#all three of them are upper-level science courses so it’s a lot of memorization and understanding concepts

[lannisterdaddyissues]

i might have been a little too optimistic while i was planning out how to budget my time so i could prepare for my exams next week

[chellann-nicollares]

Exam Survival Guide

As September is coming to an end, I realized that a lot of you MB kids out there are probably stressing out about midterm exams. I did too as a college freshman. In fact, I almost failed my very first midterm. But I’ve learned to work harder and smarter and eventually graduated cum laude. I’ve put everything that works well for exam prep into a step by step attack plan that you can follow (yes, massive nerd=me). I really hope y’all find this helpful. I just want you kids to do well, ya know? ;) Let’s get into it!

Step 1: Categorize Your Exams.

This means determining what kind of skill your upcoming exam is testing you on. I’ve found that the vast majority of exams fall into the following three categories:

- Category I: memorization test. These are your survey classes of an entire field such as intro psychology or intro astronomy, your social sciences such as American politics, and your second language requirement courses on the intro level--beginner French/Spanish, etc., even some upper level science classes such as neuroscience. If your course introduces a vast amount of information and don’t delve too deep into it, or is very heavily reliant on teaching you vocabulary and concepts of the field, your exam is very likely memorization-focused. You will be asked to do IDs--look at a concept and define them from memory, talk about important people or discoveries in this field, fill in the blank with the correct conjugation, listen to a segment of music and write down who composed it, etc. You will be pulling things from memory and putting them on paper.

- Category II: skill application test. These are those classes where you are taught formulas and algorithms and expected to know how to use them in new situations. These are your calculus and statistics and other maths classes, your hard sciences, your engineering. This is the type of classes where your assignments are problem sets instead of readings. Your exam will come as a set of problems where you need to use principles and formulas, show you work, and reach the correctly calculated result. 

- Category III: writing test. These classes are based in deep reading--reading large quantities of text and developing deeper understandings and perspectives on them. That would be your philosophy and literature classes, your film theory, your seminar classes. This is the type of classes where you need to express your perspective on the topics to show both understanding and originality. Your exam will come in a small number of essay questions where the professor will give you questions that ask you to talk smartly, e.g. how do the perspectives of Big Shot A interact with that of Big Shot B on this particular topic? What is your take on Big Shot C’s use of [insert archaic art theory] in the oh-so-famous-piece-of-work?

Granted, your will have exams that are a combination or two or more of these categories. Economics is a good example: you may be ask to both define what the federal reserve is and demonstrate how they calculate their rates. But overall, think of your exams in terms of what they want from you. Now that we’ve named the beasts you’re fighting, let’s look at the weapons.

Step 2: List Your Review Tasks for Each Exam by Category.

- Category I: your exam is testing memory, and what you need to do is--memorize!! You need to figure out what it is that works best for you to remember the important stuff. Your tasks here would be to 1) review your notes and skim or even re-read your assigned readings, 2) put your IDs and other things that will likely be tested into one document or list, 3) read them out loud, make flash cards, get into study groups with your friends and test each other, whatever you need to help you memorize (*cough* flash cards *cough*).

- Category II: now you got problems, and I do think you can solve them. You also start from your notes and 1) review what theories/principles you’ve learned, 2) review and possibly rework your assigned problem sets, 3) pay special attention to questions you got wrong--make sure you read the correct calculation process and perform it yourself. 4) This is also the type of exams where if you have something that you don’t understand, ask for help immediately. Go to office hours, email your TA, make sure you comb through the confusion because the course is likely to build week by week upon the previous knowledge you’ve acquired. If you don’t know how to calculate exponentials in writing, you’ll be in a big world of hurt when you are expected to graph them. Put asking the professor/TA into your task list to give yourself an extra push.

- Category III: for this category, your notes and your readings are the most important. 1) you gotta re-read your notes carefully--what topics of discussion did your professor specifically raise in class? Were there particular points made that she really liked? What kind of comments did she keep giving? This will help you gauge how the professor thinks about the subject and how they might test on them. 2) If you have time, and especially if you haven’t done this during the semester, read your assigned texts carefully and annotate them. Annotation can be as simple as summarizing what a paragraph is trying to say, pulling out a key concept that helps you sound really smart, or jotting down your personal thoughts inspired by the reading. All of these will help you write a smarter response. 3) Consider practicing writing a few paragraphs of reflection on your readings. This will help you work out the kinks in how to establish a position and elaborate upon it in a coherent flow. This is basically what you’re asked to do in a Category III exam. 4) If you have time, also talk to your professors and TAs on things you don’t understand and gauge their perspectives.

Step 3: Figure out How Much Time You Have.

This step is the easiest. Mark all of your exams on the calendar and look at how many days you have in between. Which days do you have classes? How many hours do you have in between classes and is that enough time to go to the library and make some flash cards? How many hours at the end of the day and during the weekend are you willing to devote to studying? I would mark the time intervals that you can use to study on your calendar as well.

Step 4: Figure out How Much Time You Need.

How many sessions have you had for the course? Sit down, put your timer on and do everything on your task list to review the material of one session, see how long it took you and multiply by the number of sessions you had. That’s your rough estimate. Now do this for all your courses. 

Step 5: Make Your Day by Day Attack Plan.

This is the last step of your planning. Now you pull out your calendar, and fit your tasks into your available time slots. Do this with the following considerations:

1) Do you need to choose your battles or make more time? If you’ve figured out that you only have 30 hours in the next two weeks, you have three exams and they require 35 hours in total, for example, then you may need to cut a few tasks. Is there one class that you really don’t need to re-read every single thing and instead skim the important sections? Is you poli-sci midterm worth 30% of your grade while the film theory one is only 15%? Should you put off that movie you wanna see until after exams and get 2 extra hours in? It’s better to know whether you’re going to run out of time before you start. Trust me. This is also why you should start early. If you give yourself two weeks instead of one, you won’t feet pressured to rush through the review. 

2) Alternate your subjects and review activities. Don’t plan to sit in the same spot and read art theory papers for four hours unless that’s just how you roll. Make some flash cards from 2-3pm, read your notes from a different class from 3-4, and look over questions you got wrong in your problem sets after dinner. You would have had a very productive study day without murderous impulsive thoughts. 

3) Put it all in writing and stick to it. You want specific hours in each day and what to do during those hours, and put satisfying little check marks on what you’ve completed. You can do this in a planner book, in your E-calendar, or even print out a calendar on a piece of paper and write your tasks in the boxes. I’ll give you a fictional example:

9/28 Thurs

2-3 pm: read intro psych section 1 notes and make flash cards

6-7:30 pm: re-work wrong questions in statistics problem set 1

9/30 Sat

10-11:30: re-read poli-sci book chapter and assigned articles from session 2 and compile ID list document

2-4:30: re-read film theory Mulvey writing, annotate, and write a three-paragraph reflection on her theories

5 pm: grab coffee with #$^%&^% person and go through some poli-sci IDs.

As you can see, if you know exactly what your exams want from you, make to-do lists accordingly and fit them into specific time intervals of each day, your exam review is very manageable. You know exactly what to do and don’t need to feel like you need to chain yourself to your desk all day. You would also know exactly what you already achieved and feel wonderful about it. If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask me! Now go and crush your exams.     

[zipgrowth]

When Teaching Large Classes, Professors Shouldn’t Try To Put On a Show

Large classes pose tough challenges for instructors and colleges. After all, how do you craft a meaningful experience for 250 people (or more)?

Rachel Davenport, a senior lecturer at Texas State University, has taught so many large classes that she jokes she has trouble readjusting to a small seminar room. She has been recognized with several awards for hear teaching, and students regularly sing her praises (she was named “Best Professor at Texas State University” in 2013 by readers of Study Break magazine.)

EdSurge sat down with Davenport last week during the WCET conference in Denver to talk about her approach to teaching, and what technologies she’s tried—and ones she avoids.

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. You can listen to a complete version below, or on your favorite podcast app (like iTunes or Stitcher).

EdSurge: Students these days have seen TED Talks and other slick productions. Do you feel pressure to put on a show for them in these large lectures?

Davenport: Yeah, I did. But not anymore. There are ways to make it feel less like you are performing for them for an hour and 20 minutes and more collaborative. I stop every 10 or 15 minutes and I ask the students a question that they have to work on. They often work together on it in small groups. That's only a break of two, three minutes tops, maybe. But, it breaks it up so that I'm not just on a stage giving a show for a while. It pulls them into it.

If you try hard to put on a show, it doesn't go as well. You're not focusing on the material. If you can let that go and just focus on the material and what you love, and try to get it across in an understandable way, everything else just sort of goes smoothly

So, it doesn't have to be perfect?

I would say I am probably, of my colleagues, the most awkward professor. I stumble over words often. I put my foot in my mouth. I am a bit ditzy. I think my students actually kind of find that endearing when I sort of embrace it and I'm silly about it. They're pretty forgiving, especially when they know my intentions are good and I'm trying hard.

You know, that's a very different stereotype of a professor, right? Isn’t a professor supposed to know everything?

I really dislike BS-ing. So, if a student asks me a question that I don't know, that's excellent. That means we both get to learn, not just them. Because they get a question answered, but me too because I can look it up and figure it out or it tells us where there's holes in the knowledge. We don't know everything. I actually think getting to say, "I don't know, let's look it up," is collaborative—we're learning together. This is not just ‘I'm gonna spit out a bunch of information at you that you're just gonna memorize and that's it.’ It really makes it a more ‘we're all in this together’ kind of a feel.

I know of some professors who feel like the way to do it is to be very authoritative. And some students actually want it, according to some surveys and interviews that I've done. So, do you get any pushback for not knowing the answers?

That's right that there are students that want to feel that sort of overwhelming confidence that their professor knows everything. But I actually get the opposite in my student evaluations at the end of the course or if you check Rate My Professor or anything. I often get comments that they appreciate that I will say if I don't know something.

There's a lot of efforts to kind of tweak large lectures by bringing in technologies of various sorts. Do you use any?

Let me tell you about what I use, but then let me tell you there are all sorts of other ones that you can use. there is a piece of technology that I use called Top Hat, which is a student response system. Students can get it on any kind of device– phone, tablet, laptop. I use this system where I activate a question every 10 or 15 minutes and they answer the question and then I get immediate feedback. If you see that they didn't quite get there, it's a good opportunity to either go back or to give the students some time and say, "You know what, talk to your peers some more and convince each other of why the answer is whatever you put." Usually if I do that, I just give them two minutes. I will go back and look and everybody's got it right.

You don't tell them the answer?

No, I don't even say what the right answer is. So, they teach each other. That peer learning is so important.

Is there a technology that you feel is over-hyped or that you've tried and didn't work?

One of the things that I am foregoing, although many of my colleagues are using, are the online platforms by publishers where they students do lots of online homeworks. There are adaptive-learning components, all sorts of things that are available from the publishers. Those things are, to me, great in majors courses. In my non-majors Intro course, those sorts of things are awfully time consuming

I find myself backing off on requiring a huge amount of out of class work. Some people might just say, "No, these are assignments that are useful." But if my learning goals are met without using those, I don't see the necessity in requiring students to purchase access to spend all of that time.

That's interesting because I believe there's a theory that most student learning takes place outside of class, on projects and homework. Do you kind of not agree with that?

I think that's probably right. I do encourage my students to form study groups. I give them this exam review that they work on, hopefully. I recommend that they're working on it each day a little bit after class. So, my hope is that they are actually spending time outside of class.

I think the issue for me is that this is an intro course for non-majors. The stuff isn't rocket science. If my students are learning really well without these expensive tools, I don't feel the need to pull in some new technique. For my majors courses, for example, especially my junior, and senior level classes, they're doing a lot of out-of-class work. But, I really don't want to do this thing where I think what I'm teaching is the most important thing in the world and the students should be spending all of their time on my course and be the most interested in it. I think that's really, sort of, naïve and arrogant.

You mentioned Rate My Professor. I wanted to say you are very highly rated in the Rate My Professor. For those who don't know it, it's an anonymous site that students find on their own. They often, I think, use it to choose classes from what I'm told. The top rated comment is: "Doctor Davenport is seriously the only person you should ever consider taking for whatever she teaches and I'm completely serious."

That's very flattering.

But I'm sure you've seen that a lot of times the quality as judged by these anonymous students on this site. And often in the next breath the students will say that it's an easy A and that’s why they like it. Some of those on here are like that for you. Do you worry at all about those kinds of comments?

Yeah. Actually, yes I worry about that, especially there is research showing that student evaluations are correlated with the grades earned at the end of the semester. The more students you have with A's and B's, the higher rated you're gonna be in your end of semester evaluations.

One of the ways that I make sure that I am not just giving out A's and B's (well, students don't get grades, they earn them) is that within the university we have a reporting tool that tells us the percent of A's, B's, C's, et cetera given out by every instructor in every course. So, I am actually able to go in every semester and look at, compared to my colleagues, am I on par? Am I giving out more A's and B's? Am I giving out less? Every semester that I've been there, I am right smack in the middle. So, I'm not the easiest professor. I'm not the hardest professor. So, that's in my non-major's class. In the upper-level majors class, all of my students say I'm the hardest professor. But yeah, there are ways to sort of check on that and to make sure that it's not that everybody's happy because they all have A's.

You’ve won several teaching awards. What is it that makes your teaching stand out, do you think?

If I had to say what my particular superpower is as a professor, it would be I'm very approachable to my students. I truly care about my students. Now, that doesn't mean I'm pushed around easily, but it does come through and they can tell that I care about them and I care that they learn. They know that I'm willing to work hard to help overcome whatever they need me to overcome to reach them. My classes are very inclusive. So, I think that that is one area of strength I can see in my own classes that I don't necessarily see in all classes.

How do you portray that? Because obviously, it's probably not even a one-on-one conversation between all 250 students.

You're right. It's hard. My classes are all 250 students, and I teach multiple sections in a day, so I'm seeing a lot of people. I can't have those one-on-one conversations. So, I think the way I get it across is I actually feel it. You have to actually care. Once that's there, I think the ways that it comes across, it can be as early as in my syllabus and on our LMS site. Even the language that I use.

And I encourage my office hours. Almost every class, I mention it. Even things like I tell them, "Hey, I've got five chairs in my office. It's not gonna be weird. You know, you all just come in, hang out. We can have some coffee." I really try to make them feel comfortable and not feel intimidated by me.

Do people come for your office hours?

They do. Not every day, but I often have lines outside my office, and I have five chairs full at any given time, my five student chairs full.

So, it's a group session?

It feels like a little mini classroom. Although, we don't just talk about the material, and I teach multiple classes. So, I might have two students in an upper level majors course and then three students in my intro for non-majors course and we are all kind of chatting. So, sometimes it's about the material and sometimes it turns to other things, you know. That comfort and approachability, I think, also makes them feel comfortable and confident with the material.

Are there any other tips you have for teaching large classes?

Overall, I really think that you need to figure out who you are and play to your strengths. Some people say, "Use humor in your class." I do. My humor is that I can be very silly and ditzy and just kind of poke fun at that, but I'm very bad at sarcasm. If I try to be sarcastic, it wouldn't go over well. Or if I try to be really self-deprecating, it would be really awkward for me and for the students.

Whereas I have a colleague who is the king of sarcasm and his students love that, but if he tried to do my kind of humor, it wouldn't work. I have a colleague who has no sense of humor at all. In fact, I'm not even sure I've ever seen her smile. Her students still love her. If she went into her classroom and tried to make jokes, it would feel awkward and uncomfortable for everyone. So, I think kind of figuring out where your strengths are and what feels really natural for you is important because when you feel comfortable and natural, your students are going to pick up on that and respond.

When Teaching Large Classes, Professors Shouldn’t Try To Put On a Show published first on http://ift.tt/2x05DG9

[frenchy-1-blog]

Instructional Strategies

As teachers, we have to choose daily the best strategies and methods to use to help our students learn content. There are all sorts of factors to consider when making that choice. The following four strategies are commonly used in a variety of educational settings, and we’ll evaluate them as we go: 

Lecture Method

This is where the teacher delivers the content aloud while students sit quietly and (theoretically) take notes. Example: a high school teacher delivers prepared lecture notes in Physics class on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Students remain quiet and take notes.

 Much of a college student’s education is “delivered” in this way. Its use at the secondary level is somewhat more occasional, and in the primary grades it is (hopefully) extremely rare if not unheard of...

Are there any advantages to what most people think of as the old, dry and dusty method of teaching? Sure. And what are the Communicative Skills involved? 

Large amounts of material can be communicated in a single class period

It’s fungible - easy to change depending on class sizes or subjects

It can reinforce learning taking place elsewhere - for example, in a science lab

It can provide students with information they can’t get anywhere else

It can be easily organized in linear fashion, especially benefits students who are linear thinkers

It can start the ball rolling for learning that involves student centered activity such as in a science lab

It offers students good practice in listening skills 

When done in conjunction with Visual graphics, audio or other technologies, it can be a stimulating learning experience

If it’s done well, and at the upper high school/university levels, the lecture method can be effective. What communication skills are needed to make it happen? Gather lots of supporting materials, be organized, limit it to a narrow topic, and use visual aids to flesh out information. And VERBAL DELIVERY must use lots of vocal variety and enthusiasm to maintain students’ attention!!! 

Why is it perceived, sometimes, as not the best method to use???  Here are some disadvantages: 

It’s completely impersonal, one-way communication.  

The learner remains a passive recipient of the information

It’s easy for students to become distracted or bored, or lose interest altogether, when verbal delivery is poor

It doesn’t permit higher forms of thinking, including analysis, synthesis, evaluation

Because it’s impersonal, the lecture is not geared toward students’ individual needs or perspectives 

It does not involve or require creative or experiential learning on the part of the students

Sometimes it’s just.plain.dull. 

SO...Should you use it? Maybe sparingly, for  short periods of time, and depending on the subject matter.  Good luck trying it with young students for more than a few minutes.... 

What are some OTHER OPTIONS? 

Classroom Discussion Method

This is where the teacher poses a relevant question on content and then students discuss their ideas/viewpoints together as a whole class. Example: In a high school class on 21st century history, the teacher asks the class to comment (after several class periods of study of the Nixon presidency): “What are the parallels between the investigation of our current president’s administration and the Nixon Watergate era? Students respond individually aloud, as a whole group.

It’s a good method to use for practice of critical thinking skills and for teaching students to be prepared in advance for class. 

Communicative Skills Developed, and Advantages to Classroom Discussion: 

Students get to share ideas, so more resources, more information and more viewpoints are generated. 

Students get a chance to practice speaking to the whole group

Discussion can open up channels where students encounter ideas and belief systems different from their own

Students learn the basics of persuasive argument, and also develop and practice good listening skills

Some students enjoy the energy and activity generated by discussion; it can be engaging. 

Disadvantages: 

Lots of preparation and time are required to execute this strategy correctly

It assumes students have the communication skills required to participate effectively in discussion - this may not always be the case, especially in a foreign language class. 

Guidelines for analysis have to be clear, otherwise, students can get easily off track 

Questions have to be prepared and carefully structured in advance to accomplish learning objectives.

Sometimes certain vocal students may dominate discussion, decreasing chances that quieter students will have a chance to be heard

Small Group Activity

This instructional strategy involves students working together in groups of 3-4-5 on a discussion question or an activity. It’s a good way to insure everyone gets a chance to participate, and some material can be dealt with in more depth as the group explores the topic together. Example: In a French II class, after several lessons learning and practicing the past tense, students form groups of 3-4 to create and practice a skit at a cafe where they gather to discuss what they did last weekend. After 15 minutes, groups present their work to the whole class.

Advantages, and Communicative Skills Involved:

The small group method allows students to interact on an  interpersonal level, which offers them good practice of  appropriate verbal and nonverbal skills 

Concepts can be explored more in depth, and students can help each other learn in collaborative fashion

More work can get done because small groups can work more efficiently

Students take the lead in directing communication and accomplishing the task given

All students become active participants in their own learning

Potential Disadvantages:

When students are placed in groups by the teacher rather than choosing their own partners, sometimes conflicts can lead to lack of cooperation.

Groups can get off task if not monitored carefully or if task assigned is not well structured. 

Especially in the foreign language context, small group work is an invaluable way to allow students to explore their communicative skills and work cooperatively. 

Communicative Reading

Reading aloud to your students, especially in an upper level Foreign language course, can be a powerful instructional strategy to help your students not only absorb the sound of the language and new vocabulary, but can also give them a deeper appreciation of important works of literature in the target language. 

http://www.learningunlimitedllc.com/2015/03/global-read-aloud-day-resources-read-alouds/

Example: In French IV Honors Class, After several class periods where students are introduced to life and culture in Medieval France, as well as time reading and analyzing 3 works of Medieval French poetry, the teacher reads (in performance style) one of the three selections aloud to the class. After several repetitions, students are then paired together to work on imitating the teacher’s pronunciation, intonation and flow in reading aloud. Students are then asked to perform the reading individually for the class. 

Communicative reading has much to recommend it, especially in foreign language classes. It functions as a training model for accent, pronunciation and intonation, and it also provides excellent opportunities to develop second language listening skills. So here are the language skills involved and the advantages: 

Students have a solid model on which to base the development of their listening skills (and therefore speaking) skills 

It’s an excellent teaching tool for history, culture and literature, whether at the beginner or advanced levels

It provides a direct example of the emphasis the French place on learning through memorization and recitation - an important cultural concept

Since imitation is the first step in developing second language speaking skills, it provides the best input toward that end and assists in development of the ability to make word-sense/meaning out of sounds. 

Some things to be aware of in using this method: 

Especially in foreign language, there is a need for advance preparation; not only of the selection to be read, but of the students too. Several lessons on the context, history, cultural importance and/or meaning of the piece are a must. 

The teacher needs to be capable of reading the piece not just with accuracy, but with the correct intonation - i.e., musical sound, that gives the piece meaning. Monotone will.not.do. 

The piece chosen needs to be accessible to the students and their skill level. For example, it’s totally inappropriate to read “Que Sont Mes Amis Devenus” by Villon to a French I class. It is far beyond their vocabulary and language skill level, so any reading of the text without full translation into English would be meaningless.  Even then, they would not understand the context because they lack the training in culture and history. So pick a piece that is within their skill range. 

Don’t just read to them. Let the students have fun with the piece. After you’ve read it to them several times, let them begin to imitate you. allow them to work in pairs, and then have them perform it for the class. Sometimes with really important pieces, skits or props can accompany their reading. Let them use their own imagination in their interpretation of the text. 

[corneliussteinbeck]

GGS Spotlight: Kourtney Thomas

Name:   Kourtney Thomas Age: 32 Location: St. Louis, MO

What does being a Girl Gone Strong mean to you? It means embracing strength in all aspects of life — even when that’s not the path of least resistance, which honestly, it rarely is.

To me, being a Girl Gone Strong is about finding who you are and then fully staying true to that, even through the tough times.Through physical strength, I’ve learned more about myself than I ever thought possible, and that has allowed me to find and stand in my power while creating a big, beautiful life for myself.

Being a Girl Gone Strong means I can be unafraid to be fully myself in this world.

How long have you been strength training, and how did you get started? I’ve been strength training about seven or so years now. I spent much of my life avoiding activity of any kind, to the point of skipping gym class in school. But shortly after moving in with my now-husband, he inspired me on my movement journey. I, believe it or not, got started with P90X! That was my first real taste of strength training beyond cardio dance DVDs or aerobics with three-pound weights. Completing that three-month program sparked my interest in other activities, and that’s how I got started running.

I was a dedicated endurance runner for about four or five years, with minimal strength training. I kept my strength basis with some yoga and weight circuits, but nothing heavy, and usually not more than 1 or two days per week. After four marathons in two years, I burned out and turned to heavier strength training.

I had found GGS and Jen Sinkler, so I started with Lift Weights Faster. I also dabbled in Get Stronger Faster, the accompanying strength program. That proved to be a bit serious for my tastes and abilities at the time, so I picked up Modern Woman’s Guide to Strength Training and completed the Level 4 program. It was perfect for me, and that sparked my interest.

I then completed the Advanced program of Strong Curves and started seeing huge results, both in my strength, and in my physique. I was totally hooked! After those 16 weeks, I hired a personal coach.

With a goal of packing on more muscle, I started down the path of specific hypertrophy training and bodybuilding style splits. I was so apprehensive at first, but quickly fell in love.

I saw more change in my physique than anything I had ever done, my strength was still coming up, and I was absolutely more physically well-rounded than ever before. To this day, that’s what I’m still doing, and that’s what I’m still loving.

What does your typical workout look like? Right now, I work out in bodybuilding style split workouts. Typically, two upper body and two lower body days per week, with push/pull emphases. I’ll go through phases though where I split further and add focus days like glutes, delts, or arms. (Arm day will always be my favorite!) I always get in a main lift – a version of squats, benches, and deadlifts – and follow it up with plenty of fun accessory work.

I also love to run, and cardiovascular health is really important to me, so I run one or two days per week, or do some kind of interval workout on the step mill, bike, or rower another couple of days.

Favorite Lift: Does “any kind of biceps curl” count as a lift?! Past that, I’d go with RDLs. I love a good hip hinge and some killer posterior chain work.

Most memorable PR: It happened just recently. I had taken about a six-month break from a program, and longer than that from any kind of low-rep strength training or testing. I was kind of flowing and experimenting with my training, working on the Bigness Project, and definitely sticking to hypertrophy and higher rep stuff. I decided I wanted a bit more direction again, and hired a new coach. She added a lower body strength day to my program, and the very first day I hit triples of my highest one-rep max squat weight ever! I hadn’t done that in over a year, and this felt easy. Like, astonishingly easy. I was just so pumped that, even though I wasn’t working specifically on strength, it clearly continued to build throughout the year with consistency in training and progressive overload.

Top 5 songs on your training playlist:

Cake by the Ocean – DNCE (I’m obsessed with cake, and I love the ocean, so yeah.)

Life Itself – Glass Animals

Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked – Cage the Elephant

Light It Up – Major Lazer

Say You’ll Be There – Spice Girls

Next 5:

Good Vibrations – Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch

My Trigger – Miike Snow

California Love – 2Pac

Dreams – Beck

Silvertongue – Young the Giant

I love music.

Three things you must have with you at the gym or in your gym bag:

Resistance bands – mini-band for glute work and full band for dislocates and pull-aparts

Training journal – pen and paper for me!

Ipod & headphones – I know it’s going to be a rough day of training if I have to listen to the gym music!

Do you prefer to train alone or with others? Why? I actually prefer to train alone. My gym time is time where I just get in the zone. I put on my headphones, tune everything out, and focus on my muscles. I’m big on the mind-muscle connection, honing in on effort and exertion, and being really connected to my workout. If I’m training with someone else, it’s fun, of course! But I find that it distracts me a little bit from the focus I like to have.

That said, I’m more open to running or cardio with others. I do like to run alone to connect with nature and let my mind wander a little, but there are also times when I like to have company for distraction.

Most embarrassing gym moment: Constantly fiddling around with bumper plates! I find them so cumbersome, even with the little bar jack thing! But really, I honestly don’t get embarrassed in the gym. Most people are just minding their own business, so I don’t even worry about it.

Best compliment you’ve received lately: I recently had to collect a series of testimonials from clients and peers. The responses that I received blew me away and brought tears to my eyes for two days straight. Without any prompting, it became apparent to me that I am affecting people’s lives in exactly the way I am intending to, and that was the absolute best compliment I could ever receive. My favorite example:

Kourtney is the type of woman that makes you feel stronger, more grounded and more capable simply by being in her presence. The strength I get from my workout plan has seeped into every single part of my life and a lot of that is due to the support, guidance and inspiration I’ve gotten from Kourtney.  She’s showed me how to consistently show up at the gym… and, more importantly, in my day-to-day life, in a BIG, bold way.

Most recent compliment you gave someone else: “You are a (expletive) ferocious spirit!”  I have cool friends, and sometimes we potty mouth together with complete mutual understanding.

Favorite meal: I joke that I love to live the #turkeysandwich life, but really, I do love sandwiches! My favorite fancy meal is a really high-quality, well-cooked pork chop with a perfect sear and delicious sides. Followed up with some kind of dark chocolate goodness for dessert!

Favorite way to treat yourself: Indulging in trash TV. I love TV. Like, way too much! Every time I travel, I stay up way too late watching stupid stuff on cable (we don’t have cable at our house anymore) and loving it – think Naked and Afraid, Duck Dynasty, My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding…

Favorite quote: “And though she be but little, she is fierce.” William Shakespeare (So much a favorite, it’s tattooed on my foot.)

Favorite book: I’m far more into fiction than nonfiction, so my top three right now are:

Lamb by Christopher Moore

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett

I also love anything political satire (think: Christopher Buckley) or science fiction/fantasy (The Martian, the Red Rising Trilogy, Divergent Trilogy, The Rook, Harry Potter, etc.).

And fitness specific, I love The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding by Arnold, Strong by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove, Daniels’ Running Formula by Jack Daniels, and Superflex by Cory Everson.

What inspires and motivates you? Cliché, maybe, but my tribe. I never really had one until about the last year or so, and opening up and connecting with so many amazing women inspires and motivates me daily. I spent a lot of time in my life competing with the women I now stand side by side with and encourage. It’s crazy how different it can be to admire them and see them as inspiration instead of competition, or as someone or something else I’m not stacking up to.

My friends, my husband, my clients, and all the women I don’t even know inspire and motivate me daily to continue doing what I’m doing and using my voice to create a bigger, better space for all of us.

What do you do? I’m a personal trainer and coach. I do most of my work online through virtual coaching, and focus on training for bigness – physically, emotionally, and mentally. My tagline is Become the Boss of Your Body™: Watch Your Life Take Shape™ for a reason. When you determine what you want for yourself physically and find comfort and confidence in your own skin, it changes far more than the shape of your body. It changes your life.

What else do you do? I love to ride my motorcycle when the weather is good! I ride a Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe, and her name is Alexandra. Nothing makes me feel more powerful and free than riding.

My husband and I also like to go camping and hiking. We enjoy traveling to both new and familiar places, and always keep New Orleans on our list each year.

I love to read, hence the long answer for favorite books above.

I honestly really do love movement, so I love going to the gym and bro-ing out. It’s like my second home because I find it so fun.

Describe a typical day in your life, from waking up to bedtime: I get up at 6am. I head into the dining room where I keep my phone, clear off all my notifications, and take my resting heart rate. Then I head into my office to start working for the day. That usually starts with coaching in my Facebook coaching group and returning client emails.

Most mornings I then go to a client session or two. Then I come back home and work on client programming or write for several hours, with a lunch break mixed in somewhere. Sometimes, I have to attend to the business stuff like catching up on Quickbooks, or I’ll have a new client meeting.

Late afternoon, I close up shop and head to the gym for an hour or two. When I get home from the gym, my husband and I cook and eat dinner, watch an hour or two of TV, then shower and head to bed. Usually TV off by 9pm and lights out by 10pm.

Your next training goal: Uh, bigger arms. Always bigger arms.

What are you most grateful for? This life! I am grateful for everything, big and small, every single day.

But I’m the most grateful for my husband, my best friend and partner in this crazy life who supports me in everything I want to do. And also puts up with all of my weirdness!

What life accomplishment are you most proud of? I’m pretty proud I started my own business and it’s actually become successful.

I was always someone who was perfectly happy working for someone else, not wanting to shoulder the responsibility of making big-time decisions for my livelihood – or so I thought.

Turns out, the opposite is true, and I am much happier and more successful working for myself.

Being an entrepreneur is not without daily struggles, but every one of them is worth it. I own the decisions and the struggles, I own the triumphs.

I’m also incredibly proud of riding my motorcycle to Sturgis and back. It was a crazy ride, several thousand miles, and it was a huge accomplishment, mentally and physically.

Which three words best describe you? Thoughtful, Forthright (this is a much better word than “doesn’t-put-up-with-bullshit!”), Supportive

What’s a risk you’ve taken recently, and how did it turn out? Going to the Radiance Retreat this year was a big risk for me. It was a big investment, it was totally intimidating, and it was very much outside my comfort zone. My entire life, I’ve struggled with female relationships, and this was basically jumping into one huge female relationship! But it changed my life. Taking that risk of attending an event that was really scary for me turned out better than I could have ever imagined. Not only did I get a return on my investment picking up business knowledge, I forged friendships – like, actual, true, deep friendships, and quickly! – and that was well worth the anxiety leading up to the trip and the price of admission.

Beyond that, it opened doors for me because it pushed me over the hump with similar things. Since the Retreat in May, I’ve done more things that brought up old fears or self-doubt with much more ease, and that has enhanced my life exponentially. It’s been a big year for growth, and it started with taking that risk.

What’s the coolest “side effect” you’ve noticed from strength training? Finding more and different common ground with new people. I get a lot of questions that often start with, “Wow, I love your arms!” and often they’re with genuine interest. Then, it’s fun to have a little chat about the gym and give people a quick little motivational boost for whatever they’re trying to accomplish. It’s been fun to connect with other lifters and fitness professionals to nerd out about lifting too.

How has lifting weights changed your life? Do you have like five minutes for me to talk your ear off? How has it not changed my life? Lifting weights, in all its different varieties, has opened up my life beyond what I ever thought possible.

Not only has lifting weights made me physically stronger, but it has made me so much stronger mentally and emotionally. Learning how to work through physical stress only increases your tools for being able to deal with other stress in life.

Taking control of my choices in the weight room and for my body allows me to take control of choices in the rest of my life.

Lifting has changed my physique beyond what I ever thought possible – especially when I started training specifically for hypertrophy. I’ve packed on muscle, completely changed my shape, and embraced my body fully from head to toe, which I wasn’t sure was possible. Some days are better than others, because hello, I’m human, but more than ever, I am truly happy with how I look – because I’m happy with how I feel. I’m bigger and heavier than I’ve ever been before, but lifting weights has completely changed my relationship with what that means. I want to be bigger. Because I want to be more.

And because of lifting, my confidence has shot to the moon, and that has spilled into every aspect of my life. If it weren’t for my journey in lifting, I never would have met some of the best friends I have now. I never would have connected with the GGS family. I never would have bonded with Jen over a fire one night to talk about how we could bring this feeling to as many women as possible.

I’m so fortunate that lifting weights has literally become my business. Before I started lifting seriously, lifting heavy, I didn’t have a lot of direction. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do or could do, and for whom. But when I found my place in strength and size, I found my conviction, my voice, and exactly how I wanted to show up in this world personally and professionally.

Lifting weights has forever changed my body, my mind, and my spirit, more than anything I’ve ever done. There is a reason why my favorite hashtag is #bigarmsbiglife:

Tapping into your strength and size under the iron translates to the freedom to create much bigger world for yourself.

Speaking of confidence boosts… I stink at clothes. Clothes are so hard! I don’t think I’m alone there either – it’s not an inherent ability to look like a Pinterest pin every day. It was always something very frustrating for me. So, last year I worked with a wardrobe stylist to completely revamp my wardrobe. We cleaned my closet of everything that either didn’t fit me or wasn’t a good style fit for me. Then, we discussed what made me feel good, shopped for it, and styled it. Besides lifting weights, this has been one of the best things I’ve ever done! It takes such a weight off every day to know what to wear and how to wear it. I have always felt pretty good about my body, but now I feel 100 percent confident walking out the door because I feel good about my clothes, too. I think people underestimate the importance of feeling good about your clothes, and I can’t suggest working with a stylist enough—it’s just like hiring a personal trainer!

I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which helped me to get rid of a lot of stuff I didn’t need, and also helped me not to just replace it with other new stuff. I pretty much use a loose capsule wardrobe at this point, which now includes a lot of accessories, including scarves. I always wanted to wear scarves, so it was one of the first things I told her I wanted to work on. I also used to stink at scarves, so this is a video we took to help me figure it out, haha! I love it because you can see my face, like, “WTF, stupid scarf!” And then I’m like, “Whew, OK! Finally! I can do this!”

What do you want to say to other women who might be nervous or hesitant about strength training? Please, give it a try. It doesn’t have to look like what it looks like on someone else. Social media is great, but it’s also really tough these days. You can sign onto Instagram and see super-jacked women crushing a barbell, or super-strong women talking about how they only squatted 275 – among about a million other comparisons – and it becomes completely overwhelming. There are days that even other Girls Gone Strong make me feel down on myself!

But it’s not about that. It’s not about competition or trying to beat anyone or anything, including yourself or “who you were yesterday.” Strength training is named aptly – it will help you find the strength you didn’t even know you needed or wanted, if you’ll open yourself up to it. And there are so many different ways to train! From conditioning circuits to powerlifting and everything in between, there are a million things to try until you find your match.

And I know the actual gym can be scary, especially if you were never an athlete. And I get that, because I wasn’t one. I remember having butterflies in my stomach the entire first week I started going. But you have options – start with a basic program (GGS has great resources!), hire a coach, even if it’s for only a few sessions to get some confidence with basic movements, or start at home! Be patient – stick to your program for the full, prescribed amount of time! – and just watch. Be open to the possibilities.

Discern the BS. The weight loss industry is still feeding us lies. The science and evidence tell us that strength training is actually the best way to reach many of our common goals – not to mention it provides us with a cornucopia of physical and mental health benefits.

One step at a time. One workout at a time. One day at a time. Try it. Experiment. Stick with it. Find out what Girls Gone Strong means to you!

Connect with Kourtney on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on Snapchat: kthomasfitness.

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from Blogger http://corneliussteinbeck.blogspot.com/2017/02/ggs-spotlight-kourtney-thomas.html

[grammercy]

ring out the false, ring in the true - alfred lord tennyson

Before 2016 finally comes to a close, I’d like to reflect on the past 12 months; some of the highlights of my year, some of the sad parts, and some of the happy moments.

January was as thrilling as it could be; a month of firsts. First meal of the year. First cheerleading training of the year. First New Year without my Lola by our side. And my first 2016 account that I was determined on finishing; even making the effort to apply aesthetically pleasing filters. That's the one thing I didn't see through till the end.

The month of February held my first ever cheerleading competition. The weeks of training that led up to that day were absolutely hectic and terrible. After having my coach yell at me numerous times and eventually kick my stunt group and I off the mats, we finally made it to the Rizal Stadium. We didn't win, we didn't even place. But it was an experience. This month also held an experience that I would continue to talk about for the rest of the year. Having missed my CAST due to unforeseen circumstances, I also missed out on my Batch Interaction in order to attend a make up CAST to Porac, Pampanga. Let's just say I wasn't thrilled to be spending my Saturday in a mountain surrounded my kids and dust and boodle fights, while my batch spent it with boys. Oh well, it was another experience. And it makes a funny story to tell.

March marked the month where I got my first ever injury. Having watched my sisters have their turn in the emergency room or being bandaged up by my dad, I never thought I'd end up in the same position. But three days before my last cheerleading competition of the season, I miscalculated my catch and my flyer’s butt hit me square on the face. I still caught her though. Blood gushed out of my nose and onto my shirt (good thing it was red) and wouldn’t stop for the next 5 minutes. It was also my very first nosebleed. I thought it was nothing until my dad took me for a CT scan, showing that I had a fracture. I went to school the next day, my nose swollen and blue, happy that I could still compete as long as I was careful. My friends said I looked liked Voldemort or one of the Avatar character, it’s something they still laugh about until now. The competition went terrible; our stunt fell and my side of the pyramid didn't go up. It's something I'll never forget it and still regret it up to this day. The feeling of letting down my entire team still lingers in me, I hate it. My photos from that competition are well hidden because my face was completely fucked up due to my broken nose. Additionally, 4 of my other teammates and I made the decision to leave Hardcourt and not join in the following school year. It was a tough decision but we made it. It caused some drama among the upper batches who were crushed that we were leaving. Things are good now, but it’s still a sensitive topic.

I attended my first ever actual party in April. One of my good friends was throwing a party and I was helping plan it. It was stressful but I was really excited to drink and meet people. By people I mean boys; there's no shame in saying it now. The party was an absolute flop, for me. I hated the romper I wore and even ended up losing it in the end after changing in my friends house; some boys got drunk an hour into the party and threw up everywhere; the drinks table collapsed twice resulting in the loss of some needed drinks, parents were watching the drunken people throw up and try to call for an uber as they told the drivers to take some drinks away; the party was super exclusive, the boys you'd want to try and talk were huddled in a corner, obviously high. I don't like thinking about that night. I hear my friend wants a Part 2 of the party, I am not getting myself involved in that again. There was also my batch’s moving up ceremony. My favorite part was singing all the cool songs we learned. I liked showing off how we could sing in Italian.

I went to Japan with my tito, tita, and cousin in May. We went to Harry Potter world, my second time there, and we had lots of fun. We also adopted a dog in May, much to my dismay. My sisters and mom were taken in by his cuteness and allowed Charlie into our home. I have conditioned myself to hike up my legs whenever we’re eating dinner because I have never liked dogs.

June was memorable. We left for our Bengzon family vacation to Seattle. We had rented a lovely house on Vashon island with a lovely view, and lovely pier. I absolutely loved it there. Everyone was happy. Everything was okay. Sewage problems led us to rent other house, this one even nicer than the last. This was one of the best trips of my life. We then rented an apartment in Seattle, reserving the top floor for my family, and having photo shoots by the beautiful living room, photo shopping in a movie on the large projector. I must have posted about a dozen photos on Instagram, a lot more than I’d actually post in a year. The area was just so beautiful, you couldn’t resist.

Who could forget the amazing month that was July? For 3 weeks, I attended a creative writing program in Columbia University. It was more than I could have asked for. I produced some of my best works of writing there, was taught by some of the best and brightest teachers who’d let you call them by their first name, and I was surrounded by incredibly talented writers all over the world who continue to inspire me up to today. July was great, I learned a new sense of independence from those 3 weeks and I am so glad to have been given the opportunity.

 In August I went back to school. I was thrown of guard by how different this school year felt compared to all the other years. We were the first batch of Grade 11/ Senior High, so everyone was adjusting. For this entire month, I constantly missed my old friends who were a whole building and 4 flights of stairs away, missed my former teammates, my more easy going Basic Education teachers, and the much simpler lessons. I was introduced to college professors and political science, and sociology, and a lot more information I expected to learn only in college. It was one of the most difficult changes I’ve had to adapt to, I’m still not sure if I’ve fully accepted it yet.

 I remember the month of September for 2 reasons. First: It was the first party I went to where I actually enjoyed. I got to talk to people (boys!!) and find out a lot of things about my friends. I never knew I could actually enjoy a party. Guess there’s a first time for everything. Second: my birthday. Also my lola’s birthday, but this is the first time in 15 years where I would not be celebrating with her. It wasn’t a sad occasion, but as we sat around the table stuffing ourselves with fancy food, we couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. Oh, and I got a new phone! Thank the Lord.

 October. The month when all the stress of SHS came pouring in, drowning all 216 of us without warning. We were bombarded with quizzes, transfer tasks, and SO. MANY. PAPERS!! Oh god, thinking about how bad that month was is giving me a headache. I thought Grade 10 was hard, I thought fourth year was hard, but SHS is on a totally different level. And who could forget the first time I got drunk? It was at a class party and my friend told me that the house we were in was cursed; if you drink here, you would for sure get drunk. I shrugged it off because I’ve never gotten drunk before, but man was I wrong. It didn’t help that I was super sleepy plus that I hadn’t eaten, so of course I got hit pretty quick. I felt like I could say anything. I felt like I couldn’t sit still. I felt like my head was spinning and my arms and legs had a mind of it’s own. I felt stupid, but I felt like I was having fun. The morning after wasn’t so good. My entire body was sore, especially my arms. I just stayed home the whole day and pretended I was okay. I was going through my first hangover.

I went the cemetery for the first time during All Saints day in November. My dad also joined and completed the New York Marathon; Anne Curtis finished 15 seconds ahead of him. Donald Trump became the president of the United States. I stood up for what I believed in and it blew up in my face. That was such a bad time for me, and I’m sure for the people I hurt. I did a lot of self-reflection during that period and I came to the conclusion that I was a bad person. Ferdinand Marcos was buried in the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. The entire nation erupted in protests. My sister and I began selling “Youth in Revolt” t-shirts, which blew up bigger than we expected resulting in more than 1000 orders nationwide. We had our annual fair, nothing great. November was filled with a lot of ups and downs.

Started December off by submitting our position paper which felt like Jupiter was lifted off our shoulders. More papers were submitted, and our burden got lighter and lighter. It’s hard to describe the feeling of looking at a complete project, a stapled and filed paper, and a well-edited AVP. It’s the best feeling a student can feel. The first semester of Senior High finally came to a close, and none of us could wait to get the fuck out of here. We had another class party and guess who got drunk again? It was a lot worse this time because I ended up falling asleep on my bedroom floor and woke up at 4am, didn’t shower and just got in bed. The next morning, my arms felt like they’d been broken in half and stabbed 10 times. I vowed to never drink again. I spent the first week of Christmas break going out with friends, arranging promposals, eating in Sunnies Café, and drinking when I vowed I wouldn’t. Then it was the 24th, we had a mass for the one year anniversary of my lola. Then it was Christmas, it felt so different, but we were still surrounded by family. Then it’s today, December 31st, New Years Eve.

 I’m actually writing this at 4am and it’s already January 1, 2017. Despite every bad thing that happened in 2016, I actually had a lot of fun. I met some great people I know will be constant in my life this 2017, I rekindled some old friendships, I extinguished some toxic friendships, I got a postpaid line, and I discovered what I could possibly be doing in the future. 2016 is now a memory, it will be used as a funny anecdote over lunch or dinner with the family, and 2017 will now be referred to as now. Today. Funny how something so big can happen just overnight.

 I hope 2017 will be better than any other year I’ve lived to see. I hope it’ll be filled with laughter, friends, family, writing, reading, less eating, more exercising, less shallow TV shows, high grades, and even, a successful prom.

Happy New Year!