The Triumph: We successfully took a walking field trip to the creek today. Our school has been raising salmon in a tank near the office and students have been watching them grow from eggs to little teeny fish. And we had the opportunity to release them in the creek that is about a 15 minute (a 15 minute walk for Kinders) walk from our school. Kids knelt over the side of a bridge and dropped the small salmon in. I thought for sure one of our kids would go in, but they all stayed dry!
The Struggle: There have been a lot of small disagreements and arguments and feelings being hurt in the classroom lately. There were about 5 times today where one girl in particular was coming up to me, saying that some girls wouldn't include her. We need to have some conversations about how to be a friend and that we all need to be nice to each other, but with there only being one day until Spring break, it won't be as useful, especially since not all kids come everyday!
The Ludicrousness: Ok, I have to share two Kinder comments for this one today. They both made me laugh and both occurred as we were returning from releasing the salmon. As we are walking down the hallway towards our classroom, the school secretary came out to meet us and asked "How was it?" And one of my students yells out "IT WAS HORRIBLE!" He did not like the walk there and back and I think he may have even said something like, "We had to walk a really long way to get there and back!" I laughed out loud.
Then, as we are still in the hallway, on our way to the classroom, one of my girls noticed the tank where the salmon had been growing and she says "Hey are the salmon all dead? Where are they?" My only response was "Do you remember the creek we were just at? Those fish we just put in the creek? That was them!" Still has me laughing now!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
I've Been to the Zoo!!
I'm exhausted, so this will be a short one today.
The Triumph: Another successful lesson taught today on writing. I have been working on my think-alouds to students, and I think this skill really needs to be practiced more! It's more difficult than I thought to tell students what my thinking process is, especially when they are a bunch of 5 year olds who just want to join in and help tell my story!
The Struggle: There are a few students in my class that I have no idea how to motivate to start writing. So many kids have such great ideas, know their letter sounds, and come up with sentences that go along with their pictures. Yet, there are only a small handful of kids that will add words to their books, and even fewer who will add full sentences!
The Ludicrousness: There were many points throughout the day today where I found myself laughing quietly (and hiding my face from the children), including during my writing lesson to the Kinders. As I write my story to them, I am always reminding them that "it is my story, so it is my turn to talk" and that they will have a chance to share their own stories in their books. That having been said to them (several times, of course) I still saw many small excited hands waving in the air at me. So I still include them in my story by making statements like "If you like to have green peppers on your pizza, tap your nose and if you don't like green peppers tap your knee." Well, for some kids that just isn't enough and they feel like they HAVE to share a statement with me. One boy in particular is always extremely excited to share and as I was telling them my story of how I got pizza with another intern, he patiently raised his hand. I talked about the crust, the sauce, the peppers, the mushrooms, the tomatoes. I reminded students that it was my story so I wouldn't be calling on them, but this one boy still had his hand raised the entire time. Finally, I asked him if he had something that he needed to tell me. He said yes, so I asked if it was about my story. He said no. So I told him he had to wait, save it in his head and tell me when we were done in a few minutes.
Well, he just couldn't wait anymore! "But Miss Castleton, I LOVE CHEESE PIZZA! AND PEPPERONI TOO!" Well, I do too, friend! And that was the first of several excited outbursts from that student today! I'm ready to hear what he has to share on Friday!
*"I've been to the zoo" was another outburst from this student during a story about a fish! One of my favorites so far from him!
The Triumph: Another successful lesson taught today on writing. I have been working on my think-alouds to students, and I think this skill really needs to be practiced more! It's more difficult than I thought to tell students what my thinking process is, especially when they are a bunch of 5 year olds who just want to join in and help tell my story!
The Struggle: There are a few students in my class that I have no idea how to motivate to start writing. So many kids have such great ideas, know their letter sounds, and come up with sentences that go along with their pictures. Yet, there are only a small handful of kids that will add words to their books, and even fewer who will add full sentences!
The Ludicrousness: There were many points throughout the day today where I found myself laughing quietly (and hiding my face from the children), including during my writing lesson to the Kinders. As I write my story to them, I am always reminding them that "it is my story, so it is my turn to talk" and that they will have a chance to share their own stories in their books. That having been said to them (several times, of course) I still saw many small excited hands waving in the air at me. So I still include them in my story by making statements like "If you like to have green peppers on your pizza, tap your nose and if you don't like green peppers tap your knee." Well, for some kids that just isn't enough and they feel like they HAVE to share a statement with me. One boy in particular is always extremely excited to share and as I was telling them my story of how I got pizza with another intern, he patiently raised his hand. I talked about the crust, the sauce, the peppers, the mushrooms, the tomatoes. I reminded students that it was my story so I wouldn't be calling on them, but this one boy still had his hand raised the entire time. Finally, I asked him if he had something that he needed to tell me. He said yes, so I asked if it was about my story. He said no. So I told him he had to wait, save it in his head and tell me when we were done in a few minutes.
Well, he just couldn't wait anymore! "But Miss Castleton, I LOVE CHEESE PIZZA! AND PEPPERONI TOO!" Well, I do too, friend! And that was the first of several excited outbursts from that student today! I'm ready to hear what he has to share on Friday!
*"I've been to the zoo" was another outburst from this student during a story about a fish! One of my favorites so far from him!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The Greatness of Student Sharing and Positive Reinforcement
The Triumph: Today we set up a bulletin board in the hallway for the Kindergarten open house. We created some spring art for our hallway and I went in to the hall to start putting our wall together. A student that I have been struggling with decided to come in the hallway with me and was an awesome helper. He ended up taking charge and designing a majority of the wall! I was so impressed with his involvement, and the positiveness that he showed me through that experience. This student needs so many experiences with positive reinforcement and I was glad to have such a great experience with him where he could take charge.
The Struggle: I was shown by the full time Kindergarten intern today the amount of snacks that her class brought in after a note was sent home to families. The inequity between our two classrooms is immense. The other Kinder classroom at our school is a full-time program, where families pay money to send their students to school all day everyday ( and yes this is a cheaper alternative to daycare!). It is crazy to think that my kindergarteners and the full-time kindergarteners will be going into the same 1st grade classrooms. At this point my students have had half the amount of time that full-time students have been to school, and that difference will exist when they are joined in the same classroom.
The Ludicrousness: This is so kindergarten. During our writing time we have been making books. I taught a writing lesson today about adding details and talked about how writers add details to their pictures and their words to make their books more interesting and exciting to the reader. Well, during sharing I had each student share one detail that was added or included to show a detail. One student in particular started his sharing about his book that he started today. A book about war. A book about, as he quoted "the war between his people (the U.S. and the Nazi's." WHAT?!?! I could not even believe that he knew what a Nazi was. What is this kid watching at home?! And boy did he keep on sharing about the Nazi's and how the soldiers in his country fought against them. I tried as hard as I could to keep a straight face and to get him to move on so the next student could share. Sometimes I really wonder what these kids do at home and what types of things they can watch on T.V.!!!!!
The Struggle: I was shown by the full time Kindergarten intern today the amount of snacks that her class brought in after a note was sent home to families. The inequity between our two classrooms is immense. The other Kinder classroom at our school is a full-time program, where families pay money to send their students to school all day everyday ( and yes this is a cheaper alternative to daycare!). It is crazy to think that my kindergarteners and the full-time kindergarteners will be going into the same 1st grade classrooms. At this point my students have had half the amount of time that full-time students have been to school, and that difference will exist when they are joined in the same classroom.
The Ludicrousness: This is so kindergarten. During our writing time we have been making books. I taught a writing lesson today about adding details and talked about how writers add details to their pictures and their words to make their books more interesting and exciting to the reader. Well, during sharing I had each student share one detail that was added or included to show a detail. One student in particular started his sharing about his book that he started today. A book about war. A book about, as he quoted "the war between his people (the U.S. and the Nazi's." WHAT?!?! I could not even believe that he knew what a Nazi was. What is this kid watching at home?! And boy did he keep on sharing about the Nazi's and how the soldiers in his country fought against them. I tried as hard as I could to keep a straight face and to get him to move on so the next student could share. Sometimes I really wonder what these kids do at home and what types of things they can watch on T.V.!!!!!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Strep Throat... Spreading Like Wildfire!
The Triumph: Today was another day without my cooperating teacher. She came down with strep throat, which has been making its way through the Kindergarten students and teachers. The triumph wasn't in her absence but in the fact that I was able to successfully plan out the flow of the day and execute that plan successfully! AND without really using any technology. We didn't use youtube for our movement (we did "The Bunny Hop") or the whiteboard for modeled writing. However, there were only 7 students there today!
The Struggle: It's hard seeing students come to school when they don't feel good. One of my seven today came to school sick. He went right to the office when he got to school, complaining of ear ache and sore throat. He came to the classroom, did his math review and then went to nap at the back of the classroom for the entire morning. He ate lunch and then came back to nap some more. Poor kid! His mom couldn't get him until after lunch because of her work schedule and I just feel bad that he has to come to school despite feeling ill.
The Ludicrousness: The second grade student who often spends his afternoons in our classroom came in today. There was a neatly folded table cloth out on our train table, he walked in and whipped it open (after I had just neatly folded it!) I looked at him and said "What are you doing?!" He just looked at me and smiled, so I told him he had to fold it up before he could play with the trains. He then crumpled it up, and shoved it under the train table. I bet he does the exact same thing at home! When I told him that didn't count as folding, he just smiled again, but together he and I were able to fold the tablecloth up even neater than before. And he did a great job listening to instructions!!
The Struggle: It's hard seeing students come to school when they don't feel good. One of my seven today came to school sick. He went right to the office when he got to school, complaining of ear ache and sore throat. He came to the classroom, did his math review and then went to nap at the back of the classroom for the entire morning. He ate lunch and then came back to nap some more. Poor kid! His mom couldn't get him until after lunch because of her work schedule and I just feel bad that he has to come to school despite feeling ill.
The Ludicrousness: The second grade student who often spends his afternoons in our classroom came in today. There was a neatly folded table cloth out on our train table, he walked in and whipped it open (after I had just neatly folded it!) I looked at him and said "What are you doing?!" He just looked at me and smiled, so I told him he had to fold it up before he could play with the trains. He then crumpled it up, and shoved it under the train table. I bet he does the exact same thing at home! When I told him that didn't count as folding, he just smiled again, but together he and I were able to fold the tablecloth up even neater than before. And he did a great job listening to instructions!!
Friday, March 25, 2011
A Day of Complaining
Successful first week of blogging!! Yay!! And I'm so glad that it's the weekend!
The Triumph: I successfully taught my first art lesson today to a gaggle of 5 year olds. It was a lesson based off of following directions, as well as shapes. We created clowns that turned out looking amazing! It was nice to see how well the kids followed the step-by-step directions, as well as the individuality that each clown had.
The Struggle: The students were just whiny today. This group of students so different from the other group of Kinders that I am working with this year, and they complain about the silliest things. For example, this morning two students were in tears because they "didn't get a turn." We are almost done with the school year kids!! And there have been so many times throughout the year that we have discussed taking turns. I'm not sure if today was a good snapshot of how these students typically behave but man oh man, if it was, we are going to be having some major changes.
The Ludicrousness: Despite the whining that I dealt with today, it was a good day. I worked with a sub, who I absolutely love working with. I asked her in the morning if we could do some music and movement throughout the day that does not use technology. When we normally do music and movement, we use youtube. The Banana Dance is one of my favorites! Some of the kids seemed to be so resistant to the change, but finally were able to get into the songs and dances that we were doing!
The Triumph: I successfully taught my first art lesson today to a gaggle of 5 year olds. It was a lesson based off of following directions, as well as shapes. We created clowns that turned out looking amazing! It was nice to see how well the kids followed the step-by-step directions, as well as the individuality that each clown had.
The Struggle: The students were just whiny today. This group of students so different from the other group of Kinders that I am working with this year, and they complain about the silliest things. For example, this morning two students were in tears because they "didn't get a turn." We are almost done with the school year kids!! And there have been so many times throughout the year that we have discussed taking turns. I'm not sure if today was a good snapshot of how these students typically behave but man oh man, if it was, we are going to be having some major changes.
The Ludicrousness: Despite the whining that I dealt with today, it was a good day. I worked with a sub, who I absolutely love working with. I asked her in the morning if we could do some music and movement throughout the day that does not use technology. When we normally do music and movement, we use youtube. The Banana Dance is one of my favorites! Some of the kids seemed to be so resistant to the change, but finally were able to get into the songs and dances that we were doing!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Does 'cat' rhyme with 'turtle'??
Back in the classroom today!! And I can't wait for tomorrow, since I'll be seeing some of my students that I haven't seen in weeks!!
The Triumph: Recently, we have begun working on rhyming words. We have been reading books that have rhymes, as well as a song that has rhyming words that we can switch out. For example, "Did you ever see a sheep in a jeep?" We have been working on making new sets of words that also rhyme, and today, we started our own books that have rhyming words in them. These books have the same layout as our song, so students were just searching for two rhyming words, and then writing them in their books. During the book writing activity, I sat with two boys who have really been working hard on learning their letters and letter sounds. At first, when we were trying to come up with rhyming words, they were really struggling. They would give me a suggestion, and we would talk about the end of each of the words and if they sounded the same. It took quite a few tries, but finally the boys were able to come up with some awesome rhymes, including "Have you ever seen glue in a shoe" and "Have you ever seen a hook in a book?" It was great to see that idea really click for them, and will be even better to see if it settled for them!
The Struggle: A huge problem in our classroom as been using respectful language and respectful behavior. This is a problem between students, as well as between students and myself. There are so many different parts of the day where students are coming up to me saying "She said I can't be her friend" or "They said I can't play with them" or students disrespecting me by repeating what I say in a mocking tone (which I can not stand!!!) or just making noises that are inappropriate during a lesson. I have been talking with students in small groups, or even individually, depending on the situation, but it really has been time consuming and difficult to deal with. We need to have a whole class discussion about how we should treat friends in our room.
The Ludicrousness: This morning while doing math review with some of my students, one of my boys noticed a small object on the floor. He picked it up and wished to keep it, so I told him he had to put it in his pocket, or put it in his backpack. He looked real excited and said "I have a pocket on my shirt!" He then went up to reach for the pocket on his button up shirt. He was feeling around for it, when I noticed that his shirt was on inside-out. But it was buttoned the correct way. I brought this to the boys attention and he thought it would be best to go down to the boys bathroom to fix it.
About a minute later he returned, shirt still inside out, but somehow the buttons were all off by one. At this point, he said that he still couldn't get it fixed and moved to the back of the room, where there is an art area. He hid behind our easel so that he could unbutton and fix his shirt. The funny thing is, in the past, this student has made himself clothes out of paper during work time, including an outfit that consisted of white butcher paper wrapped around his waist and no shirt on! I was so glad that day that he had kept his pants on under his paper made clothes! You turn your head for 30 seconds in a Kindergarten classroom and anything can happen!!
I'm not sure what changed his ideas about removing clothing in the classroom, but I'm glad that they have changed!!
And we were able to successfully get his button-down shirt on the correct way!
The Triumph: Recently, we have begun working on rhyming words. We have been reading books that have rhymes, as well as a song that has rhyming words that we can switch out. For example, "Did you ever see a sheep in a jeep?" We have been working on making new sets of words that also rhyme, and today, we started our own books that have rhyming words in them. These books have the same layout as our song, so students were just searching for two rhyming words, and then writing them in their books. During the book writing activity, I sat with two boys who have really been working hard on learning their letters and letter sounds. At first, when we were trying to come up with rhyming words, they were really struggling. They would give me a suggestion, and we would talk about the end of each of the words and if they sounded the same. It took quite a few tries, but finally the boys were able to come up with some awesome rhymes, including "Have you ever seen glue in a shoe" and "Have you ever seen a hook in a book?" It was great to see that idea really click for them, and will be even better to see if it settled for them!
The Struggle: A huge problem in our classroom as been using respectful language and respectful behavior. This is a problem between students, as well as between students and myself. There are so many different parts of the day where students are coming up to me saying "She said I can't be her friend" or "They said I can't play with them" or students disrespecting me by repeating what I say in a mocking tone (which I can not stand!!!) or just making noises that are inappropriate during a lesson. I have been talking with students in small groups, or even individually, depending on the situation, but it really has been time consuming and difficult to deal with. We need to have a whole class discussion about how we should treat friends in our room.
The Ludicrousness: This morning while doing math review with some of my students, one of my boys noticed a small object on the floor. He picked it up and wished to keep it, so I told him he had to put it in his pocket, or put it in his backpack. He looked real excited and said "I have a pocket on my shirt!" He then went up to reach for the pocket on his button up shirt. He was feeling around for it, when I noticed that his shirt was on inside-out. But it was buttoned the correct way. I brought this to the boys attention and he thought it would be best to go down to the boys bathroom to fix it.
About a minute later he returned, shirt still inside out, but somehow the buttons were all off by one. At this point, he said that he still couldn't get it fixed and moved to the back of the room, where there is an art area. He hid behind our easel so that he could unbutton and fix his shirt. The funny thing is, in the past, this student has made himself clothes out of paper during work time, including an outfit that consisted of white butcher paper wrapped around his waist and no shirt on! I was so glad that day that he had kept his pants on under his paper made clothes! You turn your head for 30 seconds in a Kindergarten classroom and anything can happen!!
I'm not sure what changed his ideas about removing clothing in the classroom, but I'm glad that they have changed!!
And we were able to successfully get his button-down shirt on the correct way!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Snails, Snails, Snails.
I actually wasn't in the classroom again, so I'm not going to highlight the triumph, struggle or ludicrousness of my day today. Three days into my full time quarter and I have only been in my classroom for one full day!
Today, I was able to attend a science in-service day, specifically for Kindergarten teachers who are in the school district where I am teaching. And I didn't just attend. I was able to help, since my cooperating teacher is a member of the science team that is conducting the research on these science kits.
We have been comparing and observing pairs of animals. For example, goldfish vs. guppies, crocodiles vs. alligators, and pillbugs vs. sowbugs. We have also done land snails and water snails, which is what was presented today to all of the Kindergarten teachers, and what they did the science inquiry with.
It was great to see the interest on teachers' faces, as well as their involvement in the inquiry portion of the day. I enjoyed sharing with others what I have learned about snails, as well as sharing our own experiences with this science kit.
Did you know that snails breath through a breathing hole, located between their foot, and their shell?
They also have four tentacles, two that have eyes at the ends, and two that they use for feeling?
And finally, they eat by scraping with their tongues! So interesting!!
Today, I was able to attend a science in-service day, specifically for Kindergarten teachers who are in the school district where I am teaching. And I didn't just attend. I was able to help, since my cooperating teacher is a member of the science team that is conducting the research on these science kits.
We have been comparing and observing pairs of animals. For example, goldfish vs. guppies, crocodiles vs. alligators, and pillbugs vs. sowbugs. We have also done land snails and water snails, which is what was presented today to all of the Kindergarten teachers, and what they did the science inquiry with.
It was great to see the interest on teachers' faces, as well as their involvement in the inquiry portion of the day. I enjoyed sharing with others what I have learned about snails, as well as sharing our own experiences with this science kit.
Did you know that snails breath through a breathing hole, located between their foot, and their shell?
They also have four tentacles, two that have eyes at the ends, and two that they use for feeling?
And finally, they eat by scraping with their tongues! So interesting!!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
My Cowboy Fish!
Yup.... one of my students drew a fish that was a cowboy. He also drew a worm as a cowboy and an alligator eating a cowboy. All are now in his science notebook and today during science I heard him exclaim to his table mates "Look! My cowboy fish!" Best. Science. Notebook. Ever.
The Triumph: Today I led a small math discussion. I have been working on the types of questions that I ask of students, as well as advice from my cooperating teacher on the delivery of those questions. Students were involved in the discussion of dot cards (which are just that... half sheet cards, with a varying amount of dots on them) AND there was actually a great deal of sharing going on! Students were listening to each other. Students weren't shouting out! I only had to remind them a couple of times of what it was they were supposed to be doing. I really am just excited about both my development in questioning and the growing that they are doing as learners!
The Struggle: As I was leaving school, I noticed a student of mine and his two brothers walking away from the school. Normally these students walk home, but recently they have been crossing a busy street to head to a nearby city bus stop. It worries me, and knowing the background of these students it worries me even more. Another intern and I wondered if we should follow them, or even offer them a ride home, but is that crossing the line? I wish I knew what to do to help them more!
The Ludicrousness: During share-time at the end of the day, I was sitting next to one of my students who stated that he had not been feeling well. We were going around the circle and stopped on two of the girls in class, who wanted to share together. They were sharing a drawing that one of them had done as a gift for the other, and then stated that the boy sitting next to me was in the drawing. He turned, looked at me with a slight smirk on his face and said "Now that's just creepy." I just laughed and told him he must just be a popular guy. This is the same little guy who, a few weeks ago, gave me the 411 on Justin "Beaver". In his words, "He is a weird kid, that all the girls think is cute!" When I asked if Justin "Beaver" came to our school, he looked at me as if I was absolutely insane!!
The Triumph: Today I led a small math discussion. I have been working on the types of questions that I ask of students, as well as advice from my cooperating teacher on the delivery of those questions. Students were involved in the discussion of dot cards (which are just that... half sheet cards, with a varying amount of dots on them) AND there was actually a great deal of sharing going on! Students were listening to each other. Students weren't shouting out! I only had to remind them a couple of times of what it was they were supposed to be doing. I really am just excited about both my development in questioning and the growing that they are doing as learners!
The Struggle: As I was leaving school, I noticed a student of mine and his two brothers walking away from the school. Normally these students walk home, but recently they have been crossing a busy street to head to a nearby city bus stop. It worries me, and knowing the background of these students it worries me even more. Another intern and I wondered if we should follow them, or even offer them a ride home, but is that crossing the line? I wish I knew what to do to help them more!
The Ludicrousness: During share-time at the end of the day, I was sitting next to one of my students who stated that he had not been feeling well. We were going around the circle and stopped on two of the girls in class, who wanted to share together. They were sharing a drawing that one of them had done as a gift for the other, and then stated that the boy sitting next to me was in the drawing. He turned, looked at me with a slight smirk on his face and said "Now that's just creepy." I just laughed and told him he must just be a popular guy. This is the same little guy who, a few weeks ago, gave me the 411 on Justin "Beaver". In his words, "He is a weird kid, that all the girls think is cute!" When I asked if Justin "Beaver" came to our school, he looked at me as if I was absolutely insane!!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Gotta Have Those Resources!
Today is the first day of this blog, and the first day of my final quarter of student teaching. I have been in this classroom since the beginning of the year only a few days a week. Starting this week, I will be there every-single-day. And I can't wait! I have been learning so much about myself, as a teacher and as a learner, and would like to document at least one triumph, one struggle, and one ludicrous moment from each day.
Today was the first day of my final quarter of college (for now anyway), and I attended a student teacher job search seminar instead of going to my classroom.
The Triumph: Through this seminar, I have gained more confidence in myself. I feel more confident going out into the work field due to the interview tips, the resume writing tips, and the mock interviews. I have a clearer picture in my mind of what I need to do in order to pursue a teaching job, post-grad, and an abundance of resources to help me along the way.
The Struggle: I have also realized, mainly through the mock interviews, that I really need to practice! I need to figure out what my teaching philosophy is! How big should it be? I feel as if I could write pages on what I feel about teaching, but what are the main points that I want my future employers to be aware of? And exactly what type of literacy block would I develop based on assessment gathered from my students?!
The Ludicrousness: This is a hard one for today. There were no children blurting out the first thought that came into their heads, no lunch table freak-outs, and no musical instrument outbursts. However, after the seminar, I decided to google my name. I have done this many times before, mainly after hearing a family member rant about how awful the internet is and "don't you know, anyone can find you on there!" but today, I came across a lovely gem from a past class. Our assignment was to use the tool available on xtimeline, where students and teachers can create their own timeline on any subject. While in this class one of my classmates decided to write a timeline about me. These events are my favorite in my life (and I hope to see them come true in the future!) :
June 5, 2075 - First Death: Jen succumbs to the ebola virus after contact with an infected gorilla.
June 8, 2075 - Resurrection: Jen is brought back to life by becoming a vampire.
July 2, 3000 - Second Death: Jen succumbs to bubonic plague. Vampires can die from that, you know.
I could not help from laughing at that!
Today was the first day of my final quarter of college (for now anyway), and I attended a student teacher job search seminar instead of going to my classroom.
The Triumph: Through this seminar, I have gained more confidence in myself. I feel more confident going out into the work field due to the interview tips, the resume writing tips, and the mock interviews. I have a clearer picture in my mind of what I need to do in order to pursue a teaching job, post-grad, and an abundance of resources to help me along the way.
The Struggle: I have also realized, mainly through the mock interviews, that I really need to practice! I need to figure out what my teaching philosophy is! How big should it be? I feel as if I could write pages on what I feel about teaching, but what are the main points that I want my future employers to be aware of? And exactly what type of literacy block would I develop based on assessment gathered from my students?!
The Ludicrousness: This is a hard one for today. There were no children blurting out the first thought that came into their heads, no lunch table freak-outs, and no musical instrument outbursts. However, after the seminar, I decided to google my name. I have done this many times before, mainly after hearing a family member rant about how awful the internet is and "don't you know, anyone can find you on there!" but today, I came across a lovely gem from a past class. Our assignment was to use the tool available on xtimeline, where students and teachers can create their own timeline on any subject. While in this class one of my classmates decided to write a timeline about me. These events are my favorite in my life (and I hope to see them come true in the future!) :
June 5, 2075 - First Death: Jen succumbs to the ebola virus after contact with an infected gorilla.
June 8, 2075 - Resurrection: Jen is brought back to life by becoming a vampire.
July 2, 3000 - Second Death: Jen succumbs to bubonic plague. Vampires can die from that, you know.
I could not help from laughing at that!
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