Everyday Life

          The last couple weeks I have taken over teaching science and social studies to the kids.  Starting next week I will be teaching every subject :)  Teaching has been going well, there are good days as well as bad.  Lately, it has been too hot for the kids to go out to recess.....they call it 'rainy day schedule' for some reason.  The kids stay in and we play board games, heads up 7 up, or 4 corners.  This has been fun, but I've noticed the kids start to get antsy when 2 o'clock rolls around, which is when I've been teaching.  So I try to get them up and out of their seats as much as possible.  We did our first experiment last week.  The kids had to determine raw eggs from hard-boiled ones using their 'observations.'  They loved the activity, and surprisingly, didn't drop any eggs on the floor.....I was very proud of them. 

Classroom :)

              The kids have been feeling more and more comfortable with me.  They tell me their wild stories, draw me pictures, tell me their problems, and cry to me when they can't find homework.  One student always tells me about his 'scorpian hunting' adventures with his dad, which is actually interesting to hear about.  It has become a daily routine to play hangman on the board after school.  There's always something going on, that's for sure. 

One of many pictures I get daily :)

                    The other day my cooperating teacher got an email from the mom of one of the students.  It said she had been kidnapped and was being held hostage in Cyprus, she needed a loan of 3,000 dollars and was wondering if we could get her the money........after some confusion we found out someone had hacked her email.  Another exciting adventure was picture day.  The kids came to school all dressed up, they looked so cute.  Before pictures the girls had to brush their hair, and one boy thought it was necessary to do push-ups so his muscles would look good for the camera..............we tried telling him the picture would only be of his head but he didn't care. :)


Lenny's home

             Pictured above is our snake's home.  He likes to hide behind the log and sleep most of the day.  We fed him a mouse on Monday, which he swallowed whole.  It was a little disturbing but a great learning experience for the kids.            

              I'm excited my first three weeks of student teaching have gone well.  I've learned a lot.  Mainly I've learned I'm going to have good days as well as bad.  One day can be horrible, everything can wrong, kids can be tired or not wanted to listen, but the next day can be awesome.  One second I can be so happy about something the kids accomplished, and the next minute I'm upset because the kids aren't listening.  It's a rollercoaster, and I feel a bit bipolar.  But, all in all, the good days triumph the bad.  When the kids aren't listening or they're dozing off, I learned I have to get them excited, get them up and moving, and maybe give them a little sugar. :)

First lesson

Today I got my first chance to teach a lesson to the 4th graders.  I mentioned a science lesson I thought students would enjoy to my cooperating teacher.  Little did I know she would ask me to teach it in 3 hours.  This was a little stressful because I wasn't prepared and didn't know how I was going to stretch the lesson out to be a total of 40 minutes. But I did, and it went great :)

For the lesson I had students get out a sheet of paper and draw a scientist.  Most of them drew a male with crazy hair and a labcoat.  After students shared their drawings with their tablemates they had to write down 3 simularities between their artwork.  We compiled a list of all simularities.  I then asked, "why do we picture a scientist this way?"  Most thought it was from tv/movies and from Albert Einstein.  I then very quietly said, "I have a secret to tell all of you..........................................I'm a scientist."  Most of them gasped and just stared at me waiting for me to tell them I was kidding.  But i wasn't.  Then I told them they were all scientists too! They all looked at each other with confused expressions. I explained that a scientist doesn't have to be male with crazy hair or wear a labcoat.  Everytime we a question/problem and try to solve it we are being scientists.  I challenged them to think outside of the box this year in science class and never give up on a problem they are trying to solve.  I was then informed that I should say "think outside of the oval inside of box since our heads our shaped like ovals."......good thought.  :)

First days of student teaching :)

First off, I decided to create a blog to document my time spent student teaching.  This way I can look back and remember things I've learned from this experience.  I decided to student teach in Arizona. Why Arizona???...because I felt I needed a challenge..something out of my comfort zone..to help me grow personally and professionally.  I also have an aunt and uncle living in Arizona, so I'm lucky enough to have a place to stay.

During student teaching I will spend the first 8 weeks in a 4th grade classroom and 8 weeks in a 7th/8th grade science classroom. I've had many previous experiences working with elementary aged students, so I'm not too worried about 4th grade.  As for 7th/8th grade, welllllllll, I'm a little worried.  I'm sure it will all turn out fine though, and I'll learn a lot.  It can't be that bad, right?!

So, today was my second day in fourth grade.  I love my cooperating teacher.  She's so sweet and I feel comfortable asking her questions.  She does a great job with the kids.  Oh, and by the way, there are 32 kids...as of yesterday.  We got a new student today from another homeroom.  There are a total of four 4th grade teachers and they have had some problems with parents calling and wanting their students switched to another homeroom.  Not because of the student's homeroom teacher, but because the students 'friends' are not in the same homeroom.  This gets frustrating, making the teacher's lives a little more difficult.  Back when I was in school, you dealt with whatever teacher you were assigned....and you made new friends.

Anyways, yesterday was the first day of school.  I couldn't sleep the night before because I was so excited :)  The kids were excited too, although most of them wouldn't admit it. 

Glimpse of room

Here are some highlights from the day:

1. Lenny---the 'class pet.'  He is an Arizona Kingsnake, who eats frozen mice.  We each got a chance to hold him...he's the highlight of the classroom.  Kids would NOT stop talking about him, which is cool. 

2. When I introduced myself and told the students I was from Iowa, where it snows.  Right then, questions flooded in, I never knew snow could be so exciting (unless your from a hot climate I guess).  "So when it snows is it a little bit or a lot of snow??"...or "show me how high the snow would get up your leg"....."Kids actually miss school because of the snow?!?"...."How much school do they miss?"...."A snowstorm!!..that sounds awesome!!!!" :)

3. We were telling students to 'not talk to strangers', especially if they walk or ride their bike to school because it could be dangerous.  Student: "Well, what if I'm out on the playground and some kid I don't know talks to me...should I just ignore him?"  Apparently students needed some clarification about the 'no talking to strangers' rule.  Students, you can talk to your peers you don't know out on the playground.

4. Students had to put 2 folders, loose leaf paper, and a pencil bag into their 1 1/2" binders. This took close to an hour. First problem: putting the whole 500 sheets of loose leaf paper into their binder, why oh why will my binder not shut?!???  Second problem: filling their pencil bags so full of crayons, markers, pencils, highlighters, and scissors that the bag is about to bust at the seams....again, why will my binder not shut?? Third problem: putting their folders in upside down...why are my papers falling out?...........and my favorite happened at the end of the day........"You mean we have to put this ENTIRE BINDER in our backpacks to take home?!?!?!?!???????!!!!!".....yes, hunny, I promise the entire 1 1/2" binder will fit in your backpack. ;)

5. The final problem of the day was homework.  We had to have an entire discussion about when students will have time to complete their assignments.  Student 1: "It's my dad's birthday tonight, so I won't have time to do homework because we are going to dinner."  Student 2: "My bedtime is at 8 o'clock....and I have baseball at 7 o'clock...and that usually lasts until 9 o'clock, which is past my bedtime.....so right when I get home I have to go to bed....I will not have time to do anything.".."Lets see, what are you doing from 3 o'clock until your baseball game at 7?"...."Ohhh yeah, I might have time to do it then."  They are so cute :)

.........also, we have a student from Dubai in our classroom.  Today she stood up in front of the class and counted to 10 in arabic. It was awesome.

Some good ideas I thought I should jot down:

1. While the teacher is reading a story aloud, students should be allowed to color/draw.  This way they don't get tired of sitting still in their seats.........because once they get tired...they start poking their neighbors with pencils, trying to see how far back they can lean in their chairs before they tip over, and making funny faces at their friends from across the room.

2. "Three before me" rule.  Which means students must ask 3 classmates about a question they have before asking the teacher.  This allows them to stop and think before running to the teacher for an answer.  It also allows them to work together as a team, and makes the teacher's life a little bit easier.  This rule obviously has it's limitations, however.

3. When students use the restroom they must put the marked bottle of sanitizer on their desks.  This way, it is a friendly reminder to sanitize when they get back.

4. Marble Jar.  Everytime the whole class has exceptionally good behavior they get a handful of marbles in a jar.  Once the jar is filled, they get a pizza or movie party.  But if the class is not listening, they can get a handful of marbles taken away from the jar. Good behavior=reward.

Well that's about it for the first couple days..........I'll keep ya posted.