First Full Week Done

The clock is slowly ticking closer and closer to 3:30 when that long desired bell will finally ring. In just a few minutes, I will be finished with my first full week of student teaching. However, I shouldn't really call it student teaching yet. It's more like student observing at this point in time. I help out in the classroom here and there, but ultimately, the lessons are still taught by my cooperating teacher. Many of my friends have already started teaching half or even full days at their placements, and I have to admit, at first I was a bit jealous. I wanted to be teaching, too. My cooperating teacher and I decided to follow the university's recommended schedule, however. Which means, on February 7, I will begin teaching half the day and on March 14, I will begin teaching the full day.

I've come to realize though, that I'm quite lucky. Rather than being overwhelmed and scrambling to get lessons planned, I'm being eased into this process. I've had many opportunities to search out lesson ideas. I've also been given extra time to finish reading the literature for the semester. When it finally comes my time to teach, I will have no reason not be thoroughly prepared. Plus, I'm learning a little patience.

After school, I'm making the short voyage to my hometown to hit HyVee's 8-hour sale. They have SmartOnes on sale 6 for $10. They are my choice teacher lunch, so I gotta stock up! Also, I will be having dinner with my parents. It's always a joy to go home. Despite being an adult and having my own house, going to visit my parents is what always truly feels like "going home."

To all my teacher friends...

I know we all took Teaching in a Digital Environment and got lots of great ideas. Well, today I came across an awesome website that has all of these tools plus many, many more linked in one spot. It's such a great resource! I just wanted to share it with all of you. I hope you all find it useful, and I hope you're all having a great week!


Cool Tools for Schools

First Lessons=Success!

Today I taught my very first lessons for this student teaching experience. My cooperating teacher was gone half the day for meetings, so instead of a substitute teaching, I went ahead with lesson plans. When my teacher returned for the day, she allowed me to finish teaching the rest of the classes. We were able to reflect on my teaching afterward. I had both successes and areas of improvement, but doesn't everyone? The biggest compliment that she gave me is that I appear very poised and confident. This was nice to hear as I don't necessarily feel that way. It's quite intimidating to get in front of a room of 28 high school juniors. Apparently I hide that intimidation well.

An area of improvement for me is to remember to tell the students why they're learning what they are. I can give them all the information in the world, but so what? They need to know and understand why it's important to their learning, otherwise they aren't going to care. My cooperating teacher said it will come with practice, which I understand. From now on, I will make sure to highlight that part of my lesson plan and read it directly out loud. That might seem a little over kill at first, but until I can remember to do it, I think it's the best way.

Spending the day teaching made the day go by extremely faster than the days when I sit and observe. I hope my teacher and I are able to find a way to keep me involved so the days continue to go by quickly. Although I think observation is beneficial, we've already spent nearly 60 hours observing in other classrooms. I'm ready to teach! Eventually when I teach all day everyday, I'm sure I'll regret saying that :)

After an entire day of teaching, my legs are very mad at me. Who knew teaching could be so exhausting?

Double Snow Days?!

...this is like a late Christmas present! I'll take it! Everyone enjoy your snow day tomorrow :)

Do the Snow Day Dance!

What teacher or student doesn't love a snow day?! Everyone wear your PJs inside out, and do your snow day dance! Let's make it happen!

The cutest snow day dance ever...

My Head is Spinning!

Well my second day was much like my first...minus the whole deer part. It was a lot of sitting and observing the classes. Fridays are what my teacher calls "Freedom Fridays" and the kids get to read something of their choice for the entire class period. So in all reality, there really wasn't much to observe. I did get to grade some papers though, and that was a little eye opening to some work that we have to do this semester. I'm excited to get started and see the students' growth.

With it being the weekend, I wanted to spend some time getting ideas for the novels I will be teaching. My head is spinning! There are so many lesson plan ideas out there. It seems impossible to pick and choose what will be best for the classes. I'm a little overwhelmed at the idea of having to put together an entire unit. Until now, we've only had to create and teach single lessons...no big deal. The thought of an entire unit, however, is quite intimidating. Hopefully my cooperating teacher will work with me, and put my fears at ease.

Right now, I'm working on reading George Orwell's 1984. Although not my favorite book, I am finding some lesson plan ideas to make it a bit more interesting. And it is quite fascinating to read something knowing this is how someone a long time ago thought the world would be like today. The scary thing is, with technology the way it is today, not all of his predictions are terribly far off. The internet making suggestions for you based on things you have searched? Yeah, just a little creepy.

Anyway, I should continue reading. Here is a video to the Muse song "Uprising." It pertains to the novel 1984. You'll understand if you've read the novel. If not, it's still a good song :)

A First Day to Remember

Today was a memorable first day. But probably not for the reasons you're thinking. I. Hit. A. Deer. That's right. On my way to school bright and early with my new lunch bag and my teacher bag all packed, Bambi comes out of nowhere and rams right into the side of the car. Tyler's car. I was pretty shaken up. It hit hard. Nevertheless, after waiting on a sheriff to file a report and a tow truck to come get me, I was back on my way to school.

The first day was pretty much as I expected it to be. It was a lot of sitting and observing...which I'm not a big fan of. I'm so ready to actually teach and make the day go by faster! However, I know it's necessary to observe for a little while at least. My cooperating teacher is great. It seems as though she's pretty flexible and willing to accommodate to my wants in the classroom. I think we'll make a great team.

My cooperating teacher also asked if I had a laptop...which I don't. But she thinks it would be helpful to have one. She's going to see if I can check one out from the school, but this really has me eyeballing one of those wonderful MacBooks I've been wanting :) We'll see how that ends up.

Well, I'm actually pretty worn out, so I'm going to leave it short and sweet tonight.

But first, a couple photos of the damage from the deer...ugh.

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

So this is it. Tomorrow is officially my first day! Today was supposed to be, but my cooperating teacher decided to spare me the boredom of an in-service day and suggested I wait and come tomorrow. Nevertheless, we had our student teaching orientation tonight at the university. It was great to see all of my classmates again. And to also know we're all in the same boat. The orientation was a little information overload. There were so many things being thrown at us, but I suppose all of the info is important info.

On another note, a great tragedy occurred today. There was a shooting at one of the local high schools. I ask that everyone keep the students, faculty, and families of Millard South High School in your thoughts and prayers. It is such a terrible thing to happen. I never understand the senselessness of acts like these...I'm not sure anyone does...

Finally, I'd like to set a few goals for my student teaching experience.

• Only take on what I can handle...I struggle at being a people pleaser and always saying 'yes' to everything. Although I want to help out as much as possible, I want to practice saying 'no' when I need to also.
• Maintain a positive attitude no matter how tough things get...this isn't supposed to be easy. If it was easy there wouldn't be a point in having student teachers.
• Consistently reflect on my teaching and experiences...one only improves when one identifies strengths and weaknesses.

With that, I leave you with one of my favorite photos I took this fall. It was taken at Vala's Pumpkin Patch.

First Day Jitters

Tomorrow is the last day of winter vacation. If I didn't say I was a little bummed, I'd be lying. Who doesn't love winter vacation? And with no indication of a snow day in the near future, it looks like Wednesday will be my first day as a student teacher. Again, if I didn't say I had a few first day jitters, I'd be lying. But it's totally normal to have those jitters starting something new, right?

Alright, to catch you up a little, I am a senior studying secondary education with a language arts endorsement. Wednesday begins my 12-weeks journey as a student teacher. I will be with a 7th grade reading and writing teacher and a 9th/11th grade literature teacher. I've never worked with middle school aged students before, so that will be new and interesting. The literature gig should be pretty new to me, also. All of my practicums leading up to this point have been in journalism classes.

May 6th marks the day I've been waiting four long years for...graduation! Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for the student teaching adventures ahead, but what college student doesn't dream of the day they get to walk across that stage and receive their diploma?

This blog will follow my struggles and celebrations as a student teacher. I will also throw in a few posts about being a photography-loving, coupon-crazed newlywed. Before I go, here is a great video to watch. It's very eye-opening, and I plan to keep it in mind while creating lessons for my students this semester. Enjoy!