It's okay not to be okay...

Well, week two at the helm of class has just finished and it was a crazy ride. Imagine being trapped in a room with thirty hyperactive monkeys. Yes, that is exactly what my week was like. Valentine’s Day was on Tuesday and all the kids were hyped up on candy all week. My class turned into a freak show. Kids were acting weird. The boys were really emotional and several broke out in tears. The girls were really bitchy and hateful. They were all picking at each all week. It wasn’t all mean behavior though. At times, they were hopping over chairs and attacking each other with paper made light-sabers. When given an inch they took a mile. Because of this, I had to play the mean teacher all week. There was very little wiggle room for my nice side to show.

Monday, before Valentine’s Day, we did have a bit of fun. I showed the kids an animated video that I made. Then they were given missions and had to work in pairs to answer questions and place landmarks on the class map of Alaska. They thought it was really fun and they loved the animated video! It was a success. However, the rest of the week was a struggle. I had one kid punch and kick the bookshelf because he didn’t like an assignment. He was sent to the office to cool down. The following day he was in a wonderful mood. Unfortunately, when he is in a good mood he is almost harder to handle than when he is in a terrible mood. His good moods consist of cracking jokes constantly, impulsivity and the need to interrupt everything I say in class. He couldn’t sit still and he couldn’t help from throwing things at peers across the room, tapping things constantly on his desk, and veering the entire class off topic whenever he could. I have moments where I just want him to be taken out of my class. Then, I see him after school pacing the playground, alone, in large circles and whispering to himself. I know that there is more going on inside this kid’s head than anyone knows. All we can do at school is manage him the best we can and try our best to help. He has actually made a lot of progress since last year. This is a kid who once refused to use his hands for two years! Now, he is writing and typing creative stories. That’s progress! I’m learning a great deal from him as well!

 (Watching Animation)

 (Working Together on Mapping Mission)

 (Kids did all this alone!)

(Finished Product taped down)

On to my life, I know I rarely talk about what’s happening outside of the classroom anymore. That’s because I am rarely outside of the classroom in general! Elementary school> home>Homework>college courses>Bed>Repeat.

This week is a bit different though. Today is President’s Day, tomorrow and Wednesday are parent teacher conferences. This means that, besides meeting with parents, I have two more days left until I have to teach again. That’s great! I have time to get caught up and get lesson plans set! Yesterday a fellow student teacher invited me to go on a hike with her. We took her dog up a trail. It was cold but I had a good time and we got to vent about our program and students and such. Ha Ha. While it was really fun, I’m not feeling the best today. Throat is sore, running nose, coughing, not much of a voice. This is not the most opportune time to get sick so I’m popping vitamin C like M&Ms.

Overall, I’m hanging tough. Daylight is growing with each day. That makes spring seem closer. However, looking out the window right now I see rain/snow/sleet mix crap that reminds me that winter has her nails dug in deep and will not go without a fight. It’s weird that I loved this weather when I first moved here. I loved the snow and the rain. Now, I’m worn down and ready for a change. The dark and cold winters cause everyone to walk around like depressed zombies. I have learned that the best way to fight depression in winter is to get out in the terrible weather. That is what I am doing right now! I’m bundling up and heading to the used bookstore to meet a friend. Then I have to return home for an evening college course.

Until next time…

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” -Dr. Seuss

I am trying to be better about updating this blog while I’m student teaching. I know that in the future, I will want to look back on this time. So, here I am. I survived week one of full time teaching without my host teacher around. There are twenty-five 4^th and 5^th grade students in my class. During math time I send my 5^th graders to my team teacher’s classroom and I take her fourth graders. This bumps me up to about thirty kids. 30 kids to one teacher is difficult at times. I have found that the hardest part of teaching is recognizing how diverse my students are and catering to each of their needs. For example, I have some students who are at a 2^nd grade math level. I also have some students who are at a 7^th grade math level. It’s incredibly difficult to plan and teach a lesson that keeps all levels of learners interested and engaged. I try my best but I am completely a work in progress. I guess the important thing is that I realize that I am a work in progress! 

Last week I not only started my takeover of the class but I also started teaching my integrated unit. We are learning all about Alaska. Being that I have only been in the state a little over three years, I am having a crash course in Alaska studies too! So far, it has gone very well. The kids are excited to learn about their state. They have been very well behaved and I rarely have to raise my voice. I have close to 100% participation (which any teacher can tell you is hard and rare) and the kids have SO many questions. Monday we are doing a couple fun things. I am having the kids paint with feathers. They are painting the Northern Lights and then we will hang them up with paragraphs they wrote about Alaska’s beauty. Also, we will be doing some mapping activities. Groups of students will be given envelopes with “missions” in them. They will have to label our blank map of Alaska with items such as mountain ranges, rivers, major cities, etc. I think they will really enjoy it! For the remainder of the week we move into learning about the native tribes that live in each region of Alaska. Being that we have several native students in our class, this should be fun! 

Also, this next week is Valentine’s Day, as if anyone could forget! In a moment of sheer stupidity, I ventured to Fred Meyers. It was packed! I’m not sure that I have ever seen so many people in that store. The jewelry store was hopping as well as the card section and of course, the many pink and red aisles devoted to the holiday. On Tuesday we will be exchanging valentines in class. I’m not sure how this will work but I have my v-day box made. I can’t wait for the kids to see it and I can’t wait to see what the kids bring in! 

 

My V-Day Box

My Valentines I'm handing out with a crunch bar.

 

In other news, my supervisor stopped by this week to observe my teaching. She had nothing but positive things to say! I approached her about adding her as a reference on my resume and she was happy to oblige. She is planning a meeting with me to discuss applying on the east coast. She lived and worked in Maryland (and I think a few other states) for several years before moving here. Despite the fact that she is a Terps fan and I am not…I will take all the info I can get! 

Tomorrow I’m meeting with my host teacher to plan out the week.

*Last week I kicked two kids out of my class. One for bullying and one for punching and kicking the bookshelf. I handed out four checks to misbehaving students but didn’t have to call a single student’s parents. Let’s hope next week goes better.*

Sometimes there is no next time, no second chance, no time out. Sometimes it is now or never.

And February is off with a bang!
It never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies. It seems like I'm constantly hopping around with a list of things to do and I never manage to get entirely through the list! Some great things have happened recently though. Firstly, my car is officially fixed! It had some sort of damaged tube that caused it to die occasionally at stop signs. This was kind of funny in the beginning, as my roommate and I would start laughing at how awkward it felt to have the car die with a line of cars behind us. Then it became more frequent and annoying. Luckily, it was a simple fix and the Mendenhall auto people took good care of her (Of course, my car is female).
What else has happened? Well, I turned in my application for graduation. I know. I know. About time! Right? I've only been in school forever. But hey, I figure, I have been living a pretty amazing dream up here and so what if I'm late getting out of school? Most of my credits didn't transfer into UAS, like I was told they would. So, yes, it took me longer than expected. BUT who else can say that they did what I did. I mean, I go to an amazing school, with a top notch education program. I have a great host teacher who has taught me EVEN MORE than the school has taught me. I live in God's Country; beautiful Alaska. Plus, I spend my summers working at a helicopter company where I get to see some of the most beautiful glaciers in the world. It's a unique experience and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The point, well, Graduation is MAY 6th Baby!

 

(Why yes, I'm rocking my plaid at school! And you're correct, I absolutely am drawing fruit.)

What else is going on? Welp, my takeover in the classroom starts Monday! YIKES! This could go very right or very wrong. I've been working on preparing for a while now but I still feel unprepared. I know it will all come together but I also know that it will be difficult and exhausting. It will be worth it though...or so I'm going to tell myself....
Speaking of the classroom, we have had some fun things going on. We have had the district art teacher stopping by each week. I've been doing the lessons with the kids and it's been a blast. Our kids have also been learning ballroom dancing. They think it's soo funny to see their teachers dancing with them. I think it's really funny to see all the tiny boys dancing with girls who are starting to mature, and are two feet taller than them. Last week I finished reading A Long Way From Chicago to the kids. It was a GREAT book. The kids loved it and we all got several laughs from it! Some were written into the story. Several were candid moments from my students. For example, at the end of the book it spoke briefly of a girdle. One boy in the front row raised his hand and very seriously informed all of us that "A girdle was something that made girls skinny and pushed those things up." When he said 'those things' he gestured to his chest as if he had breasts. I about fell off my chair and so did the rest of the class. This week we have moved onto a book called Zorgamazoo. It is a chapter book that is entirely in poem form. It's pretty funny and the kids love poems at this age. Some of them are not sure whether they like the book or not but they are all engaged. That's all that matters. I like to make bulletin boards for each of my read-alouds, so I made a new one today. It turned out well.

So, that's life in the classroom for now... I'm putting it all on hold for a little relax time tonight. I've got Criminal Minds loaded on my computer and I'm ready to chill. Tomorrow will be full of planning and stressing and preparing for Monday. Sunday will also be full of this same behavior, with a little bit of time allotted for the SUPER BOWL! I would also like to take some time on Sunday to put in a few applications along the East Coast....we'll see...

Here is a story that's stranger than strange. Before we begin you may want to arrange:

a blanket, a cushion, a comfortable seat,

and maybe some cocoa and something to eat.

-Zorgamazoo (Chapter 1)