This week has been conference week, which means I have each set of my kindergartners for a measly hour and a half each day. Unless it's late-start Thursday, on which I got each set for a whole hour and fifteen minutes. We got a lot done that day. It has flown by, especially since my mentor teacher left for Hawaii at 6:00am on Thursday morning, leaving a sub and I for the last two days of the week. It was glorious. By the end of today, most of the kids had a serious case of the giggles. I love hearing them laugh.
I told myself I wouldn't think about next year until the TPA (Teacher Performance Assessment... a gigantic portfolio we completed) was over.. Well, I turned it in on Monday (which brought about much celebration!) and now I have to think about it. SHOOT.
What I do know is that I will be spending the summer in Seattle working as a Special Needs Youth Counselor for Seattle Parks and Rec. I am STOKED and so excited to a) be at camp and b) be working with kids with disabilities! I miss both of these things so much and I cannot wait to spend a summer outside! I don't know where I will be living yet, whether it be at home or closer to Seattle, but miss Anna Gailey will be home planning her wedding and I am beyond excited to spend a few months close to her before she marries the man of her dreams (September 2nd... It will be a glorious day!).
If It were to start a summer bucket list, it would currently look like this:
CAMPING with Caty
CAMPING with Caty
CAMPING with Caty (yes, I put this three times. It's important!!)
Crashing on Tricia and Devin's floor in Spokane (both during the summer and once Devin gets back)
Staying with Randi in Montana
Play in Spike and Dig
Spend 4th of July watching fireworks over a body of water
Go to the Oregon Coast and let the waves wash over my feet
Visit my Grandparents in Ocean Shores and walk on the beach with my grandma
Spend time with the newlywed Alyssa and Karl, as well as cry my eyes out at their wedding
Go to Carkeek Park
Go to the zoo... Oh wait! I get to do that every Friday and get PAID to do it! :)
Go Whale Watching in Port Townsand
Go to Canada with Anna
SWIM as much as possible
Get a YMCA membership
Spend time with Sean and Matthew
Love.
I realized that most of these things have to do with people... But that's what I want. I know I will be tired, but I pray that I remember to invest in the people I love.
One month and fourteen days until my college graduation... Now that's just crazy.
Tomorrow I have a 6:10am flight to New York City to spend 6 days with Anna and then continue on to Providence for a day in the life of Erik Ymeraga. What a glorious spring break it will be!
PS- Happy birthday dear Erik :)
30 March 2012
08 March 2012
Happiness
Me: "How do you plan for a life of meaning? A life that's worth something?"
Friend: "I think you just try and make every day happy."
Wise words, sweet friend. Wise words.
Friend: "I think you just try and make every day happy."
Wise words, sweet friend. Wise words.
06 March 2012
Happy Today
"This too shall pass."
Last week was... hard.
But this morning I woke up, decided not to shower, and stayed in bed until 6:51 when I realized I needed to leave in exactly 24 minutes if I were to go to Pleasant Blends and get coffee before school.
Well, I left my house at 7:21, but I still went.
At Pleasant Blends, I almost always run into someone that I love (besides Louise, the cute old lady who owns it). However, it was 7:25 in the morning, so I wasn't expecting much... Until I found both Kaitlyn Rebbe (who I lived with my sophomore year and love to play cribbage with and TBR [taco bell run] with and talk about teaching with and just love life with) and Callie Gordon (whom I lived with last fall and is one of my most favorite people, and whom I have found that I admire for a million different awesome qualities about her that are all so simple but so great) at this tiny little coffee shop. Best start to a morning ever.
So then I decided it was a very happy day.
And then I proceeded to think of all the reasons that today is a happy day on my way to school.
First staff meeting. Best day.
Library in the afternoon. Best day.
Didiers tonight. Best day.
Getting to plan for my lesson tomorrow. Best day.
Not having to test all morning. Best day.
Having A.L. and K.D. and K.C. as students. Best day.
Having coffee for the staff meeting. Best day.
Think about Callie Bergstrom like I do every time anyone mentions a Vicki's Special. Best day.
Going skiing on Saturday with Will Horlbeck and hopefully many others. Best day.
Babysitting Saturday evening for two awesome kids. Best day.
Being in New York in 25 days. Best day.
Talking to Anna Lee Gailey yesterday for the first time in a while. Best day.
Having dinner with Callie Gordon tomorrow after taking Connie Lieseke to the airport. Best day.
Thinking about going to Water Aerobics on Thursday. Best day.
Knowing I have a volleyball game Thursday. Best day.
Today was just a happy day. I taught some, did some Animal Boogying with my kindergartners, prepped for an hour and a half after school in a quiet classroom, ate frozen yogurt with wonderful people, got excited for my supervisor to come in tomorrow, and just smiled.
Thank goodness.
"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24 <3
Last week was... hard.
But this morning I woke up, decided not to shower, and stayed in bed until 6:51 when I realized I needed to leave in exactly 24 minutes if I were to go to Pleasant Blends and get coffee before school.
Well, I left my house at 7:21, but I still went.
At Pleasant Blends, I almost always run into someone that I love (besides Louise, the cute old lady who owns it). However, it was 7:25 in the morning, so I wasn't expecting much... Until I found both Kaitlyn Rebbe (who I lived with my sophomore year and love to play cribbage with and TBR [taco bell run] with and talk about teaching with and just love life with) and Callie Gordon (whom I lived with last fall and is one of my most favorite people, and whom I have found that I admire for a million different awesome qualities about her that are all so simple but so great) at this tiny little coffee shop. Best start to a morning ever.
So then I decided it was a very happy day.
And then I proceeded to think of all the reasons that today is a happy day on my way to school.
First staff meeting. Best day.
Library in the afternoon. Best day.
Didiers tonight. Best day.
Getting to plan for my lesson tomorrow. Best day.
Not having to test all morning. Best day.
Having A.L. and K.D. and K.C. as students. Best day.
Having coffee for the staff meeting. Best day.
Think about Callie Bergstrom like I do every time anyone mentions a Vicki's Special. Best day.
Going skiing on Saturday with Will Horlbeck and hopefully many others. Best day.
Babysitting Saturday evening for two awesome kids. Best day.
Being in New York in 25 days. Best day.
Talking to Anna Lee Gailey yesterday for the first time in a while. Best day.
Having dinner with Callie Gordon tomorrow after taking Connie Lieseke to the airport. Best day.
Thinking about going to Water Aerobics on Thursday. Best day.
Knowing I have a volleyball game Thursday. Best day.
Today was just a happy day. I taught some, did some Animal Boogying with my kindergartners, prepped for an hour and a half after school in a quiet classroom, ate frozen yogurt with wonderful people, got excited for my supervisor to come in tomorrow, and just smiled.
Thank goodness.
"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24 <3
23 February 2012
I am a (student) teacher.
Writing that title sounds so odd to me. "Student teacher"... I was so excited to finally be able to put that as the reason I was signing in to Finch Elementary. It wasn't just a "practicum" anymore, it was go-time! The culmination of my last four years at Whitworth...
And it hasn't all been pretty.
We have a lot of transition going on, particularly in my afternoon class, as we have lost three and gained three students in the last four weeks. My teacher was gone for two days this week and one of the days was ROUGH for me. I finished the morning feeling disheartened and flustered... But there is always another day (or afternoon, in the world of half-day kindergarten!).
At 4:00 every Thursday I get coffee with a group of girls with whom I swap stories and tribulations and successes. We laugh and stress and make sure no one forgets due dates for assignments. I was talking to a professor this afternoon about her group of friends that she stays in contact with from college, and it makes me remember how blessed and privileged I feel to be a part of Whitworth and a group that know and loves me well.
I am testing and observing and meeting new faces and hand-holding. I am learning and listening and experimenting. I am stressing and editing and preparing. But I am teaching... and that is still so odd to me.
My greatest challenge rests in remembering that I am not teaching for me... I am teaching out of a calling and for those around me. For my students now and my students in the future... Not to pass the TPA or get a degree. And that puts my life in a whole different perspective.
I miss San Francisco like crazy. I miss sitting on Margo's bed blowing my nose and eating cupcakes just so we can send pictures to her grandsons.. I miss watching the sunset on the beach and putting my toes in the water. I miss Rosa Parks Elementary and my students there. I miss the people that I traveled with and was surrounded by every morning and evening. I even miss the Muni... Especially when I have to buy gas or scrape the snow off my car. I have a map of the city pinned next to my desk, and the memories flood back as I look at it. I love the star that lies smack dab in the middle of the city, representing the hotel we stayed at. I also love remembering that we biked to Sausalito... Which is not close!!! But alas, I am here and a piece of my heart rests in San Francisco (probably in the Boudin bakery when I died a little as they told me they were out of loaves of bread shaped like teddy bears. Who runs out of teddy bear bread, honestly?!).
And it hasn't all been pretty.
We have a lot of transition going on, particularly in my afternoon class, as we have lost three and gained three students in the last four weeks. My teacher was gone for two days this week and one of the days was ROUGH for me. I finished the morning feeling disheartened and flustered... But there is always another day (or afternoon, in the world of half-day kindergarten!).
At 4:00 every Thursday I get coffee with a group of girls with whom I swap stories and tribulations and successes. We laugh and stress and make sure no one forgets due dates for assignments. I was talking to a professor this afternoon about her group of friends that she stays in contact with from college, and it makes me remember how blessed and privileged I feel to be a part of Whitworth and a group that know and loves me well.
I am testing and observing and meeting new faces and hand-holding. I am learning and listening and experimenting. I am stressing and editing and preparing. But I am teaching... and that is still so odd to me.
My greatest challenge rests in remembering that I am not teaching for me... I am teaching out of a calling and for those around me. For my students now and my students in the future... Not to pass the TPA or get a degree. And that puts my life in a whole different perspective.
I miss San Francisco like crazy. I miss sitting on Margo's bed blowing my nose and eating cupcakes just so we can send pictures to her grandsons.. I miss watching the sunset on the beach and putting my toes in the water. I miss Rosa Parks Elementary and my students there. I miss the people that I traveled with and was surrounded by every morning and evening. I even miss the Muni... Especially when I have to buy gas or scrape the snow off my car. I have a map of the city pinned next to my desk, and the memories flood back as I look at it. I love the star that lies smack dab in the middle of the city, representing the hotel we stayed at. I also love remembering that we biked to Sausalito... Which is not close!!! But alas, I am here and a piece of my heart rests in San Francisco (probably in the Boudin bakery when I died a little as they told me they were out of loaves of bread shaped like teddy bears. Who runs out of teddy bear bread, honestly?!).
27 January 2012
New Adventures
We all made it home and none of us got slit. Whitworth School of Ed for the win.
I made it home yesterday afternoon after sleeping the whole plane ride from Oakland. My heart broke a little every time I would think about what my Rosa Parks students were doing... "It's 8:03! They're finishing their Do Nows and leaving for ELD in two minutes!" "It's 2:30! Shoot they're out of school by now and I'm already home!" "It's 7:50 on Friday! They're just starting the Cha Cha Slide! If I go fast I can make it!" My students had a little celebration for me on my last day and it was so heartwarming. My little J man, who I spent most of a day chasing around the school last week because he didn't want to go to class, was the first to give me a hug and wrote me such a sweet card. He is one that I tried to put lots of love into... He's in 5th grade, has already been arrested, probably will be again, and has adults watching him like hawks everywhere he goes... People seem to have a hard time loving him and it makes me really sad. But I was exposed to so much there and just got a taste of learning the power of diversity and equality... A spark that lit a flame in all of us.
Originally I was supposed to be going to Tanzania, but that trip fell through. At first, I was pretty upset about it, but as soon as San Fran proved itself to be possible, the world looked a little brighter again. And I would not trade this trip for the world. While my heart still feels called to work for somewhere foreign to me, spending a month in San Fran makes me remember that pain and suffering and poverty does not exist on one continent - it happens in our own backyard.
I had a student who spent first grade living in a house with gang members who would beat him up just for the heck of it - where lies the justice in that? I have a student whose mom came to get her and yelled at her to shut up in front of me - where lies the justice in that? Half my students came from single parent homes, and I think that's high compared to most classrooms... It breaks my heart. But one of the things I have learned this month is that I cannot pass judgment on neither students nor parents, because blame nor fault lies on any one person. I can only lift this up to God and pray that He provides and loves.... Loves a lot.
Today it is back home to Spokane for the start of a new adventure: student teaching. May the pass by clear and Walternate be tough!
I made it home yesterday afternoon after sleeping the whole plane ride from Oakland. My heart broke a little every time I would think about what my Rosa Parks students were doing... "It's 8:03! They're finishing their Do Nows and leaving for ELD in two minutes!" "It's 2:30! Shoot they're out of school by now and I'm already home!" "It's 7:50 on Friday! They're just starting the Cha Cha Slide! If I go fast I can make it!" My students had a little celebration for me on my last day and it was so heartwarming. My little J man, who I spent most of a day chasing around the school last week because he didn't want to go to class, was the first to give me a hug and wrote me such a sweet card. He is one that I tried to put lots of love into... He's in 5th grade, has already been arrested, probably will be again, and has adults watching him like hawks everywhere he goes... People seem to have a hard time loving him and it makes me really sad. But I was exposed to so much there and just got a taste of learning the power of diversity and equality... A spark that lit a flame in all of us.
Originally I was supposed to be going to Tanzania, but that trip fell through. At first, I was pretty upset about it, but as soon as San Fran proved itself to be possible, the world looked a little brighter again. And I would not trade this trip for the world. While my heart still feels called to work for somewhere foreign to me, spending a month in San Fran makes me remember that pain and suffering and poverty does not exist on one continent - it happens in our own backyard.
I had a student who spent first grade living in a house with gang members who would beat him up just for the heck of it - where lies the justice in that? I have a student whose mom came to get her and yelled at her to shut up in front of me - where lies the justice in that? Half my students came from single parent homes, and I think that's high compared to most classrooms... It breaks my heart. But one of the things I have learned this month is that I cannot pass judgment on neither students nor parents, because blame nor fault lies on any one person. I can only lift this up to God and pray that He provides and loves.... Loves a lot.
Today it is back home to Spokane for the start of a new adventure: student teaching. May the pass by clear and Walternate be tough!
24 January 2012
Wrapping Up
It's really hard for me to believe that in 48 hours I will be back in Kent, and in 72 hours I will likely be in Spokane.
I am so cliche. But I am totally leaving a little piece of my heart here.
Tonight we had our final meeting where we laughed and told stories and reminisced and shared our top 10 moments from the trip. Somehow I totally missed that this was going to be part of the meeting (those who really know me aren't surprised by this at all) and so I had to come up with them on a paper plate in about 3 minutes. But that's when the truly outstanding moments really come up, right? Here are my top 10 hits from my time in San Francisco..
So these might be a little confusing. But let me explain the last one (Lightbulb Moments by Worth It) because this moment was one of the moments teachers live for.
I have a student who I have been working on all month with multiplication. When I got here, my teacher asked if I could work with him because he can do all the math, he just has a hard time remembering how to carry numbers and what order to do all the steps of a multiplication problem.
So we worked and we worked.
I made him some visual aids that somehow seemed to help him make sense of things in his head.
So we worked and we worked some more.
A math test came and things didn't go super well.
I got frustrated because I could see that the visuals were helping, but he wasn't seeming to memorize the process at all.
So we worked and we worked some more.
On Friday, Mr. A was trying to solve a 3x3 multiplication problem (e.g. 123 x 456). He did his first two rows of work and tried to call it quits there... But that doesn't quite work. So when I told him he still had another line of work to do, he immediately realized what he had to do. And I was totally shocked. So I asked him to repeat to me what he had just done. And he told me fluently... It was so clear in his head! And he didn't have anything helping him! He just knew it! And thought the understanding is very much procedural (rather than conceptual) right now, it still clicked. Things aren't perfect yet, but I almost cried right on the spot and we spent the rest of the math period making a game out of checking his answers and cheering if he got them right and problem solving if something got off. He did awesome. And I wanted to cry the whole time.
Kindergarteners don't really have light bulb moments like that... Mostly because everything is kind of a light bulb moment for them. They're five, for goodness sake! But getting excited about math with little Mr. A was awesome... He's stellar.
One more day in the classroom with a little mini celebration before lunch, and then we are out of here! Caty and I hop on a shuttle at 7:30 Thursday morning to fly back to Seattle and retrieve our cars before heading back to Spokane over the weekend. Really weird to think that in 6 days I will be starting my student teaching classes on campus! Praying for safe travels and filled hearts as we leave this beautiful city.
I am so cliche. But I am totally leaving a little piece of my heart here.
Tonight we had our final meeting where we laughed and told stories and reminisced and shared our top 10 moments from the trip. Somehow I totally missed that this was going to be part of the meeting (those who really know me aren't surprised by this at all) and so I had to come up with them on a paper plate in about 3 minutes. But that's when the truly outstanding moments really come up, right? Here are my top 10 hits from my time in San Francisco..
Alcatraz for the Win by Alcatraz Cruises (2012)
I Like Long Walks on the Beach by Hopeless Romantic (2012)
Still cool in the eyes of a 5th Grader by Teachers Love Teaching (2012)
Wharf-io by Chowder and Friends (2012)
I Left my Heart in Napa Valley by The Wineries (2012)
Does This Bridge Ever End? By The Peddlers (2012)
Penguin Sighting by Never Too Old (2012)
City Life by This Isn’t So Bad After All (2012)
Hallelujah by The Grace Cathedral Choir (2012)
Lightbulb Moments by Worth It (2012)
So these might be a little confusing. But let me explain the last one (Lightbulb Moments by Worth It) because this moment was one of the moments teachers live for.
I have a student who I have been working on all month with multiplication. When I got here, my teacher asked if I could work with him because he can do all the math, he just has a hard time remembering how to carry numbers and what order to do all the steps of a multiplication problem.
So we worked and we worked.
I made him some visual aids that somehow seemed to help him make sense of things in his head.
So we worked and we worked some more.
A math test came and things didn't go super well.
I got frustrated because I could see that the visuals were helping, but he wasn't seeming to memorize the process at all.
So we worked and we worked some more.
On Friday, Mr. A was trying to solve a 3x3 multiplication problem (e.g. 123 x 456). He did his first two rows of work and tried to call it quits there... But that doesn't quite work. So when I told him he still had another line of work to do, he immediately realized what he had to do. And I was totally shocked. So I asked him to repeat to me what he had just done. And he told me fluently... It was so clear in his head! And he didn't have anything helping him! He just knew it! And thought the understanding is very much procedural (rather than conceptual) right now, it still clicked. Things aren't perfect yet, but I almost cried right on the spot and we spent the rest of the math period making a game out of checking his answers and cheering if he got them right and problem solving if something got off. He did awesome. And I wanted to cry the whole time.
Kindergarteners don't really have light bulb moments like that... Mostly because everything is kind of a light bulb moment for them. They're five, for goodness sake! But getting excited about math with little Mr. A was awesome... He's stellar.
One more day in the classroom with a little mini celebration before lunch, and then we are out of here! Caty and I hop on a shuttle at 7:30 Thursday morning to fly back to Seattle and retrieve our cars before heading back to Spokane over the weekend. Really weird to think that in 6 days I will be starting my student teaching classes on campus! Praying for safe travels and filled hearts as we leave this beautiful city.
23 January 2012
Napa!
This weekend I got a chance to get away to Napa Valley to spend some time at my roommate Devin's house. Devin and I have live together for the past two years after meeting our freshman year when we lived across the hall from each other. Caty, Cory and I hopped on a bus Friday afternoon and met up with not one, not two, but THREE of my wonderful Burrow-mates: Devin, Lynne, and Erin. Lynne graduated in May and is currently on a plane to go back down to Costa Rica where she is teaching this school year. She flew in on Wednesday and was able to spend a few days with Devin before she headed back. Erin just finished up in December and moved home to the Bay area to start graduate school in Marriage and Family Therapy at the University of San Francisco.
The weekend was seriously perfect.
It was a wonderful change of pace to be curled up in BLANKETS (which I have been missing for the last month. Hotel comforters just don't cut it) and play cards and drink coffee and go wine tasting and meet celebrities (Aly and AJ, Disney Channel stars... so cool!) and read books and watch the Princess Diaries and have brunch at Erin's... It was slow and happy and full of love. Thank you SO much to the Whitmill and McLennon families for sharing their homes with us -- we were so blessed this weekend!
Our group has one full free-day in the city tomorrow (no school for Lunar New Year... Score!) and then two days in the classroom before we head out! SO weird!
(ps. wrote this yesterday but my computer died on me... free day, check. h&m shopping with caty and danielle, check. time for homework and relaxing!)
The weekend was seriously perfect.
It was a wonderful change of pace to be curled up in BLANKETS (which I have been missing for the last month. Hotel comforters just don't cut it) and play cards and drink coffee and go wine tasting and meet celebrities (Aly and AJ, Disney Channel stars... so cool!) and read books and watch the Princess Diaries and have brunch at Erin's... It was slow and happy and full of love. Thank you SO much to the Whitmill and McLennon families for sharing their homes with us -- we were so blessed this weekend!
Our group has one full free-day in the city tomorrow (no school for Lunar New Year... Score!) and then two days in the classroom before we head out! SO weird!
(ps. wrote this yesterday but my computer died on me... free day, check. h&m shopping with caty and danielle, check. time for homework and relaxing!)
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