Week 1 - CHECK!

I can hardly believe that I have already been in the schools for a whole week already. I SURVIVED! :)

I love working in an actual classroom with second graders. I don't always love those second graders... but I love the experience I am getting and how much I am learning as I get to actually put my knowledge into practice. Practicum = Practice. And I am starting to really understand that.

I observed a lot for the first few days, taking notes of how my mentor teacher runs the class and the routine for the students each day. Then on Tuesday I had my first formal observation. I taught a little Guided Reading group about Expression as they read "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" and it went really well. I got a bit nervous right beforehand because its intimidating to have 2 amazing and experienced women watching my every move and listening to my every word. They were so sweet and supportive though as we discussed the lesson afterward and they gave me some awesome compliments and suggestions.

The end of the week was a bit adventurous as my teacher was out of town at a conference and I was left in the class with a substitute. I felt confident being able to take up a bit more responsibility and helping the sub understand how certain things go in the class. But then on Friday the substitute had to leave at 1:45 and I was left with the class all by myself until the end of the day at 3:15. That was insane. The class is normally very talkative and there are a few problem students who require more patience and supervision, so I was VERY grateful when the bell finally rang and the weekend arrived!!

Now this week I will be teaching more whole-class lessons and then I will have my second formal observation on Wednesday teaching a Whole-Class Direct Instruction Lesson. I am nervous to see how the students will be, but I'm excited to see how I do.

But my mentor teacher is going to be gone again Tuesday-Thursday for knee surgery... I would appreciate any prayers on my behalf that the students will cooperate and my lesson will go smoothly!

Here we go....!

Tomorrow is March

Currently, I am terrified of March. March is the month I will be working in an elementary school with a mentor teacher.

I will meet my mentor teacher on Thursday. Then in the afternoon I will substitute a first, second, or third grade class all by myself. ALL. BY. MYSELF.

Then Friday will be my first day in the 2nd grade classroom where I will eventually work up to teaching a lesson a day. I will have certain observations I need to make, assessments I need to administer, types of lessons I need to give, be observed and even recorded.

I have been so excited for this for so long. But right now all I feel is terror.

what if...
what if...
but...
what if...
what do i do...
but...
how...
what if...

This is going to be a bigger adventure than I bargained for.

3-Day-Weekend!

This is the last holiday until the end of the semester. Kind of sad that it only happens halfway through the entire semester, but hey- I'm grateful for it!

Friday I ended up working a double shift and covering for a sick friend, so when I got home I rested my legs and enjoyed an episode of Chuck. Such a great show! :D

Saturday I felt sick when I woke up and I was pretty much a bum for a long time, but I started feeling better and was able to drive up to Salt Lake with Karina to hang out with our friend Trent! We hadn't seen him in such a long time, but his birthday was recent so we went up to have a late celebration. We laughed and caught up and enjoyed some goood food at The Pie in SLC. The food was greasy and delicious. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed. The company was hilarious. A great combination!

Then we got some super delicious cheese cake from the Cheesecake Factory and shared those before watching a few episodes of Chuck. Karina doesn't watch the show, unlike Trent and I who are HUGE fans, so we caught her up on the first 2 episodes of the series. True friends share what they love, right? :)

It ended up snowing for about a little bit while we were there and I was able to enjoy the huge flakes in my new coat for the first time! So much fun.

Seriously, the whole night was amazing!

Sunday was great with church and some friends over for dinner. Karina made delicious Best-Friend-Burritos and Ashley made home-made brownies. YUMM

Now its Monday and I finished my homework, did my laundry, and practiced curling my hair. For one of my classes I have to spend 10 hours learning something new, and I have never learned how to curl my hair, so that is what I chose. I have felt unlike a true girl for not having this skill, so my roommates are helping me :) It was a pretty frustrating process, but here is my first attempt. FYI- Karina helped me with a few critical pieces, but here is the finished product:

Now I'm going to enjoy the rest of this holiday with reading and then watching the Bachelor with my roommates [my guilty pleasure]. Have a great President's Day Everybody!

Fantastic February

February is amazing, and this post is dedicated to the awesomeness of this month:

-Valentine's Day! My Math class usually gets out super early so we decided to throw ourselves a classic Elementary School Valentine's Party with candy and to pass out valentine cards to everyone. It was SO much fun! I love my major!

-The main reason I love Valentine's Day though is because its the day that Scott and I went on our first date :) I can hardly believe it was 2 whole years ago!

-Along with February marking the first date for me and Scott it marks a lot of other firsts and great memories together :)

-February is a short month and means its getting close to June- the EPIC exciting month of the summer, of the YEAR! [Scott comes home June 1st :)]

-Another 3-day weekend! I love getting an extra day to relax and have adventures with my friends. This 3-day weekend coming up will be the last holiday of the semester, so I plan on enjoying it!

-My classes are winding down and my Practicum will start in March! I'll meet my Mentor Teacher on March 3rd and then start working in the Second Grade classroom the next day!


Moral of this post: February is an exciting month! :D

Oregon/Washington Trip

I had an amazing time in Oregon/Washington for my cousin's wedding! It was my third annual Winter Semester Wedding Weekend

Freshman: Heather
Sophomore: Jesi
Junior: Lauren

Who's gonna be the bride for my Senior year? ;)

It was great to spend time with my family that I hadn't seen in so long! We had delicious food that my aunt Shelley made, laughed (at each other a lot), and had tons of fun remembering old times.
I am so grateful that I was able to fly out for a quick trip and be with family!

Here is a collage of most of my pictures from the trip.

I also had a good time being a tourist and taking pictures, which made my cousins laugh at me.

The picture on the top right is of my view looking out the plane window when we finally broke through the clouds!
The bottom right is the entrance to my aunt's house- gorgeous!

I wish that I could have had more time there, but it was a perfect little trip.


When I landed in SLC it was the end of the 3rd quarter and the Packers were beating the Steelers in the SuperBowl. I got to watch a few minutes on a TV in the airport as I waited for the Karina to come get me and then won as I drove into Provo! Hoo-ray! A great weekend indeed!

"I made it through the wilderness... you know I made it through-ooh-ooh. Didn't know how lost I was until I found you!"

for some reason this is the song that popped in my head when I realized I am finally DONE with this week!! But just so you know, the version stuck in my head is the one from the beginning of the Shrek mash of songs at the end of the first movie :)

I have completed ALL my tests now [the math one took me 2 hours and 35 minutes yesterday... ugh]
My papers have been turned in
My lesson went pretty well
I finished all my reading [even though it got close at the end cause I kept falling asleep...]
I attended all my classes [and even got a famous BYU Chocolate Mint Brownie for attending one of them!]

all in all, its OVER :)

Now I have printed my boarding pass and all that is left to do it pack- since I am a procrastinator and naturally I have yet to do this. But hey, I was prioritizing this week so I think its perfectly acceptable to not have that done yet. The way I look at it I still have 4 whole hours before that is a problem ;)

Have a wonderful weekend everybody! I will be sure to take lots of pictures from my trip!!



and PS- I'll  be on a plane when the game is on so I'll just say it now- GO PACKERS!

update:

I have completed 2 of my tests,  I'll probably end up taking my math one Thursday

And I have completed my YouTube Digital Story for my Instructional Psychology and Technology Class. I adapted a storybook I drew for my Elementary Music class last semester so it is the song Old Macdonald. Here's a link to it if you care to take a look- Old Macdonald

Today I also met with my group and my teacher to prepare the lesson we are presenting on Thursday so I feel a lot better about that.

I still have a lot to do this week, but its been going really well so far! :)



3 days from now I'll be in Oregon!