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.