Working it Out

I was assigned to Payson High School. I just finished my second week there, and I'm just now starting to feel the pressure. This may be because my mentor, Mrs. Thomas was out of town last week taking care of her daughter who just had a baby. I was working with a sub who knew just about as I did about the school, and she was really friendly. 

I still got to know how Mrs. Thomas teaches though. She's one of those packet teachers. Every day the students sit down and pull out their notes because they know they'll be filling out a couple pages in the packet of notes by looking at the information on a PowerPoint. The class that gets this the most is Child Development. The other classes I'm teaching, like Clothing I and Fashion Strategies are pretty hands-on. 

While Mrs. Thomas was away I asked the kids how they liked that style of teaching. The consensus was that it sometimes got old doing the same thing every day, and they learn better with hands-on learning. Now, with a class like Child Development, there is A LOT of content you have to work through, but there are plenty of activities you can throw in there to make the class enjoyable. The kids agreed that breaking up the class between notes and an activity every day is a pretty good way to learn. 

The reason I'm feeling stressed now, is because starting next week I will be teaching 5 DIFFERENT classes. Usually a student teacher can only do 3... but since that'd mean I was teaching only 4 class periods, I had to add two more to make it even. 

Right now I'm teaching Clothing and Child Development and next week I'll start teaching Fashion Strategies and helping in the Foods Lab for a Culinary class (YAY!) The following week I will start teaching Early Childhood Education- though the school got rid of their Preschool last year, I'll still be teaching students how to teach and integrate science, math, art, and language in a preschool setting. 

This semester is going to be super busy... And today I'm just trying to prepare for it all. It's overwhelming. 

And on top of that I'm thinking about my mom, because it would have been her birthday today. 

Mid-Semester Crisis

It's the middle of the semester and I have just completed my first student teaching assignment. Yesterday was my last day at the junior high, and I'm honestly kind of glad. I learned so much there, especially about classroom management, because 7th and 8th graders are just cuh-razy, but it'll be nice to teach students who are more self-aware.

I left Jefferson Jr. early yesterday to go meet my high school mentor. I'd emailed her twice but never got a response, which I thought was weird, but decided to go meet her anyway. When I arrived, she was shocked, because she had no idea she'd been assigned a student teacher, but kindly got to know me and gave me a breakdown of the classes she teaches. She told me over and over that she still had to make sure it was approved by the principal, though, because she hadn't heard anything...

Rewind. 

I got my assignments back in April after taking "Teaching Methods" with the department head as my professor. Now, over the summer, my high school cooperating teacher decided to take a job at BYU-I, leaving the high school, leaving me unassigned. 

BYU then contacted the high school's principal to make a new assignment there, but he never approved the new suggested teacher! Turns out the teacher I met yesterday is in a personal situation that it wouldn't be good for her to have a student teacher, which is fine... Except now I have nowhere to go! 

Today I had a mid-semester seminar at BYU and the department head had to pull me aside and let me know what was going on. They're in the process of assigning me a new school. I was supposed to start tomorrow, but was told to work on my teacher work sample tomorrow and just wait until I can go meet my new mentor once it's assigned. 

*sigh*

So I don't know what school I'll be at, and I'm hoping it's relatively close. I was looking forward to being at a school only 5 minutes away from my house, but that obviously didn't work out. I also don't know who my mentor is or what classes I'll be teaching... Which is frustrating, because I can't plan anything! I can't get ahead!
So, this weekend I'll probably be busy catching up, because that one principal didn't do his job and notify anyone that I, a student teacher, wasn't approved to still work at his school. 

Full-Time

Last week I started working full time with all of my mentor teacher's classes. Standing up and teaching every day has been difficult but I'm getting used to it. So far, however, both the seventh and eighth graders spend most of class time working in a lab. The Eighth graders are finishing up their last sewing project this week, and the Seventh graders just finished learning how to use Microsoft Excel. 

Seventh Graders: 

The first class of 7th graders is a pack of angels. There are only about 26 of them, and they're quiet, attentive, and are very productive in the computer lab. The other two classes, aren't quite as hard-working. There are about 35 kids in each of them, and it seems that everyone has at least a couple friends in there that they talk to. Constantly. 

The first class of the day is always the guinea pig. I'm not as efficient in that class, but it works, because it's such a small class and they work with me really well. As the day goes on, I find myself feeling more comfortable, making more jokes, and the kids get more time in the lab. 

Eighth Graders:

Strangely, my most productive class is the last class of the day. There are 36 kids in there, and it's chaos when I have half of them waiting to ask questions on their project at my desk. It's ridiculous that even though I give all my classes a step-by-step guide sheet, they still manage to be clueless as to what they should be doing... 

Long story short, student teaching is hard. It would honestly, be less stressful if I didn't have to do a teacher work sample in addition to writing lesson plans, teaching each day, etc. etc. Dealing with a mentor teacher isn't the greatest either. 

Today I had a hard time after receiving a lecture on how to instruct my classes better, that I shouldn't let them talk, like ever (even though it doesn't bother me in certain circumstances) and how to manage them, follow through, and discipline when necessary. I hear this same stuff every day, and sometimes it's just hard to receive criticism. EVERY. DAY. 

There are days that I'm practically in tears, thinking to myself how I've failed. Reminding myself that that's what a mentor is for. Trying to think of ways that I can fix all the problems in the world, all at once. It's overwhelming sometimes, but when it's in the middle of class I just practice my acting skills for the kids, because they have no idea all that teachers put into a single lesson. But as soon as the bell rings for them to leave, sometimes I just lose it. 

The only way I have been able to get through the last 4 weeks is by texting my husband through the day, and of course, constant prayer. God has helped me through so much. Even if it's just for comfort, or a clear mind so I can rethink my teaching strategies. He is always there. 

I couldn't do this without Him. 

Beginning to Sew

The best part about teaching within the FACS program is that a lot of these classes have time in lab. While taking these classes at BYU I always appreciated when the professor would play music while we worked at our sewing machine or while working the kitchen. It always made the mood a little lighter, and it gave you something to think about while you were doing the mundane tasks.

Yesterday, my students began working on their sewing machines. Their assignment was simply to sew along the lines of shapes they'd traced on their fabric. Some students finished with 30 minutes, while others took that long simply trying to thread their machine. But all the while I turned on some music from Pandora (after installing AdBlock, of course) and helped those students who were struggling.

I just found it interesting that their attitudes changed once the music was on. It was the Imagine Dragons Radio, and its alternative vibes created a calm environment. The noise level lowered, and the students were productive.

And I remembered why I wanted to teach.

Week 1 of teaching

On Tuesday I taught a class for the first time. I had the kids do 3 different activities relating to gossip and good communication. I found that larger classes may be hard to handle, but smaller classes are hard to get a good discussion going.

I learned the 4 most disruptive kids' names that day, and I know them well, because I had to ask them to be quiet several times.

The first period of the day was more difficult. I was nervous and felt like throwing up, but once I got started, I couldn't be stopped. As the day went on, it got easier to teach.

Now, I'd just like to share with you a few of the funny responses I got on a worksheet that my students did this week. We talked about how when we use "You" statements when bringing up a sensitive subject, the other person often feels blamed and judged, so it is better to use "I" statements.
"I" statements pull the judgement off of another person and place it on how their behavior makes you feel. Hopefully speaking in this way makes the humanity come out in the other person and they can work out the problem without any major conflicts.

For example, instead of saying "You never call me when I ask you to!" you could say
"I wish we could talk on the phone more often."


Here are just a few of the funny "I" statements the students came up with (spelling errors intended.)

"You" Statement: Why don't you grow up and stop acting like a baby?!

"I" Statement: "I don't like the way you act like a baby, will you please act your age?"
                        "I wish you would act like a big kid."


"You" Statement: It's your fault I got in trouble! Why did you have to tell on me?

"I" Statement: "I have to face my consequences."
                        "I don't think telling on me was the right idea."
                        " Snitch"


"You" Statement: Why don't you do your own homework and stop coping mine?!

"I" Statement: "If you copy my work, you won't learn anything."
                        "Teacher he's cheating"


"You" Statement: You are so moody sometimes!

"I" Statement: "Try to stay in a good mood, it will boost your self-esteem up!!"
                        "I feel you can calm down and loose your attitude???"
                        "Can you please relax a little bit I think you need to chill."
                        "Why are you bratty?"


"You" Statement: You can't play basketball, you stink! Go play on another team.

"I" Statement: "You're just not suited for basketball."
                        "Could you try harder please"
                        "I want your best effort"


"You" Statement: Will you stop interrupting me?

"I" Statement: "I feel like I can't work."


"You" Statement: You're such a loud mouth!

"I" Statement: "Can you not"
                        "Can you stop telling everyone about my business. Thank you."

Student Teaching: Day 2

I observed the CTE Business class today and 2 of those classes have about 40 kids in each of them. The morning class before lunch was pretty well behaved, and they're also the smaller class of the three today. The afternoon classes were big and rowdy.

Instead of just observing today, I prepped some kits for Angry Bird pincushions that the FACS exploration classes will make while I'm teaching. I cut felt and fabric and grouped the pieces together, to be packaged tomorrow, so they're ready before I actually start teaching.

I will team teach with my mentor teacher Mrs. Brighton on Tuesday, so she showed me the activities she planned, and I made up a lesson plan for myself to be turned in to my student teaching supervisor tomorrow. I've also been working on Thursday's lesson plan, but it's been semi-difficult deciding which activities would be best to teach the parts of the sewing machines (Bernina 1008, so super old, and unfamiliar to me) and how to thread it. I'm supposed to do a pre-assessment, so I can later prove that my teaching is effective when they do better on the actual test later on. And hand tools, such as a rotary cutter, and marking chalk need to be included that class period so I need to find a way to manage the 75 minutes of time.

Two things I want to do in my classroom that my mentor teacher doesn't:
1. Write the objective for the day on the white board. This will give students the chance to look and see what they will be learning that day, so they don't walk in and feel the need to say "Mrs. what are we gonna learn today?" If I also write the previous and next day's objectives up there too, then a student can look and see what they missed if they were absent.
2. A bellringer. You know that question or small quiz you had to answer when you first walked into class? A bellringer helps students to get on task right when they walk in, so you don't have to calm everyone down and break up conversations. I feel like this will help for a smoother transition into class. Less chaotic.

These two things were considered vital in my teaching classes at BYU, and I believe that they will create a structure that makes classroom management easier.



*I promise I won't blog every day and bore you to death, but sometimes writing helps me to clear my mind and rid of the overwhelming senses from a day in Jr. High.

Student Teaching: Day 1

Today was the second day of my last semester of college. Yesterday I had a 4 hour long seminar about my responsibilities and assignments for student teaching this semester. It was very interesting, informative, and of course overwhelming, but how I kept calm was reminding myself that my first day at Jefferson Jr. High I'd only be observing.

And observe I did.

For the first block of the semester (from now until mid-October) I will be at my assigned Junior High school teaching FACS exploration and CTE intro Business. The school is on a block schedule and fortunately I will only teach FACS on A days for three periods, and on B days I will teach CTE for three periods. I will be team teaching with my mentor teacher for the first two days next week then I will begin teaching by myself for the FACS class. A couple weeks after that I will pick up the remaining CTE classes and will be a full-time teacher.

I've been putting together my Scope and Sequence for the first block today, and I will begin writing lesson plans tomorrow. With the convenient schedule of only teaching on A days for the next couple weeks, I can spend B days writing lesson plans so I have less work to do at home.

Oh, by the way, if you didn't know, teachers always bring their work home.

In addition to writing lesson plans I also have to work on my Teacher Work Sample which will evaluate my knowledge and abilities to assess classroom situations, management, and discipline based on the contextual factors that will be implemented into my teaching. Fortunately, one section is due each week- just the rough draft- to be evaluated, therefore giving me time to tweak and revise my work sample before I have to turn it in officially in November.

A lot of work will go into this semester, but I believe I can do it. Maybe this is just me speaking out of fatigue from a semi-uneventful 8 hour observation day, but really, I just gotta remember to take each day one at a time so as not to get overwhelmed and give up-- because I sometimes want to do that.

Peace and Blessin's.

ONE YEAR!!!

This past Saturday Alex and I hit our one year mark of being married!!!

To celebrate our anniversary we did something kinda fun and a little nostalgic. We went up to my dad's house Friday afternoon after school/work to have a Harry Potter marathon! During our honeymoon ABC Family was showing all the Harry Potter movies, so naturally we watched them all... Other than last Halloween we hadn't watched the movies since our honeymoon, so we decided to have a marathon again. :) We watched 1 & 2 then decided to skip to our favorites 6 & 7.

Saturday night we went to Carrabba's for dinner, because I'd been there once with my dad and I remember it being super delicious! So we showed up, expecting to wait a half hour for a seat, but fortunately they had a couple of seats at the bar that they offered to us! Come to find out, sitting at the bar is just sitting at a counter on nice bar stools, and we got to watch them make the food and not alcoholic drinks like we were expecting!

After that we went up into the canyon to have a bonfire with friends, because that's what we did for our first date... and because I really wanted to make s'mores... Though only a few people could come, it was still really fun on a pleasant evening. :)


I have loved being married to my best friend. There is never a day that we don't laugh together, smile at each other or say "I love you." I love the fact that he is always there, and he will always listen, even if it's just about some stupid thing that made me happy or frustrated me during the day. We've both had to adapt to living with each other and finding time for our individual "me" time, but I always spending time with Alex, and I have the feeling that I always will :)

Professors: They Can Make or Break You

I am currently taking my last two required classes for school: Statistics and Family Finance. Yes, I saved the math courses for last, but that's mainly because I wanted to make sure I could fit them in a schedule before student teaching. Both were offered fairly frequently every semester, so I figured I'd save them for when I had space to fill at any given time for a semester. As it turns out, all my other classes worked out, so there was no need!

A lot goes into my statistics class. I have quizzes 6 days of the week, have done 2 writing assignments, taken two tests and I have one more this weekend... oh and then there's the final at the end of the term. Believe it or not though, I've enjoyed stats. It's less mathy than a lot of other classes. It's mostly reading graphs and interpreting data, which can sometimes be really confusing, but I can usually figure it out. The way the class is organized is well done, so that I can try four times on each quiz and only the best score will be taken. Every time I take a quiz, I review what I got wrong so I can remember it and answer a similar question right for the next quiz, etc. etc. What also helps is that fact that my professor is rather personable, despite the fact that there are about 130 students in my class. He tells stories, makes jokes, and has a voice that's entertaining to listen to. When he puts emphasis on words, it ends up sounding like a growl, kinda like when a pirate speaks. So, long story short, I don't mind this class that I was dreading taking before.

Now, family finance is a different story. The information I've learned is highly applicable, yes. Budgeting, filing taxes, insurance, and buying a house are just a few things we've discussed and learned how to calculate. All this stuff is pretty complex, and frankly, I don't like it. It also doesn't help that my professor is old, speaks really shakily and slowly, and sometimes forgets what equation he's using on the current problem. Class feels like a waste of time, because I show up and we do the homework. I don't actually learn anything... I can do a better job myself just from reading the information in our workbook then going to the TA lab for help on homework problems. Usually before signing up for a class I look up the professors on RateMyProfessor but unfortunately, my professor was the only one teaching for the summer term.

Through my 4 years of college I've struggled with some teachers, and excelled with others. It's a hit and miss kind of a deal, but in the long run I know it's up to me to get the work done no matter what. And the fact that I've gotten thus far, having never failed a class I might add, I grown to feel more confident in my abilities. :)

A Little About Tumblr

Tumblr is a social media sight where people can like and post gifs (pronounced jifs) onto their blog of any theme they so choose. It seems like the majority of the population of people on Tumblr are between ages 14 and 17, which makes me feel like an old woman whenever I'm on there.

Why do I have a blog on this site, you may ask?
Sometimes I wonder the same thing for myself.

I like it because I can express myself, and it's unlike Pinterest where people I know follow my boards. I can post whatever the heck I want, be it 10 pictures of long hair that I wish I had, or 37 pictures of places I wish I could travel to. In addition to posting pictures, you can also make text posts about pretty much anything. Just beware of haters.
There is said to be a "social justice side of Tumblr" where all the gays, feminists, animal rights activists, and liberals will speak up to defend their kind. They call out racists, homophobes, etc, and things can get really heated which just drives me crazy. I hate how people, even young teenagers, can be so intolerant of others' opinions. So, sometimes I just have to ignore Tumblr for that day, if it annoys me enough.

There is yet another side of Tumblr that loves weed, and doing drugs, and loads of kids who are obsessed with sex that I just don't understand! These kids also use this site to send "nudes" and it's just so sad to me that these kids are already addicted to pornography. Because of this I have to be picky and sometimes really careful about which blogs I follow so I don't see anything, but at the same time I'm trying to be there for them. They could all use a positive influence, that seems to be lacking based on the things they blog about.

So this is why I'm on Tumblr:
I see teens who have depression, and are extremely insecure with themselves that they self-harm, they starve themselves and are just so unhappy with life! I've seen posts from teens who say they want to run away or they're going to commit suicide that night. And it is because of these poor kids that I stay on Tumblr. I post about positive things. Encouraging quotes, things from fightthenewdrug.org that talk about the effects of porn in people's lives. I sometimes send anonymous messages saying how much I care for and love them. I tell them that they're beautiful, and they have a great blog. I let people know that it's not a bad things to be a virgin. I tell those who are in the darkest of times to look around at the things they DO have, like friends who love them, and an entire community at school who hurts if they were to hurt themselves.
I try to say the same things that I plan to teach in "Teen Living" classes in school, but on a one-on-one basis as if we were long-time friends in the hopes that I can make a difference in how they carry out their lives. I know I'm just a small voice to them, but maybe they'll remember what I said as they hold that razor or knife, or lay awake, curled up in bed at their loneliest times. Maybe, just maybe, they'll give themselves a second chance and find another way to expend energy, to relieve stress. Maybe they can open the curtains and remember that it's still a beautiful day.

Long story short, Tumblr can be destructive for people in the most susceptible time of their lives because of all the hate that swirls around them, but there is also a lot of encouragement from the friends they've made on this site. There is a lot of support there for them, and I only try to be a part of that positive team.

Long Time No Post!

Sup followers? Well, another semester is over for me, and I am just gearing up to begin another one! I'm taking classes for the Spring and Summer terms so I will be completely finished by December!

I'm doing my student teaching in the fall and got my assignments recently. For the first block of the semester I will be teaching at Jefferson Jr. High in Kearns. Quite the commute for me, which will suck, but I am going to see if I can get that assignment appealed so I can student teach somewhere closer to home. Otherwise I will be living with my oldest sister throughout the week and will go home to my husband on the weekends. I really don't want to do that, but it's better than paying $110 for gas a week or paying $300 for two months to spend a total of 2 hours riding a train then a bus, then walking a mile to school and back! My sister who's a teacher said that student teaching will already be miserable, so commuting for 4 hours each day would just make it worse.
Anyway, the reason my husband and I don't just move for the fall semester is because for the second block of the semester I will be student teaching at Timpview High which is only 5 minutes from my house. Super convenient, and I've heard that my mentor teacher is super great and I will learn a lot from her!

I'm super stoked to finally be done with school, for for now I have to keep focusing on my current classes. I'm taking 12 credits this semester, but really, it'll be like 16 with all the lab hours I have to do in the sewing lab. Just one of the joys of being a FACS major!

The Sisters Collaborate!

My sisters and I have started a new blog! It has posts about sewing, cooking, crafts, decorating, around-the-house-type tips and also excerpts from my little sister's emails home from her mission in Alabama. You should CHECK IT OUT (and follow us!) There is a new post just about every day that my sisters and I take turns writing and it is really great! The whole idea of this blog is for us sisters to collaborate all of our ideas and experiences at home that we wish we could call up our mom to tell her about it. The blog also has a tab that tells you a little bit about my mom's cancer story in case you're interested.

The blog is called "Mom Would Love This" and here is the link!

http://momwouldlovethis.com/

Enjoy the experience! :)