Being A First Year Teacher Means....

1. Many nights spent searching the internet for ideas and worksheets. Well not anymore! I was told to sign up for The Mailbox and I have to say it's a huge life saver. One year of access to the website is completely worth $60. I can search the website for ideas and worksheets by grade,difficulty, holiday, or subject. It's fantastic. I am building my resources. If there is any year that I should spend money on worksheets, it's my first year.

The Mailbox
Where Great Teachers Find Great Ideas

I'm not so sure I am in love with teaching kindergarten but after working so hard this year to collect stuff, materials, worksheets, and other resources for this age group, I don't want to essentially start over next year with a different grade level.

2. Room to grow. I was observed during my reading groupsrecently. I had to evaluate myself before the observation. I was happy with my comments and results when I got them. The main thing that was suggested to me was to find more books my kids could read independently. I have a lot of great books in my classroom library but not many that a kindergartner can read alone. I've already added lots of books my students can read alone using a book of reproducible and pre-decodable books to copy. The school has been working on building guided reading resources. We're making a whole set of leveled Reading A to Z books for each campus.

A fellow kindergarten teacher has files for each month of school that include worksheets, crafts, lesson plans, and read-aloud books to help teach the material in that month's curriculum map. I am jealous of how she's organized her read-aloud books based on what they're good to teaching. That's a goal of mine.

3. Creating goals. There are many things I've seen other teachers doing that I'd like to use or change in my classroom. I set goals like develop reading groups this month and establish a better routine for writing workshop next month. It's unrealistic to think everything will fall into place at once. I'm especially afraid to change too much at one time. Right as the kids get used to doing reading groups this way I don't want to change it. Right as they begin to respond to the behavior management plan I don't want to change it. In reality, I'd love to. I start to see the flaws in the way I'm doing it and want to try something else. The Educational Specialist at my school saw the dynamic of my students and the behavior issues in my classroom and suggested right away at the beginning of the year that I get rid of the stop light system (that almost every other teacher in the school uses) and change to some method of positive reinforcement. I'd love to change the behavior management plan AGAIN because it's sooo high maintenance and a lot of work for me but obviously I'm afraid of how they'll respond, so I wont.

This year of trial and error only makes me that much wiser for next year.

I am soooo tired of hearing this phrase

"He/she cutted me." NO they didn't. He or she CUT you but who cares anyways. We are all going to the same place. I wish I could get the point across that it doesn't matter one bit.

Just lovely things I am discovering about kindergarten. This week was rough but I'm not sure I could say yet that I've had a smooth week. Something eventful is always happening like GKIDS (Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills) grades being due today.

"Thank God it's Friday!"

Is it bad to start thanking God for weekends on Monday? Well strangely enough I'm actually hoping to see my kids tomorrow. I've planned a little play date at a local farm. It's a time where families, friends, siblings, and our class can get together to play and paint pumpkins. I'm hoping there will be good attendance for such short notice.

Tonight I'm heading home to hang with the family and do laundry. That's one the of few things my apartment is lacking. I have no washer and dryer but I think I can survive 8 months without them. Well, of course I have to do laundry some how. My apartment complex has washers and dryers. My mom always thought it was so funny that when I toured an apartment compex I asked how much washing and drying costs. Why pay when I could mooch off my lovely parents a little longer (thanks guys!).

Saturday after seeing my kids at the farm I plan to carve pumpkins with Abbie and watch the Georgia game. Sunday I'm hoping to go hiking! This weekend is something I can actually post pictures of.

Next week at school I have my Guided Reading Observation. That should be interesting. Guided Reading is a challenge for a new teacher. What happens is you work with small groups of children (3-5 studentds) on their reading skills while your other students work independently at literacy centers. Doesn't sound too bad right? But can you imagine a class of kindergarteners work busily and independently for 45 minutes while their teacher is not paying attention to them. Not to mention they are working on things that have to be self explanitory because you don't have time to give directions and supervise to each activity. This is when a parapro would be helpful.

I thought I could do it without a parapro because I wouldn't know what I was missing. I still WILL do it without a parapro obviously but there are times I just want to hand off a particular student to my nonexistent parapro and say "please stop the crying, please give the directions for the millionth time, please settle the dispute over the crayons, please monitor the literacy centers during reading groups, please keep so and so from painting all over the easle, please keep so and so from coloring on the bookshelf with dry erase markers, etc."

On a more enthusiastic note this upcoming week we have Characater Day. It's like a Halloween substitute. The students are allowed to dress up but their costume must be a character from a book. They must bring the book to school and it cannot be scary! I'm planning to be Cat in the Hat.... imagine. Friday at school will be fun with crafts, snacks, pumpkin carving, and goodie bags from Ms. McCulloch. I have to be a little careful because I have a student who is a Jehova's Witness and so I have to make our festivities and celebrations fall and pumpkin related rather than Halloween related. The most exciting things is my mom is hoping to come and be a guest reader!! She can stay and help with crafts and fun stuff and meet my students. She will understand all my stories after that experience.

What I have in mind....

Well I'd love to use this blog as a place to show you my students. I've been taking lots of cute pictures. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to post them online. I'm working on a legal solution for this. I'd also love to use this blog as a place to give resources to first year teachers or new kindergarten teachers. I'm not sure kindergarten is the grade for me but I'm collecting resources and making resources like a maniac. I can't imagine changing grades because I don't want to start all over with my resources. I wish I had picked a job that did not require me to do so much work at home.

I can't wait until I can just go through my files and pick out worksheets I have sorted according to content area instead of flipping through book after book and surfing the internet for ages.

I have great intentions for this blog, but for now it's all I can do to survive. I'm spending spare time finding resources and creating ones I don't have. That's never really "done", I just get by right now.

Last week was parent/teacher conferences. I survived. 15/17 parents showed up. Last week was also my first formal observation. I was also supposed to sub for a second grade teacher (who had jury duty) during the morning and proctor the ITBS for her students. Luckily, she was on call and they didn't need her. I also took a short (I'm talking 22 hours) work trip to Dayton, Ohio to observe a charter school up there that we work closely with/are based on. It was depressing to see their preschoolers doing more advanced stuff than all the kindergartners. I think a preschool at my school would be great.

Just to add to all of last weeks chaos, we're having our reading groups observed this week. I've been online for an hour or so trying to improve my literacy centers. I did not anticipate this would be so much work and require so much creativity/idea borrowing. I've also joined the committee at my school to help plan the festival for the Chinese New Year in February. It's important, seeing as every child earns Chinese for 30 minutes a day or more.

Wish me luck!

The Last Two Months...

Dear Teaching (kindergarten),

In the words of the Plain White T's, "hate is a strong word but I really really really don't like you!"

Love,
Natalie

That is most definitely how I felt in the beginning but luckily, things are getting better every day. I have not blogged because the thought of trying to describe how I was feeling and what I was thinking was so overwhelming. School was a shock to me. I guess I didn't realize how "unschooled" kindergartners were going to be. They didn't know that it wasn't ok to walk over and start eating their lunch 9am if they were hungry. Only about half of them have preschool experience. I also have a huge difference in academic levels. I have students who can only identify 6 letters of the alphabet and I have a student who can do addition and subtraction to 15.

I had quite the class at the beginning of the year. I had 19 students with a lot of behavior issues. I've had two students removed from my class and spread out to other kindergarten classes. Even with only 17 students I've still had two suspended already; one for bullying and one for kicking a chair at me.

By now we've begun falling into a routine and the students have a better understanding of our class rules. I had to change the behavior system early on, at the request of the educational specialist at the school, from the stop light system everyone else uses to a rewards system. They earn cotton balls for being "cotton ball quiet" and doing what they're asked. They are beginning to understand what they can and cannot do at school and I think I'm finally falling in love with them. We actually attempted painting on Friday and it was a success.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"Ms. McCulloch, I wish you were black like me because I really like black people."
"Ms. McCulloch, I really like your eyebrows because they are gray and I like gray."

I still struggle daily but several things have helped me. I am so grateful for these things.
1. I now lesson plan with two other teachers that are new to the school. My job is just to plan math and homework which helps cut down on the work.
2. There is a second year teacher who gives me resources, answers my questions, encourages me to have a life, and tells me to take things one step at a time. For example, don't worry about trying to start reading groups, writing workshop, and math centers all at once. Just do it one month at a time for my sake.
3. For the first two months of school I carpooled with another kindergarten teacher who has been teaching for 10 years. She gave me advice and listened patiently to my stories and my worries.

As much as I tried, I had no life for the first two months of school. I was commuting for about 2 hours every day. I moved into my new apartment on Saturday. It's 5 minutes from my school and is going to make life so much easier. Just when I think have time on my side finally, school throws more at me though. My first official observation and my first parent/teacher conferences are this week so it will be interesting! Wish me luck. Apparently things are completely different, in a good way, after December.

I think some of my frustrations come from teaching and the politics of it, some come from my 5 and 6 year old students, and some come from the school. I've been told by veterans, " If you can teach at this school and do well then you can teach anywhere." It was really comforting because I was beginning to wonder if this was a "NORMAL" experience for a first year teacher and now I think not.

When I get my couches next week I'll put up pictures of my apartment!

A Key to Camp Metigoshe Terminology

So I got home safely last night and was telling my parents about camp. They thought I was talking in another language! So I realize the things I'm writing might sound funny to everyone else t0o. Here's a key to some funny Camp Metigoshe Terminology. I will have a few more entries to come about the last weeks of camp so stay tunned.

Day Players- Rising 3rd graders who come and spend one night at camp, a total of like 17 hours. Trail Blazers- Rising 4th and 5th grade campers
Pioneers- Rising 6th and 7th grade campers
Discoverers- Rising 8th and 9th grade campers
Seek Weekers- Rising 10th and 11th grade campers
CITs- Counselors in Training, Rising 12th graders and college freshmen

Road Runner- a morning jog done with your cabin
Polar Bear- a morning dip in the lake (about 25 seconds long)
Ojibwas- a group of Native American Indians who live in the Turtle Mountains where camp is located.

So I flew home from North Dakota yesterday. It was really sad to go. It was hard saying my goodbyes to everyone. I wish I could have stayed one more night just to hang out with all the counselors after our campers left. I got some really good hugs my last couple of days and was made a huge pan of nachos that said "we love you" in sour cream :)

State Fair Fun

Camp Fire

I love these people!

There were many jokes about how to make me stay... how to make me miss my flight was one of them. Amy and I drove to Bismark for my flight (about 3 1/2 hours away), which apparently takes longer than we imagined. I ran into the airport in a hurry and rushed up the the counter asking if the flight for Chicago had left yet. I ended up missing my flight but was re-booked pretty quickly on a flight to Denver then onto Atlanta. The first flight was a United flight then I switched to Frontier. Somewhere in the change my luggage was lost and I still don't know it's fate but I'm hoping it'll arrive on my doorstep soon.

I am seriously considering going back next summer and possibly teaching there for a year. I'd love that. In December camp holds an event called Nights of Christmas. I'm thinking of going to that and testing out Winter. There will be snow mobiling and snow tubing! Sounds sweet to me! Apparently everything colder than -10 feels the same up there. It'll be an interesting experience.

Oh North Dakota, how I LOVE thee!

Ojibwa Week

This past week I had Ojibwa girls. Ojibwa is the Native American tribe from the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation that's really close to camp. It's a very interesting week of camp. Everything is pretty different and most rules are thrown out the window! They tell counselors before the week begins the kinds of behaviors to ignore (talking during directions, not participating in activities, cursing, hitting counselors, putting paint on people), behaviors to redirect (throwing rocks at buildings or people, etc.), and behaviors that will cause them to be sent home (hurting another camper purposely, climbing on the high ropes course, or sneaking out at night. I actually had to break up a fight between two boy campers and they both got sent home. It was really sad.

I'm so thankful we talked about these behaviors because I would have been exhausted if I had chased my campers around all week trying to get them to listen and participate. I think with higher expectations the campers could have been a bit better behaved though. Especially they boys. They were wild and could be seen fishing, running a muck, or climbing on top of roofs at any given time. The week just flows differently than other weeks of camp. They had a lot more free time and a TON of swimming time.

We got to go small group camping which was really fun. We sang really loud camp fire songs, made s'mores, and tried to out last the pouring rain. I co-counseled with Emily and we had a good time making pancakes and sausages over the fire the next morning.

It was a very memorable week. It taught me a lot and I think it's a valuable thing to experience as a teacher because I will undoubtedly have students who just do things slightly differently. I learned to let them be and they would eventually come back to the group and participate when they were interested.

These are some pictures of fellow staff members.

This is Ian, one of the cooks, and we basically have the same hair cut.

This is Mindy and she rocks!

The Complete Seek Week

This has been my favorite week of camp thus far! It was not very traditional because the kids are so old. They’re allowed to do more adventurous things. We only spent 2 out of 5 nights in our cabin. By the way, our cabin was Cabin Sunset which was named according to its great views over the lake. We did high ropes, adventure course, ice cream Sundaes, camping, bonfires, late night saunas, breakfast in bed, movie night, canoeing, cruising on the pontoon, and a whole lot more! I liked it because I was able to have good conversations with them at that age. I was worried about that but our Bible study times (SWAT times) and our prayer partner times were good and we got into some deep questions.

That's me :)

Weekends are so great around here. It’s really fun to bond with the staff members and relax. It’s like getting away to the mountains for the weekend. It’s pretty peaceful. We sauna, we swim, we bonfire, and we watch movies. Little do the kids know that while we use outhouses and cabins without electricity during the week we watch movies and check email over the weekend. This weekend was actually the QUILT AUCTION at Metigoshe Lutheran Church. That’s the church we sing at every Sunday and it’s where Kyle and Betsy Debertin, the camp directors, work during the year. The quilt action is the main fundraiser used to pay the staff’s paychecks. We sold 204 quilts for about $60,000 total today. Betsy says no one comes to the quilt auction looking for a bargain but they are looking to make a gift to Camp Metigoshe.

Next week I’ll actually being doing a day camp at Metigoshe Lutheran. I’m really excited because I get to stay at camp still- but in a building with bathrooms! Woop! It’ll be nice because we can use supplies from camp and just drive it over with us in the morning. The church is about 5 minutes from camp. It’s only me and another counselor, Wyatt. Our boss asked if either of us could learn guitar in the next 24 hours…. Unlikely. They’ll send some staff over a couple times a day to play for us. I’ll keep you posted!

Seek Week this week!

This week I have Seek Week Campers which is 10th and 11th graders. Wish me luck! I'm excited because it'll be higher adventure than last week but I'm nervous to have deeper conversations with this age group! We are not supposed to share to many personal details with campers. As a general rule we are supposed to ask 10 questions for every one they ask. We are planning to camp out a couple nights and do some sweet competitions among campers. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Also, Happy Father's Day people! Here's a special tribute to mine! :)

Voyager Week

Ok. This week I had Voyager Campers. They are all ages but have physical and/or developmental disabilities. I wasn't sure how I felt about this when we got our staffing assignments. I wasn't elated but I wasn't disappointed. I'd heard a lot of good things about voyager campers.

So Monday they arrived and I had campers from age 14 to 46 I think. Overall, I look back on the week and I remember the funny things they said and did. I don't focus on the hard or irritating things. Voyager weeks are much slower paced because even though you have smaller cabins (maybe 5-7 campers) they're hard to mobilize. I had one camper that took 2 hours and 25 minutes to get to breakfast one morning ( from the time she woke up). I also had a camper in a wheel chair who you could easily have a conversation with but she needed a lot of help getting dress, using the bathroom, getting from place to place in general.

Dream Team of Counselors Kate, Jamie, Me

Here are the main things I remember:

- One particular camper in a wheel chair had a lot of firsts: first boat ride, first time swimming, first time painting her nails. Her expression and reaction to these things made me so happy.
-My campers having crushes on guy counselors and following them around constantly.
-Going paddle boating and my camper thinking it would be funny to throw her shoes, socks, and life jacket in to the middle of the lake.
- Waking up in the middle of the night and making endless amounts of bathroom trips.
- Riding the pontoon boat with my campers.
- Dancing with campers
- Going on the Christ Hike (which is like a skit of Jesus' last few days) and watching my campers get very upset about Jesus dying but watching them light up with he returns.
- A racoon being inside our screened-in porch one night when we came back for bed.

This is Kate's racoon face! They are so pesky with trash and food!

Staff cannot drink alcohol during the summer (duh, it's a Bible camp) so instead they resort to having lots of sugar to stay energized for campers. So when the week was over and we were drained, our coordinators gave us shots of snow cone syrup. I wouldn't advise it. It kinds burns the throat but it was a good time!

Shout Out!!

Shout out to my mom and my Aunt Lee for sending me packages with some yummmmy yummy snacks and junk food! It's all delish and the other counselors are enjoying them too!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

Fun weekend

We spent Friday night hanging around and then sauna-ing. The sauna was so awesome. I'd never been in there in the day light so it was kinda weird walking into a pitch dark room I wasn't familiar with but it felt so good. We did sauna-saunters where we ran from the sauna and jumped into the cold cold lake to cool off. During weeks with campers we can't shower or use real bathrooms. Everything is more rugged. We use outhouses and we get in the lake to clean off twice a day. In the morning we do this think called the Road Runner and the Polar Bear. It's to make everyone wake up. The Road Runner is a short run around camp and then the Polar Bear is a quick AM dip in the lake & it's freeeezing. This all happens before breakfast. Then at somepoint in the day we go swimming and can play on the water tramp or jump off the floating dock. This picture is the tramp being put in the water on work day.

Work day is something that happens on occasional Saturdays and people who live around camp, people who donate money to camp, and all employees do work projects at camp alllll day. Also every Friday when campers go home staff does work projects for a couple hours. It's things like splitting wood, emptying trash & recycling, painting buildings, cleaning cabins/bathrooms/outhouses, baking cookies for the next week, killing weeds, etc. It's hard and dirty but kind of theraputic especially after a week of camp. It's like debriefing time and we get to catch up with the other counselors who've been away at day camps for the week.

Anyways, back to the weekend. Saturday a bunch of us went into town to watch USA play England in the World Cup and made a trip to Walmart. I'm impressed Botinneau has a Walmart. They have a population of about 6,000. It's been interesting learning about small towns here in ND. I've also loved learning their lingo. Like "hot dish" is what I call a casserole.

Sunday there was finalllllly some sun and I got to lay out on the dock and tan for my hours off. Campers normally come on Sundays but I have voyager campers this week and they don't arrive until Monday.

Ticks

Wood Tick Count: 7

Things that make me stop and think....

It's only been two weeks and I've already had many moments where I stopped and thought

"Wow I'm really getting paid to ...."
[sing around a camp fire five nights a week] [play bunko] [listen to live guitar music while showering] [play beer pong with juice] [go camping] [ play on a trampoline in the lake] [ play games] [do crafts] [ make smores] [learn about jesus] [see sweet North Dakota stars] [play on the high ropes course].

Ok so maybe there are also a few things I'd rather not have to do like
[clean outhouses] [check for and remove wood ticks] [shower in the lake] [sing in the church choir].

I'm sure more and more will be added to these lists over the summer. The good things are trumping the bad though. Overall, camp is awesome. This week is another week of staff training and the first kids come on Sunday.

More from NODAK

Camp Metigoshe is awesome!

For the record: North Dakota has lots of wind farms, North Dakota has sweet views of the stars. Counselors like to sings songs about Georgia when I'm around. 1 more week of staff training before real camp begins!!

Look who I found the other day...

Sometimes I see this and I feel a little musically challenged. I think there are about 7 of us that don't play.

This week was "All Day Camps" week. It means that no camps happen on site at Camp Metigoshe: Pelican Lake but that we send out teams of counselors around North Dakota to hold day camps at various churches. I was sent to Rolla (about 40 minutes from camp).

On the way Lacey and I drove through Rugby, ND, the geographical center of North America.

Observations about small towns: 0-1 radio stations, 5 places to eat is considered a lot, kids walk home from camp, they have graduating classes of about 22, they only have some sports because they can't field many teams.

The people in Rolla were awesome!! They were so hospitable and they gave us verrry yummy food! I have my first Taco in a Bag which is meat, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and taco sauce in a bag of Doritos. Delish! I also had Lefse which is like a torilla but made of potato. People like it with sugar and cinnamon sometimes. I also had Taco Pizza. I will be making that in the future.

My host family had a 10 month old baby that got croup and had to be air lifted to Fargo (about 4.5 hours away). I had the house to myself for two nights but I spent most of my time at Lacey's host family's house.

Camp Metigoshe

Yeah! I get to see Amy and Erin from Fripp Island.

View of Pelican Lake from the Lodge. PS. My cabin during staff training has a lake front view! Beautiful!

My staff training cabin group in the Lodge (where everyone eats). When we get campers we move around from cabin to cabin each week.


Learning arts and crafts. This was a sucker made from 3 melted jolly ranchers. Sweet!

Ok finally an update. The cell and internet service here is awfull and we're very busy. You can only really expect updates from me on weekends. If you need to get in touch with me text me because I can get those pretty easily and will write you back.

This week was all staff training and get-to-know-ya stuff. Next week will be day camps which means we go out to different churchs around North Dakota (as much as 5 hours away) and hold camps there. The following week will be another week of staff training THEN we will begin holding camps on site here at Camp Metigoshe at Pelican Lake. Each week I will be working with a different age of campers from rising first graders to rising college freshmen.

Ok first impressions of North Dakota/ NODAK:
Cold, rainy, very green, long stretches of nothing, very flat land. Camp Metigoshe is in the Turle Mountains which are really just hills. I should have brushed up on my North Dakota geography.

First impressions of Camp Metigoshe:
Awesome! well organized with gooood staff training (especially in comparison to Fripp Island), well funded, lots of dudes with pocket knives, not as rugged as I imagined, cold lake, most people from ND or MN.
The counselors are really outgoing. About half of them have worked here before, gone to camp here, or knew someone working here already.
During staff training we're allowed to use the real bathrooms and showers but while the campers are here we go rugged. We use out houses, troughs, saunas, and we shower in the lake daily. We have lights in the cabin but when the campers are here we use lanterns.

I'm really excited for this summer! I'm already disappointed I have to leave earlier in the summer than most everyone else. We've already done cool things like square dancing, make you're own snack night, adventure course (which is like a low ropes course), photo scavenger hunts, video taping Camp Metigoshe advertisements, staff tie-dying, campfires & smores and during our next staff training week we're going small group camping.

Fun, fun, fun!!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

This is the latest update on my list of kid quotes:

2nd Grade Student: Ms. McCulloch, you made my dreams come true.
Me: Well Chris that's very sweet. What do you mean?
2nd Grade Student: I always wanted to know what detention was like.

Hahahahahaha

I listed him as a "disruptive student" in my note to his teacher. The next day she gave him detention thanks to me. :)

You're going where???

Yup, I'm moving to North Dakota for the next two months. I leave in about a week (May 24th).

I'll be working at CAMP METIGOSHE.

This was something that stood out to me on the website...

"We’re 90 miles from Minot, North Dakota, home of the ND State Fair, keeper of the foot-long corndog. We’re 15 miles from Bottineau, home of Wal-Mart, keeper of the toothpaste. We’re 10 miles from Canada, home of the Canadians, keeper of the Loonies.

Is it weird that I'll be closer to Canada than Walmart?

Also, I was informed of this, "PS - as a reminder, staff training can sometimes feel cool. So, you may want to pack accordingly. Sometimes people pack their winter jacket!"

I guess I'll be trading in my bikini for sweat pants and hoodies.

If you feel like sending me mail at camp (because everyone knows that's awesome!!) send it here:

Natalie McCulloch
Camp Metigoshe
2051 105th St NE
Bottineau, ND 58318-6145

Happy Earth Day
April 22nd

Well I have to give Annie Skinner a quick shout-out. She was my freshman roommate in college "back-in-the-day". Kidding, it really wasn't that long ago at all. Anyways, Annie is responsible for my recycling habits. She got me to start recycling that year. We used to haul all our recycling to the bins behind the dining hall at night. She taught me a lot about recycling and loving the earth! I've been recycling ever since. Even when it meant loading the recycling into my car and driving it from my apartment (and my friend's apartments) to the bins on campus once a week (or month depending on how motivated I was).

I can't wait to teach the importance of recycling in my classroom and get them started young! It kills me to see how much paper goes unrecycled in schools. That will never happen in my classroom. In my interview for New Life Academy, the interviewees (is that a word?) asked me what I would do to stay connected in the community. I plan to teach my students about helping keep their community clean and safe. Recycling is just one simple way they can make a difference.

IDOL GIVES BACK

I was hesitant to watch IDOL GIVES BACK because I've seen it in the past. It's good but it's depressing and they pressure people for money the whole time using very sad video footage. I only liked one of the performances- Carrie Underwood. She's done so well since American Idol. I thought Wanda Sykes' bit, about making the loser sing each week just to remind America that they were right to vote that person off, was really funny. I have to say, I'm rooting for Crystal this season. IDOL GIVES BACK didn't really make me want to donate money though. It made me want to teach in a third world country or really impoverished area anywhere. It broke my heart to hear how few books kids have access to in some places when I've got probably 200 books downstairs in boxes waiting to grace my future classroom. It's sad to think that some kids will be behind before they ever step in the door for kindergarten because they haven't had help at home or any exposure to books.

Today I substitute taught at my old elementary school for the parapro in my kindergarten teacher's classroom. So I worked along side my kindergarten teacher in the same room we were in 18 years ago when I had her as a teacher. It really made me feel like I came full circle. She knew I was coming in and she said she recognized me. Her name is Mrs. Wallace but I had a difficult time saying that at age 5. I know I called her Mrs. WALRUS a time or two. I hope she doesn't remember me as the girl who called her that. Oops. She's been teaching 38 years now and is retiring at the end of this year. I feel like I'm replacing her in the world of teaching. No one can ever replace her but it's interesting that exactly when she retires is the year I start teaching kindergarten. She gave me a great new childrens book with words of encouragement for my first teaching position written on the inside cover. It's so special. 38 years she taught. Wow! I don't think I can do that!

"Kid's say the darndest things" and I plan to keep track of them. When I see bad situations and sad things happening in a student's life I'm going to need a list of humorous and precious things they say to keep me coming back despite the heartbreak.


Here are a few more examples:

The parts of speech are lungs and air.

The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom.

Syntax is all the money collected at the church from sinners.

Define H2O and CO2. H2O is hot water and CO2 is cold water.

What now?

I'm a future kindergarten teacher! Yikes!Don't you just love this picture?

So beginning in the fall I'll be teaching kindergarten at New Life Academy of Excellence. It's a charter school in Gwinnett County.

What is a charter school you might ask?

According to the Georgia Department of Education, a charter school operates according to the terms of a charters, or contract, that has been approved by the local and state boards of education. Students, parents, and the school itself enjoy more decision making freedoms, but the school is still held accountable by the state for meeting the performance-based objectives laid out in the charter, as well as state curriculum standards. The only requirement for attending is to live within allowable areas. A charter school cannot have admission criteria or charge tuition.

So want to know what New Life Academy has chosen to do with their freedom? They teach children Chinese and Karate at school. Interesting eh? Can you imagine anything cuter than 18 kindergartners wearing their karate uniform to school. I will have a class full of ninjas! You better watch out!

I feel so very lucky to have a job and so thankful that my job search didn't last all summer or longer. I'm thrilled but a little nervous too! Since accepting the job I've been thinking about what I need to become a kindergarten teacher and have a nice looking, well stocked classroom. **I'm now accepting donations to my classroom if you have any books, school supplies, or know any teachers getting rid of things please let me know.**

I plan to have some serious fun at yard sales this spring and summer hunting for treasure for my classroom and new apartment! I'll be moving to Norcross (about 45 minutes from home) at the end of July before planning starts on July 23. I'm thrilled to decorate my own place and stock it with Southern Living at Home things!

Stay tuned for more of my thoughts about starting my first teaching job and also to find out what I'll be doing this summer (which I'm still not sure of).

Love

Happy Valentine's Day my lovely friends and family! I hope you are all having a wonderful day!

'We love because He first loved us.' - 1John 4:19

I wanted to share with you this way cool, retro shirt my mom found somewhere in the house!

Snow

We got snow in Georgia! This was a legit amount too. Not like last years snow but still fun! I was subbing at Dowell Elementary School in Cobb County and we got out an hour early for fear of the roads getting bad between 1:00 when it started snowing and when we normally get out at 2:15.... unlikely. It was fun to watch the kids get all worked up when they looked out the window and saw the snow. It's weird having to watch the schools closing scroll by on the TV again.

This one is for you, Amy and Anlee! Tie-dye!

Full Job Update

I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every time I was asked what I'm doing these days. Haha. So here's the full update.

I am substitute teaching in Cobb County, which I am thrilled about!! I'm hoping to gain some good experience, meet a lot of teachers, secretaries, and administrators and ultimately secure a position for August. I'm flexible as far as where I could/would teach. I'm willing to move as long as I have the security of a full time position.

I'm serving at West Cobb Diner. It's great money and it's getting easier and easier as I learn more about the menu, the foods, and the restaurant business. I'm also doing a little babysitting and working out on the side.

Right now I'm living at home. I'm trying to get used to this. My room is a major disaster of furniture and boxes of stuff I collected from four years of dorm/apartment life in college. I haven't lived in Kennesaw in four and half years so I don't really know all of the places people my age hang out and most of my friends have left the area.

I've rejoined Riverstone church. It is the church I went to in high school. I'm going to a Bible study there on Tuesday nights for college students and post grads. It's a big group of people (about 30). This week was my first week and I met several people who graduated from UGA and had attended the Wesley Foundation there. I also met a girl (or remet, because I didn't really recognize her) who had played on the HS Varsity soccer team while I was playing JV at KMHS, went to UGA, went to Wesley, and student taught at Colegio Americano in Ecuador for four months before I was there. It was amazing to encounter this. I felt like God was saying "I've got you taken care of, you're in the right place, and if you can't be at Wesley this is the next best place for you."

This weekend Laura came to visit me! I met her when we were both doing our student teaching in Ecuador. It was so great to have her visit from Auburn. We got to reminisce and look at slide shows of our pictures.

New Year, New Jobs

I don't know if anyone is still reading this because I've dropped off the face of the earth. Just thought I'd fill everyone in on what I've been doing since I returned from Ecuador.

• I spent time with my family first and foremost.
• I finished my COST portfolio and turned in it over a month early so I could get my grade in a timely fashion.... it's still not graded so technically I haven't graduated and therefore, do not have my certification. Hopefully it's on the way soon!
• I celebrated my 23rd birthday!
• I went to Athens to visit friends and celebrate Amy's 23rd birthday!
• December 17-18 my family and I attended my College of Education and UGA graduation ceremonies!
• I celebrated Christmas Eve with my family and my Aunt Linda and Uncle Michael.
• Christmas day was just my immediate family! This was really fun but I missed Aunt Lee, Uncle Andy, Caroline, and Lindsay!
• I spent New Years Eve babysitting. Sad times but I wanted to make money.
• Since the new year I've been networking and applying to jobs like crazy!
• Most exciting I found someone that could get me into the Cobb County Subfinder system! I did the paperwork on Monday and will hopefully start soon!
• I'm thrilled about subbing but ultimately I'm hoping it will help me get my foot in the door for a supply job (long term sub position, 6-8 weeks) or a parapro position through May and a full time position beginning in August!!!
• I'm also waitressing at West Cobb Diner, a new restaurant in Marietta. Waitressing is challenging but it's good money. I'm going to stick it out for a while.
• I'm hoping to find something fun and exciting to do this summer. It's the last summer I can be a little spontaneous and do something I love and believe in! I've applied to intern at the TOMS shoes headquarters in Santa Monica, CA. I'm hoping I get the position!

Lastly, and very exciting, Brooks asked me to be her maid of honor and I'm thrilled!!