Getting Ready for Student Teaching

So, I start my student teaching January 3rd. My second practicum ended earlier this month, but I've still been visiting my kinder class twice a week. I stayed with them all day the Friday before they went out on break. It was really exciting seeing the school and my class get ready for Christmas. On Monday (12/13), the principal came into my class and read them The Polar Express and gave the kids bells to wear around their necks. (You'll have to read it to find out the importance of the bell. :P)

Then, on Friday, I stayed all day. It was fun! I got to see how to run a party, which my mentor teacher can do so easily! For the Christmas gift that my students gave to their parents, it was a super cute idea. I'm totally going to steal it. Last year (and again this year), the student would receive a blank ball ornament (this year we used silver). Then we took some green paint and painted a hand of the student. The student would place their hand on ornament leaving their hand print. How cute is that?! I'm totally going to steal that idea! It's cheap on the teacher salary but cute!

But, yeah! I'm excited for student teaching! I will be with my kindergarten class for it. I'll be there all day, every day. I can't wait! Student teaching will end April 15. Graduation is May 14. Even though I'll be done with student teaching and even graduated, I still plan on going back to see my class and how my mentor teacher finishes the school year.

Oh, and if you want some giggles, this website it AWESOME! http://whatdidthatkidjustsay.blogspot.com/

Soooo Behind

Oh, man! I apologize for slacking on this blog. I've been busy, busy! But, my semester/Practicum 2 has now ended! :) Yay!

Quite a lot has happened since my last posting. I taught quite a few lessons! One Friday, I went and stayed all day. Well, my mentor teacher had a meeting all morning long, so I ended up teaching the class for the first half of the day! And, then later on, I taught a science lesson, which was a bust, but I was really excited because my kids were working together in small teams! Woo!

Overall, this practicum has been a very fun and awesome experience! I'm looking forward taking over the classroom in about a month! :)

Quick Post

Lost a kinder teacher, now up to 30 kindergartners! Ahhh!!! But, it's all okay. I'm beyond nervous about any whole class lessons I have to do. Haha! :)
First kinder field trip on Thursday to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum . That should be very interesting! But, definitely looking forward to it!
Probably will be doing my first formal small group instruction tomorrow. Excited for that too! I have three students I'll specifically be working with (it's part of a semester long project).
And, yeah! That's pretty much all that is going on!
Off to class now! Will post about the field trip. :)

Gahhhhhh

I'm overwhelmed and stressed, and about to cry. I have so much I have to do. I can't update this week. Maybe if I get a chance this weekend. Dreadfully sorry. :( Wish me luck for Saturday! I'm taking (what I feel is) a high stakes test for my teacher license! This week has been really hard on my. And the added stress of these tests have no been helpful.

Cheers!
:]

Yesterday, we had another meeting with our site facilitator and we had to participate in a mingle activity where you say something about yourself that no one else knows. Wellllllll, I'm pretty open about alot of things so it was a bit difficult. But, I finally came up with something: Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favorite movie. Haha! It works! I love it! Anyways, we were talking about all of the stuff that we will be working on this fall semester and oohhhhh maaaaannnnn. Just thinking about all of that stuff makes me want a drink! But, it'll be okay. Stuff will get done. It's just trying to find the time that will be difficult.

So, in my class, as you all know that yesterday it rained. Well, we had a fire drill during the time it was raining at my school. Yeah ... I know. But, I thought the kids would go all crazy and be excited to go out in the rain. I was so wrong! They were complaining about how they don't like getting wet and that they want to go inside. Kids these days! I remember when I was younger the moment when it started raining I wanted to be out there! We'll have to fix this.

And, I got to work with a couple kids on identifying letters with initial sounds! Like "apple" starts with the letter "a" and they had to look through a box of letters 'til they found an "a". But, that was fun yet frustrating. I wanted to give them all the answer, which I ended up doing, but I had to keep my patience. I know the answer, and they don't type thing. I'm getting there. I'm learning that these little kids are just starting off at the very beginning of school and they need time. We'll get there together. :) Also, this company, callled Title 1, gave a stack of books to my class (which I believe that is what they are suppose to do), and my teacher said that I can get one to add to my library! Exciting stuff! If I remember correctly, I got a book from the same company during my first Practicum.

I won't have Practicum tomorrow because I have a workshop I have to attend to learn how to do an Analysis of Student Work for a small group of students. Prepare yourself for that next blog. I have a feeling that I will be suuuuuuper stressed and possibly drunk. ;)

Like ... Peanuts?

So, I finished my first week of Practicum. Granted, I was only there two half days, but whatever. I also, finally met my site facilitator Thursday morning. This semester is going to be quite a bit of work than my first Practicum was. But, that's alright.

Thursday was an exciting day for me! We practiced our fire drills and our cafeteria procedures (which, might I add, we are getting better at!). I also got to read them a story while my MT filled out some paper work for me. It was so exciting! But, I have also discovered that I need to get to the eye doctor because my sight isn't so grand. Haha! But, we read Kindergarten Rocks!

It was exciting reading them a story! It was my first REAL teaching experience in teaching these little guys. Sure, it was only for a few minutes, but still really exciting!

As we got ready to go out for recess, we had them lined up at the door, getting name tags stickered onto them. One of the little girls said, "Miss S.? You smell good! You smell like ... *sniff* peanuts!" Haha! Then shortly after, I was stickering another student and he tells me, "I have a dad. He's a good dad, but he's a bad dad. I mean he tries..." Haha! I had no idea what to tell this little boy!

Overall, I think this first week was a success! My teacher licensing test is in a couple weekends, and I'm beyond terrified! I need to start studying, but I haven't had much of a chance to really. Hopefully I'll get some time this week!

Have a great one! :)

The First Day in Kinder

So, yesterday was my first day in kindergarten! I had fun. As soon as I walked into my mentor teacher [MT]'s classroom, she started telling my all about her students. Its crazy how much you can learn about your student within one day of school with them. We have a handful of students who are repeating kinder, but that's okay! They have an idea what is expected of them this time around. My MT and I didn't have much of a chance to talk since it the first week of school and all teacher are required to be outside thirty minutes before school starts. So, at around 8:30, we head outside. My teacher is very well liked! She had students running up to her giving her hugs and telling her about their first day of school. (Yesterday was their second day.) It was exciting. Then, the bell rang and we went into the classroom. We all sat together on the floor and that's when I got a really good look at my students. They are all so unique and so precious! I'm excited to teach my lessons, but yet terrified. I have to teach this little ones five lessons, one including a science lesson. I'm really nervous about it. My worry is that I won't be able to simplify my lessons plans enough. I'm so use to talking/teaching to the older students. But, I found a science lesson! It's cool! [I think...] So, I have to talk with my teacher about it. Anyways, we spent the whole day going over routines and procedures and did a little bit of reading. I sat with a couple of the students who need that little extra help. My teacher asked my help a few times and that was so exhilarating! Haha!

Tomorrow is my second day at my school. I'm hoping to get to talk with my teacher a little bit more about all my assignments that are due. Fun fun! :)

Where to Begin?

Okay, so I've been keeping a blog for my math methods class, and I've been doing okay with it. But, I've decided that I will try my hand at real blogging. But, my whole ... idea for this blog will to show my growth in becoming a teacher. I'm gonna try to keep up with it. I promise. :) I apologize for any spelling errors or grammatical errors. I want the content to be important, sorry. Haha! But, if there is anypart that is really hard to understand, please ask. No worries! I know that at times I'm difficult to understand.

So, for this past summer, I did my Practicum, which is like a part-time internship, at an elementary school. Moore ES, second grade. I had fun! It was a great experience for a newbie teacher! When I left them after six weeks because they were tracking out to a vacation, they made me cards. I still honestly can't read through them without crying. If I can, I'll try to scan and post some of them. They're precious and will kept in a safe box. Then, I moved onto 4th. I'm gonna be honest, they would have torn me to pieces if I had to teach them. But, since I did all my stuff with the second grade, I observed and aided. They drove me up the wall from time to time. I enjoyed my time with them, though. It was another great experience. I was only with them for two weeks, but it gave me an idea of what the older grades are like.

Now, here I am. I start my second Practicum. This is the step before my student teaching (AKA: full blown internship) in the spring. I'm at Whitney ES, in a kindergarten class. At first, I wasn't excited. I don't want to teach the lower grades. But I've never had any experience teaching the little ones. Tomorrow is my first day with them and I'm STOKED! I can't wait! I was told that this is a really tough school, that majority of the students are homeless. Oh holy crap, I have a feeling I will be crying alot! Haha! But this just shows you that more school aren't just schools. They also act a social services, making sure that the kids are getting fed and have a safe place to come to. I can't wait! :)

I must be off to class! I hope I can get a second tomorrow to tell you all about my day!