Another long weekend

Maggie and I are home together today. No school. No snow either. Hamilton County REALLY jumped the gun on this decision to close for the day. They had the closing posted on the news by around 4pm yesterday! The weather man was calling for ice and freezing rain, but I had a feeling (as usual) that nothing much would happen. I haven't ventured out yet today, but I haven't seen any ice or freezing rain. It is, however, 40 degrees and a drizzly, yucky, stay in your pajamas kind of day. So, I am doing just that--so far. Thanks, Hamilton County, for the day off so that I might catch up on some student teaching paperwork, laundry, cleaning, and organizing my office (WE BOUGHT A NEW DESK SET! FINALLY!).

Maggie has been alternating between lying on the couch and laying her head on my leg while I sit at the dining room table working. I know she's not a fan of nasty, gloomy, wet weather like this either. Poor girl just wants to run and play, but has zero tolerance for cold, wet feet. Maybe tomorrow, Mags?

Yesterday at school, we had a great time learning about clouds. I taught my first lesson and we made clouds in a cup. The kids were fascinated! Here is what one of them looked like once the "cloud" became too full of water droplets and it began to "rain".

Last night was "Family Math Night" at school. I got to meet several parents of the kiddos that I have already formed great relationships with. I found out that I had class with one of their moms this past summer! SO COOL! Also, as I helped one of my boys out with a math activity, he asked if I would tell his mom and dad where I got "that blue stuff" so that he could make his own cloud at home. Adorable. His dad told me that he loves science. He said, "Mrs. Hansen, Santa must know that I love science because he brought me a science kit this Christmas!" LOVE it! I'm looking forward to meeting more parents in the future. It was great to see these kiddos interacting with their parents and siblings and where they come from. So, math night was a success in my book!

My first graders have a dream too!

Last week we read about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. My cooperating teacher demonstrated that although we may look different on the outside, we are all the same on the inside by using a white egg and a brown egg. Though the eggs were different colors on the outside, we could not tell them apart once we broke them open and saw them from the inside.
Together, we learned how to draw a picture of Dr. King. With some amazingly cute crayon drawings of such an important figure in history, I was inspired to have the kiddos take it one step further and write down what their own "I have a dream" speech might be like. Below is a picture of our display and several of my favorite "I have a dream" sentences.

Take a close look at the one with the purple background. Mrs. Johnson (My cooperating teacher) and I LOVED that one! ;) What a sweetheart!

Student Teaching Placement 1: Week 1

1st Day of my 1st student teaching placement. I was ready to meet my cooperating teacher and my first graders that I would be working with for the next 8 weeks!

Well, this past week was not exactly what I imagined it would be. We (myself and 7 other anxious student teachers) met at the site of our first placement on Tuesday only to find out that the Principal was not there (her daughter had given birth to her 2nd child that weekend), the Assistant Principal was not there (he was at a meeting off campus), and it did not seem as though they (the teachers or office staff) knew we were coming! So, I would not consider our day 1 to be day 1. We spent the morning in a meeting room going over our handbooks with our PIR (Professor In Residence) and the gracious teacher that took over for the Principal and Assistant Principal in their absence. We took a leisurely lunch at a Mexican restaurant across the street. We FINALLY (and briefly) met the Assistant Principal after lunch. Then, once we were given the names of the teachers we would be paired with, we headed towards their classrooms. Many of them, however, were in a meeting discussing plans for us. SO...they sent us home early. Day 1: I didn't meet my cooperating teacher, I didn't meet my students, and I didn't meet the Principal.

2nd Day of my 1st student teaching placement (OR as I would call it, my 1st day: take 2 which is why I had Brent take my picture. Turns out-as you will read below-that I should have taken a day 3 picture as well). I was SO ready to meet my cooperating teacher and my first graders that I would be working with for the next 8 weeks!!

Day 2 began with a 2 hour delay due to the excessive amounts of rain that Chattanooga had received. I arrived 30 minutes early, anxious to FINALLY meet my teacher. Nope. She had been ill and would not be there. However, I was able to meet the kiddos (FINALLY)! They were very sweet and could not believe I would be with them for 8 whole weeks (a lifetime to them). There are 4 of us (Student teachers) placed in first grade there. We all worked together to pull pages out of enVision math books and discussing the unit our teachers planned for us to teach in a few weeks. Those tasks took us out of the classrooms for most of the day and before we knew it, day 2 (or day 1:take 2) was over!

Day 3: MY TEACHER RETURNED!!! I was SO happy! But, I was also making sure to bathe in hand sanitizer every time I came in contact with anything she had touched (my flu shot still had about a week and a half before it was fully effective). Well, I finally spent an entire day with my cooperating teacher and the kiddos in the classroom...well, kind of...we dismissed early (temperatures were dropping fast and everyone was afraid of snow and ice)! Anyway, she is great! VERY nice and VERY helpful. I have a feeling I will learn a lot from her.

Day 4: Yet ANOTHER 2 hour delay! The day went by quickly again, but I was excited to learn a few things...
-I sat in on a planning meeting with the first grade teachers and learned that they are working on a weather unit...I PLANNED A 3 WEEK WEATHER UNIT JUST LAST SEMESTER! I am excited to take in my binder of lessons tomorrow to see if they can/will use any of my ideas.
-My cooperating teacher is retiring at the end of this year! JOB OPENING FOR ME! HOO-RA! Hopefully she will put in a good word for me :)
-My cooperating teacher and the Kindergarten teacher whose room is attached to ours are excited that I can draw and intend to use that to their advantage quite a bit while I'm there. I drew a picture of MLK Jr. to display the kid's work alongside and they LOVED it! I will take a picture when it's all up and ready. BONUS POINTS ;)

SUMMARY:
-I have not spent a full school day at my first placement to date (off for MLK Jr. Day today).
-I have yet to meet the Principal (every time I go to the restroom or pass the office, I check for her, but to no avail).
-I LOVE my cooperating teacher!
-I LOVE my kiddos (already! I've gotten several hugs from them and that makes me smile).
-I LOVE the first grade teaching team (they are ALL great and VERY friendly/helpful)!
-I'm excited to show my skills!


SO...With a quick week 1 down, here's to Week 2!

Is it Friday yet?

This week has been VERY informative, VERY jam packed, and VERY overwhelming. Adding to all of that, courtesy of my student teaching seminars, I have begun training to Run the Bluegrass with my sister in March. MAN! I really should have laid off the sweets this Holiday season! I am sore and feeling like a big ol' fatty. Not to mention, I CAN'T STAND running on the treadmill! However, this week I have had no choice. It's getting dark so early and the weather has been really yucky this week with lots of rain (I'm not a fan of chafing, so I prefer to avoid rainy day runs). So, as the week is creeeeeeping by...I am SUPER ready for Friday and to student teach already! The image below is a PERFECT example of how I am currently feeling about my training/exercise regimen.

Alive & Well in the New Year!

HaPpY nEw YeAr!!!

Yes, I have not posted in QUITE a while.  No, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth (thank you, Lord!). Although, I have been EXTREMELY busy!  Here is a quick little update:

-I've passed (Praise Jesus) ALL 6 of my Praxis II exams!  Whoop! Whoop!

-This past Fall (2012), I had to petition to take 18 hours in order to complete my coursework so that I could   (fingers crossed) student teach in the Spring (2013).  My petition was approved and I (Praise Jesus, again) survived through the stress of 18 hours + working part time.  

-I have successfully completed all of my undergrad coursework at UTC as well as my graduate level classes.

-I HAVE ACHIEVED MY GOAL OF ALL As FOR ALL OF MY COURSEWORK AT UTC!!! (As you can tell, I have a LOT to praise Jesus for so, PRAISE JESUS!)

-My application for student teaching was accepted! :)

-I let my sister talk me into signing up to run a half marathon with her (March 2013...as for this one...HELP me, Jesus!). 

So, now that you are fairly caught up, I can tell you that today was the first day of the Spring 2013 semester at UTC.  That means that it was the first day of week + 1 days worth of seminars to prepare me for student teaching (I report next Tuesday to my first placement)!  AH!  I couldn't even tell you how many people have asked me when I would know where I'll be placed.  Well, NOW I KNOW!  I will complete 2 placements.  My first placement will be at McConnell Elementary School in a 1st grade classroom (SUPER excited...especially because a friend from my legal assistant days has a son in 1st grade at that school!  Fingers crossed that I will be placed with his teacher.) and my second placement will be at Orchard Knob Elementary School in a PreK classroom.  I found out today (while researching these schools) that a young lady I had a graduate level class with this past semester teaches Kindergarten at OKES.  So cool!  So, while I am a bit overwhelmed with an overload of information from today's seminar and the thought of beginning my thesis oh. so. soon., I believe that keeping up with this blog from here on out will keep me grounded and act as a journal of my student teaching experiences in the next 4ish months.  Wish me luck!

Source: knittingparadise.com via Katie on Pinterest