Crazy life of a New Teacher

Yearn

2012-01-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

I yearn for a day when we stop treating education like a business, and start treating it like a place to teach our youth what they need to know for life.

THAT'S ALL

Have a fab weekend.

Cheers to a New Year and Higher Test Scores!

2012-01-03T13:47:00.001-08:00

Wow! I am so tired! I knew sleeping in EVERY single day of break would have it's consequences! ;)

I am happy to be back. Unstructured time does not sit well with me. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good vacation, and I had a wonderful break, but I do so much better with a routine to follow!

I came into school today knowing exactly what I wanted to cover, and covered it! I got the idea of covering FACT and OPINION from my mom over break, and I came up with the idea of the Fact and Opinion game where the students will work together to determine if statements were facts or opinions. I know it sounds simple, but when I added that competition edge to it, they began to love it! I've stated it before, and I'm sure I will state it again, I work with a tough group of kids who have never enjoyed school... but they actually had fun with this.

It was really cool to see them get into it and help each other out. Even if the game only lasted 15 minutes, it helped them to reinforce their fact and opinion skills! This is something covered heavily on the MCA's, so I was happy to see how well they were doing with it.

We are going to continue working on Fact and Opinion, as well as test taking skills for the next two weeks.

I am starting to get the feeling that many of my students are simply overwhelmed with the standardized testing and start filling in bubbles! I want to show them that they can handle these tests with the skills they are learning from my class!

Despite it being the first day back from break, my kiddos were surprisingly on task today! I was very happy with them!

Cheers to a New Year and Hopes for Higher Test Scores

I keep telling my students:

"PUT ME OUT OF A JOB"

Meaning, if you raise those scores, there will be no need for me!

(what they don't know is I am only here until February, anyways! ;) )

Main Idea... of Literacy Class

2011-12-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

Today we began discussing Main Idea in Literacy Class, so I thought I'd share the main idea of my classes!

The main idea of my class is to get students reading at grade level...

To do so I will:

1. Have my students read silently everyday.

2. Participate in 6-minute solution every class period. This is where students will read the same passage 5 days in a row in one minute increments. They will record how many words they read correctly each day and track their progress. They get to see how reading and rereading things increases fluency! So awesome!

3. Learn and apply the basics (basics meaning: main idea, setting, characters, and conflict.)

4. Take practice comprehension tests.

The main thing I want to know is:

HOW DID THESE STUDENTS GET LEFT BEHIND FOR SO LONG!

Some of my kiddos (6th-8th graders) are reading at 3rd and 4th grade reading levels. How is it that they were passed along from grade to grade with hardly any support! It makes me sad, but I am very happy that I am able to help them! I am teaching them basic things that I have known since elementary school, and many of these concepts are completely new to them! Its kind of nice to see the light bulb go on! :)

I just hope they can apply these skills in their regular ed classrooms and on those dreaded MCA and NWEA tests!

I get to go to a Christmas party tonight, so I am excited!
Hope you all have a
Thrilling Thursday!

Gotta be a Good Life!

2011-12-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

I have to love the fact that our Theater is putting on productions of their play today...During 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hours 6th and 7th graders are excused from class to view the play. I have 7th graders 1st and 2nd. What a shame... time to catch up on planning and figuring out the issues I am having with online grading!

Not to mention I sleep in 2 hours longer than I did for my first job. I kind of love it! I was leaving home at 6am when I was teaching at RMS... I get to sleep in until 7:30 at my newest job, I don't even leave the house until 8:20. :)

Have a TERRIFIC TUESDAY :) !

Survival Mode!

2011-12-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

I must say that I am a HUGE fan of collaboration...but collaboration only goes so far and then it becomes utter confusion.

My biggest difficulties of the week:

1. The Principal not understanding that 42 minutes isn't enough time to have 15 minutes of reading time and a 10 minute reflection... I have to teach my kiddos skills somewhere!

2. No support... I love the team I work with. They seem to do a great job with their classes, but I need feedback from them to help their students. I can't meet their standards unless they reach out and tell me what their students need to work on. So for now, I am focusing on the basic skills of reading: fluency, comprehension, and analyzing stories.

I feel like I am not doing this in the manner in which they want me to, but I don't know what else to do. These students need stability in their lives, and they don't seem to be getting it at this school. Most of the student population come from inner city STP, and were removed from their schools due to discipline reasons. Allowing them to run the classroom isn't going to help them succeed. I work with small groups, 4-6 students, and they seem to think it is ok to get up whenever they want to. I squashed that right away. That isn't something that is okay in a small group setting. When one student leaves, it can be 25% of the class!

I don't like being negative, I am not a negative person. I love working with these students. They are struggling readers who know they need my help, I am just struggling to make an impact due to the lack of organization at this school. (I don't even have a key for my office space)

Until I get some feedback, or don't... I am going to work with the students on basic skills of reading that will help them to survive the MCA and MAP testing they are required to do bi-yearly. They will be reading and re-reading a single story 3 times to develop skills with making inferences, vocabulary, comprehension, determining main idea, fluency, and finding characters, setting, and plot. These are all skills that any student can benefit from receiving extra help, so I think this is the correct route to go....

Have I mentioned that I have no curriculum... I have a bunch of Reading Reference books, but no solid curriculum. That means, I spend a lot of time on the internet finding stories and worksheets, meanwhile creating my own for these students to work with.

Don't forget, I am a long term substitute... normally, this is not on the menu for long term subs. However, this is great experience for me. I feel that if I can take nothing and turn it into a class, I will be able to develop a class with curriculum no sweat! :)

I still look forward to working with the students to see how they respond to my strategies! Hopefully they can develop skills and become more independent in their reading abilities..

Yay for progress!

Just a LITTLE Frustrated...

2011-12-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

I'm having a bit of a HARD time with the planning process for my classes. The problem comes with not knowing if I will be hosting kiddos for 20 minutes or 42. For those of you non-teachers, I am sure you can understand, but for those teacher readers out there, it is a huge part of planning! They keep telling me they are in the process of creating my classes, but I am supposed to start with students on Monday...IT'S FRIDAY!
I have spent a lot of time observing this past week, and getting ideas for my class sessions, but it is still really hard to plan without actually seeing the test scores and needs of my students. I've done some discussing with other language specialists, and gotten a LOT of ideas and I think I have it narrowed down to a plan for all of my classes of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders:

1. Sustained Silent Reading 15 minutes (hoping that I will have my students for 42 minutes)

2. 5-day rotation between current event comprehension skills, Humanities (social studies) comprehension, vocabulary development, fictional elements and skills, and choice comprehension.

3. Throw in fluency 3 out of the 5 days of that rotation and that will be my class!

I will not have students 5 days a week. The students will follow an A/B schedule, so I will see them every other day.

As you can see, this rotation includes A LOT of reading comprehension. No matter what, kiddos need to work on reading comprehension. In the first 5-day rotation, I will spend time getting to know the students skills, personalities, and re-teaching the basics of reading intervention. We will go over strategies in reading and skills they can use in everyday reading.

This is not a "set in stone" deal. I haven't gone over this plan with the principal because he hasn't had a whole lot of time to meet with me. Hopefully I will meet his expectations for this program. The school is kind of putting a lot on my plate as a Long Term Substitute, but I think this has the potential to be great experience for me for my future job prospects.

This post is kind of TO BE CONTINUED... not sure what will happen. Today could lead to more understanding, or it might not. We'll see!

You are now entering...a no door classroom... What happens if I'm too loud!?

2011-11-28T18:37:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures of my new classroom. I am a little nervous about the "open door" classroom. I am really loud when I teach! Good thing there aren't many classrooms very close to mine! It is kind of nice being a long term substitute.... I get to steal ideas from other teachers!

Today was an interesting day... Sat around looking at curriculum. When I was finally able to meet with the principal, I found out I wouldn't even be using this curriculum and that I would be coming up with my own ideas.

This could be an interesting challenge. I am a teacher who loves to make real-world connections, and now I can use newspaper articles and other current events as the basis to my instruction. It has the potential to really help kiddos on the MCA and MAP tests because they are absolutely FILLED with newspaper type articles!

I have a lot to plan and get ready for in the next four days...

The principal is trying to decide if I am going to have my own classes or if I am going to be a "pull-out" teacher. We really need to figure this out before I start planning because if I have my own classes, I will have 42 minute sessions, but if I pull kids out, I will only have 20. I can work with either, but it is kind of a big part of planning! We will see. I met a few of the Language A (fancy IB term for English) teachers today, and they are excited to help me out. I love collaborating, so this could be fun. It also has the potential to give me tons of ideas for my own future guided reading and intervention groups!

I am excited to use different resources to help these kiddos get back on track with their reading abilities. I get to observe in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Language A classrooms tomorrow to see what types of learners I will be working with starting next week! As far as I know, the student population is very diverse, but that makes finding relevant and high-interest articles even more fun because there are so many types of kiddos! (I love that I call them kiddos and some of them will be 15).

Anxious to get the ball rolling, except for this thing they call a PC they gave me for a computer. I'm such a MAC girl... I guess I will find a way to deal! ;)

New Title, New Ideas, New Reasons

2011-11-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

this blog originally started as a blog to go along with my teacher education training... that is changing because SURPRISE! I am done with that! I am now a licensed elementary and middle school Language Arts teacher! :) :)

I have made some changes to the design of the blog...mainly because the old one was BORING! As you can see, the background is super busy, and the text fonts, sizes, and colors are completely random and busy! I did this because life as a new educator are random and busy! It is a constant scramble to have everything ready, but it usually turns out just fine!

Considering I just started blogging again, I haven't gotten the chance to blog about my first Long Term Substitute position as a 7th grade English Teacher at RMS (no full names, sorry):

I was the full time 7th grade English teacher at RMS while the regular classroom teacher took her maternity leave. I was LUCKY enough to experience the beginning of the year scramble to get everything ready. I was actually hired 4 days before teacher workshops. This was exciting, and nerve-wracking, but everything turned out just fine
At RMS, I met so many amazing teachers! I miss them all already! It is funny how much of a bond is formed, even though I was only there for 10 weeks. The routines, chats, and funny student stories are something that I miss already. I loved my lunch as well! So unrelated to education, which made it an awesome break from the day.
As for the actual classroom, it was a constant struggle because the other 7th grade English teacher was a bit of a basket case. Bless her heart, she does a nice job in the classroom, but I could have used a little more support in coming up with activities, considering I was given pretty much no prep time and no back-up from the teacher I was subbing for.
Overall, it was an awesome experience, I bonded with the students, as always, and learned a lot about being in a classroom on my own. I have to admit, I came up with my lesson plans on the fly most of the time, and I was always behind on my copying. (oops, the copy lady was awesome though)!
RMS was a school with not-so-much technology, which was a giant shift from the school I student taught at. No smartboards, very few computer labs, and a projector that rarely worked with no speakers. I made the best of it, but I can say integrating technology can be very helpful in the classroom! Especially for a random person who likes to show videos, like me! :)

I was observed once and was told they would LOVE to hire me back and told me to keep my eyes open in the district. I have an awesome letter of rec from the assistant principal... such a cool guy! :)

Well that was a giant ramble...

On to my newest experience:

As soon as I finished up at RMS, actually before, I started to apply for new positions. Like the first time I started applying for jobs, I applied EVERYWHERE for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. There were a lot more postings than I thought there would be, which helped me to be very optimistic.

One Tuesday morning, I got a call from a school much closer to home than RMS (which was an hour drive everyday UFFDA! Gas prices suck, btw). They needed a long-term substitute (LTS) for a 5th grade gifted and talented classroom. This job was to be in the same district, city, and grade that I student taught in. I didn't, however, teach in a GT (gifted and talented) classroom. I have 0 experience with GT students. Yes, I had a few here and there, but having a full classroom of them seemed a bit intimidating. The interview was set for Thursday at 9am. I prepared myself as best I could, and went for it.

The next day... I got a call from another school. They wanted to interview me to be a reading intervention teacher at their middle school. This is the complete opposite of GT. This is an opportunity to pull students out of class and help them become better readers. I felt a little more prepared for this interview, seeing as I was a middle school English teacher at RMS with several clusters of very low readers. I did a lot of intervening at RMS, so I felt prepared for this interview. This interview was set for Thursday at 2:30 pm.

YES, 2 interviews in one day...talk about overwhelming.

I went to both interviews, both were a blur and I felt like I rambled through them both.

I must be a good rambler because I on Friday afternoon I was offered the position at the Middle School. I accepted immediately, not being very optimistic about the GT classroom because I had no experience. Wednesday of the next week rolled around, and I got offered the position at the elementary school. I was thrilled to be offered both positions, but I obviously turned the elementary position down. The principal at the elementary school completely understood, and congratulated me. I decided to send her a thank-you note, just to keep my name out there. :)

I am very very very excited to start at the Middle School, CWMS, on Monday November 28. I get to spend time preparing and getting my groups ready to pull out of class in the first week and in the second week, I start teaching students! I am totally stoked.

As you can see, this post covered a lot, and was rather random. Much like the background and design of the blog! :)

Thanks for reading and have a Wonderful Wednesday and amazing THANKSGIVING! :)

not blogging a lot...sorry!

2009-04-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I am pretty sure that my mom is one of the few people that reads this, but I am sure that she would appreciate it if I blogged more often....

I have just been oh so busy trying to get everything done before the end of the semester, which is in 13 days! YAY! Most of my projects are due this coming Thursday and I don't have a lot to do, but its enough to keep me busy ALL of this weekend! This week absolutely flew by! I spent a lot of time working on my Diversity Action Plan, which is probably my largest project. I can happily say that I only have about 1/2 of my last source to complete and then I will turn it in!

I have a presentation on Tuesday about classroom discipiline. It shouldn't be too bad, but I did volunteer to make the power point so that is one more thing to add to this list. My group members have been sending me stuff to put in the presentation, I just need to sit down and do it! Yesterday I gave a presentation about Vietnamese immigrants in the United States education system. It was a hard presentation to give, because we were the last group to present, and I know that everyone was so ready to be done for the day. We got it done though, so I am very happy. We also got our final journal back for my diversity in education class and I got 15/15! I was very excited about that'

Here is my to-do list for the weekend:
write 2 artist criticisms
finish my action plan
make power point for presentation
study for my final on standardized tests <--- gosh this sucks!
put together my portfolio for my Art for Elementary school teachers class

The weather has been absolutely fabulous these past few days, so getting things done has been a tough task. However, it is supposed to be cloudy and rainy the rest of the weekend. All the more reason to be cooped up in the Library getting work done! I cannot wait for it to be Thursday April 30th at about 6:30. Thats when I can take a sigh of relief because 3 of my 5 classes will be completed. After that its 2 easy finals and I am OUTTA here for the summer!

I am also receiving more information about my counseling job this summer. I am very very very excited for it to start, but I will enjoy having the month of May off! My 21st birthday is also in 8 short days! I am pretty excited for that as well! :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

GREAT WEEK! :)

2009-04-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Everything is going so well right now! :)

Today was my last day in my field experience classroom. It was pretty sad. A bunch of the students gave me hugs and said that I have to visit. I probably will have to do that. That isn't even the best part. All of the students made me goodbye cards! They were the CUTEST things I have ever seen. I am going to keep them and look at them whenever I am sad for sure! Mrs. Hogenson also gave me my review today and it was very flattering to say the least. She had a lot of good things to say, and it made me even more excited to become a teacher very very soon!

My classes are going pretty well. I have always been a horrible test taker and my tests this past week have proven that, but my final grades are not really suffering because of these test scores. I am pretty thankful for that.

I am really looking forward to this semester being over. I loved my field experience and tutoring, but my classes are very demanding and I really need a break from it! Summer is going to be here very very soon! I registered for my classes on Monday and I had no trouble getting into any of them. I have so many credits from Community College that I get the opportunity to register on the first day! AWESOME is all I can say!

I made my "plan" for the rest of my education here @ Winona, and it turns out I will be done after May Term next year, and then I will student teach the following fall! SO SO SO EXCITING! I cannot wait to be a teacher!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Friday and a great weekend! :)

EASTER LILY!

2009-04-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the Easter Lily that I was talking about in yesterday's blog! I plan on adding one of the vase full of them when I am in the classroom tomorrow!!

The flower portion is made from cutouts of my hands. The pedals are my fingers just curled with a pencil. The stem is just a piece of rolled up construction paper! So simple and yes so cute!

Haven't blogged in a while...

2009-04-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since I blogged last... I have just been totally swamped with everything going on!!

As of today, I only have one more day as a teaching assistant in Mrs. Hogenson's class. I am actually pretty sad about this, because I have gotten to know the kids so well, and they really do brighten up my day. :( I have had a great experience though, and I am very thankful for that! This first field experience is supposed to help us to determine whether or not we want to be a teacher, and it has proven to me that Teaching is totally the right job for me! YAY!

Today in Mrs. H's class we made Easter Lilies! They were made out of traced hands and construction paper! I will probably post a picture of the vase that we created out of construction paper with all of the lilies in it. I got to make one myself too! I am such a dork, I love little art projects like that.

Some news about my Belleview mentoring. There were a lot of issues with the kids that were coming to the community center. Kids were swearing, running around, and not doing anything they were asked, so the director thought it was best to only have the room open once per week. I would have gladly gone, but the room will only be open on Wednesdays, which happens to be my busiest day of the week! I guess I am done with that for the year.

Last week was a great time in St. Charles as well. The weather was finally Beautiful outside, so Maria and I got a chance to spend some time outside. We pretty much just hung out, not too eventful. I think that sometimes those are the best days!

I am busy working on my Action plan for my diversity in education class. It is due in about 2 weeks and I have 3 of my 5 sources complete! I have an idea for my final two sources. It is just a matter of sitting down and doing it! HAHA (EASIER SAID THEN DONE, THATS FOR SURE!)

I am spending a lot of time in the library, but I am here to learn and get good grades, so no complaining here! I had a wonderful Easter weekend with the family. Nothing that fancy, but it is always good to spend some time at home. I won't be spending much time at home this summer, so I have to bond with my sister and family while I can

Hope everyone is having a fabulous monday! :)

What a week!!

2009-04-01T12:47:00.001-07:00

Monday morning started the busy schedule once again! No more spring break in Winona, so I had to start mentoring again! I woke up bright and early to head to field experience at Cathedral Elementary. It was really hard to wake up in the morning, but I am glad I did because I had a fun day in the classroom

Well, it was the first day back from spring break, so all the students had tons to share. A lot of the kids made trips to MOA over break, which makes me laugh, because its so close to home for me. About 5 girls also went to the American Girl Place Store, which I am in love with as well. Oh the memories!! Haha. Next, I got a chance to help kids with an Easter project. It was a really fun time. I got to help the kids make eggs out of papier-mâché and balloons. It was a messy project, but those are the best projects to do! The kids had a really good time. I almost had more fun then the students! By the time the kids were done with the project, and the cleaning up process, it was about time for me to go.

We didn’t have Mted on Monday, so I got a break until tutoring. I just kind of sat around, no big deal! Then I headed back to cathedral for homework club. Homework club was nothing special, just helped the kids with the typical spelling and math homework. They seem to all really respond to one on one attention, which is nice to see for sure. I am only there for an hour, but I get a chance to help kids, so it’s worth it. As soon as I was done tutoring, I headed to Belleview community center.

When my friend and I arrived at Belleview, we realized how few kids that were there. We only spent about a half an hour there because we had 5 mentors and 3 kids. We just decided it wasn’t really worth being there anyways.

Today was a fun day as well!! I got a chance to go on a field trip with Mrs. Hogenson’s class. We headed to Whitewater State Park to make maple syrup. It was fun to see all the kids get excited about nature. I had my own group to work with, which was fun. We spent 5 hours at the park. I really needed these 5 hours to reach my 40 hour goal for the semester. I had a really fun time working with all the students with different nature activities the whole day. We got back to Cathedral at about 2pm on the dot, and I am supposed to head to St. Charles at that time. I had emailed my teacher about being a few minutes late, but when I was running to catch the bus it was pulling away! I tried to catch the bus, but there was no hope. I just feel bad for Maria (my little) because she is going to have a boring day. It’s really not my fault, but I still feel bad. Oh well, I will make up for it next Wednesday.

Don’t really have much planned for the rest of the week. Hope everyone is having a happy WEDNESDAY!!

End of a boring week!

2009-03-27T15:47:00.001-07:00

What a week. I am happy to say that I am officially caught up in almost all of my classes! I have gotten a lot done, but I am indeed ready to be in the classroom and mentoring again!

This week I started my action plan for my diversity in education class. Now, I am not a big fan of this class because it is a TON of work, however, I do appreciate everything that I have learned about the State Standards for education in Minnesota. Walking into this class, I knew absolutely nothing about these standards. Now I have a pretty good grasp as to what they are and how I need to adapt my lesson plans to fit them. To be honest, these standards are slightly intimidating, but I am sure I will figure out a way to make them work in my lessons.

Also, I have a lesson plan writing class in which I had to create a mini-unit for a fifth grade class. Well, I chose a 5th grade class, mainly because it's my ideal classroom. I decided to a mini-unit on weather vocabulary. I chose weather because my little sister has shown interest in meteorology,something I know pretty much nothing about. I decided I would use this unit as an opportunity to learn more!! Not that I learned a ton, but I learned some interesting vocabulary words and what not. Maybe I will be able to keep up with that little spitfire when she grows up and is on tv. YEAH RIGHT!

Other then that, not too much to report. I am looking forward to the end of the semester. I just want a break from school in general. Nothing wrong in that right? I am starting to plan out the rest of my education in Winona. It's surprisingly easy to do. All of the classes seem like they are going to fall right into place for me! I would love if everything worked out. I did learn some scary news though. There is talk about development of a teaching reading minor that will be mandatory for Communications and Literature majors at all levels. Thats Me!! ahhhh!!!! I hope that it doesn't happen until after I graduate because I don't want to have to spend another year and half with a minor. Keeping my fingers crossed thats for sure!! I have my advising meeting set up for figuring out my classes next semester. I really just want this year to be over 1.) so I can move on in my education 2.) so I can get a well deserved break from school!!

Hope everyone has a phenomenal weekend!!

boring week....

2009-03-25T10:39:00.001-07:00

Well it's spring break in Winona, and that means a whole lot of nothing but class going on. I told myself that I was going to get a lot of school work done this week. I have done some, and I plan on doing more tonight, but that doesn't change that I AM BORED! I love being able to sleep in because I don't have field experience, but I miss Mrs. Hogensen's class! It really brightens up my day for sure!!

I do get to go to St. Charles today though! I am excited for this because its miss MARIAS birthday! YAY! Well, it was her birthday last week, but last week was their spring break, so no mentoring. I got her a present and I am excited to give it to her! Not sure what else we are going to do today, but we will figure out something fun! Its crazy how attached I am to her... I am going to have to try to figure something out for next year because I don't think that I will be able to make the wednesday trips to St. Charles anymore. Pretty much a sad day! Hopefully we can stay in touch in one way or another!

Not much going on this week though... the notifications for the education program went out this week, and a ton of my friends got in! I am very proud of all of them! It's a lot of work, but they will all be great teachers one day!!

Done for the week??

2009-03-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

Well it's Wednesday and I was thinking about the rest of my week, and I realized I am done with volunteer work for the week ALREADY! I dont know what I am going to do with all of this free time...

Possibly study for my two mid-terms tomorrow?? I don't know, might be a good idea! ha ha

I had a great time in the classroom today. The class got a chance to have a poet come in and teach them some basic things about poetry. I love poetry. I can't write it, but I sure do love it. I love elementary poetry too. It just brings laughter and smiles to kids faces, and its so fun to watch students get creative! I had students asking me for help about beats in a line, and I was getting confused myself. The kids found that pretty hilarious... anything to make them smile right! lol

Next week is spring break for Winona public and private schools, so no tutoring, mentoring, or field experience. Wow. What to do with all this free time! CRAZY! Usually I head to St. Charles on Wednesdays, but today is the exception because it is spring break there this week. I have to miss Maria's birthday, but we will find a way to celebrate next week for sure!

Another week in Winona...

2009-03-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

This week is flying by pretty fast! This excites me! Maybe all of the weeks will go this fast!! However, if its going to fly by this fast, I need to get to work on all my end of the semester projects and whatnot! haha

Tuesday was just another day full of class, nothing new in that at all. I still feel like my diversity in education is CRAZY and he is now even more crazy. He gave us a chapter to break down and analyze for the rest of the class. Now this would be fine if he gave us a week to put a 30 minute presentation together for, but he gave us from Tuesday until today! what a pain. My group got it done, but its nothing too special...hopefully its up to his high standards!! My 304 and 311 classes still remain as easy as can be, and let me tell you, IM NOT COMPLAINING!

Wednesday was another fun filled day in the classroom at Cathedral. I did a lot of work in the classroom on Wed. I had to cut out strips of paper for the St. Patrick’s day project this class is doing, and I had to cut out a bunch of shapes for the upcoming geometry unit! oh joy! By the time I was done with that, it was time to leave. And then comes ST. CHARLES!!

St. Charles was quite the adventure yesterday. Maria has a pretty big geometry test coming up and when I went up to the classroom to pick her up, her teacher mentioned how much she needed to study. She didn't want to study at first, but we made it a fun little game out of studying, and she ended up having fun with it. And she now knows many of the terms that she did not know to begin with! I am pretty proud of her. She really struggles in school, but with the one on one time, she does an amazing job!

I am going home again this weekend because my dad and I are going to the National basketball tournament in Rochester on Friday. I feel like I am not spending very much time in Winona lately, but I will survive. Haha

First day back from SPRING BREAK!

2009-03-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well spring break was relaxing, that's for sure! I got to spend lots of time with the family and friends, just chilling at home. Its always nice to have a break from the crazy college life, and I sure needed it.

Today, I had a really hard time waking up for field experience. I was very very excited to get rolling again with the semester. I arrived at Cathedral right on time, and I had lots of work to do. I corrected work for most of the time that I was there, which was actually nice, because I was pretty tired, so I don't think that I would have been to great working directly worth the kids. I did help to correct one worksheet with the students, which was funny, because they know their facts, but correcting is another story. haha

After field experience, I headed to Math education where we pretty much reviewed what we covered last friday. I didn't have a problem with this, I pretty much zoned out and didn't even take notes. I know that I didn't miss much.

When I was done with class, it was time for tutoring. Well, I had an hour break, but I spent that taking a power nap for 45 minutes. It's going to be a struggle to get back into my school sleeping schedule. Tutoring went really well today, the kids didn't really need much help with their homework, so I pretty much just observed and asked questions. After tutoring, I headed straight to Belleview for another interesting day.

Actually, Belleview was really nothing too bad today. My friend Jill and I spent most of the time constructing puzzles with different kids. There was chaos in the background, but we decided that ignoring it was the best idea. They don't listen to any of us anyways. The kids seem to be naturally loud, and we are not supposed to be authority figures, so there is no point in trying to be one. The kids seem to have fun, and thats what they are there for. They need a place to hang out, because many of their home situations are not the best.

Belleview actually went by pretty fast today, and when I got back to my room, I pretty much just worked out and ate, and now I am doing some homework! Not too bad.

Pretty good first day back!!
Happy Monday! :)

HOLY SNOW

2009-02-27T06:28:00.000-08:00

Like I said in my last blog, I had a huge test yesterday. Bad news, the teacher put absolutely EVERYTHING on the test that he possibly could. On tuesday, he gave us 5 main points to study for the test, so I assumed that is what I would need to study. Turns out, he meant that those are just the things you should study the most. We have had a CRAZY amount of readings in this class. About 100 pages a week. No possible way that I can retain all of that information. Especially since I have 4 other classes to read and study for. I get the test and I knew some of the answers, but there were a lot that I didn't have a clue on. Worst of all, we watched a movie in class and he had 2 essay questions about it on the test. He didn't even mention studying about the movie on Tuesday, which really makes me angry. Thats 20 points on the test. I sort of had an idea as to what to write, but not really.

Well it wasn't just me who thought this about the test, so it feels a little better. Not much though... Funny story though, we were mid-test and it starts thunder-snowing. Our entire class started laughing. This happened about 5 or 6 times throughout the test, it was crazy! All of this snow meant lots of school delays and cancellations. Cathedral was among those delayed schools, which means no Field Experience for me today. Now, it is totally fine with me not having to get up bright and early every once and a while, but this is the second time this week. It was ash Wednesday this past Wed, so I got let go early because of the Mass Service. This week I spent a total of 2 hours and 20 minutes in the classroom. I hope that the people here at WSU understand my situation when I don't reach the full 40 hours by the end of the semester. My schedule is swamped enough as it is, no extra time for make-up hours over there. I would love to head over there more often then I do, but unless they start having night school starting at 530 at night, no way is that happening!

But IT IS SPRING BREAK IN A FEW SHORT HOURS! so much relaxation in one week. I get to see my friends and family from home, and I couldn't be happier. I have to admit, I miss my puppies more than anything though! I also get to go and support my community college girls basketball team at the State Tournament on Saturday! I honestly miss competitive basketball sooooo much, but at the same time, I am incredibly happy to be done and moving on with my life! Basketball was great, but so time consuming and it killed my body! Anyway, one class left, then time to clean and pack then my dad will be here around 530 to come and pick me up!

YAYAYAYYAYAYAYAY! not sure if I will be writing in the next week!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week next week!

Pictures!

2009-02-25T19:10:00.001-08:00

I just thought I would add some pictures of Maria (my little) and me!! :) She may be a little brat sometimes, but I am attached!

Not much to report from this week. I got an A on one of my tests, and I am pretty sure I did well on the other one I took! I have a huge test tomorrow. Not sure how its going to go. I have been studying like crazy, but not sure if I am studying the right content!

I guess I will find out tomorrow! I am super excited to be done with that class for the week! Its pretty much the end of my difficulties before spring break! Exciting!

Homeward bound on Friday! YAY!

Another day in the classroom...

2009-02-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

Well, for some reason I found it reallllllllly hard to get out of bed this morning. I was so so so so tired from the lack of sleep I got this weekend. I managed to get to Field Experience in time, which was a great thing because I had a great day at Cathedral.

Today I started off by doing some correcting for Mrs. Hogenson, I am getting used to that being the routine. After that, I got a chance to help some of the students with basic division. I actually got to apply something I learned in class again. My education is actually worth the 14,000 dollars I pay a year... ok well maybe not worth that much, but its paying off! haha I also got a chance to help out with a really fun worksheet/activity with the kids. They had to think of different lettered items from different stores. (ie clothing store, grocery, sports... etc) It was really funny to see the kids get competitive!

I totally skipped out on tutoring today, I needed a nap. I found a substitute, so I wasn't totally abandoning my duties, even though they are never really short handed at homework club.

Like every other Monday, I headed out to Belleview Community Center at around 345. That place truly gives me a headache, and its really only getting worse. Like I have said early, the structure is very lacking and the person that is in charge leaves half an hour after we start! Its terrible, but I have to do it for my diversity education class. I want to teach in a disadvantaged neighborhood, but this is really turning me off to the idea. I know that in the classroom I will be the authority figure and be able to take charge, but this place is ridiculous. We actually had a mom of one of the kids come in today and literally yell at another girl for making her daughter cry. It was very very immature and unnecessary. Nothing really happened, and this mom didnt even bother to come to talk to us about the situation at all. She made 3 girls cry. I was feeling very overwhelmed with the situation. I could do absolutely nothing about either.
Not to mention, we have 9 volunteers to about 10 kids in a room thats about twice the size of a single dorm room. Terrible set up, and a horrible program. I just have to stick it out for class, but if it weren't for that, I would be out of there!

After that terrible experience I was done for the day. THANK GOD! I got a good workout in and hung out with a friend and watched tv. Very relaxing night. Its about time for me to watch Home Improvement and go to bed! My typical routine! haha

Hope everyone had a fabulous monday!

Forgot to blog for a few days....

2009-02-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

Haven't blogged since Wednesday, but that is mainly because there has been nothing to blog about!

Thursday was just another day full of education classes, which is always interesting. My art class once again loaded me up with homework (I haven't gotten to any of it yet..oops) but other than that, nothing to report.

I did have a test in my education planning and assessment class on Thursday as well. I spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday freaking out about it, because my teacher is very very soft spoken, and I fell like I don't take a lot from the class. I made myself a study guide and studied like crazy for three days. I got the test, and the studying really paid off. I finished without a worry, except for the true/false question. I am terrible at true/false questions. I tend to second guess myself and ALWAYS put the wrong answer. Good thing they are never worth many points on the tests that I take!

Friday was nothing special at all. I had my field experience at Cathedral, and because it was Friday, I was alone in the classroom for quite some time. I graded some homework, and did some grade entering while the students were at Mass, and I can say it wasn't that bad. When the class was there, I got a chance to help a student that I work with in the tutoring program I take part in. The student I helped really struggles in a classroom setting, but when it gets down to one on one time, she is very intelligent. I actually got to use some skills from my Math Education class. Not quite sure how to explain it, but we were talking about doing some basic multiplication. I was excited to be able to help her out. I think she is truly understanding it!

Helping that student was such a great feeling, which makes me even more anxious to become a teacher!

My weekend was pretty fun. Just had some fun with friends and avoided school work at all costs! I really didn't have a lot of homework, so no big issues! I am currently watching the oscars! I look forward to this every year! I love movies, and beautiful clothes, so its the perfect fit for me!

Hope you all had a great weekend! :)

Long day...despite having no class!

2009-02-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

Today my day started at 6:30 am just like every other Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I arrived at Cathedral Elementary at about 7:45 so that I could hang out with the kids before their day officially started. I got a chance to talk to most of the kids, which is always a positive thing.

My time in the classroom was really positive today. The first half hour I worked on some correcting for Mrs. Hogenson, but then I actually participate in the classroom!! Mrs. Hogenson had me give each student their individual oral fluency test. Each student came out into the hallway with me and read a passage. The students had the opportunity to read the passage to themselves first, and then I timed them for one minute to see how far they could get, and with how many mistakes. I realized today that the class I work with has a huge gap in reading skills. One student finished the entire passage, and a few only finished the first paragraph. I think it is crazy how much reading levels can vary in one classroom of 14 students! I was very very very happy that I actually got a chance to interact with the students today.

I actually stayed 2 and a half hours to complete the test with all the students. I needed to make up some time from Monday, since they didn't have school anyway. After my classroom time, I had a few hours to kill before I had to head to St. Charles to mentor Maria.

I really did nothing with my down time, when I should have been studying for my test tomorrow. But I will be just fine.

Today in St. Charles was a great time. If you want to know more, check out my other blog. Maria and I really had a fun time today for sure. As of right now, I am trying to study for my Lesson Plan class. Not really sure what the official name of my class is, but that is the name I have given it! haha

Hope everyone had a great Wednesday!! :)

Living the College Life.

2009-02-17T17:36:00.000-08:00

No class again tomorrow. My teacher is attending a convention or something. I am not complaining, but this happens a lot. I actually like this class, and want it to be in session. haha
*says the nerd*

I do have field experience tomorrow at 8am. I haven't been their since Friday because Monday was presidents day and all. Can't wait to see the kids! I also get to go to St. Charles tomorrow! Always a highlight in my week for sure!

Pretty much a day off!

2009-02-16T13:47:00.001-08:00

Its Presidents Day today, so no volunteer work today!! Happy 200th birthday abe!! haha

I was planning on having at least one volunteer session to still happen, but it got canceled at the last minute!! Pretty nice to have a day to lay around. Not that I ever lay around for too long. I get too bored!

Math education was my only class today, and we got our tests back... I got an 89. Of course I got nothing marked off on the "tough" problems, but I made mistakes on the easy ones. That always happens to me! I am not complaining at all, I am happy with my 89 for sure!

I have a test to study for tomorrow. It's assessment day, so no classes before 330, but I do have a class then with a test! Not too worried about it!

Happy Monday!! :)

Slightly Confused...

2009-02-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Not sure why, but every other school on the country seems to have tomorrow off for Presidents Day...

Does Winona have it off you ask? No we have school bright and early! Doesn't make much sense to me.

We do have "Assessment Day" on Tuesday which is nice because all classes are canceled before 3:30 pm. Only one class on Tuesday! YAY!

Only 2 more weeks until Spring Break! I am looking forward to going home so much. I wouldn't call myself homesick, but I am dying to go home! :)

RA Job = no.... MATH TEST = EXCELLENT!

2009-02-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

Today was my second day in the classroom, and I am realizing I may need to find a different assignment for the year....

I really like the teacher and class that I get to work with, but because it is a Catholic school there are some downfalls. Today I spend a majority of my time alone in the classroom. This was a bit upsetting to me. I learned today that Friday's are days that the class attends Mass from 8:50-9:50. I am only in the classroom from 8-9:45, so this was a good chunk of my time. Miss Hogenson gave me the option of going to mass ( why would I, considering I am not Catholic) or staying back to correct papers. I am completely fine with correcting papers, but if thats what I do on all of the Friday's, it is going to get very old, very fast. Not only do they attend mass, but their recess is early on Fridays, so I spend even less time observing. I think I am going to try and stick it out, but I want to get the best experience possible and I don't know if I am getting it at Cathedral.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

After I left the classroom, it was time to go and pick up my RA notification letter. On my way over I was trying to convince myself that it was no big deal if I didn't get the job. Well when I did open it, and it did indeed say I was rejected, I was still pretty upset. I called mom and she was perfectly comforting about it!! ( THANKS MOM! LOVE YA!) But of course, as soon as I talk to her I start crying! Totally what happens whenever I am upset! But, it's all good, and I am going to live in a Quad suite instead with a couple of friends! :)

Despite being upset, I still had to take my math test. I think I did really well. I only really struggled with one problem, so I am hoping for an A! That would make this whole RA thing not a big deal at all!!

I am now done for the day and it's 12:35 pm!! Looking forward to a relaxing afternoon after I work out!

TGIF!

Hope you have a beautiful weekend!!

Class class and more class

2009-02-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty stressful for me...to say the least.

Starting bright and early at 930 am I have Art with one wacky teacher. He never stops talking. The entire 3 hours of class, he talks. Even during movies. I might go crazy. But its a required class. So I will deal with it! haha

When I am done with that class I get a nice lunch break and then I head off to diversity in the classroom. Well thats my self-title for that class. I can't remember the real name. My bad. Its quite an interesting class. I got singled out today in class, and not for a good reason. I was pretty embarrassed. I will live

From 330 until 7 I am in my educational sequence classes. Not exactly the most exciting, but I have to make it through them. From what I hear, the first semester in the program is the hardest to get through! Hopefully that statement it true.

I found out when I was heading back to the dorms that I get my RA notification tomorrow morning. I applied to be a Resident Assistant for next year, and I am super nervous. I have come to the conclusion that next year will be good regardless of what that letter says tomorrow. I signed up today to live in a quad suite with four of my friends that I have made down here. So either way, I will have a good year next year!

Got a chance to watch Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice Crossover too! I am obsessed, but now I need to study for my Math Education test tomorrow! WISH ME LUCK!

1st day in the Classroom!

2009-02-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

Practicum

Today was my first day of my field experience in the classroom. For my Education 304 class, we are required to have a total of 40 hours of classroom experience over the course of the semester. Some of our goals for our classroom experience include observations, clerical work (correcting papers for the teachers), one on one tutoring, and small group work. I was pretty excited to head over to Cathedral Elementary this morning...despite the fact it was at 8am!!

Upon arrival, Mrs. Hogenson was a bit unprepared, but I couldn't blame her as soon as I observed her class for about 5 minutes. I believe her exact words were "I have quite the crew this year!" With my first observations I realized that their are about 4 students that I was wondering whether or not they were special education. About 15 minutes into the class another teacher walked in and sat down. The entire class worked on some bible study work in a circle and this other teacher was just writing things down. When she left and the bible study was over, Mrs. Hogenson proceeded to tell me that she was working on 3 special education referrals. I guessed right! Not too shabby for my first day. She went on to tell me that they don't have the finances for special education. Therefore, if those students do indeed qualify for special education they will have to transfer to another public school. That is one of the biggest downfalls of private education for sure.

My time flew by in the classroom today! For the last half hour I helped to create some flip books for tomorrow's activities. Not the most fun work, but I am helping a teacher with a crazy class, so it was no big deal! I assume I will be doing a little bit of that everyday, which is no problem for me at all.

After my field experience time was complete I had a few hours off before my weekly visit to St. Charles. I am currently a mentor for a young Latina girl named Maria at St. Charles Elementary School. I mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Winona. I started this mentoring through a class I had last semester. The class was called Latino and Latin American Perspectives! It was by far my favorite class of my college experience thus far. I have a required blog for that mentoring program. Please take a look. It gives a pretty great overview of the time I spend with Maria each Wednesday.

Other than my field experience and mentoring today, I didn't do much. I completed some homework and had a relaxing day. My math class was canceled for the day, but I do have a test in that class on Friday. I really should start studying for that!!

This week so far....

2009-02-10T19:58:00.000-08:00

This week has been nothing out of the ordinary so far...

Maniac Mondays....Its like I am on the go from sun up to sun down

One nice thing about Monday's is that I get to sleep in. Well, if sleeping in is waking up at 9:30 am, then I got to sleep in. I only have one class on Monday's which is great. Its Math for Elementary School Teachers. So far the class is pretty basic, but some of the concepts require a lot more thinking then I thought I would be doing in this class.

After class I actually get a lunch break. That is always nice. Then at about 2 I head over to Cathedral Elementary to tutor at the "Homework Club." I actually have had an amazing experience with this program so far. This volunteer work is exactly that, volunteer work. I do it for my own good. Its basically the only work I do for fun. I help about 7 kids with their homework after they get done with school. These kids are absolutely hilarious. They are cracking jokes constantly and making me laugh for all sorts of reasons. Having this much fun helping kids with homework reminds me why I want to be an educator. I found out today that 3 of the kids I tutor are in the classroom that I will be doing my practicum in. This is pretty exciting, I really like these kids. Recap of what I helped out with: Division, Weather, and Word searches.

When I am done with tutoring, I pretty much rush to get picked up by my friend Jill to head to Belleview Community Center on the east side of winona to volunteer. This program is not as much fun for me. This program is pretty much organized chaos. That is putting it nicely. Their is a huge age variety so its really tough to get all kids on the same page. This program is more about giving the kids a place to hang out after school and keeping them out of trouble. I find myself having to keep the kids from arguing and fighting more often then not, but I guess its better then them being in trouble with higher authority figures. I actually got to work with one little boy who was very cute. Together we put together the same puzzle three times. It was about the only thing that would keep him from crying, so I just went along with it. After he ran off to do something else, I wasn't really that involved. It's my goal to be more motivated in weeks to come. After I am done at Belleview, I am done for the day. Time to relax. I wish, more like time for homework in the 18 credits that I am currently enrolled in.

Tuesday tuesday Tuesday...

Tuesday's and Thursday's are my busiest as far as school goes. I have 4 of my 5 classes on these days. I have all three of my educational sequence classes right in a row as well as my Art class. I don't really get a break, so its a little overwhelming and I am pretty tired on these days. Today I decided to be productive and head to the library with my friend after my last class and I actually got a lot done. I have a lot of homework still, despite being in the library for 2 hours. It probably doesn't help that I spent a lot of time trying to understand one of my assignments instead of doing it. haha! It will get done... It always does.

When I got back from the lib I decided just to have some relaxation time, well until I decided to make this blog. Well, anything is better than schoolwork at this point!

First Semester in the Education Program!

2009-02-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

Well, as of November I was admitted into the Winona State University Education Program. This was not the easiest of all tasks, but I feel like I was very qualified, and I was very excited to be admitted. Despite being very exciting, I knew it was going to be a huge commitment.
It all starts with the professional sequence of classes in the education program. As of this semester I am enrolled in Education Planning classes 304 and 311. These classes involve learning how to write the dreaded lesson plan, and learning about child psychology. Its not that these classes aren't necessary, but a lot of repitition occurs throughout the class and its gets a little old. Also, I am enrolled in and Diversity in Education class. This is probably the toughest class I have ever been enrolled in in my 3 years of college. I really enjoy the class, but I am having a hard time connecting the topics we discuss to the educational standards. I will figure it out eventually. My final two clases are Math for elementary school teachers, and Art for the elementary school teacher. Now when you look at the titles of these classes they may sound easy, well at least I did. Well, to say the least, they aren't as easy as they sound!
One aspect of my classes that I truly enjoy is all of the volunteer work that I get to partake in. I am currently taking part of volunteering in St. Charles through Big Brothers Big Sisters, at cathedral elementary here in town tutoring, and at Belleview Community Center with disadvantaged kids. I also have my first teaching practicum starting tomorrow at Cathedral Elementary. All of this volunteer work is a bit overwhelming, but totally going to help me in the long run. I am working on building up that resume!

This has pretty much been an overview of what my blog will consist of. I will share my feelings about the different classes and volunteer experiences that I go through!

HOPE YOU ENJOY!! :)