Well, it's done.

I survived student teaching.

And you know what? I'm going to miss those little bugs.

On my last day, one of my boys gave me a bouquet of flowers and a necklace that said "#1 Teacher". It's so sweet. They also all signed cards and gave me some school supplies for my next teaching job. When they were leaving, one of the girls said, "Don't worry Mrs. Giullian, I probably won't cry until I get home." How do you not miss that?!

But now I'm on my first day of unemployment.

What will I do?

-Get my teaching license.

-Go to the temple.

-Train for my 5k in July (that I've been badly neglecting).

-Keep applying for jobs.

SPEAKING OF WHICH: I got a job offer and another call for an interview. One is a teacher's assistant at a Montessori school in Sacramento, and the call for the interview is at a Goddard preschool in Durham, North Carolina. Because who wouldn't want to live by Dane?! (And Alyse and Tommy, of course). It depends on the position they want to offer me, though.

-Keep up my Etsy shop. (Visit it! http://www.etsy.com/shop/CamillesCrochet)

But I can do anything I want to! I can continue to learn Spanish like I've wanted to. I can get a Master's degree if I want to. I can work full time if I want to (and can get hired).

Soooo, yeah. It's sweet.

Fifteenth Week of Student Teaching.

I haven't done this in a while, but here goes!

This week, I only had to teach one lesson a day, as opposed to the whole day. Mrs. Stanger is trying to transition back to her teaching.

Day 71. I think it's hilarious to watch these kids play football. When they get into the game, they REALLY get into the game. While I was watching on bus duty, I watched as a kid got burned by another boy to score a touchdown. Sure enough, one of my students (half the size of the rest of them) comes around running and screaming "ARE YOU KIDDING  ME! WHAT HAPPENED THERE!! COME ON!" I just had to laugh... but I will say it now. I don't want our kids to play football.

Day 72. Brandon the best husband ever came to visit me at school on his way from his job interview (YESSSS HE HAS A JOB!). The kids wanted to ask him some questions, so I told them they could ask 5 questions. They asked things like "What do you like?" "Have you seen the Hobbit?" "What's your favorite color?" When Brandon said he played football the boys all cheered and yelled. Boys.

Day 73. Today, a boy came up to me and said, "Look at what I can do!" And before I could stop him, he said, "Everybody do the FALL!" and dropped himself to the ground, smacking his head on the ground so hard it shook the floor by my feet. I asked him if he was ok, and he stood up with his hand covering his forehead. When he took his hand away, he had major carpet burn on his forehead. I was laughing so hard I couldn't help it. This is the boy who reads at a 3rd grade reading level...

Day 74. As mentioned before, today I was stressed out about not having a job. I was super tired and just wanted to go to bed, but I remembered that I had signed Brandon and I up to clean the temple. I really didn't want to go, which sounds terrible. Luckily, I realized that if I didn't want to go, that was probably Satan and that I needed to go. Brandon was getting trained at his new job, so he couldn't go. I'm so glad I did, not for the least of which this picture I got:

Day 75. I don't remember much of what happened. I was exhausted from cleaning the temple, and didn't have the patience to get into arguments with the kids so I didn't. Luckily, Mrs. Stanger said I seemed so much more relaxed and natural with the kids. I guess running on fumes helps.



I'm going to miss these kiddos. I still have 2 more days, which makes it seem like student teaching is dragging on... oh wait it is.
But tomorrow starts with (gasp) a job interview! It's with an agency that has a position in Psycho Social Rehabilitation. I know that it generally works with people who have mental illnesses, but I'm not entirely sure what else I would do.
I think cleaning the temple helped, I'm going to make sure to go more often to see if I can get more blessings (aka job interviews).

End is near.

One month from yesterday will be my last day of student teaching.

WHAT?!

I applied for 29 jobs this week... if anyone hears of teaching or developmental therapy jobs near them let me know.

Eleventh Week of Student Teaching.

I just have to say, spring break is heaven sent. This past week has been NUTS! Spring fever is in the air, and the kids can feel it just as well as we can.

Day 51. I have the class do a daily writing prompt, and today it was on community helpers. We listed a bunch on the board, but when I came to collect the papers one girl had written "Mrs. Gillian, because she doesn't let anyone bully us." I made sure to not get teary eyed in front of her... but I didn't give her paper back. I love it too much.

Day 52. I asked the children to write about what they want to  learn about after spring break. As I was walking around, one of the children was looking too suspicious. I walked over right as he was crossing out, "I want to learn about barf." He looked at me like he was busted. I just gave him the "teacher" look, and he erased it.

Day 53. I was being observed today, and it went pretty badly. I had pretty much zero control. I guess it's my fault, for teaching with manipulatives. But I had a good talk with my supervisor after the lesson, and DIDN'T cry too much. I've learned that how I feel about teaching varies from day to day, and that I can't expect every day to go well. Especially in my first year of teaching.

Day 54. Mrs. Stanger wasn't here today, so I was basically on my own. I had a sub, but.... she decided to not show up on time because she knew there was a student teacher. I guess they forgot to tell her that's illegal. Needless to say, it was an exciting time in my class. It was fairly normal for this week, but I had to send a couple of kids out into the hall/into the office for defiance etc. Luckily, one of the boys who I sent to the office still told me I was pretty and gave me a hug as he was leaving.

Day 55. Today was the last day of school before spring break, so we basically buckled down and tried to get the kids to do something. However, I did get a classic quote from today:

Boy: I need to talk to the principal RIGHT NOW!

Me: Why?! (Expecting that someone was bleeding or something to that effect)

Boy: Because a boy in Ms. Clark's class is going to ask his (pointing to another boy) sister out and he's too young!

Me: ......... wait what?

Boy: He's 7 and she's 14, and they're both too young they need to wait until they're 16 to date!

Me: Ok, well she's probably not going to say yes, since he's 7 and she's 14- 

Boy: No, really! He's going to bring cologne and everything so she will say yes!

Despite my telling him to sit down, he did not rest until he told Mrs. Stanger, Ms. Clark, and Mr. Keller. He even left the room without asking (a BIG NO NO) to tell Ms. Clark. I'm so glad we have the dating police in my class.



I love my class. I'm applying for jobs, if that tells you how I feel about teaching. We might end up in Houston, Mesa, or Las Vegas. That's where I"m applying for right now, at least.

Ninth Week of Student Teaching.

Day 41. While trying to regain control of my lesson, my teacher said, "Look, Mrs. Giullian got all ready and pretty so you would look at her and listen to her today!"

Boy 1: "She's right. You're beeeeaauutiiifuuuullllll!"

Me: "Oh why thank you. I did brush my hair out and everything today."

Boy 2: "Yeah can I marry you?"

Me: "Sorry, I'm already married." 

Boys: "AWWWWWWW!"

I just about died laughing on the inside, but had to keep gaining control of my class so I just said, "Yep, too bad. Anyways, so the lesson is....." But I sure do love those boys sometimes.

Day 42. I bought another frog for the class, and let the children who followed my directions name it. By almost unanimous voting, they named it... Mrs. Giullian. Heh heh heh yes they laugh every time they say it.
 So now we have Walter on the right and Mrs. Giullian on the left.

 
Day 43. I was playing Simon Says with my class (a perfect way to get the wiggles out). One of my kids, who was in the front row, would start playing air guitar as soon as he would follow my command. He also plays air guitar all the time, at the risk of not hearing any directions, so I've had it up to here with it. Finally, I turned to him and said, "You're out." He got mad, and said, "But I did what you said! I even  put my right hand up!" "Yes, but you're playing air guitar. I didn't say, 'Simon Says play air guitar.' So you're out!" He didn't like it, but I was right. That's the whole point of Simon Says, after all.

Day 44. I had a boy watching me as he walked by, so I followed him with my eyes. He walked back and forth, saying, "What is it, Mrs. Giullian?" I said, "Nothing, I'm just watching you!" He stopped, and said, "I know what you need." He came up and gave me a huge hug. My heart melted, and I said, "You know, you're right. That is just what I needed."

Day 45. I had a couple of funny experiences with 5th grade girls today. Our class does "buddy reading" with the 5th grade class, and here were a few conversations I had with them:
They were looking at a list of big cities around the world. They turn to me and ask, "What's famous in London?"
Me: "Umm, well I've never been there, but there's Big Ben..."
Girls: "What's that?"
Me: "The big clock tower..."
Girls: ".......?"
Me: "It's in Peter Pan."
Girls: "Oooohhhh OK! What else?"
Me: "Shakespeare was there..."
Girls: "What's that?" 
Me: "You know what, you're right. There's nothing famous in London."

Girl: "Are you a Student Teacher?"
Me: "Yep!"
Girl: "You look like you're 16!"
Me: "Well, I'm not!"
Girl: "How old are you?"
Me: "I'm not telling you."
Girl: "Well, you've gotta be like 19 or something."
Me: "Maybe!"
Girl: "Are you married?"
Me: "Yep."
Girl: "Are you 21?"
Me: "Nope."
Girl: "Well, if you're not 19 and you're not 21 and you're married then you have to be 20."
Me: "Sure o.k."
Girl: "Yeah you totally are 20. I can read you like a book, you're so easy to read!"



I sure like my job... even the days when I want to strang love individual children. I've been working on more positive reinforcement, even though I'm not perfect about it.

And tomorrow I'm going to give them an impromptu geography lesson on how far away the D.R. is from here!             
  

Eighth Week of Student Teaching.

Well, I survived my first week of first grade. I am so tired. As I mentioned before, I now feel like I should seek forgiveness from my elementary school teachers, because I imagine that I was kind of a handful...

Day 36. First day in. I got about 75 hugs, which made me feel good. And kind of made up for the fact that I wasn't listened to all day. Phew, I even survived teaching my first lesson on frogs! Just barely though.
Day 37. One of the boys came into class after lunch recess in tears, and said, "One of my friends hurt my feelings." "What did he say?" "He said I wasn't good at basketball, and I've been working on my 2 pointers!!" I told him I was sorry, and he could keep working on his 2 pointers if he wanted to get even better.
Day 38. I had a breakthrough in my management technique. I think it won't last for forever, but for today it worked. I was getting frustrated with the kids not listening, and my teacher had left the room. Panic time. I was writing names on the board (the usual technique for kids who wouldn't be allowed to go out to recess), when I said out loud, "Ok, I'm just going to start writing the names of the children who ARE going to go to recess on time." I started writing names on the board, and when I turned around the children were all sitting in their desks and had their hands on their desks. And, best of all, they were SO QUIET. I couldn't hear anything. I told them, "Ok, here's the deal. I'm going to keep teaching, and when people are doing what they're supposed to then I'll keep writing names on the board. I want all the names on this list by the time recess comes! Ok?" They said, "OK! Can we put a smiley face above our names?" I said yes, so I put a smiley face up there so that they could see it. I didn't hear a peep for about 45 minutes.
Day 39. I taught for basically the entire day today. No big deal, right? Just my fourth day here! Today, a boy scraped his hand while he was running into the classroom (which he wasn't supposed to be doing). He told me his hand hurt, and I checked it out and saw that there was no bleeding. I told him I was sorry, and that it would feel better. I then continued teaching, and was interrupted constantly by his moaning and groaning. I finally stopped my lesson and said, "Hey, I'm sorry that your hand hurts, but you should either put some hand sanitizer on it and clean it or just sit there, but I need you to not be so loud so I can teach please!" He said, "You're right. I have to be strong. Be strong! Be strong!" And he kept repeating this for the rest of the day. I just ignored it after a while.
Day 40. It was Dr. Seuss Day today. The kids all dressed up, from Cindy Loo Who to Pipsqueak from the Lorax to Nick from.... whatever movie it was. After school, my teacher and I were about 15 minutes late leaving school because I was just telling her my fears and anxiety about failing the unit and student teaching. She is so nice, and will tell me things I should work on, which I appreciate. I don't think I would survive this without the redirection that I get from these teachers.

Frogs.

So my big work sample for student teaching is on frogs. I've been worried about not getting enough concepts in, and failing my unit. I've been planning my unit, and thought the best way to teach about a real frog is to bring a real frog in.

So, in preschool a girl taught a lesson on frogs, and brought in a toad for the kids to hold... umm, which by the way, is NOT a frog. I was shocked that could be allowed. So when I went to Petsmart to get a frog, I told the employee that there's no way I was going to "just get a toad instead".
I asked for tree frogs, because that's the example of a frog I could think of. They said, "No, but we do have some fire-belly toads for only $5.99. Do you want one of those instead?" No way. They said, "Well, we are out of tree frogs right now, but we do have some African Dwarf Frogs." I walked over and found these teeny tiny frogs in the fish tank. I mean, we missed them because they were swimming with the goldfish. But they were only $2.99, and are cared for like goldfish, so I took one. Meet Walter!
Unfortunately, he's so small that I need to go buy a few more. He's probably about 1/2 an inch long, maybe an inch if his legs are extended. The pet shop guy told me that they eat bloodworms, but the frogs have to eat sinking pellets and bloodworms don't sink. So I fed him by hand today, and it was kind of scary.
The best part? He doesn't need a tropical habitat. He's in a fish tank with the Cat in the Hat (it's literacy week).

Seventh Week of Student Teaching.

This week was perfectly summed up with:

This was my last week in Special Ed, and I'm sad it is done.
Day 31. President's Day! And, luckily, I did not have to go to work that day. I was able to stay home and take care of my sick husband.
Day 32. While practicing our counting in kindergarten, I had the children listen and place their candy hearts on the number I told them. One boy was not listening, so I reminded him that he should put his candy heart on the number 6. He ignored me, but after about the third time I told him to he yelled, "JUST THINK WITH YOUR BRAIN IT'S RIGHT HERE!" .......... needless to say his candy got taken away.
Day 33. In 4th grade math, we've had some issues with showing our work while doing our problems. That is coincidental, because we've also had some problems getting above a 50% on most of our assignments. One girl cranked out a 10 question assignment in about 5 minutes, and came to turn it in. I looked, and there was no work. I said, "Umm, where's your work?" "Oh, it was easy, I did it in my head." "Ok, but I'm going to grade it right now." I graded it online, and when the report printed out she got 0 out of 6 correct. She looks at it and says, "Oh, how did I get a 0?" I just about flipped my lid. I turned around to her and said, "Do not expect a good grade if you are not going to put the time or work into an assignment. You know that!" She said, "Oh, oh yeah."
(Note: She turned in the same assignment the next day to Ms. Blair without changing anything, and tried to get away with it when she got a 0 again. I almost ripped my hair out.)
Day 34. In a spelling test, the normal words are worth 10% and the challenge words are worth 5%. If you miss a challenge word, it doesn't affect your score, but it can make up for a word you miss. One of the girls missed 2 of the challenge words and got 110% on her spelling test. She burst into tears, and cried for a good 20 minutes before Mrs. Geyer noticed. She said, "Why are you crying?" "I-I-I m-m-m-misssssssssed t-t-t-t-two w-w-w-w-w-w-words on m-m-m-my test!" And the tears came flowing even more. Mrs. Geyer looked at the test, and said, "You got 110% on your test!" "Y-y-y-yeah, but I missed t-t-two words!" There was no consolation.
Day 35. So in order to understand this story, you need to know the personalities of 2 of the students:
-A girl who is so competitive that any time we compliment another student she says, "What about me?" or "I helped!" or "I thought of that too!" or... you get the idea.
-A boy who does whatever it takes to get out of doing his work. He's needed to call his mom at least once a week because he feels so sick (math is right after recess and he won't take off his sweatshirt, so I say not until he cools down). If he gets 10 problems done in 45 minutes, it's a good day.

So, on Friday this boy was asking if he could go to the bathroom. He was allowed to right at the beginning of class, but asked probably 4 more times. He also got up to blow his nose 6 or 7 times, without having any kind of cold. The last time he did, I finally said, "You know, you are the BEST at stalling doing your work! You have done 3 problems in half an hour, and have gotten up 7 times to blow your nose." He knew he was busted, but then one of the girls said, "What about me? Am I the best?" I started laughing, and said, "Umm, that's not something you want to be the best at." Clearly, she only heard "best".



This week was definitely trying, but I hope everyone realizes that these stories cracked me up, even if they don't sound like it. It's so bizarre to get into these kids' heads and try to figure out what they're saying and why they do these things. It's definitely something I expected in teaching.
Tomorrow- 1st grade!

Sixth Week of Student Teaching

We're almost halfway done. I can't even believe it!

Day 26. I'm not sure how I feel about working with the upper elementary grades... I'm just not as comfortable, because I don't have as much experience. One of the best examples was this conversation with a 4th grader when she tried to turn in a 30 question assignment in 5 minutes without any work (which is a daily conversation I have in the math class):
Me: Where's your work?
Girl: Umm, it was easy so I did it in my head.
Me: Ok. Well, I'm looking at it right now, and I don't see any work. Even if you think it's easy, you need to show work. We've talked about this right?
Girl: * Blank stare *
Me: And, I can see right now that not a single question will be right when I plug your answers into the computer. I need you to go back and show your work please!
Girl: * Blank stare *
Me: Ummm, ok. I need to see work.
I handed her her paper back, and about 3 minutes later she handed me the assignment with random numbers written all over it...... I give up.

Day 27. I learned about parent teacher conferences. While conferences were a few weeks ago, every week we have meetings with different parents about their children in our program. I'm just glad that I have the chance to see these professionals and how they handle parents, because sometimes I wonder what I would do. Let's just say the conferences were pretty interesting haha.
Also, a boy told me he loved me and would miss me when I left. I love this job.

Day 28. I taught a lesson about counting using conversation hearts to my kindergarten classes this whole week. To my surprise, the morning class HATED it. They didn't even want the candy! They said, "No more books! No more counting!" To make things worse, I was being observed by my supervisor. Luckily she runs a preschool, and understands that it's rough sometimes.  I told them that we GET to work with candy today, and we will be happy. I tried, at least.

Day 29. While helping the children learn about borrowing, I had the following conversation with a 2nd grader:

Me: Ok, so we can't subtract 4 from 1. What should we do?

Boy: Ding dong!

Me: Wait, what? No, we should borrow, right?

Boy: Ding dong!

Me: Noooo, we borrow.

Boy: DING DONG!

Me: Stop saying 'Ding dong'! We are supposed to borrow, I know you know that.

Boy: Yeah, borrow.

Me: Wait, are you saying 'ding dong' for borrowing?

Boy: Yeah, like going to your neighbor's house to borrow.

Me: Ooooohhhhhhhhh ok. From now on, say 'ding dong' in your head and 'borrow' out loud ok?

Day 30. One of my kindergarteners was in a bad mood because he got a red piece of paper and not a pink piece. Some of the things he said were:

"I'm read to be nice, but I won't smile until I get a pink piece of paper."

"I just can't be happy."

After he bent down under the table and bumped his side, he burst into tears and said, "I broke my spine!" I stopped him right there and said, "I'm sorry you're hurt, but did you know that if you broke your spine you wouldn't be able to walk?"

Fifth Week of Student Teaching

First of all, this is something my friend posted on Facebook. And this goes out to everyone who may think that getting an education degree was the "easy way out":

Try it. I dare you!

Day 21. I've started to read books about bullying and being nice to all of our friends to my kindergarteners, because we've had some name-calling issues. When I asked them what they should say when someone's picking on them, they usually respond with, "Bullies never win!" (the title of a book). However, 10 seconds later they start teasing and crying again. I haven't given up yet!

Day 22. We had a kindergartener who was refusing to do his homework, because he wanted to do it at home with his mommy. I was trying so many ways to get him to do his work, when finally something clicked. A boy wanted a stamp after his work was done, and I told him he and everyone else who finished their worksheet could get a stamp. This little boy's eyes filled up with tears, and he asked, "Can I just get a bad boy stamp, because I didn't do my work?" I told him no, people who didn't finish their work didn't get stamps. That got the message across. He started wailing, but it was time to bring the kids back. Ms. Blair and Mrs. Geyer stepped in to talk to him, and  I took the other kids back. I came back, and started coloring a picture of a heart. I said I got to color this picture because I finished my work. His ears perked up, and he filled out the whole worksheet in about 3 minutes flat. This had been after an HOUR of waiting, when the kids are supposed to only be there for half an hour. As he was leaving, he turned to me and said, "I thought I got to color a picture now, because I did my work!" I had a hard time controlling my innermost thoughts, but I said, "Well, if you do your work next time, then you will get to color a picture." OH MY GOSH.

Day 23. The third graders had the chance to draw a picture of a frog and write a quick story about it. Most of the stories went along the lines of: "My frog is green. My frog croaks. My frog eats flies." Then, there's one picture of a yellow frog with claws. The story says, "My frog is very big. He is a cannibal. He eats other frogs. He likes to eat snakes too. He is very big, you should run and hide from him." I was so confused... but I guess it's his frog!

Day 24. We're on a quest for the children to get 100% on the math assignments in 4th grade. I told them if they all get 100% on an assignment, then I'll go jump in the snow. 3 out of 5 children have done it, but the other 2 are still working on it. I'll keep up the incentive.

Day 25. I've been working on making valentines for my 1st grade class (to win them over when I go there in 2 1/2 weeks), and have been crocheting little hearts. I'll take a picture of them when I'm done. But I've been doing that in my spare time in the classroom, when students aren't there of course.

So, fast forward to today. I'm sitting there grading papers while my students are getting ready to go to lunch, and a 3rd grader comes up to me. She says, "Umm, my mom wants you to make me one of those hearts. She knows how to do that stuff and wants you to make me one." I didn't even know what to do, so I just sat there. Luckily Mrs. Geyer stepped in and said, "Mrs. Giullian is working on something with those hearts." I said I could get her the pattern, but she never asked for it. Many of her stories are of... questionable integrity... so I have no idea if her mom actually crochets. But I was pretty shocked by the boldness to ask for one. They crack me up.

Fourth Week of Student Teaching

Day 16. Snow Day! And good thing, because the world outside looked like this:

So I made sure to run errands while I had the chance, and get caught up on everything. Like this blog. Also, it was Taylor's birthday so we brought him cupcakes.
Day 17. Cutest quote of the day: In kindergarten, we were working on coloring certain numbers, to work on listening skills and counting. I realized that we didn't have enough purple colored pencils for one of the numbers. I said, "Uh oh! I have to go find some more purple colored pencils there aren't enough!" And one of my little boys said in his pure 5 year old voice, "Mrs. Giullian, we can just SHARE the colored pencils!" I just about died. And let them share (which they were surprisingly good at).
Day 18. While talking about the different meanings of the word "Jam", we discussed being in an elevator that is so full that it's not very fun to be there. That means we are "jam packed" into an elevator. One of the boys raised his hand and said, "One time, I was in an elevator that was so full that I was on top of everyone, and I was hanging upside down by my knees. Then, everyone left, and my mom and dad left, and I fell down and cracked my head open." We just stared at him for a minute, and Ms. Blair finally said, "Well, then you would be in a jam packed elevator, wouldn't you?"
Day 19. This week I've been so tired, and luckily it hasn't just been me. Maybe a snow day isn't that great for teachers... the kids are all wound up now. However, I tried to make things interesting. In my 4th grade math class, we've been having an issue with kids not showing their work, and rushing through assignments. As a result, the assignments (which are graded by computer) are getting really low scores. So I made it interesting. I told them that if next week, all 5 of them can turn in at least one assignment with work done and have 100% correct (which they can... these assignments on the computer are remedial and cover things they've already learned), then I will go jump in the snow. I made the bet because it was a safe bet, so if it does happen then I will gladly go jump in the snow.
Later that night we went to see our friends Tyler and Jessica. Brandon and Tyler lived together for 3 semesters, so we've known each other for a while. They just had a little baby girl, and I was so excited to get to make something for a girl that I brought her over a headband as my peace offering. Kendall loved it.

She's such a cutie.
Day 20. I realized that when I am talking with my kindergarteners, and the well behaved first graders that I don't have to chase down the hall, that I talk a lot like Sesame Street. When we went to go pick up the kindergarteners, one girl was crying. Ms. Blair stayed there to talk to her, and I took the kids back to the Learning Center with me. One girl asked, "Why is she crying?" I said, "She's crying because she's sad. But we all get sad sometimes, and that's OK." I stopped and thought about what I just said. But I guess it eliminated the issue of the kids asking "Why, why, why, why, why, whywhywhywhywhy" (which also happens a lot).

All in a day's work.

Third Week of Student Teaching

Day 11. We had a "work day" on Monday, instead of enjoying MLK Day like everyone else. However, it was a great experience. I helped to build an igloo out of milk jugs with my 1st grade cooperating teacher, and had the chance to talk more with my  cooperating teachers and get to know them. 7 hours was not that bad.

Day 12. While talking with some girls about what they wanted to be when they grew up:

Me: Do you want to be a mom?

Girl: No, that's gross! I know what happens when you have a baby!

Me: Ok, so what do you want to be?

Girl: I'll give you a hint, it starts with a "V".

Me: Vacuum?

Girl: Nooo! A vet! I want to be an animal operator!

Me: Wait a second. You want to cut animals open for a living but you don't want to have a baby?

Girl: NO! That's gross!

Day 13. The kids aren't allowed to come inside before school until it's below 0. Don't ask me why, but that's the rule. My cooperating teacher and I were on bus duty, which includes walking around and helping the kids One of the cute little boys was crying because he wanted the bell to ring, and buried his face into my coat. Luckily it's waterproof, because he cried a lot. When he pulled away my coat was soaked and my boots had teardrops on them. The funniest part was that when the bell rang, he started crying harder. I said, "NO NO, you said you wanted the bell to ring and it did. Be happy! You can go inside now!" He ran away from me crying. I love those kids sometimes.

Day 14. The bad weather and moisturizer combination is making puberty hit my face like crazy... which is grade when you have kindergarteners come up to you and say "Why do you have spots on your face?" Thanks...

Day 15. Today, I had a great experience with a child. We were dealing with behavioral incidences from a lot of students, and I finally pulled one out of the room into the hall. I was going to scold him, but I had the feeling to tell him that I loved him too much to let him do that. It was amazing to see what happened. He calmed down immediately, and for the rest of the day held my hand and gave me hugs. So I kept reinforcing that I loved him, and that I want him to have a good day. When I dropped him off, he gave me a drawing of a snowman that "he" had made (I'm not sure if he did, but I loved it). It brought a lump to my throat, because I realized that these kids just want love from their teachers. I want to tell my class I love them at least once a day, so they can have that reinforced.

Second Week of Student Teaching

Day 6: My second week is starting off great. No, scratch that, it's starting off AWESOME. Having grown up in Southern California, and going to a college that never ever EVER cancels class, I've never had a snow day. I'm in my 18th or 19th year of school, and I've never had one. I was hoping that my last semester would prove to break that spell. Well, it did! I got a text today from my teacher saying that school was cancelled so go back to bed. I was more than happy to oblige.
Day 7: Back to school! I really love it so much. In some of our English classes, we were talking about treasure chests and asked if the students had seen one. Here were some answers:
 Second Grader: Well, one time my dad and I went rowing out into the middle of the ocean, and we dove down way deep and found this huge box of treasure and we carried it up and it was so heavy it made our boat sink. Well, actually it just made the treasure sink.
-Later-
First Grader: I've seen one!
Me: Really? Where?
First Grader: My grandpa was a pirate, and he has a treasure chest. Now it's just a glove box.
I love my kids.
Day 8: Last week I had had the chance to introduce myself to the first grade class I will be with for the second half of the semester. My cooperating teacher in that class said a boy walked up to her desk, where my cover letter and picture was, and said, "When are HER coming back? And how long are HER going to stay?" Enough said. I love my life.
Day 9: I'm starting to teach 4th grade math. Naturally, I volunteered right at the time we are covering something completely different from what they had ever learned before (division). I need the long weekend to think about how to approach this subject, because it's a pretty hard thing to cover.
Day 10: Today, a boy was able to accomplish his reading goal and go to the school's "Minute to Win It" competition in a few weeks. He struggles with reading, so I was so proud of him for getting it done.

This job is so so rewarding. The little things that happen every day make everything worth it. I am trying more to post the happy things that happened, and the funny things as well.

I'm so thankful for my sweet husband. He gets up with me a lot of mornings, and will go outside in the sub-zero temperatures and turn on my car and scrape off the ice so that I don't have to. And when he doesn't get up, he apologizes. Like I'm so offended! This is the first time ever, in 3 years that we've been together, that I have consistently gotten up earlier than him. And he says he feels bad for taking a nap while I'm at school. Please. And every Friday (well, the last 2), he's taken me out to dinner to celebrate a day done.
2 down, 14 to go! I'm really loving this experience. It's exactly what I had hoped for. And while we have to go in to work on Monday (MLK Day), we don't have to go until 9. I'm going to plan my unit that I'm teaching in that time (frogs).

First week of Student Teaching- Down!

So I survived my first week of student teaching. I love love LOVE the special education room I am in right now. It's called "the Learning Center", and the children love to come there. It's a school that was built in the 30's, and has a ghost. It was a man who was killed in a boiler room accident a long time ago, and supposedly haunts one of the halls in the school.

The Special Education room works with children in all the classes, and there are no children who stay there all day. It's different from what I expected, but I love it.

My cooperating teachers are just great. They are so sweet, and I'm getting comfortable with them. I love that. It is helping balance the idea of getting up at 6 every day... I hate mornings.

This week can be summarized into the "exciting" moment of the day.

Day 1: 2nd graders trying to get away with a lot of stuff from me. I had to finally look at all of them and say: "Look, you are not going to get away with any of this from me. I'm not going to give you the answers, but I'm going to help you. So if you keep guessing, I'm not going to help you and you can stay in at recess to finish your assignment." Then, a boy spit at me. I looked at him, and as he tried to run away I grabbed his arm and said, "Ok, that's not appropriate. You're staying in at recess now, because you just spit at a teacher." He freaked out and ran into the corner... he did apologize later.

Day 2: Kindergarteners were getting stamps when they finished their assignment. Boy did not finish his assignment on time, so the teacher didn't know he had finished. He freaks out, and starts punching himself in the face. Right about that time, I offered to bring them back to their classroom. As we're rounding the corner to the hallway where his classroom is, he lets out a piercing shriek and runs into his classroom. His teacher comes running out, along with the whole class, and asks what happened. I was completely red, but explained a little bit of what happened. The kids then asked me what happened, one by one. Welp.
Day 3: They have play money that they can trade in the "store" days once a month. A boy wanted to convert coins into dollars, so I was helping him convert his coins. I told him that's what I was teaching the 5th graders, and he just lit up. (Technically that's not true, I was teaching multiplying money to 4th graders, but it was the motivation he needed.)
Day 4: We have to leave school early, because one of the girls in our carpool has a Dr.'s appointment at 4 and we're supposed to stay until 4 normally. As the day draws to a close, we get severe weather warnings. There's supposed to be a huge snowstorm coming, and Pocatello and Blackfoot had already closed their school for the next day. Luckily, right as we were leaving the principal told all the teachers they should leave at 3, because the storm was coming in.

Not gonna lie, on the way home I felt like this:

But let's be honest, it was more like this:

We made it home safe, and only slid a little bit.
Day 5: They didn't cancel school! Idaho State University closed school, and almost all of southeastern Idaho closed their schools. But we didn't... I just had to slide for 40 minutes to get down there.
Quote of the day:
Me: Ok so this problem say to measure your math textbook to the nearest inch. Go grab your textbook.
Girl: (Points to pencil box)
Me: Is that your textbook?
Girl: (Grabs folders)
Me: Ok, I can't help you when you're not going to try. Now, you know what your math textbook looks like.
Girl:... Barely.
At that point, I just stood up and told her that if she found her textbook (which was on the table) to let me know. She found it.

These kids keep my life interesting, and I love the different things that happen. I am also learning about what I like and what makes me tick as a teacher. 1 week down, 15 to go!