Student Teaching = Completed

Today was my last official day as a student teacher. I can not believe my time with those sweet children has come to an end. It seems like just yesterday I stepped into that classroom and today it was all over. There were lots of tears through out the day today. Some shed by my students, but many more shed by Miss. Holley.

When I left the school today, I was not quite sure how I felt about being done. I was happy it was over because that means my stress level will go way down. However, I has become so attached to my kids and I was very upset about leaving them. In the end I found comfort in a Dr. Seuss....imagine that. "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

I have forty three reasons to smile. I feel so blessed to have had to opportunity to work with each one of them this year. I have learned so much from them and I can only hope that they have learned just as much from me.

I want to share I few notes I received form my students today.

"Love you! Thank you for teaching me!"

"Thank you for being a great student teacher! I think we have learned a lot of things since you have been here. We will miss you very much!!!"

"We have enjoyed you teaching us! We will miss you! Have a great summer! We will remember you! We love you!!"

"I already miss you even though you are not gone."

"I will miss you Miss. Holley!"

Thanks for the precious memories boys and girls!

Thursday Thoughts...

I am stressed. There is really not anything else to say. Today I turned in one job application and then filled out another that I am turning in tomorrow. I am so nervous about the one I'm turning in tomorrow because I REALLY want that job. Like for real. It makes me so happy thinking about the possibility of having a job there next year. I will keep you posted on how the job hunt goes. No one ever told me how hard growing up was. Well, that is not entirely true. Plenty of people warned me, I just chose to not listen.

Speaking of growing up, today I went by the union and ordered my cap and gown. Insert sad awww here. I really do have mixed feelings about graduation. I go back and forth daily. One day I am excited and the next I am sad. I am excited about what lies ahead of me and sad about what I'm leaving behind. I am going to miss my friends dearly. I seriously consider my friends family. The hardest part will be leaving them.

Tomorrow is Friday and I can't wait for this weekend. This has been the longest week ever. All of my kids have just been crazy this week. I don't think they ever got back in the swing of things after being out of school for a week. It's amazing how much one week can change things. The last few days I have accumulated several letter and pictures from my students. They are just so sweet and I just have to keep them all. They make me smile! The problem is, I don't know what to do with them. I was thinking of making a scrapbook of them all, but I think that will take too much time. Any suggestions? I want something cute, but easy!

After a long day of school and filling out job applications, this student teacher is Tired with a capitol t. So what is the best way to relax after a long day? That's right....watching the Nanny with my Shira Lani!

Fireflies and Candlelight

There is nothing I love more at the end of the day than relaxing outside. Putting my feet up as I lie back in the big red chair that goes without being used most days. Listening to the crickets chirp as the cool breeze blows...bliss. I love Mississippi this time of year. In a word...beautiful!

Moving on, I recently made a few new purchase for my room....

I found the blue mason jar at a local antique store in my hometown. Antiquing has always been a hobby of my mom's but recently I have gotten into it. The dark bule jar is actually a coffee jar. However, I turned both of them into candle holders. Like I needed any more candles in my room. I already had five. Five plus the two new ones brings us to a grand total of seven. Wow. I say it's a little crazy, but Emily assures me that I'm just being resourceful and conserving electricity.

While we are on the subject of roommates can i just tell you that I love them! Lauren, Emily, and I all went for a walk last night around our apartment complex. It was so nice just to be able to relax and talk with friends. I really don't know what I would do without them. Tonight Alicia and I have share stories about our classrooms with each other. I am so blessed to live with three student teachers who can all relate to what I am going through.

Thirty three more days of student teaching left to go. It's a bit bitter sweet. I am excited to be moving on and graduating. I am so looking forward to next year when I can have a classroom of my own. However, I really love my kids. It is going to be very hard to leave them. I think they have taught me just as much, or maybe more than I have taught them. It is amazing the things kids can teach you.

Tonight has been a great night to relax with friends and let the stress of today drift away. Sometimes in life I think that we should all take time to go outside and watch the fireflies.

A good teacher is like a candle ~ it consumes itself to light the way for others.

-Author Unknown

MIA

Oh my Goodness!!!

Where has this girl been...it has been WAY too long...17 day actually.

Let me try to catch you up on what I've been doing.

Warning: this could be the longest blog post ever!

Baseball season has started and it is in full swing. I absolutely love this time of year, but it sure does make my life a little more hectic. Sy is only a freshman, but he has seen some varsity playing time. Nothing in the world can make me happier than watching my baby brother doing what he loves. He has a passion for the game that is evident. I am so proud of him. Here's a few pictures of the season so far.

School has been crazy busy lately. I have been observed twice in the past two weeks by my university supervisor. He came last Friday the 25th, for my informal observation. I was super nervous about this because the teacher I am placed with suggested I teach math. Teaching math is defiantly not in my comfort zone. I have never been good at math and I was super nervous to be graded on how well I did teaching it. Long story short, my lesson went great and I received a perfect score. To top it all off, my supervisor said he really loved the way I taught math and he was very impressed with the way I controlled my classroom. That was music to my ears. This Friday the 4th, my supervisor came back to watch me teach my 10-day lesson. I was feeling more confidant this time because I wast teaching science, the human body system, I was defiantly feeling more in my element. It went great and he said that I was becoming a much more polished teacher than I was last semester. Still makes me smile to know that I am getting better at what I love.

I was sick almost the whole month of February, I could not figure out why I was not getting over it and getting better. After three visits to my doctor and I fingers stick later, I was told that I have seasonal allergies. Great! Not! I have been taking a nasal spray for the past week and I am feeling tons better! Which is wonderful news since I am outside so much this time of year.

This weekend we were supposed to have ball game every day, but thanks to the monsoon we have had the last two days, they were canceled. This opened up time for me to finished getting everything finished and put together on my ten day. Getting the binder organized and put together is the worst part of the whole thing. I am more than half way done with it and it's not due until April 14 so I am super happy.

Friday night I ran to CVS with mama and we made the mistake of going down the "As Seen on TV"row. I am such a sucker for infomercial and usually the product is not as great as it looks on television. However, this little baby is wonderful. It helps me keep all of my ten day paper organized. If you are a teacher, or a teacher to be, I defiantly suggest you getting a wonder file.

One final thought before I get back to work on my ten-day...I have to have one of these! Graduation present? I think so ;) Speaking of graduation, that is coming up in 69 day! AHHH!! I have to get those applications and resumes turned it. Stress!! I think I need this Ipad to reduced my stress. Haha.

What Vegetable is Used to Make Sauerkraut?

Oh the things a fourth grader will say....

Today we had a few minutes to spare before changing classes, so Mrs. Smith and I decided to play brain quest with the kids. For those of you who are unfamiliar with brain quest I will explain. Brain quest comes with a deck of cards, on the front side is a list of grade appropriate questions and the answers are on the back. We usually go around the room and ask each student a question, if they provide the right answer they get a piece of candy. This question happened to come up today.

What vegetable is used to make sauerkraut? The correct answer was cabbage.

This was the answer one of my fourth graders gave, "Mrs. Smith, I don't even know what sour crap is".

It was all I could do to not bust out laughing. My kids defiantly keep the days interesting.

I Feel Like My Mother

Today was my first day back to school. My morning started off bright and early, well actually not bright because the sun wasn't up yet, at 5:45. After making breakfast and getting ready, I headed out to conquer my first day of student teaching, brown paper lunch bag and all.

After spending eight LONG hours at the elementary school, I was off to Wal-Mart to get my shopping done. I so did not want to go on this shopping trip, especially after being up on my feet all day long. However, and my pantry was empty. Therefore, I had no choice. I mean a girls got to eat right?

Once I arrived back home, it was time to conquer my favorite thing...laundry. Gross. That is the only word I can thing to describe how I feel about doing laundry. After the laundry was in the washer it was time to make supper. So I did what any tired college student would do in this same situation. I went to my freezer. Frozen food is my hero. Thank you Tyson Crispy Chicken Strips for making my life easier tonight.

With my belly full, I am now in the middle of folding my laundry and putting it away. As I was doing this I started to think about all the not so fun things I had to do today. For the first time in a long time I felt like a "real" adult. More than that, I felt like my mom. Then I started to think about how tired I was and how busy today was. I dawned on me that this is how my mother feels everyday. So there you go, I am a 21 year old, with no "real" kids, and I feel like a mom.

Now it is time for bed, I have to be well rested to handle all of my "fake" children in the morning. Even though I am very tired after teaching them all day, I can't wait to go to school in the morning and get 46 hugs. Being a student teacher is hard, but it sure is rewarding!

P.S. Pictures of my first day student teaching coming soon. Too tired to do it tonight.

Brotherly Love

Today was Baseball Media Day... so there was defiantly a lot of picture taking going on. Here are a few pictures I took of my sweet brother today. He is growing up so fast. He is sixteen and I just can't believe how grown he is. Even though we don't always see eye to eye, especially since he is a good foot taller than me, but he is my brother and I love him so much. I could not be more proud of this guy.

Baseball season is upon us and this girl is so excited! I have been traveling all over,watching my baby brother play ball for nine years now and I absolutely love it. I am so looking forward to this season! Go Warriors! Good luck Sy! I hope you have a wonderful season. Always remember to play hard and do your best! I love you!

So, onto another topic. Tomorrow is my first day back to school! WooHoo! I can't wait to get back to see all of my sweet little fourth graders; I sure have missed them. Today while I was driving back home, I realized that tomorrow I will start my last semester of college. Crazy right? My time in college has just flown by...I mean I know people say that all the time, but it is so true. Looking back, it has been the best time of my life. In college I have met my best friends, made many memories, and gotten a good education along the way. I can't wait to see what this semester has in store for me! It all begins tomorrow!

You Might Be a Student Teacher If...

You might be a student teacher if...you get excited about buying a new, cute lanyard to hold your id!

You might be a student teacher if... you spend your Saturday nights filling out job applications!

You might be a student teacher if... you look around the lunch room and realize you packed the same lunch as your students!

You might be a student teacher if...you are in bed by ten and up by 6!

You might be a student teacher if... your favorite school day is friday because that's the day you get to wear your beloved jeans!

Hair Drama!

Lately I have been putting a lot of thought into how I am going to wear my hair during my student teaching. My hair has given me problems ever since I was a little kid. I have naturally curly hair, with curly hair come lots of trouble. There are days that my hair looks really good and then there are days that it looks like I stuck my finger in an electrical outlet. Starting January 24, 2011 my hair needs to look professional and polished Monday through Friday. Let me tell you, this is not going to be an easy thing. No more throwing it up into a ponytail on bad hair days. In fact, there can't be anymore bad hair days once I start student teaching.

Part of my problem has to do with my laziness. I have to be at the school by 7:00, which means I would have to get up at 5:30 to shower, fix my hair, get ready, put my makeup on, and make my lunch. I do not want to get up that early. I would much rather have thirty more minutes of sleep than to have pretty hair. Yes, I know this is sad and pathetic. Oh well.

Here is the best solution to my hair woes I have come up with so far.

These little babies work wonders. By using rollers to curl my hair, I can take my showers at night and put my hair in the rollers in the morning. While my hair is in the rollers, I can put my makeup on, get dressed, and make my lunch. Doesn't that sounds just wonderful!

I tried it out this morning and I think it turned out pretty cute. What do you think?