Student Teaching Week #2

I really loved hot yoga.  I told my cooperating teacher on Friday that I was so excited to go so that I could finally be warm.  Our school is kept really cold during the day so I am constantly freezing. I was a little worried it would be too hot but I guess living in Arizona for a year and a half helped me deal with the heat.  Tess checked the thermostat and the room as 95 degrees.  The teacher Tess normally goes to didn't show up so another teacher took over.  His name was Don and he was a husky guy with a beer belly but he could get way deeper into those poses than I could.  I was feeling sore from the 8 miles the day before and it felt so good to stretch.  Tess and I both bought a pass for 5 classes for $25.  Can't wait to go again :)
Saturday night Thomas and I had a date night and used a movie ticket he got for Christmas from the hospital he was working at.  We saw Water For Elephants.  We both really enjoyed it and it made me want to read the book again.  
This week at school:
The students haven't been getting a paintbrush after they go to the art specialist or the book from the librarian (which they get to display outside their classroom door to show they were well behaved).  So my cooperating teacher had them write a letter to the specialists apologizing.  One of the girls in my class who is so sweet and well behaved decided to write a letter to me too. 

One day I was sitting at the teacher's computer typing in grades when the kids were putting stuff away in their cubbies.  Someone tossed a note on the desk right next to me and this is what it said:
I really love these kids.  They make me laugh everyday.

It cracks me up that the boys like tracing and coloring these little Bratz doll coloring sheets.  And it makes me smile that some of the kids call me Miss G.  Makes me sound pretty gangsta :)

Long Friday run

Today was my first long run of this training cycle (8 miles).  I really haven't run more than 5 miles since probably August.
Thomas picked me up from work at 4:30 and we headed right over to some trails a couple miles from our apartment.  Right away in the first mile we were thinking "uh-oh!".  The switchbacks and hills were killer.  Luckily to every uphill there is a downhill.  It was great running on dirt and giving our knees and feet a little softer surface.  After about a mile and a half I was really starting to feel loose and the pace seemed to pick up.  The weather was a perfect 55 degrees with just a slight breeze.  I'm convinced 55 degrees is the absolute perfect running weather.  I was expecting to run about a minute slower than race pace (8:50) so about a 9:50 pace, especially with the hills.  We ended up running an average 9:26 pace. 

As soon as we got home we jumped in the hot tub and relaxed a bit. We are loving having a big hot tub to use whenever we please.
I was really impressed with Thomas putting in that long of a distance.  I think the time I took off from running really helped mentally and physically.  The Bob and Jillian workout videos have gotten me used to dealing with "the burn" and working through it.  Also, I think the different workouts have helped somehow.  This training cycle I am incorporating yoga into my off days and I think that will really help with soreness and hip problems which have been a pain to me previously.
Tomorrow I am going to my first hot yoga workout with my friend Tess! I'm so excited (hoping I don't pass out so hydrating a lot today). I love living in a bigger city and having all of these different workout options.

Camelback Park Hike

Friday night we got to spend with our friends Tess and Ryan Smith and had our first BBQ of the year.  We had a great time chatting, eating, and playing one of our favorite games called Mexican Train.  
This Saturday was an ideal one for Thomas and I.  We slept in till about 9am and around 10am were out the door.  First we stopped by a local elementary school for a teacher's retirement supply giveaway.  The teacher had all of there stuff from years and years of teaching out on the lawn and you were able to pick through it and take whatever you wanted.  We got there about 10:15am and pretty much everything good had been taken.  The stuff that was left over looked like it was form the 70's :) I did get some old tapes that I could record over for when I am teaching fluency and have the kids read passages and record themselves to then listen to. 
We then headed to Camelback park which is right out of town. 

There are miles and miles of trails for hiking and biking.  It was a perfect 60 degrees out, just perfect for a hike.  We hiked about 6 miles.  There were tons of runners and bikers out and all of them were so friendly.  We feel lucky to live so close to a suburban area, the city, and to have nature so close as well.  I will definitely be doing some long runs on those trails in the near future. 
Today was my first week of half marathon training.  Thomas will be doing the first few weeks with me and we are signed up for the Susan G. Komen 5K at the beginning of May.

Week #1 of student teaching

I have been so blessed with where and who I am teaching with.  The elementary school I am teaching at is a magnet school.  How a magnet school works (at least ours) is that students are admitted through a lottery.  First preference is given to siblings of students who are already enrolled, then to students who live in the school's boundaries, then in the school district, and then out of district students.  They are focused on the arts so there is a ton of art work that is integrated in to all subjects.  The hallway walls are covered with student art work and it's really good work.  Students attend a lot of specialists.  They attend an art class, music class, keyboarding/piano class, P.E., computer, and library class.  It seems like there is less time than a typical classroom to teach math, science, and reading but this is a very high performing school.  I personally think it is better for the students to be moving a lot and going to these different specialists rather than just sitting in the classroom the whole day listening to the same teacher.  I am teaching in the third grade and there are 21 students in my class.  I love the smaller class size! At this school third grade class sizes are capped at 24 students.  That seems to make a huge difference as well.  My cooperating teacher is very well organized and very willing to help me.  I think I was put with a perfect teacher. 
This week I have mostly been observing.  The schedule they have is different everyday and that will take some getting used to but my teacher has a great routine and effective procedures in place that keep the class running smoothly.  I have been writing down all the ideas I am getting from her example in a notebook and so far have some great ideas.  After I took a motivation and management class a few years ago at school I became really interested in Love and Logic.  Well it just so happens that my teacher used Love and Logic in her classroom. The basis of Love and Logic is that kids need to be given choices and then held accountable for those choices through natural consequences. 
The students in my classroom are really well behaved and fun kids.  The first day I made it a point to memorize all of their names and I successfully did so.  Our classroom has a ton of parent volunteers.  Every morning and afternoon we have a different parent who volunteers to help out with things in the classroom.  I've never seen a school with so much parent support.  The school is in a really nice area and most of the students seem to come from family with a high socio economic status so that probably has something to do with it. 
Here are some of my favorite little happenings this week:
- At the end of each day we have a classroom meeting.  At the classroom meetings students can say their favorite part of the day, something they learned that day, and give a gold star to somebody who helped them out that day.  Well my cooperating teacher was asking them what very important, big event did they need to be ready for on Monday.  One little boy raised his hand and said "Mrs. Giles is going to start teaching!"  My teacher and I laughed and she told him that yes, that was very important but what she was referring to was their ISAT testing.
- One of the boys T in my class just had a new baby brother this past week and has been having behavior problems.  He was at the back of the line with his head down, frowning, shuffling his feet and I asked him what was wrong.  He told me that nobody at the school liked him.  Then he told me "You better get used to people saying mean things to me around here!"  I asked him "Like what?" and he replied "Like shut up!" I let him know that that wouldn't be happening while I was around.  It was just kind of funny cause I thought he'd say the kids were saying a lot meaner things but nope apparently to a third grade shut up is a really mean thing.
- The kids had dance tryouts for the program they will be performing in June.  It was so fun seeing them waltz together.  One little girl S who is super out going was dancing with a little boy and he dropped his hand from off her back while the teacher was giving instructions.  She immediatley grabbed his hand and put it right back on her back for him. 
-When my cooperating teacher was about to announce who made the dance tryouts.  Little H who has been in dance since she was like two years old sat up really straight in her chair and got this smug little smile on her face and crossed her fingers and her arms.  Her smile was priceless when her name was announced.  Her best friend K didn't make it and this made her sad.  K was going to stay after for puppet tryouts during lunch recess but when she found out H couldn't stay because she had already made it for dance she decided she wouldn't try out for puppets anymore cause she wanted to play with H at recess. It makes me laugh because I remember that friends were so important at that age and I totally would have done the same thing.
- One little girl C is so quiet and sweet.  I noticed during free time she was writing something and I asked her what it was.  It was a classroom newspaper with things like lost and found, bad news, announcements, and games!

I was so impressed and asked her where she got the idea.  Apparently it was from a book she read.  Some other kids came over to look and they were so excited and wanted her to make copies for all of them. Then they all decided they wanted to make a class paper and assigned different roles like "comic artist".
- The students at this age are really in to little knick knack things.  The boys all trade these little erasers that come in weird shapes like hamburgers and pop cans.

  The girls really like these sheets of paper that have the outline of a girl traced on them (it looks like a Bratz doll) and then they stencil in the features like the hair and eyebrows.

I totally remember loving little things like that too. I think pogs were the cool thing back then.
So far student teaching is going extremely well.  This next week I am teaching all the reading, cursive, and spelling lessons. It will probably get a lot busier, as my online class also beings this week. 

Graduation

I will always remember graduation weekend.  Both my parents, my Grandma Larkin,  my in-laws, and my husband's grandma came to help celebrate.  It was extra special too because my sister graduated as well.  My parents came on Wednesday and surprised my sister by bringing my Grandma from Mexico.

Thomas and I made our favorite cajun chicken pasta and we all had dinner together and played Guitar Hero.  Thursday Thomas' parents and grandma came.

We met them in Idaho Falls for dinner at Applebee's.  On Thursday I attended the job fair on campus for future teachers.  There were tons of recruiters from Utah and I actually had two interviews.  One of the principles who interviewed me said he would like me to come down this week to see the school and to have a second interview.  I was really excited about it but after thinking about it for awhile I realized it just isn't realistic to leave for a day while I just started student teaching.  And then I would start my training the week after student teaching ends (middle of June).  Our apartment lease ends in October and our plans are for Thomas to start Boise State University in August.  So I'm flattered but I have to decline the offer. I just hope that I can be as lucky for finding a job in Boise for this next fall. 
After the job fair my Mom and Grandma came over to help Thomas and I pack.  I was really surprised how quickly it went.  We had saved all our boxes from our previous move so there was no stress trying to find boxes.  It only took about four hours with four of us working to get basically everything packed.   There are perks to being poor college students, you don't have lots of junk to have to pack. 
Friday was my last final and our families met for lunch at a little teriyaki place right near campus.  It looks like a dump inside but the food is great and you for $6 you get enough to feed two plus leftovers.  After lunch we walked around campus and showed our parents the new BYU-Idaho center which has ten basketball courts and an indoor track and a huge auditorium.  We also stopped by the bookstore.  Thomas got me the cutest purple BYU-Idaho hoodie for a graduation present.  That night we spent at our bare apartment playing games with my in laws and grandma in law.  So much fun! We love monopoly deal.
Saturday was an early, long, wonderful day.  Briana and I met to line up for commencement services.  They had signs in the gym with our departments and Bea and I's were in the same line.  Bea made a comment that we looked like we all should be in a Harry Potter movie with our black gowns on.  It was true.  I loved walking into the huge BYU-Idaho center and having the pomp and circumstance being played on the organ.  All the proffesors lined the hallway as we walked in and clapped for us while the audience was standing.  There were a few speakers and a choir that sang that was amazing! After commencement we found our families and then took pictures in the gym and then headed to the Hart Auditorium for convocation.

  At convocation is where your department has a speaker and where you actually walk across the stage and get your diploma.  After convocation we headed to Bea and Ivan's for lunch before getting professional pictures taken.  The same photographer who took Thomas and I's one year pictures took the pictures for us.  Saturday night we had a party at one of the buildings on campus.  We had pizza, kansas dirt cake, peanut butter balls, muddy buddies, and chi wow wow bean dip some of our family favorites.  And we had a Bunko party.  Our families were there and some of our friends Kelsey and Brandon and Will and Justin. 
Sunday we got up at 6am to get ready to move.  Our friend Justin was going home to Yakima so we got him to pull a trailer for us so that we didn't have to pay $400 for a U-haul truck.  Thomas drove with Justin and Thomas' Grandma drove with me.  She kept me entertained the whole way with stories, it was really fun.  Our new apartment is really nice and we are pretty much all unpacked.  We are enjoying having a hot tub and workout room and the awesome weather.  We have gone on a nice four mile run together and kept exclaiming how beautiful the weather is and the neighborhoods.  Thomas walked me to school this morning and it was so nice! We are going to make it a little routine to have him walk me to school.  More to come on my first day of student teaching :)

Strep, Books, Grad Fest

Strep: Friday we went over to my sister's for dinner and played Wii Mario Kart and watched a movie.  While watching the movie my throat started hurting when I swallowed.  We got home and I had white spots all over the back of my throat.  The student health center is closed on the weekend so I toughed it out.  My sweet sweet honey bunches of oats woke up Saturday morning and ran to the store to get Powerade, and chloralseptic, and cough drops for me.  Love that man.  Poor guy had to sleep on the couch the past couple nights cause I'm so stuffed up and snoring like crazy. 
I went to the health center today and they tested me for mono and strep.  Apparently I have a pretty great immune system and the strep had pretty much ran it's course over the weekend. 

Books: I recently read "The Great Fitness Experiment".  This lady decides that over the span of a year she is going to try out a different fitness program each month.  Really interesting.  Basically the moral of the story is that you have to find out what program works for you. 

I am now reading "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton.  So far I love it.  It's about a little girl who gets put on a boat from England to Australia and nobody knows who she belongs to.  The dock master brings her home and takes her in.  When she is 21 she is told that she was adopted and it totally changes how she thinks about herself.  That's about as far as I've gotten so far and so far so good.

Graduation: Bea and I went and picked up our cap and gowns this past week :)