Wednesday, August 15, 2012

First 2 Weeks

The first two weeks of school have been a lil crazy! Its been amazing learning under someone who loves their job. My supervising teacher is amazing! I hope to one day be as good of a teacher as she is, if not better!

     
 Lets see, we had an amazing first week (although not without incident)... and I actually got to teach during the first week. :) I taught some math and learned myself about the lattice method for multiplication which is used for multiplying large numbers... (If you struggle with it, this may be one way for you to figure it out.. just google it). I am working on learning to not just teach what the paper says, but to extend it and use examples that will help the students. This can be hard for me....
Haha!! I sure do hope this isn't true!

Today is the first day of the 2nd week that i was in the classroom... You see, on Friday, I had all four wisdom teeth removed.... BOY DID THAT HURT!!!!! Anyway, I am still dealing with the pain even today, but it is not as bad and I haven't had to take prescription pain killers since yesterday. :) :)

I guess the biggest thing right now is that I learn so much in a day that its hard to remember it all... My goal was to write on here every night... but most nights, I am just ready to crash (I am shocked I haven't fallen over already)....

I really like how my supervising teacher tries to teach me and at the same time treats me as an equal.... It makes things so much better that way... I am almost totally comfortable teaching in front of her... although today I got nervous a couple of times while reading....(Meaning, I had to reread a sentence or take a breath... LOL!).... Who I am most scared of is my university supervisor, who just so happens to be the principal of the school I work at... I am not quite sure where I stand with her.... and well, she is going to be grading me as well as the teacher... Anwyay... I am probably just worrying about nothing...

Hope your Thursday is full of joy!!
Ang

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Meet the Teacher Night

Tonight went very well! I met 30/34 of my students and their parents. :) It was a really good night..

My only complaint is my shoes... Why did I choose heels?? I have no idea... But boy, did they hurt!!! I got there around 2:30pm and by 6 my feet were killing me. I've decided the next time I wear them I will bring a pair of flats with me to change to half way through the day... This way I don't die of foot pain! (the sad part is that I bought special "comfort" heels and spent the extra money.. and my feet are still killing me!!!)

Today I learned that copy machines can hole punch... I never knew that before.... Oh and that even on a huge machine, 200 copies will take a little while. LOL! I also noticed a big difference in the decorations from one classroom to the next and how each teacher does their room differently.,.. In other words there is no "right" way.

Oh another thing happened today... That was that I got my id to wear for school... It doesn't say my name nor have my picture but its mine to wear for the whole semester. :D :D

Anyway, I think that is all for now... Im tired and hopefully I will be asleep soon. :)
Have an amazing Friday!
Ang

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Back to School Meeting

Today I went to a back to school meeting for teachers which went over a lot including: classroom management, being consistent across the grade level, dress code, school procedures for fire drill/lock down etc.

By the time I got home I was on information overload... It amazes me how much teachers do. I don't think I realized all the work the go through each year just to have their classroom ready. There are so many do's and dont's, and things you have to have prepared for the first day, since you never know what may happen. All I can say is that today has definitely been a learning experience!!

After our meetings (which went from 8am-3:50pm), our grade level sat down for a chat and decided on their behavior management procedures and grading procedures. The biggest thing  I learned about today is that you need consistency across the grade level. I hadn't really thought about it much, but it totally made sense. One teacher, truly shouldn't grade harder or have more projects than the next one in the same grade level...

Something that was greatly discussed today regarding grading was: Should you take student's redos and give them the grade of the redo or average the two grades??...  What is your opinion on the subject?

Tomorrow is "Meet the Teacher Night". I am excited for that! (Possibly more blogging tomorrow. :)) Anyway, I believe that's all I have to say for now... I am very tired as this was my first full day of getting up early and then being busy till 5pm. 


Ang


Wednesday Hodepodge


   
             1.  I'm joining my daughter1 in the 101 in 1001 challenge. Essentially you create a list of 101 things you hope to do or accomplish in the next 1001 days. What's one thing you'd put on your list?
Finish my degree (I graduate in December)

2. How many remote controls do you have in your house? What's one item in your home you wish could be operated by remote control?
Four, but does Wii controllers count?? The oven or microwave

3. What does having it all mean to you? Is it attainable?
Being with Christ. Yes it is!!!

4. What's your favorite movie soundtrack?
“I want to be like you” from the Jungle Book was my favorite song when I was a child. I wouldnt know what it would be as an adult.


5. Describe the best view you've seen from a rooftop.
Im not usually up on roofs, but I guess it would be the view of the lake in front of our house. J

6. What's your least favorite thing about summer?
How hot it is… Living in AZ means 100+ all summer long.

7. Our weekly Hodgepodge falls on the first day of August. In ten words or less sum up your July.
Very long and yet short Filled with fun and  craziness.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Going to my first back to school teacher meeting this morning…. I have no idea what to expect.. :/
Ang