TWS

An update from my last post: Last week went smoothly and everything went well. I got almost everything done that was on my "To do" list and my combined groups went surprisingly well. The students we so great and the TA's were a huge help. It was scary at first but was a great learning experience. So here is my newest challenge. . .

Surprisingly this semester has probably been my easiest one yet. Professors and advisors constantly try to prepare you before hand by telling you that you will be so busy and never have time and be running around like crazy during student teaching, but I'm coming to realize they were over exaggerating maybe just a little bit. I will admit I have put in the most hours each week this semester than any previous one but I've probably had the least amount of stress so it all evens out. The hardest part for me is a large project called: The Teacher Work Sample (TWS) I have to complete by the end of the semester in order to graduate. A brief summary of it would be: 10 or more lessons to teach as part of a unit of my choice. It also includes a number of papers ranging from 2-4 pages each. Keep in mind that as much as I enjoy writing, anything more than 2 pages feels like it might as well be considered a novel. I've noticed that every night I come home I'm basically done thinking about school. As of now at least, I have enough prep time throughout the day that I don't have to bring my work home with me (1st time in my entire schooling!). The bad part is that my "classes" are 40 hrs a week so it doesn't leave too much time for me to work on this extra project and still have time to be lazy or do something of my choice. . . Welcome to the working world. So. . . I haven't really started it yet. I've tried to enjoy my evenings off and just get used to my new daily routine.

I've decided I've waited long enough. This project is still sitting in the back of my mind and constantly reminding me that it's not done yet and the days are quickly going by. So I decided to make a checklist and hopefully I will help me to get started on some of the smaller parts of it and slowly work my way through it. I don't want to put it off and be stressed at the end right before graduation and still be trying to cram in all in because it actually is kind of a a big deal. . . I can't graduate without it. So we'll see how this goes. My goal is 1-2 lessons or papers per week. This will give me plenty of time to get it done quickly and also have time in the evenings to relax and do something fun. It won't be too hard to do I just can't seem to make myself get started and just do it. We'll see how this goes. . . wish me luck!

Surprise, Surprise

So last week I hit the half way point in my first placement in student teaching. I guess you could say I'm more than 1/6 of the way done. Yay! Each day I learn tons of new ideas and strategies when working with kids and other teachers and TA's. Little by little my mentor teacher has been giving me more responsibility in taking over the classroom. It is harder in the resource room because you always had different students and something always comes up so the schedule is constantly changing. I feel like I'm finally kind of getting the hang of it but still not confident in a lot of things. Tonight my teacher call me and said she will be gone for the next 3 days for a funeral and that I will be taking over everything. Surprise! As if that was not enough, we have extra meetings 2 mornings before school, and 2 during lunch this week. I also have to do a few observations and fit in some extra time to start testing a student. We did have an IEP meeting scheduled for Thursday after school, but luckily she is going to reschedule it for when she will be here. Phew! Nothing like a little extra stress to help the week go by faster. I'm actually not too worried just a little, but it will definitely be different with her not there and me being in charge. It is nice having someone double check all your work and letting you know if it's right or not on a daily basis. Hopefully the week will go smoothly and no major problems come up while she's gone so I won't have to make any major decisions in her behalf.

Late Christmas

Sorry for such negativity lately. My last few posts haven't been the most uplifting but I guess I just needed to vent. Yesterday was a more positive day so I thought that's something I could share. It was a late Christmas! Before I had gone home for the holidays, Morgan and I had exchanged gifts. To my great surprise she had gotten me a gift card to Cal Ranch. This is because we had been talking and I had told her how much I liked some boots that I had seen there. Being the awesome friend she is. . .she got me a gift card so that I could go pick some out. I have to also give credit to Grandma Tangren for the other half of them thanks to her annual gift of . . . cash! (unfortunately the card alone wasn't enough to buy my boots) When I got these gifts I immediately pictured new boots I wanted so much! I have been somewhat busy since I have come home and haven't had a chance to go pick them out... until yesterday. I went to the store and spent an unusually long amount of time trying to pick between 2 pairs that were almost equally cute. I finally picked the ones I liked best and well, now I own them. I only wish I could wear them to school so I could wear them all day everyday. They are so cute! Thanks Morgan and Grandma!


To top off the story I may have a chance pretty soon to get to use them for their intended purpose. A friend and I were talking about guy he knows that has horses and wants to take someone for a ride. And the good friend he is, he gave him my number and said I wanted to go for a horse ride. So there is a possibility for a blind date with a cute cowboy coming up, and I'll get to wear my boots, so things could be looking up. . . but we'll see what actually happens. But until then, I'll just break them in wearing them to the store and around the house every minute that I'm not at school so they're ready when the time comes. :)

Welcome 2011

Well it's another new year and time to make some new years resolutions yet again. I really don't like making them because I always forget about them and most often forget what the even are. But there are a few things I would like to do this year because in a way I am starting a new chapter in my life. I will be graduating college and starting something new, but I still don't know what that will be. I have a few options: Start teaching, work somewhere outside of Utah for a while, go on a mission, get married, or many other things. I'm still not sure where my life will go after the next few months and consequently it gives me lots of frustration and sometimes anger. I know that I am in total control and can do whatever I want, but what causes the problem is that I don't know what I want, what is best for me, or what I'm supposed to do. I feel like I've worked and worked as long as I can remember and never really took much time to just have fun and do what I want to do. So I'm hoping that is something I can work on this year. Maybe I won't start teaching right away and I'll work at a low paying job while I live in a junky house, away from everyone I know, doing something I love equally as much. I want to do something different. Something for me. Everyone says this is the only time in your entire life where it's all about you. So far, yes it has been all about me, but I don't know if I would call it some of the funnest years of my life, but some of the longest, hardest, frustrating, stressful, and most challenging. But equally so, there have been sweet moments, happy times, great memories, learning experiences and positive examples. I guess what I'm feeling is that I have always done what was expected of me or what I was "supposed to do" or what "everyone else was doing". I wasn't opposed to doing what I've done but now I just want to take some time for myself. I want to do what I want to do. I don't care if everyone else thinks its a waste of time or money, or if it's "not what they would do". It's what I want to do. So I want to take more opportunities just to do something fun, something crazy and out of the ordinary. Because I agree, this is the only time in my life where I can do what I want and don't have to ask permission or check if it's ok. A few specific things I do want to do though are run a few half marathons, take a vacation, and meet someone.