when are we ever going to use this?

I Survived My Student Teaching

2006-01-03T00:20:00.000-05:00

My student teaching is over!!!

I'm a little sad to be leaving my kids, especially the ones with whom I had formed a good relationship, but I'm also glad to not be working a full time job and attending classes. To finish my program I just need to undergo my portfolio review (February) and take my PRAXIS (March). These two are kind of spread out, but I wanted the time to study for my PRAXIS so that I'll be able to pass with multititudes of flying colors.

Overall it was a good experience. My cooperating teacher was absolutely amazing!!! Also, my other team members were awesome. They were not even getting paid to help me, but they also put a lot of time in to my training. I would especially like to mention my ICS teacher who was so incredibly helpful both in class and out of class.

The only downside of my student teaching is that I am left with an internal conflict. I know I want to teach for at least a few years, but what do I do then? I do not want to become an old cranky teacher and besides I'm fickle and need to be constantly trying new things. My mother suggested going to law school and becoming involved in educational law, but I think that may be too politic-y for my liking. However, with my brains and determination I could do a lot of good for a lot of students if I did go in to educational law.

I guess I shouldn't worry too much about what is going to happen to me a long time from now, but I just can't help myself.

In other news, I am trying out match.com. I am finding it a little disappointing because the only people contacting me are 50+ year old, creepy, pervy guys. Don't they realize that I'm 22 and they don't have a chance? OR do they think I'm some kind of harlot just because I am on match.com? Dating advice and suggestions are always welcome.

To my teacher friends out there I hope your winter recesses were full of food, fun, Etoh and relaxation.

Here's to 2006.

MY "Best" of 2005 List

2006-01-01T00:17:00.000-05:00

1. Student teaching: Even though it had it's down moments it was a totally awesome, life altering experience.
2. Princeton Graduation
3. Princeton Reunions
4. Disneyland
5. Brooklyn the Musical (not the part of the city)
6. Violin Lessons
7. Windmill Hotdogs
8. Light of Day
9. Jesse Malin
10. Sam Roberts
11. Charter Initiations 2005
12. Charter Sign Ins 2005
13. P-Rade
14. QUEST
15. Learning Japanese
16. Sumi style paintings
17. Terminator-a-thon with Jon, Graham, Nick, Lauren, Anne and Poon
18. THEY LIVE, with Roudy Roddy Piper
19. The movie with the locusts and Lucy Lawless
20. Star Wars in a movie theater full of nerds having light saber wars
21. Halo
22. COPS
23. Spongebob in a theater full of 8 year olds.
24. The night in the JV dorms where about 5 of us drank a very large bottle of tequila.
25. Turning in the Thesis
26. Publishing my thesis.
27. The Wet Floor Party
28. Gorrilla suits.
29. Mechanical Bulls

and last but not least, great friends.

It's Official

2005-12-23T09:44:00.000-05:00

I have the most amazing students....EVER!!!!

An Observation

2005-10-03T22:52:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to notice that student teaching + class = not much time for anything else.

Why does it seem like I'm only ever doing stuff for school or class?

Class is less then stellar, but school is going really, really well. I'm so lucky to have a good placement where the teacher wants to TEACH a student teacher, not just get the extra money and have someone to do her work for her.

Yuck. I'm tired of being single. There is no one to come home to.

Sorry depressing...

Seriously though, school is great. My students are awesome. A few girls that were doing community service for girl scouts came to visit me during back to school night and were EXCITED to see me. That was nice. My lessons have been going well too. I'm very excited to start my "very hungry caterpillar" unit.

Oh...my milkweed plant is infested with aphids. Does anyone know how I can get rid of the little buggers?

Thanks.

Teach on!

It's Been a While

2005-09-25T16:18:00.000-04:00

There is really no excuse better then having a full time job, a class to attend and a eating club to manage and being exhausted ALL the time for not updating one's blog.

So far, I really like my students, but find the subject matter (7th grade science) a little dull. Of course I am trying my best to make it interesting for the students, but I get the feeling that my science background really would be better utilized at the high school level.

Anyway, I have a few interesting students that make my day rather interesting.

1.The girl who at 12 years old thinks that she is going to be the next big thing on SNL. She is quite loud and can recite any SNL script from memory at any time of the day whether you ask her to or not.

2. The boy in my third period class who will not shut up. He is constanly talking as in ALL the time, will not stop no matter what. So far I've been attempting to ignore him, but I think I'll have to switch to a new method soon.

3. The really smart, Mr. Personality kid in my 7th period class who keeps me on my toes with his questions. He is seriously reading books that I wouldn't expect a 10th grader to be able to read, let alone a 7th grader.

4. The really sweet boy who always greets me by name each morning and asks how my day has been going.

Those are the four that come to mind right now, unfortunately, I have a major paper that needs to be finished. Also, I'll try to be better about posting, but I can't make any promises. :-)

7 Things - Borrowed from When Pigs Sing

2005-09-18T22:45:00.000-04:00

7 things I plan to do before I die:
1) Spend a few years living in Japan
2) Find the love of my life and have their children.
3) Visit the great pyramids in Egypt
4) Learn to play the violin (started)
5) Read as much as possible
6) Go to everyone single Princeton reunion
7) See an opera on opening night at the Met.

7 things I can do:
1) Play the carillon
2) Calculus - in my head
3) Run 12 miles
4) Multitask
5) Make someone feel better
6) Make a great cup of tea
7) Listen

7 things I cannot do:
1) Touch my toes
2) Forget
3) Put down a good book
4) Get my brain to shut up
5) Sew
6) Put my contacts in without a mirror
7) Put my hair up other than in a pony tail - it's long enough I just don't know how to do anything else.

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex/another person:
1) Intelligence
2) Curiosity
3) A good sense of humor that is just a little bit silly
4) Nice, straight, clean teeth
5) A tenor voice
6) Piercing eyes
7) A good spirit

7 things that I say most often:
1) Way cool!
2) Sketchy
3) That is absurd!
4) Why?
5) I'm ready!
6) Who's a pretty turtle? (only to my pet turtle)
7) Bah!

7 celebrity crushes:
1) Topher Grace
2) Orlando Bloom
3) Ryan Adams
4) Jesse Malin
5) Sam Roberts
6) YOUNG John Travolta
7) YOUNG Gregory Peck

My Day at a Glance

2005-09-13T19:57:00.000-04:00

Today went pretty well. We did a lab involving observation and identification of apples. Nothing too extraordinary.

I'm glad my mentor is knowledgable and friendly. Phew.

The First Days

2005-09-10T16:04:00.000-04:00

Overall, I'd say the first two days of school went well. There was some confusion the first day due to some scheduling issues, but that was taken care of by the end of the day.

I will be teaching two special education inclusion classes, two "normal" classes and one "smart" class. There are some interesting little darling in each of these classes that may provide some challenges for my student teaching.

Most notably the student who claims to be in 9th grade, but is really in 7th. We'll call him Eddie. I can't imagine the guts it would take for a 7th grader to wander into a high school class and then to argue with people. Eddie didn't show up for the second day of school. I hope he stayed home and didn't go to the high school. Maybe the long weekend will allow him time to simmer down and realize that he really does want to be in 7th grade.

2005-09-03T00:21:00.000-04:00

Someone remind me to kick myself for turning down the job at George School when I'm attempting to get hired in January.....or for that matter the job at the Philadelphia Charter School for architecture and Design.....(haha).

(Exhausted but not overwhelmed.)

Phew

2005-09-03T00:17:00.000-04:00

Just finished my first 4 days of preservice work. Since we moved to a new (to us) facility this year there has been a lot of unpacking and scrounging of materials.

I am exhausted, but not overwhelmed. This is a good thing.

I will write a more detailed report sometime this weekend.

Hope everyone is have a successful back to school.

Happy Thought

2005-08-28T22:27:00.000-04:00

63% of people say this person changed their lives. Who is it?

A Teacher

You know it's going to be a bad day when....

2005-08-28T00:14:00.000-04:00

You are in North Carolina on vacation when one of your contact lenses rips in half while still in your eye.The first half was easy to get out, the second one was not.

I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room.

Now, I'm stuck here without my spare lenses. I know this may not sound like a big deal, but my perscription unfortunately is not available in disposables. Therefore, I must order new ones and wait...and wait...for them to arrive.

How fun.

Feeling Guilty?

2005-08-18T13:52:00.000-04:00

I was reading an article on CNN's webpage about the high number of teachers leaving the teaching profession. It was mainly focused on the older teachers who are soon reaching retirement. That's not what I want to talke about though.

Why is it that when teachers choose to retire or to change careers they are portrayed as quitters who are letting down their students? Many people change careers but most of them get the "oh that's so nice" reaction as opposed to a guilt trip. Perhaps it's a compliment that people get upset when a good teacher decides to pursue something else, but what about first or second year teachers who simply decide that teaching isn't for them? I overheard a conversation recently where the girl who wanted to try social work or something was being made to feel guilty by her friend.

In my opinion if you want to try something new and you make appropriate arrangements with your school go for it! I'd rather have a good teacher leave while they are still a happy productive teacher then wait until they are bitter and really don't want to be there any more.

That having been said, I'm off to the beach for a week.

A little good news and some annoyances....

2005-08-15T16:07:00.000-04:00

The good news is that my life is finally scheduled. I know when I'm student teaching and what time my seminar will meet. Woohoo!

The bad news is that our professor decided to email a massive assignment literally on the eve of the end of summer. WHY couldn't this assignment have been given in June or July? WHY are we being rushed through 2 books, 1 paper and a report?

I'm cranky now.

Random Things TAG

2005-08-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

RANDOM THINGS I WISH WOULD SUDDENLY HAPPEN
1. My dream job (even though I don't know what it is) would fall in my lap...right...NOW!
2. My dream boy would show up at my door...with flowers...
3. I would get my own apartment....woohoo

RANDOM THINGS I LIKE TO EAT:
1. Sushi with wasabi and soy sauce.
2. Peaches
3. Sour Watermelon candies (yummy)

RANDOM MOVIES I'VE WATCHED THIS PAST WEEK:
1. Monters Inc.
2. Clerks
3. Naked Gun 33 1/3

RANDOM THINGS I DON'T LIKE DOING IN PUBLIC:
1. Dancing. Eww.
2. Brushing hair or anything like that.
3. Sleeping.

RANDOM THINGS I DO LIKE DOING IN PUBLIC:
1. Telling dumb jokes and acting generally silly
2. Playing in fountains
3. Being helpful

RANDOM THINGS THAT CREEP ME OUT:
1. Rashes
2. Bad things happening to teeth
3. Empy, dark houses.

RANDOM PEOPLE I WISH WEREN'T WORSHIPPED:
1. The Backstreet Boys
2. Dr. Atkins
3. Prince William - not because I find him particullary annoying, but because people worship him just because he is royalty.

Friend Funny

2005-08-12T14:49:00.000-04:00

Hahaha, I can't remember if I already posted this, but I think my friend Lauren is a hoot:

Lauren (9:50:14 PM): also occasionally throw snakes at students who talk
Lauren (9:50:18 PM): they'd be like:
Lauren (9:50:28 PM): "holy crap, she's reaching for the snake jar!"

I think she was kidding. ;-)

Cold Roses

2005-08-11T22:41:00.000-04:00

MINE MINE MINE!!!!! You have no idea how excited I was to pick this CD up today. Ok, maybe you do, but either way it is AMAZING. I swear there is something about sad boys with guitars that just makes my little heart go pitter patter.

Right...enough "gushing" as my friend Nick would say. Listening to the CD, I've realized that Ryan Adams' style is something like a softer version of the Grateful Dead. Am I crazy (or just slow) in making this observation? I guess it could be the similar song titles Sugar Magnolia (from American Beauty) and Magnolia Mountain that is making me think this, but I guess I'll have to research it further.

I also spent about 20 minutes talking to the store clerk about music, which is unusual for me. I'm a get in, get out type of girl. He knew his stuff though, I must admit.

Anyway, I'm going to go back to my wonderful new cd.

AWOL Image Host

2005-08-08T19:55:00.000-04:00

A new look for my blog, not entirely by choice, but I think I like it.

My image host when AWOL and I'm currently to busy to search for the images on my computer and re-upload them. So, I'm just going to use a stock template for the time being.

The green color is awfully soothing, so this may be a more permanent change then I originally thought.

Anyway, as September approaches the more eager I become to start student teaching. It's not just student teaching, it the prospect of getting a *real* job and striking out on my own that is so incredibly exciting. I seriously get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.

Had a fun night on Saturday hanging out with Nick. It was bittersweet though since he will be leaving for Duke in the near future.

I miss my tigers.

A Mildly Offensive Joke

2005-08-04T14:46:00.000-04:00

A bloke is in a queue at the Supermarket when he notices that the rather dishy blonde behind him has just raised her hand and smiled hello to him.
He is rather taken aback that such a looker would be waving to him, and although familiar he can't place where he might know her from, so he says, "Sorry do you know me?"

She replies "I may be mistaken, but I thought you might be the father of one of my children!
His mind shoots back to the one and only time he has been unfaithful, Christ! He says "are you that strippergram on my stag night that I shagged on the snooker table in front of all my mates whilst your mate whipped me with some wet celery and stuck a cucumber up my xxxxxx?

No, she replies, I'm your son's English Teacher....

Horrendous Hair Dye Disaster

2005-08-01T21:39:00.000-04:00

So last night my mother highlighted my hair using a Feria highlighting kit. I was skeptical during the entire application, but was assured that the color would be subtle enough to blend in with my natural color. Well, after 30 minutes, rinse and condition my new "do" appeared - streaked ORANGE!

Very orange...my head looks like it could be on the muppet show. It is pretty bad. Lucky for me I was able to take a field trip to CVS this evening to purchase some corrective color. Oh my, we should have just left everything alone.

In other news, QUEST is over. Part of me is glad that I can now resume my "lazy" sleep schedule, but the other part is really going to miss all the amazing people I met. I learned so much just from having lunch with my collegues. Since I was able to meet several of my coworkers in the Fall, the anxiety I was feeling about my student teaching is slowly lessening.

Now, I must watch the conclusion to Hell's Kitchen, my guilty pleasure of the summer.

2005-07-27T16:43:00.000-04:00

My favorite modern building. TAIPEI 101

GEO ROCKS!!!

2005-07-26T21:07:00.000-04:00

Phew, after two exhausting weeks the hard part of QUEST is over. I don't want anyone to think that I didn't have a good time and that I didn't learn oodles of information, because I definitely am taking a lot away from this experience. However, it was tiring. I am so lucky to have the experience of meeting a large portion of the "team" that I'll be student teaching with in the fall. This definitely helped to ease an anxiety I was feeling that I might be unwelcome at the school.

Ok, it is time to work on my final QUEST project. If you're lucky maybe I'll post the link here and you can check it out sometime.

OH!!! AND...I got a book about rocks and minerals AND a box of rocks today. I am one happy girl.

Harry Potter

2005-07-17T21:38:00.000-04:00

I recieved the latest Harry Potter this Saturday and have been limiting myself to only a few chapters a day. I'm doing this so that I can enjoy the book longer and because I have other things I need to work on, such as my Japanese.

You can then understand why I get a little upset when people post about the ending of this book in their away messages and emails.

It's been a long weekend, but I'm looking forward to going back to QUEST on Monday.

Now Accepting Applications

2005-07-14T19:58:00.000-04:00

I am now officially accepting applications for boyfriends who have the deceny to not break up with someone over email.

That having been said. This past week at QUEST has been fantastic!!! I can't believe how much I've learned, both about teaching (and the politics surrounding it) and about weather.

Our weather activites ranged from measuring humidity to creating a tornado in a cardboard box. I am also confident that I will be able to teach this material to my students.

Next week I'll be moving on to the enviromental science module.

QUEST Day 1

2005-07-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

I am exhausted.

However, I will say that today was really enlightening and that I met a lot of interesting individuals.

I will probably sum of my week in Weather and Climate on Friday, but you never know, I might be back sooner!