Confessions of a Student Teacher: Part 8

I hate to admit it but I am going to try to keep this post really short. I have a lot going on at the moment so I don't have a whole lot of time to write. I am sorry that I didn't write on Friday like I normally do but my mom is in the hospital and I spent most of my afternoon with her. This week was like any other week at student teaching. Nothing really exciting happened so I am not going to give a break down of my week. I'm sorry if you really like that, but like I said, I don't have much time to write. I did start to teach fourth period this past week. It was definitely an adventure. They are the largest out of all the classes and they all really like to talk. They were really bad on Monday and because of it I was really nervous to teach again on Tuesday. The seating chart was changed so that made life a lot easier for me. I am starting to really enjoy teaching that class and I am sure that it will continue to get better. Oh! I'm going to be taking on second period next week so wish me luck! They are the last general class to teach. It will be my decision to take honors. I haven't decided what I will do. It would be really fun but I'm afraid that I will confuse everyone. Once again, sorry about the short post but I really have a lot to do.

On a side note, I have my mid-term evaluation on Monday, wish me luck!

AAAHHH!!

The title completely explains how I am feeling at the moment. I just want to scream. It is a good thing, trust me. About a month ago I went to take the last to AEPA tests that I needed in order to become a certified teacher. (By the way, I am shaking so much I can barely type). You'll see why in a moment. Anyway, I took the Middle School Mathematics test as well as the Elementary Professional Knowledge. I took them in the same day, yeah it was a bad idea. Anyway, I got home and became really nervous because these are big tests that are really hard. I forgot about it for the last few weeks. I remembered Friday that my scores were to come out. I got nervous again. Those tests are not easy (be aware all future teachers that are reading my blog). Anyway, I passed. I am so excited, I just want to scream because I am so excited. I feel as though I can be a real teacher now. My life is almost complete. All I need is my certificate (which I will get in a few months after I graduate) and then I will be content for awhile. I'm so excited, you have no idea. It's the perfect birthday present (which, by the way, was yesterday).

Confessions of a Student Teacher: Part 7

I hate to admit it but I am counting down for spring break to come. Three weeks, or fifteen days left. A week-long break would be really nice right now. I still love student teaching, but I think that I am ready for a break. When I actually do get that break I'll probably be dying to go back. That is just the way that I am. I have realized that I have about 45 days left of student teaching. You heard me right! FORTY-FIVE DAYS! I think that I am going to have a really hard time leaving. I may go back for eighth-grade graduation. I haven't decided yet because I don't have the details but I'm considering it. I want to see my students make the big step into high school. Oh! Here is a breakdown of my week.

Monday: No school. Don't ask what I did because I don't even remember. It wasn't much.

Tuesday" Lecture. It was one chapter nine section four. It was all about dice and probability. It took awhile for the students to understand but I think that it finally clicked near the end of the period.

Wednesday: Wednesday was a half day. We did M&M Math. The worst part of the whole thing was that there were M&M's everywhere. We were two short of having enough M&M's for everyone. I felt really bad but the two that didn't get any were really nice about the whole thing. Honestly, we would have had enough if third period (honors) didn't get any. After all the students left we had a staff development meeting. Yes, I went and I think that it was really good for me to go. I learned a lot and it was a ton of fun.

Thursday: On Thursday we played a short dice game and then reviewed for the quiz. It wasn't too exciting but everyday can't be a bundle of joy for the students. It's math, it probably never will be.

Friday: Quiz day. Yes, another quiz. We didn't have one last week so we had to make up for it. The students did really well. I am so excited for all of them. :)

This week went by really fast, which is always a good thing. I am going to start teaching fourth period next week. It is the largest class, therefore it scares me. Wish me luck!

Confessions of a Student Teacher: Part 6

Wow! can you believe it? I have already completed six weeks of my student teaching. Oh my gosh! Time flies like crazy! I have been having a lot of fun. Who couldn't? I love my students and when I do leave in 10 weeks it will be really hard to go. *Sigh* I don't know if I really want to think about that at the moment. It is really exciting because I get to graduate but at the same time I have to leave my awesome students and try to get a job. Don't even get me started on that. Budgets cuts here in Arizona are crazy! I have to admit that I would be amazed if I get a job. Wanting to teach junior high math might not work in my favor as I had hoped. I will keep you posted on what happens. Hope that I do because Josh really wants to start school. Without a job for me, he has to put off school again. Anyway, here are the activities for the week.

Monday: Review. Yeah, we were having a large test on chapter eight so we reviewed. It's only natural. The review looked exactly like the test. See Tuesday for how the tests turned out.

Tuesday: Test day! Hooray! It made for a really easy day. It is a good thing that my teacher missed Tuesday because it was such an easy day. The students took the test. Although we pretty much gave them the test for review they still didn't do as well as we would have liked.

Wednesday: Did I ever tell you how much I love probability? I do! (not really) We started chapter nine which is, you guessed it, probability. I think that I am actually starting to enjoy it, there are a lot of possibilities for teaching it. Oh! I started teaching first period today. I was afraid at first because I couldn't see how my teacher would teach it before I tried. I think that I could have done a lot better but at the same time it felt more natural because I was doing my own thing, not his.

Thursday: More probability. We were talking about the chances of drawing a blue marble out of the bag of so many marbles. It was pretty awesome. We played a little game (that took about 5 minutes) that tested their knowledge of probability. Whoever won got a homework pass. They really liked the game.

Friday: Review. Most of the time Friday is made for tests or quizzes. I think that it is a good idea. However, we just took a test on Tuesday so another one in a week would be torture. So, we did some worksheets and played a golfing probability game. The majority of the students enjoyed the game while others could care less. For a last minute change, I think the lesson went really well.

I'm excited because I have one week down and one less to go. I have ten more to go, so only ten more episodes left of "Confessions of a Student Teacher".

Book Share

While Josh and I were still dating, I gave him a book titled Fablehaven for Christmas. I told him that I really wanted to read it too, so every night when we would talk on the phone he would read me a chapter. That started a tradition for us. We read to each other every night. Although we are married we still read to each other except we now switch off who gets to read. I guess that we both love to read to each other so that is how we came up with the idea. I have been wanting to post some of our favorite books for a long time. I guess that now I am finally do so. If you need some great book recommendations, feel free to ask! We have read many books over the years. The ones that I am posting are our favorite series books. Beware, the post is really long and it was really hard to choose some of our favorite books because we have read so many!

Our Number one favorite has to be Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. After the first book came out I bought it for him. We have been reading the books ever since. Right now we are counting down until we can start the next book titled Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. It comes out March 24th, just over a month left to go! I personally believe that they are a lot better than harry Potter. Yes, I said Harry Potter. They are currently working on making a movie out of it. I just hope that it is good.


The next book that we love is also by Brandon Mull. The book is titled The Candy Shop War. Who doesn't love a little bit of sweets, especially magical sweets. This book is really fun to read. I actually have convinced my mom as well as Karen and Wendi to read this book along with the Fablehaven series. They really liked them and cannot wait to read more!

Next is a book that we had never really heard of. Josh found it at Target one day and bought it. He started to read it and thought that I would enjoy it as well. So, once we ran out of another book he started to read Septimus Heap :Magyk to me. It is a lot of fun and it keeps you puzzled throughout the whole book. It is a lot of fun and really cool. So far we have only read the first three and there are four total. A fifth one is coming out in May I believe so we really need to catch up on our reading. I actually told Josh that we will buy the fourth book when it comes out in paperback (if I buy one in paperback the rest have to be that way). I'm weird, I know.

Three more books, I promise. We have read a lot over the three years we have been reading together so I really had to choose what I was going to pick for this post. Sorry, I'm off track. The next book that we love is called The Thirteenth Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters. I bought the book for Josh's birthday last year. I thought that it looked interesting. Josh wasn't too excited about it until we actually started it. The whole time we read the book I was thinking "what in the world is happening". It also made me think and wonder what each clue was saying: much like in National Treasure and The DaVinci Code. The second book is coming out on March 4th. Yes, 20 days before Fablehaven. Josh and I decided that we were going to buy it and then wait to read it until Fablehaven is finished. Fablehaven is more important to us.

This one is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I had actually had it recommended to me from one of my former piano students. I told Josh about it but we already had a ton of books to read. Well, we actually ran out of books a few months ago and Josh found it and said it looked interesting. The rest is history. We are currently reading the third book and it is still really cool. They have some humor in it (through Percy's thoughts) which makes the adventure even more interesting. I highly suggest picking up these books.

The last one that I am going to recommend is a little unusual. Josh and I didn't really read them together, but we both have read them and loved them. The books are actually in two series of four. The first for are called The Circle of Magic and the second set is called The Circle Opens. I just discovered the other day that there is another one called The Circle Reforged. These books are not as action packed as the others but are really well written. They have a very different point of view of magic; which makes them so refreshing.

Keep in mind that if you live nearby, you can always take a look at our library and check some of these amazing books out. Karen does it all the time and she has enjoyed the books that I have recommended. If yo have any questions about the books, feel free to ask! I'm (Josh too) is always willing to give some great book advice.

Confessions of a Student Teacher: Part 5

I guess that I should let my amazing readers what this week was like in the world of student teaching. It wasn't bad, it was pretty much like every other week so I will try to keep it short. I don't have too much to say except that I am starting to worry about a large assignment that is due in three weeks and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do! So, I am procrastinating. That always happens. If I don't know what to do; the procrastination bug steps in.

Monday: Nothing exciting except learning more about percents through a PowerPoint. Most of the lessons are PowerPoint's (for future reference). Nothing exciting really happened.

Tuesday: YES! More percents!! Today we learned how percents can actually apply to our lives. I hate to admit it but it didn't go over to well. Wait until you read about Wednesday though.

Wednesday: I'm sure that now you really want to know what happened on Wednesday. Nothing really except that we were learning about interest and stuff along those lines. Apparently that wasn't as easy as I thought it was. The students are not understanding it!!! AHHHHH!!! We even have a test on Tuesday next week on this stuff. I don't know what else to do. If you have suggestions, give them fast because we are reviewing on Monday and test on Tuesday.

Thursday: Tungsten. It is a district test. We have to take it once a month and it is so boring while they take it. I did get to go see a teacher who just received a smart board through a grant. It was so awesome! I think it would be great to have one in my classroom but it would take a lot of learning.

Friday: Review game. The students needed two days for review so Friday and Monday were saved to do that. The students played a game and the team that one got a homework pass. Exciting, I know.

So, we have one more full week until a three day weekend. I know, I'm counting down but I think that I really need a break. I'm going to write my really big paper that day. I'm taking on another class next week. First period. Wish me luck. It will not be until Wednesday, but it is another class. After first period, I will be halfway done with taking over the classes. It will be weird. Anyway, until next week.