FINAL BLOG!!!

Oh thank goodness! That holy time of my last blog entry has arrived! It's not that blogging was bad, I'm just bad at blogging. But I have appreiacted the ability to reflect on my student teaching experience as I went through it. I also loved hearing from my fellow classmates and their experiences. Today in and of itself is insane as it's my second to last day and the childrne have book fair and project fair (open house) tonight. The teachers are all beyond fried as they try to complete numerous projects to put on display for the parents. It's also hialrious becuase Kindergarten and 1st grade outshine everyone becuase they do nothing but projects and can keep their kids busy while they turn the hallways into...well, Narnia. I am so excited though for it all to be ending. I feel ready to move on to the next stage. And to be honest, I'm ready to be done with work for a while. I am not however looknig forward to the job hunt. Yipee. But for now I will relax, enjoy my lack of finals, and look forward to Medieval Times with my 5th graders on Tuesday.

Good luck to all my fellow student teachers, I hope you had fun and that God blesses you in all your endeavors.

Last Observation

So today was my last observation. Professor Bucci observed 2 of the same math lessons taught in a row. The first group, Group A as they're called, are considered the more advanced students. Group B comes after and they are the students who struggle or require more assistance. My subject: math (I'm horrible at it). My unit: fractions (I hate them along with all other non-math people). My lesson: How to divide fractions. -__- seems appropriate. My nerves crackled in me like a 4th of July picnic. I could feel my brain reverting back to middle school where math was most associated with the fetal position. However I knew I just had to make it through this day and I would be solid. I was was thanking God every second that how to divide fractions was one of the few math skills I actually could remember how to do.

The appointed time came and I was screaming silently in my head while keeping a cool and calm exterior. At one point I knew I was stuck; I was sure I was going to flop and have to just move on. I moved on a minute before that happened but still felt sure someone would notice. The hilarious thing is no one but my cooperating teacher did. My lessons apparently were fantastic and Professor Bucci complimented me on how confident i seemed up front. I couldn't stop laughing in my head thinking if only she knew how badly I was faking it! (or at least felt like I was faking it). So a victory for me!

Soccer Club

Today I started my first extracurricular activity as a staff member of HCA. I am one of two head coaches for the 5 week soccer camp. It's only once a week for an hour and a half but I had no idea how MUCH I missed soccer! It was such a blessing to be able to do it again only this time i get to be a coach. This time I have a different responsibility. I could feel my role in this sport had shifted as I watched all the children run around practicing their skills and I longed to be able to join them. My time for that has passed however and theirs is now. I realize this is true in most aspects of life but it still feels strange to "pass down the torch" by taking up my new role.

Anyway, I loved doing this! I loved using my own skills to help the kids and I loved playing games with them. I can't wait until next Tuesday when I get to do it again!!

My Poor Teacher

I haven't really mentioned my teacher from my second placement yet so here it goes! My teacher is extremely good at what she does. She has only been here at HCA for 6 years (which honestly is not that long, most of the teachers are born and die here) but already the head principal of the elementary school (who was here even before i showed up in the 5th grade) looks to her as a second in command. She takes on extra responsibility constantly and acts as the principal when ours is absent or otherwise engaged.
But not only does she have all this extra responsibility but hse has plenty in her own personal life todeal with. Within a week of my arrival my teacher had at least the following to deal with: a wedding to plan scheduled for August, a teenage daughter to care for (her daughter also participates in numerous after school activities keeping them both busy), finishing her GRE and taking other similar tests on the weekend, graduating with a second masters degree from Liberty University, her biological father passed away in California (he was dead a week before anyone found him in his own apartment) and she as his next of kin must deal with EVERYTHING. This list does nto even include all the extra events going on at school. I don't know how my teacher does it! She not only deals with it but she succeeds at everything and maintains a genuine positive attitude through it all. In short my teacher is an amazing woman of God!

Animaniacs

It's always nice to look professional in front of your observing teacher. Unfortunately you all know me and grace is not one of my better qualities. I have decided to sacrifice my dignity for the better of my classroom. You see I foolishly made the promise that if every student could score a B+ or higher (which at HCA is 89-100) then I would perform the Animaniacs President song for them. I got bored one night in Oxford and decided I wanted to memorize the Presidents but didn't want to work for it thus youtube was my solution. The students to my delight and (I'll admit it) surprise actually achieved the goal. Therefore I had to cut a Bible lesson short and perform the song. I didn't really mind, I even had fun with it. It was interesting to have Professor Bucci sit in the back of the room and watch it too. Oh well, the kids did well and I'm pretty sure I lost my dignity a long time ago with all the goofy stunts I've pulled.

It's been a while

So obviously I am in my second placement. Also obviously I am a terrible blogger. In this placement I am a teacher of a fifth grade classroom as opposed to my first one in a third grade classroom. Another difference is that my first placement was a large public school. This one is a VERY small private school. In my first placement I had a class of twenty five with two other third grade classrooms of the same size. For those of you still struggling with basic math (as I still do sometimes) that's a total of seventy five for third grade alone. My new placement has a grand total of thirty one for all of third grade. Not only is that less than half that is also a little bit more than one of the public school's classes. My current classroom has sixteen in the room. Needless to say these placements are different in just about every way. However both are proving to be positive and lovable experiences. Let's just hope this sentiment of mine lasts until the end.

My Last Day: Good and Bad

My last day at Woodglen was so phenomenal! I had no idea how much my teacher and students appreciated me! I don't mean to sound like i have an inflated ego but I received the most wonderful present and if I was at all technologically inclined I would post it. The kids each made a card with a picture they drew of themselves on it. Some of them even put these adorable messages on the back. One girl even put that I was her best friend. Another teacher informed me that when this girl got on the bus she was crying hysterically. My teacher even gave me a beautiful basket of her favorite flowers-gardenias. Considering I am not the warmest of personalities it was touching to see this kind of genuine affection.

The only bad was one of the more difficult students not listening to me and then trying to blame me. This might have worked had it not been that she disobeyed in front of another teacher who comes specifically to monitor her behavior.

I thank God that I know I did good there, not just academically or even as a teacher. I'm just so glad I did well as a human being. I'm never one to be warm and fuzzy but when I think on his day and my experiences I gush like Jessie Rock. (Love you Jessie)