“Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.”

Week of Sept 12th entry. Taken from my Student Teaching Journal (for class.)

These short weeks in the classroom are killing me. I would love to be there all week long. Nevertheless, I am learning a great deal and getting more involved with the class. Besides wandering around the class all day and helping with various jobs, I get to do three main things. These three tasks allow me to show different sides of myself to the students: authoritative Ms. Peterson, fun Ms. Peterson, and teacher Ms. Peterson.

So far I have been leading the students to and from the classroom, transition times. This is the time where I get to show my authoritarian side; the time that I get to practice my mean face. There is no talking in the hallways which seems to be very difficult for most 4^th/5^th graders. Last week I gave my first “check” to a student because they were misbehaving during transition time. I don’t think the student thought I was allowed to give out checks. I was overcome with such a weird feeling…guilt. I felt bad for punishing the student. In hindsight, the girl was attempting to beat another student with her shoe and the check was completely necessary. Now, I am somewhat sad and happy to say that I have no guilt when I hand out checks. Usually the students return to their seats and get back to work. It makes for a more productive classroom.

I have also been introducing the class to various games. This is obviously where I get to show my fun side as a teacher. At this age, if they sit for too long, I think their heads might pop off. They become so full of energy that it is nearly impossible for some of them to get anything accomplished. Thus, we will play a 10-15 minute game to get some of the energy out. One game that the students seem to love is pretty simple. Grab a deck of cards and assign an exercise for each suit (i.e. Clubs would be jumping jacks). Draw a name and the student will come pick a card. The entire class does the exercise. On days where they return from PE class wound up, we play Silent Ball. This is a game where the students must throw a kooshling ball throughout the room without making any noise. If they drop the ball then they have to return to their desk. If they make a bad toss or make some sort of noise then they must also return to their desk. I like to mix things up by having them throw with only one eye open or standing on one leg. This makes the game go by quicker and gets us back on task.

Lastly, I have been doing read aloud time. We usually have two read aloud times. One is midway through the day. The students have a healthy snack and eat it while the teacher reads from a picture book. Towards the end of the day the teacher reads from a more difficult chapter book (Currently we are reading Becoming Naomi Leon). I have taken over reading from the picture book. This is also a part of our language lesson. This week I read Hello Harvest Moon to the students. This is a beautiful picture book with wonderful figurative language. While reading the book I have been encouraged by my host teacher to stop frequently and discuss the text. This week we talked about adjectives, adverbs, verbs, similes, onomatopoeias, and alliterations. I’m not sure why read alouds feel so far outside of my comfort zone. However, practice makes perfect and I try my best.

Finally, I am hoping to possibly do a science lesson this next week. The school will be wrapping up it’s MAPS testing (finally) which has been taking up the majority of our science time. I am excited to get going on lessons but will feel more comfortable once our routine is back to normal.

“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death” -Einstein

(Northern Lights over Auke bay)

College classes are underway and I think I might die of boredom! Ha!
"Everyone introduce yourself.."
There are only 12 of us student teaching and we all have the same classes and we have introduced ourselves to each other four times now! Ha!
Anyways, I am swamped with homework and am only able to write this blog because I am in a boring class and have nothing better to do.
Earlier today I had a three hour math class. Not a class where we have to do math but a class where the teacher lectures us on how to teach kids how to do math. ...Really... three hours of near death boredom!
The only good thing about this week has been the amazing amount of sunshine! I have made a few trips to the Shrine and did some reading in the sun. That has been amazing. We have even had the Northern Lights two or three times this week. How great is that?
As of right now, I am in the classroom working with kids three days a week. Mondays and Tuesdays I am in classes all day. Weekends... I am still working at Era for a few more weekends. The days have been terribly slow but at least I have a bit of money coming in.

Let's see....I think that's all that I have for now. Not much of an update but I wanted to keep the blog up to date! Hope life is treating everyone well!

"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - Douglas Adams

September is here and like every September, the rain and wind are in full force. Last night, the wind was blowing so hard it was actually shaking the house a bit. I found the whistling wind oddly comforting and passed out before I even knew I was tired. This part of the year is actually kind of pretty. I love fall in Midwest. I love the changing colors of the trees and sunsets. I wouldn't say that fall in Juneau compares to Missouri. The trees don't change much and it's hard to catch a sunset with all of the overcast days. Still, there are days that manage to take my breath away.

I often wonder how I will ever manage to leave such a beautiful place knowing I may not return for a while. This has been on my mind a lot lately, knowing that I graduate in less than a year. I often am asked what my plans are for after graduation. I feel so unprepared; I have no plans. Right now, I am taking one day at a time. I will start putting in resumes around Spring Break. At the same time I will be doing my rural practicum, which is where I head into the "bush" area of Alaska for a few days just to check it out. On the way back to Juneau I am required to stop at the Anchorage job fair. I don't think I want to teach in Alaska. Not far north anyways, but only time can tell.
Right now, college classes have just started. I have been in the classroom student teaching for a few weeks now and have been thoroughly enjoying myself. I have also been working at Era on the weekends and now I have these college courses to work into the mix. I can't really complain because I love all of it. I love my time in the 4th/5th grade class. I love having my weekends with my Era people. Believe it or not, I love having college classes too. It's just a lot to take on.
Era is wrapping up slowly but surely. I am sure I will be happy to have a weekend again but I hate seeing all my friends, new and old, leave Juneau. Some are heading back to their homes. Others are venturing off into the great unknown. THAT, I am jealous about. Right before winter in Juneau, the travel bug always hits me. I dread the darkness and frigid winter nights. Also, I have been here for a solid three years now and am antsy to see something new.

So far, I have had two classes: "Science in the K-8 classroom" and "Social Studies in the K-8 classroom." Both of which were very boring and full of introductions and reading over the syllabi. All of my classes are on Mondays and Tuesdays. I didn't have Monday classes this week due to Labor Day. I will be in the classroom student teaching Wednesday-Friday until next semester when I take over full time.

My student teaching is going well. I find my host teacher oddly intimidating...and also odd in general. She is a wonderful teacher and her class seems perfect at times. My own insecurities make me extremely intimidated to take over the class with her observing. Still, I manage to surprise myself every day in how much I am learning from her. She doesn't give much feedback but is so particular about her classroom that if I were to mess something up, she would let me know immediately. So far, so good. Her team teacher is host teaching my roommate which makes for great conversations between us college gals. She is a master’s student but we both have the same agenda. It's interesting to compare how our teachers handle certain situation or teach different lessons on the same material. We also get quite a laugh out of the things they say and the stories they tell.
In the evenings we often return home, put on a season of Grey's Anatomy and let our exhausted minds turn to mush for a while. My nights have been ending around 9:30 because I am usually too tired to stay up any later.
One of my favorite parts of teaching this age group is their developing sense of humor. Sometimes these kids say things that are so unexpected and quite witty. It's hard not to laugh when they get in trouble for it. It's also a great age because most of the students have that "teacher crush" still. They think their teacher is a super hero. I had a boy last week put a fake rose in his mouth and ask me to tango. Another little girl has to give me a hug at the end of each day and tell me bye. I have learned not to go to the grocery store right after school unless I want to run into every student of mine. It's pretty comical how they get so excited to see me that they can't even speak. All they can do is wave their hands and jump up and down.
I secretly love this part.

Overall, the semester is starting up better than I expected. I feel organized and prepared. Part of me is ridiculously nervous. Part of me is extremely excited to have the class entirely in my hands. I'm sure I'll keep you posted!

(You can click on these to see them more clearly.)