I love this dance! And I found it on youtube! Yay me!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
I'm done crying about it...
And believe me, I really did cry.
Sunday we came home from Kevin's house. Brent had left his wallet in the car and so he had to go and get it. I wanted to go and get in bed and so as I was walking to the bedroom, I looked down. And I saw.....a huge spider! It was awful looking. But, I didn't want it to run away before Brent came back inside so I was going to be the hero of the day. So, I got my tennis shoe and killed the spider! I picked up my shoe to see the damage that had been done to find my carpet crawling with tiny, baby spiders. It was awful. I screamed. Brent came back to find me hitting the carpet over and over again. He sprayed the carpet with Raid. Basically, nobody believed me that it was awful and terrifying. I was so scared.
I looked it up on the internet. I'm pretty sure my house is infected with Wolf Spiders. Yeah....I am afraid to get off the couch in case they come for me. I just need to figure out how to jump to my shoes and then all will be well.
PS. I was going to put a picture on....but when I googled for pictures I was so grossed out I had to close my eyes and get away from the pictures. Ew.
Sunday we came home from Kevin's house. Brent had left his wallet in the car and so he had to go and get it. I wanted to go and get in bed and so as I was walking to the bedroom, I looked down. And I saw.....a huge spider! It was awful looking. But, I didn't want it to run away before Brent came back inside so I was going to be the hero of the day. So, I got my tennis shoe and killed the spider! I picked up my shoe to see the damage that had been done to find my carpet crawling with tiny, baby spiders. It was awful. I screamed. Brent came back to find me hitting the carpet over and over again. He sprayed the carpet with Raid. Basically, nobody believed me that it was awful and terrifying. I was so scared.
I looked it up on the internet. I'm pretty sure my house is infected with Wolf Spiders. Yeah....I am afraid to get off the couch in case they come for me. I just need to figure out how to jump to my shoes and then all will be well.
PS. I was going to put a picture on....but when I googled for pictures I was so grossed out I had to close my eyes and get away from the pictures. Ew.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Summer Practicum-just a few thoughts
Summer practicum was amazing. I had a wonderful mentor teacher, Annabelle. I really found out who I am as a teacher, and I think I might be pretty great. I also faced some fears of past teachers observing me. One in particular didn't have a single bad thing to say about me. Whew.
I taught in the same room with Brandi and Jennae. Me and Brandi got to be pretty good friends throughout practicum. We rode together to Spanish Fork every day for 6 weeks. We shared the exact same frustrations with the way things were....but we also shared the same excitement for teaching. It was challenging to share a room with 2 other teachers because I wanted to get louder and louder, but then the whole room was chaos. I had to control my volume level but still show enthusiasm. For me, those two things go hand in hand.
I had the most amazing students. They were 2nd and 3rd graders and they were full of life. My patience was tried sometimes, but when they were excited to learn, it was wonderful! I had a different group for math and reading, depending on students needs, but every student I had was great. They are the first group of students that were all mine to teach. Man, what smart kids they are. And when I heard them tell me how wonderful I was or when they would get faster at math or reading, getting up at 6 every morning almost seemed worth it.
I succeeded many times teaching them, but there were a few failures too. It was interesting to see that even if I planned everything out, if it wasn't right for my students, it just wasn't going to work. My students determined what I was going to teach, and that is exactly how teaching should be done.
I discovered that I love to teach math. Math can be broken down into manageable steps. If my students could learn the steps, then it didn't matter the problem, they could do it. My students were doing huge multiplication problems and equally as large division problems. They were so smart!
I also discovered that teaching writing isn't my favorite thing to do. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not that great of a writer myself, and so teaching writing wasn't too fun for me. However, when I planned awesome lessons that even I was excited to teach, my lessons went better. My mentor teacher helped me get over my fear of writing and I really did have some sweet lessons. My students published 2 pieces of writing over the summer. Two!
I saw the things that I am good at. But I also saw my weaknesses. I am a very sarcastic person and thankfully Annabelle was too. I have a hard time hiding what I think. My face usually gives me away. But, I am learning to hide it. I learned from some amazing special education teachers and I am so thankful for the real world opportunity I had to teach. Now, I am ready to take on student teaching. Springville Junior High, here I come!
Annabelle, my amazing mentor teacher, and I holding my certificate of completion
Me, Brandi, Jennae-we all graduated from Practicum
I taught in the same room with Brandi and Jennae. Me and Brandi got to be pretty good friends throughout practicum. We rode together to Spanish Fork every day for 6 weeks. We shared the exact same frustrations with the way things were....but we also shared the same excitement for teaching. It was challenging to share a room with 2 other teachers because I wanted to get louder and louder, but then the whole room was chaos. I had to control my volume level but still show enthusiasm. For me, those two things go hand in hand.
I had the most amazing students. They were 2nd and 3rd graders and they were full of life. My patience was tried sometimes, but when they were excited to learn, it was wonderful! I had a different group for math and reading, depending on students needs, but every student I had was great. They are the first group of students that were all mine to teach. Man, what smart kids they are. And when I heard them tell me how wonderful I was or when they would get faster at math or reading, getting up at 6 every morning almost seemed worth it.
I succeeded many times teaching them, but there were a few failures too. It was interesting to see that even if I planned everything out, if it wasn't right for my students, it just wasn't going to work. My students determined what I was going to teach, and that is exactly how teaching should be done.
I discovered that I love to teach math. Math can be broken down into manageable steps. If my students could learn the steps, then it didn't matter the problem, they could do it. My students were doing huge multiplication problems and equally as large division problems. They were so smart!
I also discovered that teaching writing isn't my favorite thing to do. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not that great of a writer myself, and so teaching writing wasn't too fun for me. However, when I planned awesome lessons that even I was excited to teach, my lessons went better. My mentor teacher helped me get over my fear of writing and I really did have some sweet lessons. My students published 2 pieces of writing over the summer. Two!
I saw the things that I am good at. But I also saw my weaknesses. I am a very sarcastic person and thankfully Annabelle was too. I have a hard time hiding what I think. My face usually gives me away. But, I am learning to hide it. I learned from some amazing special education teachers and I am so thankful for the real world opportunity I had to teach. Now, I am ready to take on student teaching. Springville Junior High, here I come!
Annabelle, my amazing mentor teacher, and I holding my certificate of completion
Me, Brandi, Jennae-we all graduated from Practicum
Thursday, July 16, 2009
BIG NEWS!!
Guys, guess what??
I got a 96% on my writing formal observation! My BYU professor came to observe me and if you don't pass these with at least 80% then you don't pass practicum. Well people....I passed it! (I actually passed all 3 observations. So yeah, pat me on the back!) I passed it on my first try with a 96%!! I don't even like writing. But, I am a good writing teacher. Or something like that... She told me I was a delight to watch teach and that I have a good rapport with my students. Yay me!
So....I passed them all. Next Thursday is the last day of summer practicum. I'm actually kind of sad. More on that later.
I got a 96% on my writing formal observation! My BYU professor came to observe me and if you don't pass these with at least 80% then you don't pass practicum. Well people....I passed it! (I actually passed all 3 observations. So yeah, pat me on the back!) I passed it on my first try with a 96%!! I don't even like writing. But, I am a good writing teacher. Or something like that... She told me I was a delight to watch teach and that I have a good rapport with my students. Yay me!
So....I passed them all. Next Thursday is the last day of summer practicum. I'm actually kind of sad. More on that later.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
yum
Brent used the grill that he got for his birthday! He made hamburgers for the 4th of July and they were delighfully yummy. Way to go Brent. You are a good cooker!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Scary.
I almost wet my pants. Almost. Brandi and her husband, Felipe, had us over for this movie. Thanks guys! But, next time, I'm picking the movie. And it is going to have to be a Disney movie so I will be able to sleep after. Super scary. My hood was on my head the whole time. And my ears were plugged. But I survived. I'm still awake though...so yeah.
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