Graduation 2011

Graduation was awesome!  Emotional and exciting all in one.  It was such a culmination for me and my family.  I was so happy to share it with them.  They have been supportive and patient with me for the last 4 years.  I felt bad having my kids sit through two ceremonies, but they didn't seem to mind too bad.  I was nervous, but it was fun to share the excitement with the friends that I have made over the past few years. 

The last few weeks of student teaching was trying.  I can say that I probably am not meant for 1st grade.  I also realize how fortunate I am to have a job lined up.  Logan City is making major cuts and Cache County had very few positions.  I know how blessed I am now.  I have been thinking of next year a lot.  I know I need to take a break but I am just so excited and know that a lot of work is ahead of me.  I can't wait to get into my classroom.  I have a rough idea of my scope and sequence for writing.  I just need to get my math book and start reviewing what I will be teaching.  I'm really  looking forward to training in June.

Looking forward to the Future!

So, I had an interview on March 28th and was surprised to be offered a position the same day.  It was long and a bit nerve racking, but also very exciting to share what I have learned and experienced over the last few years.  I felt very prepared and tried to keep my nerves to a minimum.  I will be teaching 5th grade at Thomas Edison.   This is a dream come true and such an exciting culmination to all that I've been doing for the last 4 years.  I am passionate about teaching now and can't wait to start working on 5th grade curriculum.
I only have 13 days of student teaching left!  I am so excited to be done.  It is sometimes hard to have a critical eye watching every move I make.  I will be happy to have my own classroom.  This summer will be a busy one with training in June and August and the kids doing multiple activities, but busy is good.  I can't wait to get into my new classroom!
We are officially trying to get our house ready to sell.  Hopefully the sign will go out the 1st of May.  We are not really sure where we will end up, just taking it one step at a time.  Hopefully all will work out for us.  Chet is finally excited for Kindergarten.  This is huge! He has always been hesitant and such a home body.  But, lately he has been trying to spell everything and goes around guessing what letter words start with. He wants to learn to read.  I'm hopeful that he will enjoy school.  I think being at the same school with him will be nice. 
Still looking forward to graduation!  A few more weeks and that chapter of our lives will be closed until I go back for my Masters!  :)

Student Teaching

So, I haven't blogged for at least a year and I thought it might be fun to continue what I started. School is going great! I can't believe this adventure is coming to an end. Although this end is really a new beginning. Student Teaching has been so great. I have been blessed to be placed with amazing cooperating teachers for all of my blocks. The joke on campus is you should feel lucky to get 1 good teacher. Well, mine have all been wonderful. I am constantly learning and trying to apply their teachings in my own instruction. I had fun at Providence Elementary this past Fall. I fell in love with some darling 1st graders. In January and February I was at Mount Logan Middle School with 6th graders. It was the highlight of my experiences thus far. I love 6th graders. I've actually been depressed since I left them. They taught me so much and I felt that this was a grade level that I could really make a difference. There have been many times along my journey that I've thought "this is why I want to be a teacher". But, at Mount Logan, it truly felt like "this is where I belong, and this is why I am going to be a teacher". I am now in 1st grade again at Woodruff Elementary in Logan. I am only 1 week into it, but I can see that I am going to love these kids as well.
Graduation is only 8 weeks away. I can't believe how quickly the last 4 years have gone by. I am really looking forward to this new chapter of life. I have been getting my resume and many other application materials together. It's a laborious process, but will hopefully pay off.
We plan to put our house for sale once I get a job. We will miss our darling house and our big backyard but we are ready for more space. Many new changes are in the works for our family. Madi will start High School, Isabel will start Middle School, Chet will start Kindergarten, and I hope to start teaching. We look forward to the changes 2011 brings our family.

Webquest and Reflection

My webquest was fun to work on. I enjoyed finding resources that would help my students with their project. I have been studying Utah history with my 4th graders so this project fit in perfectly. My link is:

http://ia.usu.edu/viewproject.php?project=ia:12980

You may need to click on student and type in Brown.

I like Instructional Architect. Some of it is tricky but I just need more practice. I would have liked to add more pictures. My picture is actually a song which is mostly for fun. I do like how easy it is to access the links though. I suppose I wish I had more time to make this better. I would have liked to have done a second one because I had some great worksheets on packing a covered wagon. A lot of my original ideas I had to set aside.

The planning sheet was helpful for me because it gave me direction and helped me narrow down my ideas. The peer evaluation was helpful because someone else can spot things that you as the creator might miss. I've learned that the instructional planning process can take a lot of time but if done right it can make your lessons more meaningful and fun.

Decade Dress Up Day at Mount Logan Middle School

Since we talked about digital photography in class today, I wanted to share what some of the teachers at the Middle School do. Of course they use them for yearbook staff, but some of the teachers also use them to make bulletin boards and end of the year slide shows. They had a fun day yesterday with Decade Dress Up. This is my daughter and her best friend. Bet you can't guess which decade? :)

This is my Geometry book from Technology class. Annie and I did an awesome job, don't ya think?