7 Weeks In!

I know I said I would put pictures up soon, but believe it or not, things have been pretty hectic (shouldn't be too hard to believe, I mean it's student teaching)! So I'll try to promise again, but no guarantees that I will get to it any time soon. Things have been going really well this week. I felt as though I was in a little bit of a slump last week, and lacked my usual confidence in the classroom. Now, however, I am good as new! I guess I just hit a mid semester bump in the road.

I recently had an observation done by my supervisor and she and my mentor teacher agreed that they have seen some good improvements made since I first started. It's always reassuring to hear those who have been in education for a while say things like this. My mentor teacher and supervisor have been great in terms of giving feedback and positive critiques to help me become a better teacher. I was placed with a GREAT mentor teacher for my experience. She is great as a professional, and is becoming a good friend as well.

Let's see. . . what else is new? Well, recently we had a father come in for a conference and he expressed a big concern about his son's reading and English. The family is from a different country and although we can understand him in class, there are still difficulties to overcome. After hearing his father's plea for help, I knew we had to do something more. We started working with him more one-on-one and we have already seen some improvements. This student works so hard and I hope he continues to work hard to overcome these language barriers. This is my first experience with someone who is a true English Language Learner and it is definitely a challenge, but also very worth it.

This week, I also got a new student in class. I was worried about how the students would approach her although this does happen frequently here. As soon as our new student walked in all of them were so excited they all said "hi!" and asked her questions. One boy even tried to introduce her to everybody and every routine we had. It was too cute! She seemed shy at first, but I think she will fit right in. It didn't take too long for her to join in with the rest of the class to dance and get their "giggles and wiggles" out!

So far, I'd have to say the hardest thing about student teaching is getting all the work done in a decent time. Working with the students in the class is fairly easy because it just feels so natural. Although not all the lesson plans are difficult to write, it still takes a lot of time. It seems as though as soon as I finish one week's worth of lessons, I am on to the next week with little to no down time. All of this is just in time to teach it the following week. I am getting better at it though, and as hard as it is, it will be absolutely worth it when I get to have my own classroom someday.

I can't believe that in just a few months I will be graduating and looking for a job as a teacher! I think I'll be ready when the time comes for all that. It is so exciting!!

I can't wait for the weekend ahead. My best friend is coming to visit once again, and although most of our time will be spent doing lesson plans, I'm sure will find some fun around here! We always do. = )

Couldn't be happier! Talk to you soon.

Busy, Busy

Well, if the timing between now and my last post wasn't enough of an indicator, it has been extremely busy! As each week goes on I pick up another subject to teach, but it's the planning for these lessons that takes so much time. On top of that I am taking a science/philosophy class in order to graduate come May. I am trying to just take it day-by-day as new experiences and work arrives. Wow- Debbie Downer! Enough of that!

It finally feels as though I am getting my creative spark back, but it is definitely hard to keep up and stay fully organized with so much going on. I also prepared for my thematic science unit last week and the week before. It was so fun to create interactive science experiments. They were definitely a hit with my students. I started by decorating the room with sea animal cut outs. Then each student made a jelly fish out of coffee filters. Our experiments consisted of finding out what makes an egg float in an ocean (salt water), making waves in a jar, predicting the actual size of sea animals, and learning about sea animals. It was so fun to differ from the usual workbook activities, and do hands-on, unpredictable activities. I can't believe that after this week I was supposed to go home, until I changed my mind to stay for 12 weeks that is.

This weekend was a special weekend. My best friend who is in another part of Florida doing student teaching came to Celebration for an Alumni Dinner and day at Disney World. On Friday President Finks from Ashland came to school with his wife, Dr. Rycik (the director of student teaching), and Mr. Hendershott (the director of student teaching). The students were so excited to see a president up close and personal. It was a nice treat! Then myself and the other interns had dinner with Dr. Rycik and Mr. Hendershott. It was so great to catch up with them and hear all about how Ashland is doing. After dinner we went to the alumni event where we got to meet all kinds of Alumni from around the country. Overall it was a very good night.

The next day we woke up really early to go to Disney World for the day. We spent 14 hours walking all around Magic Kingdom, then to Hollywood Studios, and finally to Epcot. Originally my favorite ride was Winnie the Pooh (total classic)! Then I experienced the most awesome ride ever to be found on Earth! Basically, you sit in a chair that spins in different directions (but not constantly) while shooting at 3D targets! IT WAS AWESOME! Once again I got to feel like a kid again- and not to mention it was all with my best friend! I have to say though- none of this would be possible if it weren't for my host family. They are so generous and supportive of me that I really couldn't ask for a better home away from home.

To top the weekend off I found out that Alicia will be moving in with me and teaching here in Celebration! Good times are coming my way!

Once again, I am so sorry that it took so long to post. As much as I love blogging, it is very difficult to keep up with all the other work.

p.s. Pictures will come very soon! Check back in a day or two.

Not Enough Hours in a Day

Hello Followers! Sorry it has been so long since my las post. I am quickly finding out that there just aren't enough hours in the day. Since I last posted a lot has happened. I have been teaching two subjects on my own, and have been team teaching alongside my mentor teacher for the other subjects. Previously I talked about how I was having some trouble with students sitting still and paying attention. I thought it was bad then- well it has only gotten worse! As my teacher says "the honeymoon period is over!" My students have gotten used to having me there and boy do they LOVE to talk! This week I had a record number of sticks moved for behavior, and a lot of students were missing out on some recess time. Hopefully they will see that Mrs. Braasch and I need their attention, and if we don't get it, there will be consequences! That sounds so bad, but trust me, it is needed. Myself and others are quickly becoming tired of hearing our own voices because of how we have to talk in order to get their attention. Although it is tiring there are so many upsides to the day. These kids make me laugh and smile so much. They have such great personalities. Bill Cosby wasn't lying when he said "Kids say the darndest things".

We have officially implemented the Bucket Plan in our class. For those of you that don't know the Bucket Plan, for lack of better words, is reading the book: How Full is Your Bucket For Kids. The students are then responsible for filling other students buckets by saying nice things or performing good deeds. It is always fun to see the kids get into filling others buckets!

I have also been planning my unit on oceans and I think it will be a lot of fun for the kids. They are going to learn about Manatees, waves, sinking and floating, and the list goes on. It should be a great week!

Some pretty fun stuff has happened outside of the classroom too. First, Emily (one of the other interns) and I went to Magic Kingdom. IT WAS AWESOME! I got to meet my favorite princess- Belle and Emily got to meet her favorite which is Sleeping Beauty! We also rode the famous Dumbo ride that you see in all the Disney World Commercials. I think my favorite ride was Winnie the Pooh though. If you grew up with this movie or show then you have to get on this ride! It takes you through the whole story and I definitely felt like a kid again. I can't wait to go to the rest of the parks at Disney World. I know it will be a good time.

I also saw my first Armadillo! It's one of those animals that is so ugly that it's kind of cute, or rather interesting I guess I should say. Now, I just want to see one curl up into a ball! How cool!

Student teaching so far has been a lot of fun, but even more hard work. I spend a lot of hours writing lesson plan after lesson plan. What fun?! At least I am in warm weather with a lot of fun things to do for a break. Now instead of going to the local Walmart for a break, I can go to an outdoor pool! = )

Back to work I go. Miss you Ohioans.

Exciting News!

Attention all blog followers, great news! I have decided to stay here in Florida for the whole 12 weeks! Thanks to the help of a pros and cons list I was able to effectively make my decision. I have already learned a lot from being here and I know there is only more to come.

Now, let me fill you in on how life is going down here in sunny Florida! Teaching is going great! At first I was having a little bit of a hard adjusting because my classroom wasn't like the others I had experienced. This is turning out to be a great advantage for me. I will be able to go to an interview and say how I adapted to a new situation and persevered through it. As I became more involved in the classroom I was noticing a few students that struggled paying attention and sitting still. I implemented a behavior plan for four of these boys. If they can act appropriately then I give them a stamp on a chart. They have the opportunity to get a stamp 2 times a day. By the end of the week if they have at least 8 stamps then they can have a reward (stickers). It seems to really be working for most of them. I am especially pleased with one boy who seems to be on his way to making a big turn around. This brings me to my proud teacher moment of the week! This boy frequently is being told on by other students who say he said this or did that. He always says the opposite happened. Well, I decided to keep an eye on him at recess. As it turns out someone pushed him, and what did he do? HE WALKED AWAY! I was so proud. It sounds silly, but I expected him to push back! He didn't though, he walked away to play somewhere else. You should have seen the look on his face when we told me we were proud of him. He was shocked because he thought he was going to get in trouble. It made me so happy to see him behave the way he did!

Let's see. . . what else interesting happened this week? O- quote of the day. Teacher- "Who is in charge of our country?" Student- "Marack Mo Momba". Let's be honest, it is a tricky name to say.

So, the classroom is going great. We have very supportive teachers and staff.

They aren't the only ones who have been supportive though. The host families have been great! My host mom is always very welcoming and she is there if I need her. The Ganley's always offer a friendly home to hang out. They also have made sure we get the best out of our experience here. We have so much planned that we can only find in Florida, and you better believe we are going take advantage of it! I know I will be planning on knocking off one thing on my Bucket List by going to DISNEY WORLD on saturday! YAY! I am so excited; I cannot wait to meet some Disney Princesses!

I can't wait for all the fun things ahead and for all the things I know I am going to learn! Stay tuned.

One Week In

So far, I have completed one week of student teaching. That means 11 more to go- 5 here in Florida, and 6 back in Ohio. After this week of experience I've come to think that Florida schools might be a little different from the schools I have worked in back home. Not necessarily in a bad way, just different from what I am used to. I am starting to get the hang of things though, and because of that I have spent a lot of time making lesson plans! There is only more to come with the work load.

On to the fun stuff! On Friday night we went to The Polynesian, which is a hotel in Disney. We each got a dessert and sat on the beach facing Cinderella's castle to watch the fireworks. Talk about a sight! It was beautiful. You could see 2 different hotels across the water and right in between them was the castle. Then, at 8:00 Disney music started playing and the fireworks show began! I loved it! One more fun thing to do in Disney. I woke up on Saturday to a gorgeous and warm day. I spent some time working before going out to catch some rays. After that all of us interns went to downtown Celebration to enjoy a meal together. From there we walked to an ice cream store that had delicious ice cream. It was a beautiful weekend out in Celebration with good friends! Hopefully there are plenty more to come.

Getting in the Swing of Things

Today was my first day in my classroom at Celebration K8! Everyone there was so nice and welcoming. I expected to do a lot of observing on the first day, but my teacher was more then willing to let me have a little bit more involvement. She seems like a great teacher and I am so excited to teach with her! I have a more diverse group of students compared to years past, which will provide me with a new experience. These kids are real troopers too. I can't imagine what it is like for a kindergartner in a school as big as this. One boy actually thought it took us an hour to get from the lunch room to the classroom- too cute. So far though, I am loving being able to walk outside to get to other areas of the school. I'm sure this will all change when we have a storm during the middle of the day.

Speaking of storms. . . I experienced my first Florida storm today! I heard we were going to get hit by one, but I didn't really know what it would be like. I wake up from my nap to find a t.v. full of bright red covering half of Florida! A bunch of areas had tornado warnings, but apparently we were fine. I was a little nervous being up on a second level when thunder was literally shaking the house! I guess this storm wasn't really anything to be worried about, so I'll have to get used to them.

I've heard from students who have done this program in the past that they get pretty homesick the first week. I happen to be doing surprisingly well! Don't get me wrong- I do miss my parents, my friends, and of course if you know anything about me you know I miss my pets, but it helps having a sheltie sleeping right next to me right now! = ) The cat joined us earlier too. Needless to say I am pretty happy!

So far, I am loving every minute of Florida. Check in for more later!

Home Away From Home

Well, after two days on the road I finally arrived in wonderful, sunny Celebration, Florida! My dad, who Tiffany voted Dad of the Year, drove probably all but four hours, so thanks dad- Love you! While driving down here and after spending two days here I have learned a few things:

1. Don't get lost or you will be scrapping for pennies to pay your toll!

2. You can do u-turns!

3. Pay attention to the speed limit. At times it's 70 MPH and someone might fly by you!

4. Don't always trust your GPS.

5. Watch out for armadillos and wild boar- I guess there frequent around here.

6. THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!

I am sure there are many more lessons to be learned during my time here. Now, on to what I've done so far, and what's up ahead.

After arriving yesterday my dad and I went to Downtown Disney with the other interns and some of the host families. We ate at this place called T-Rex where there is animation the entire time you are eating! The place is filled with moving dinosaurs, sea creatures, and meteors! It was pretty neat. Spending practically two whole days in a car had me beat so it wasn't long after dinner that I crashed in bed. I woke up to yet another sunny, and SNOW FREE day! (Yay!) My dad and I decided to go to the store, but that idea got cut short when my car wouldn't start-oops. Don't leave a light on over night and this won't happen. We took a nice walk around the neighborhood before coming back and finally getting the car started thanks to a nice neighbor. Not the best start to a day, but it turned out to be just fine (minus taking my dad to the airport, which was pretty sad). I was able to hang out by my self for part of the day then went to the Ganley's to watch a movie with Tiffany and Staci (two other interns here). It was a good time! Hopefully I'll be able to have a good mixture of time to myself, and time with friends.

Everybody has been so nice and it seems that it won't be hard at all to feel at home. Tomorrow I am meeting my mentor teacher and I can't wait! I also will finally get to see the inside of the school, and learn a little bit more about my role as a student teacher. I am so excited for this adventure! Keep checking my blog to see what's next!