How to change the appearance of Properties panel on the right side (get rid of annoying icons)

I would like to get rid of the "Text to Vector Graphic" box on the Properties panel. I don't want to see the little clipart pictures that show me how great this new feature is. I know that I can close the arrow next to it, but I would really like to stop seeing it every time I open Illustrator. I am currently taking a Foundations in Illustrator course, so I would like to be able to do this without setting up a totally different workspace than the instructor is using, so that I can follow along. It would just be so much easier to have the "Appearance" and "Brush" regions of the Properties panel right under "Transform" without the incredibly distracting little images of skulls and bikes and tornadoes or whatever greeting me every time I open the app. I don't want to use them, and I don't want to try their Beta feature. I just want to learn Illustrator from scratch without all the suggestions in my face.