead of tramping through an inch or so of snow, we fall down.  Wonderful, huh?

There’s only one up side to this entire situation…some profs cancel class because they just don’t want to risk breaking their legs or crashing their cars.  Oh, and if you’re really really nice, Dining Services will let you borrow a couple of trays, and you and your friends can go find a hill somewhere and sled.

Notice how nobody is on the main drag through campus.  They are all too scared (or, this was taken after most classes were out).

Sursa Performance Hall, under a blanket of white stuff.

The Scramble Light

This is my apartment complex’s parking lot…and my car looks like a lot of those.  Completely covered.  NOT FUN to dig out!  Makes me wish I had a garage.

So, my January is going pretty well.   I’ve pretty well settled into my classes and and am finding that things shoudn’t be too difficult for this last semester on campus.  I think the most work will come from my Band Arranging class and my Music Education practicum.  For those that don’t know, a practicum is pretty much a large portion of time spent in the field teaching.  It comes right before student teaching and is designed to help future teachers get ready to spend their entire days in classrooms.  I really enjoy my placement and there will be more to come on that later.

This past weekend, I spent some time in Indianapolis at the Indiana Music Educator’s Association conference.  It happens every year in early January, and it’s a time where music teachers from all across the state get together and have a chance to socialize and attend conference sessions to pick up new ideas about teaching, and to just get refreshed.  It was especially fun this year because I got to network with a lot of teachers and learn what jobs will be available soon….which I want to know so that I can snag one of them!

Also, for those of you that don’t know, the Colts are going to the Superbowl.  GOOOOOOO COOOOOOOLTS!!!!  That is all.