I tested 14 kids on Friday. It was really fun to meet them all but by the end of the day, I was surprisingly exhausted. Who knew that sitting on my butt testing students would make me so tired? But, I must say that after meeting some of my students, I am getting REALLY excited to teach.
I felt like a teacher on Friday. I felt like I knew what I was doing, and I felt comfortable doing it! I loved meeting the parents and talking to them (except one who looked at me and the first thing she said was, "Wow, you're young!" All I could say was "Thanks" and then quickly change the subject. I got the feeling she didn't really like how young of a teacher I was. Oh well!) because I felt like I connected with a lot of them because there was something to connect about: their kids. I liked talking to the kids and meeting them and kind of getting a feel for what they are like. (I may already have a favorite, even though we aren't supposed to have those, but this kid was hilarious!)
I don't know, I am just way more excited than nervous right now. I hope it lasts until Thursday but even if it doesn't, I know that once I get all those kids in my class, I will be excited again! Anyway, that's the latest.
(Oh yeah, I lost another 1.2 pounds this week! Yay for me!)
We Are Fami-Lee
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
School, School, School
I'm not sure this blog entry will make a lot of sense because my mind is really jumbled and it has been a LOT lately.
School starts ONE WEEK from TODAY!!! It has come so fast and I really feel like I have not had a summer at all. I feel like I have spent my whole summer getting ready, and yet I also feel like I am nowhere near ready. I must say that I am a lot farther along than other people in my situation but somehow I feel like there is never a possibility to feel ready to be a teacher. You just have to jump in and do it, and that's pretty scary!
I am getting excited though. I am ready to stop anticipating what it will be like and actually feel what it really is like. I want to get started and figure out things on my own. It feels like there is so much I could be doing right now, but I'm not sure how to do it until I have the kids there and I figure out how I want to do things.
Some good news: my classroom is ALL the way done. I've been working on it for awhile now but there was always something else to do. Plus, everyday I brought more and more stuff to put in the room that it was never quite finished. Well, I can proudly say that it is DONE! My desk area is still a bit messy because I'm still trying to figure out how to organize files and stuff, but everything else is done! It is such a good feeling. Other good news (and I know that by saying this, people will think that I'm overreacting when I say I don't feel ready because this is really awesome, but just remember that I also said that I never think I could feel ready for this job; it's pretty much impossible!) : yesterday and today, I spent probably 5-6 hours working on a day-by-day schedule of what I will be teaching in math for the whole school year! My team and I had already created a skeleton, but I was still a bit unclear and feeling a tad overwhelmed, so I just sat down and did it and I feel much better now. If only I could figure out how to do that with the other subjects. It's kind of hard to do it with anything other than math, because with math there is a textbook that you teach from but with things like reading and writing, you just go with the flow and figure it out based on what your kids need.
I am going to meet most of my students tomorrow because I am testing them in reading. I'm excited to meet them but I'm nervous about administering the test. I've never done it before and even though it looks pretty self-explanatory, I'm afraid it will take me awhile to learn, which is hard because the students will be sitting right there waiting for me. Plus, the parents are probably not going to just drop their kids off and leave, so I have to let them stay in my room which is just a little awkward. But, if I have time, I'll have to share how it goes.
Oh, before I end, I have to tell the funniest story that happened the other day. I was calling the parents to schedule these testing appointments, and I phoned a mom who only spoke Spanish. Now, for those who don't know, I took three years of Spanish in high school, and Derek is pretty fluent so I practice with him every now and then. So, I call this mom and I tell her who I am and I begin to ask about the appointment when she tells me she doesn't speak English. I totally froze. I should have known because her last name was Martinez or something, but I just didn't think about it. After several long silent moments, I finally said, "OK, yo Marcos maestra." For those that don't speak Spanish, the literal translation of that is, "I Marcos teacher." Excuse me! Did I really say that to this woman. Yes. Yes, I did...Then I told her, "Lo siento! No hablo espanol!" ("Sorry, I don't speak Spanish). She just laughed hysterically! It is funny now but I was dying then. So, I was so flustered that I couldn't think of anything in Spanish to say so I finally told her in plain English, "Well, I was going to make an appointment to meet with your son to do some testing, but I'll just wait until school starts." She obviously didn't understand a word so she just said, "OK, bye" and hung up as fast as she could! Holy Awkward! I called Derek later and he asked me if I knew how to say "I'm Marcos' teacher" and of course, once I was out of the terrible situation, I was able to form a perfectly coherent sentence in Spanish, but jeez. So, that's my funny story of the day. I sure hope I'll be able to talk to this woman throughout the year...
School starts ONE WEEK from TODAY!!! It has come so fast and I really feel like I have not had a summer at all. I feel like I have spent my whole summer getting ready, and yet I also feel like I am nowhere near ready. I must say that I am a lot farther along than other people in my situation but somehow I feel like there is never a possibility to feel ready to be a teacher. You just have to jump in and do it, and that's pretty scary!
I am getting excited though. I am ready to stop anticipating what it will be like and actually feel what it really is like. I want to get started and figure out things on my own. It feels like there is so much I could be doing right now, but I'm not sure how to do it until I have the kids there and I figure out how I want to do things.
Some good news: my classroom is ALL the way done. I've been working on it for awhile now but there was always something else to do. Plus, everyday I brought more and more stuff to put in the room that it was never quite finished. Well, I can proudly say that it is DONE! My desk area is still a bit messy because I'm still trying to figure out how to organize files and stuff, but everything else is done! It is such a good feeling. Other good news (and I know that by saying this, people will think that I'm overreacting when I say I don't feel ready because this is really awesome, but just remember that I also said that I never think I could feel ready for this job; it's pretty much impossible!) : yesterday and today, I spent probably 5-6 hours working on a day-by-day schedule of what I will be teaching in math for the whole school year! My team and I had already created a skeleton, but I was still a bit unclear and feeling a tad overwhelmed, so I just sat down and did it and I feel much better now. If only I could figure out how to do that with the other subjects. It's kind of hard to do it with anything other than math, because with math there is a textbook that you teach from but with things like reading and writing, you just go with the flow and figure it out based on what your kids need.
I am going to meet most of my students tomorrow because I am testing them in reading. I'm excited to meet them but I'm nervous about administering the test. I've never done it before and even though it looks pretty self-explanatory, I'm afraid it will take me awhile to learn, which is hard because the students will be sitting right there waiting for me. Plus, the parents are probably not going to just drop their kids off and leave, so I have to let them stay in my room which is just a little awkward. But, if I have time, I'll have to share how it goes.
Oh, before I end, I have to tell the funniest story that happened the other day. I was calling the parents to schedule these testing appointments, and I phoned a mom who only spoke Spanish. Now, for those who don't know, I took three years of Spanish in high school, and Derek is pretty fluent so I practice with him every now and then. So, I call this mom and I tell her who I am and I begin to ask about the appointment when she tells me she doesn't speak English. I totally froze. I should have known because her last name was Martinez or something, but I just didn't think about it. After several long silent moments, I finally said, "OK, yo Marcos maestra." For those that don't speak Spanish, the literal translation of that is, "I Marcos teacher." Excuse me! Did I really say that to this woman. Yes. Yes, I did...Then I told her, "Lo siento! No hablo espanol!" ("Sorry, I don't speak Spanish). She just laughed hysterically! It is funny now but I was dying then. So, I was so flustered that I couldn't think of anything in Spanish to say so I finally told her in plain English, "Well, I was going to make an appointment to meet with your son to do some testing, but I'll just wait until school starts." She obviously didn't understand a word so she just said, "OK, bye" and hung up as fast as she could! Holy Awkward! I called Derek later and he asked me if I knew how to say "I'm Marcos' teacher" and of course, once I was out of the terrible situation, I was able to form a perfectly coherent sentence in Spanish, but jeez. So, that's my funny story of the day. I sure hope I'll be able to talk to this woman throughout the year...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Weight Loss
So, last April (as in April of 2008), I got really dedicated to going to the gym and eating better. In seven months, I lost about 15 pounds, which doesn't seem like much, but I'm the type of person that doesn't really care how long it takes as long as it gets done. If you do the math, seven months from April is November and Thanksgiving came up and I completely blew it. I got into this mode of thinking that it didn't matter because I had done so well up to that point. I stopped going to the gym and I ate anything I wanted. It was like I hadn't eaten anything in seven months so I just started gorging myself with all the food I ever wanted. Needless to say, I gained all my weight back, pretty fast. Then, I started gaining more than the 15. I told myself that it didn't matter, that I had a husband who loved me no matter what (which is completely true, I'm so grateful!) and I just tried to justify all the bad things I was eating.
Well, that time has come and gone. I've decided (again), that I can't just eat junk food all day every day and feel good about myself. I need to be active and I need to eat healthier because it just makes me feel good! So, I was talking to my mom and decided that I would start going with her to Weight Watchers. I started last Saturday and it has been really good because I'm still eating things that I want; I just eat less of them. Anyway, after 1 week of trying this out, I lost 2.8 pounds! I am so excited. It feels good to see success. That's pretty much all I have right now, but I'll keep you posted!
Well, that time has come and gone. I've decided (again), that I can't just eat junk food all day every day and feel good about myself. I need to be active and I need to eat healthier because it just makes me feel good! So, I was talking to my mom and decided that I would start going with her to Weight Watchers. I started last Saturday and it has been really good because I'm still eating things that I want; I just eat less of them. Anyway, after 1 week of trying this out, I lost 2.8 pounds! I am so excited. It feels good to see success. That's pretty much all I have right now, but I'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Worst is Over
Okay, it's done. Well, sort of. I called all of the parents but I only have 7 students signed up for testing. I couldn't get a hold of 8 parents and 3 students are moving. So, it's done for now. I'll have to follow-up on the ones I didn't reach and then hopefully I'll be done. I hate this part of my job. Parents are hard; kids are easy. Anyway, that's all.
Parents
I don't know what it is, but I have this major fear of talking to my students' parents. I have to call each one of them today to set up a time that I can test their kids and I have been putting it off forever. I don't want to talk to them...I'd rather talk to their kids! I think part of it might be that I feel a little incompetent when I talk to parents because all of them are older than me. I mean, they do have 4th graders so I get all insecure about being too young and them thinking that I am incompetent. I know it is ridiculous, but it's just how I feel. Maybe I'll treat myself to something if I can call them today, like an ice cream cone. Yeah, that sounds good!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Oh, Summer
I should have known that creating a blog would not cure my inability to write in a journal. Oh well. I still write in here more than I do in my journal so I guess it's still worth it.
A lot has been going on this summer and I guess it's time to start sharing some of it. June was full of meetings and workshops which really helped because I think I may be better off than most other first year teachers.
July has been kind of an up and down month. The district had been telling me since May that they would have my trailer soon...first they said by the end of May, then by the end of June, then by the first of July. It never came. It was hard for me to be doing stuff when I didn't know what my classroom looked like and I didn't have anywhere to put anything, so I waited and waited. Derek and I decided to go up to Calgary for the Stampede because I figured it would be the best time for me because I didn't have anything to do with my school during that beginning part of July so we went and had a really great time for about a week and a half. We went to the rodeo, went up into the mountains which is always a favorite and did other fun, laid-back things for a great vacation.
I got a call while we were up there that my trailer had arrived! I was super excited because it meant that I could set it all up the moment I got home...wrong! Once I got back, my school didn't have the keys because the district hadn't released them yet because there was no power in the trailers yet. So, I had one of the hardest weeks of the summer where I didn't do anything because there was nothing for me to do. So, I slept a lot and got a tad depressed. Anyway, that's the extreme reader's digest version. I got into my trailer last Tuesday and have seriously been working ever since to get things done in there. The one problem I face now is that the room doesn't have any storage space. So, I have a lot of stuff in the middle of the room and nowhere to put it. But, I have gotten a lot of bulletin boards up and I feel like I've made some progress.
The best part of it all though...is that there is a large, black pole directly in the middle of the classroom. Directly in the middle of the classroom! HA! Who has ever had to deal with a pole in the middle of their class before? I've never seen it but it has actually been quite fun because lots of people have been giving me all sorts of suggestions on how to use it. Currently, I am thinking of painting it (if my principal allows, of course) and turning it into a thermometer. That way, when I am teaching temperature, we can use a real thermometer to tell the temp., but then the kids can all visually see it on the pole that is so conveniently placed in the center of the room! :)
So, life is pretty good right now. I need to get this room done this week because starting next week, I will be busy with other school responsibilities so I won't have much more time. I'll try and post some pictures of the classroom so everyone can see! (And, maybe I'll finally post some of our new house too!) Well, that's all for now!
A lot has been going on this summer and I guess it's time to start sharing some of it. June was full of meetings and workshops which really helped because I think I may be better off than most other first year teachers.
July has been kind of an up and down month. The district had been telling me since May that they would have my trailer soon...first they said by the end of May, then by the end of June, then by the first of July. It never came. It was hard for me to be doing stuff when I didn't know what my classroom looked like and I didn't have anywhere to put anything, so I waited and waited. Derek and I decided to go up to Calgary for the Stampede because I figured it would be the best time for me because I didn't have anything to do with my school during that beginning part of July so we went and had a really great time for about a week and a half. We went to the rodeo, went up into the mountains which is always a favorite and did other fun, laid-back things for a great vacation.
I got a call while we were up there that my trailer had arrived! I was super excited because it meant that I could set it all up the moment I got home...wrong! Once I got back, my school didn't have the keys because the district hadn't released them yet because there was no power in the trailers yet. So, I had one of the hardest weeks of the summer where I didn't do anything because there was nothing for me to do. So, I slept a lot and got a tad depressed. Anyway, that's the extreme reader's digest version. I got into my trailer last Tuesday and have seriously been working ever since to get things done in there. The one problem I face now is that the room doesn't have any storage space. So, I have a lot of stuff in the middle of the room and nowhere to put it. But, I have gotten a lot of bulletin boards up and I feel like I've made some progress.
The best part of it all though...is that there is a large, black pole directly in the middle of the classroom. Directly in the middle of the classroom! HA! Who has ever had to deal with a pole in the middle of their class before? I've never seen it but it has actually been quite fun because lots of people have been giving me all sorts of suggestions on how to use it. Currently, I am thinking of painting it (if my principal allows, of course) and turning it into a thermometer. That way, when I am teaching temperature, we can use a real thermometer to tell the temp., but then the kids can all visually see it on the pole that is so conveniently placed in the center of the room! :)
So, life is pretty good right now. I need to get this room done this week because starting next week, I will be busy with other school responsibilities so I won't have much more time. I'll try and post some pictures of the classroom so everyone can see! (And, maybe I'll finally post some of our new house too!) Well, that's all for now!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Just Catching Up
It's been awhile! A lot has happened since my last post. I finished with the kindergarten, and as much as I complained and had a hard time with that month of my life, I really do miss the kids. In fact, I just had a dream about them last night. They are super sweet! Yesterday, I was at the school and I saw one of the kids (they have free breakfast and lunch for the kids enrolled in the school all summer long!) that gave me a really hard time. It was so funny though because when he saw me, he got really excited and smiled as he waved frantically at me! As I smiled and waved back, I was thinking, "Do you not remember how defiant you were to me and how much you NEVER listened to me?" It's funny because even though he gave me such a hard time, I enjoyed seeing him. There have been kids that I have worked with in the past that when I see them again, I look the other way and hope they didn't see me, but with these kids, even though they were so difficult, I could never blame them because I knew too much about them and their situations. It truly was a wonderful experience!
We moved! We are now residents of Pleasant Grove, UT, which is one step closer out of Utah! Yay! It has been nice not being in the Provo scene and surprisingly, it feels like a very different Utah. I am still excited for the day when we can move somewhere a tad more "normal." I have been wanting to take pictures and post them, but the house isn't in the state that I want it to be in yet. We aren't completely unpacked and we haven't decided where some of our pictures and art are going to go yet, so they are just up against some walls right now. I want to wait until I can get some great pictures! We have loved the extra space that comes with the new apartment. In fact, I am now sitting in the second bedroom at the desk we just had to buy from IKEA because we needed something to occupy the room. It's so nice. We have a dining room, 2 bedrooms, like I mentioned, and the best part: a washer and dryer! I LOVE IT!!! Laundry was so much more of a chore when you had to plan your days around doing it. Now, I can just put in a load whenever I want and I don't have to worry about getting it out the second it's done. Life is treating us well!
I have been going to a lot of meetings and workshops for my job and it has been really fun. This last week has been quite hectic because I had to go to some district meetings on Monday and Tuesday and then the last two days, I have been meeting with my 4th grade team and working on curriculum maps. It has been awesome. Apparently, this is the first year that Title 1 teachers are getting paid for 10 extra days (9 of which are this summer) to work with their teams and other teams at Title 1 schools to become better prepared for the school year. I'm really lucky because with this being my first year, I am having such a great opportunity of getting so much done already. Our team has already made a curriculum map for the whole year (this is just a graph telling ourselves when we will teach each standard and objective from the Utah core curriculum) for all the subject areas! Awesome! Plus, yesterday, we worked on a scope and sequence for math. I now have a list of when I will teach each lesson, each day of the school year! No one gets that done before school so I am really lucky. With the four days we have left to work with each other, we are hoping to get literacy and science to the same point. I can't tell you enough how helpful this will be. All I will have to do is look ahead one week at a time and I will know exactly what I will be teaching and then all I will have to do is plan the specific lessons. Usually, teachers look a week ahead and decide what the will teach first, and then how they will teach it. I am cutting my workload for the year in half by doing it during the summer! Yes!
Anyway, I can't think of anything more to add. Life is serving us well and we are happy at this stage of our lives. Life is fun and I hope it stays that way for at least a little while!
We moved! We are now residents of Pleasant Grove, UT, which is one step closer out of Utah! Yay! It has been nice not being in the Provo scene and surprisingly, it feels like a very different Utah. I am still excited for the day when we can move somewhere a tad more "normal." I have been wanting to take pictures and post them, but the house isn't in the state that I want it to be in yet. We aren't completely unpacked and we haven't decided where some of our pictures and art are going to go yet, so they are just up against some walls right now. I want to wait until I can get some great pictures! We have loved the extra space that comes with the new apartment. In fact, I am now sitting in the second bedroom at the desk we just had to buy from IKEA because we needed something to occupy the room. It's so nice. We have a dining room, 2 bedrooms, like I mentioned, and the best part: a washer and dryer! I LOVE IT!!! Laundry was so much more of a chore when you had to plan your days around doing it. Now, I can just put in a load whenever I want and I don't have to worry about getting it out the second it's done. Life is treating us well!
I have been going to a lot of meetings and workshops for my job and it has been really fun. This last week has been quite hectic because I had to go to some district meetings on Monday and Tuesday and then the last two days, I have been meeting with my 4th grade team and working on curriculum maps. It has been awesome. Apparently, this is the first year that Title 1 teachers are getting paid for 10 extra days (9 of which are this summer) to work with their teams and other teams at Title 1 schools to become better prepared for the school year. I'm really lucky because with this being my first year, I am having such a great opportunity of getting so much done already. Our team has already made a curriculum map for the whole year (this is just a graph telling ourselves when we will teach each standard and objective from the Utah core curriculum) for all the subject areas! Awesome! Plus, yesterday, we worked on a scope and sequence for math. I now have a list of when I will teach each lesson, each day of the school year! No one gets that done before school so I am really lucky. With the four days we have left to work with each other, we are hoping to get literacy and science to the same point. I can't tell you enough how helpful this will be. All I will have to do is look ahead one week at a time and I will know exactly what I will be teaching and then all I will have to do is plan the specific lessons. Usually, teachers look a week ahead and decide what the will teach first, and then how they will teach it. I am cutting my workload for the year in half by doing it during the summer! Yes!
Anyway, I can't think of anything more to add. Life is serving us well and we are happy at this stage of our lives. Life is fun and I hope it stays that way for at least a little while!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)