What can you do to get the most out of your time at Butte College?

For most of us, going to college is about getting the education we need to start a meaningful and rewarding career, but the transition from college to the perfect job does not come automatically. Having a degree or certificate in something is not by itself a guarantee that you will end up with the job of your dreams. Most professions these days are extremely competitive, and more often that not it takes much more than that coveted piece of paper from a college or university to find yourself in the perfect position. So while we should focus on our learning while we are in college and on making sure that we do the best we can in our classes, I think getting the most out of one's time at college also involves looking at the bigger picture and thinking further down the road.
One of the first things a person needs in order to be successful is to have clearly defined long term goals. As the Cheshire Cat told Alice in Wonderland, "if it doesn't matter where you're going, then any path will do!" For some of us, our exact career choice or educational path is still unclear, and that's OK, but we should remember our future is not something that we want to just ignore either. It is hard to argue with the fact that those of us who have clearly defined goals are more focused, more determined, and generally more successful than those of us who do not. In order to get ahead, spend some time with yourself to define as clearly as possible what your goals are, and keep these goals in sight.
College campuses are wonderful environments for many reasons. One of these reasons is that there are so many resources available to help students achieve their goals, and Butte is certainly no exception. If you want to get the most out of your time here, I strongly suggest that you make the effort to find out about what is available on campus and then take advantage of everything that is relevant to you. You probably already know about some of the resources such as CAS (the Center for Academic Success) and EOPS, but there are many other resources around to help you too such as a the career center, the library, and even your instructors. Talking with instructors in your field of interest is a great way to find out what opportunities are out there and which direction you may wish to go. Remember, your tuition is helping to pay for all of these resources, so you might as well take advantage of them.
Finally, I think one of the best ways to get the most out of college is to get involved. This is more difficult for some of us than for others, but finding ways to be active in the college community can make your experience a lot more rewarding and can also help you get ahead. Consider your interests and your long term goals and look around for opportunities that are related. Join a sports team or class. Find a job or volunteer opportunity that will give you experience in your field of interest. Join a club or start one of your own. All of the extra things you do are what will give you a competitive advantage over others who may have the same goals as you. In all cases, you get out of something exactly what you put into it, so make sure your time in college is as productive and rewarding as it can be.

What are your goals and/or expectations for this semester?

I am really hoping that this semester will be a lot less stressful and a lot more productive than the last one. I'm not sure why, but I always feel more optimistic and motivated in the Spring semester, and this helps push me to accomplish more and to successfully complete all of the things I want to get done.
One of the goals that I am working on is improving the effectiveness of my LEAD 217 courses. This is only my second semester teaching this particular course, so I feel that there is a lot of room for change and improvement. The major change of course is the inclusion of a computer lab in my sections and having my students post their journal writings on their own web logs. I think this may be somewhat challenging for some people, but I am confident that it will be a useful and worthwhile activity. Also, since I am working on the committee to update the 217 course outline, I intend to try and implement some of the concepts we are discussing into my course this semester, namely the development of a stronger link between reading and writing skills. I hope that I will be able to do this even though we still have a variable unit course.
Outside of my LEAD classes I am also planning on improving my teaching skills by becoming certified as an online instructor through a training program here at Butte. This will involve a serious commitment of my time, but I am confident that it will be worth it. Like any other profession these days, teaching also requires a certain degree of computer knowledge and skills, and I feel that this is an opportunity which I can't pass up. Actually, I am excited to get started on this project.
The last goal I really have right now is to continue to work on getting in better shape. Although I already play soccer with a group of international students once a week, I plan on getting even more exercise by taking a tennis class with my wife here through Butte. I am hoping that this will be something we both find fun and will enjoy doing together. I played quite a bit of tennis in my younger years, but I haven't picked up a racket in a very long time, so I hope that I won't embarrass myself too badly. I just need to remember that it is for fun, and for health!

Welcome!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the LEAD 217 Blog. Lead 217 is a developmental writing class at Butte College that "focuses on sentence structure in the context of student writing." For the sections of the course which I teach, there is a computer lab component and, beginning this semester, much of that lab time will be devoted to writing practice in the form of personal web logs (blogs.) It is my hope that creating your own blogs as part of this class will help you to meet our course objectives, give you valuable writing and reading practice, develop your awareness of audience and personal writing style, foster creativity and thoughtful expression, and give you a chance to voice your opinions and ideas on a variety of topics as well as explore and respond to the views of others.
Writing is essentially a means of communicating ideas and information across time and space, and as such it is meant to be shared. Web logs offer the best opportunity that has ever existed to share your thoughts with others. Imagine that, once you hit "publish" on your post, hundreds of millions of people around the world will have the potential to access your words! Hopefully your experience blogging in this class will give you some insight into the power and importance of the written word as a means of communication as well as an understanding of the need to write clearly for your intended audience.
The LEAD 217 blog is intended to be a link to the blogs of all students in my classes; it is also a way for me to participate in and experience the practice of blogging. Therefore, I will be responding to the journal topics along with you, and my blogs will be open for comments just as yours are. I look forward to everything you have to say this semester, and I hope you enjoy your time and experience in the LEAD 217 writing lab.