Family: Mostly Sweet with a few nuts.

This week was a very looooong week. Why? I'm not really sure. Overall, I had pretty good kids this week. They did also know we had a trip to the Luge this week though and needed to behave in order to go. The Luge is built in this guy's backyard in Elk River. From what my students told me, he builds it different every year. Its a giant ice slide that goes onto a pond in his neighbor's yard. It was a lot of fun!! I wish I had pictures to share with you, normally I have pictures, this place is very hard to describe. But if you want to know more, let me know, we can have a date to the Luge in Elk River ;-)
I think I got through this week though because of my family and friends who are thinking about me. I got the chance to talk to a few of my aunts Sunday night which was nice! They are very happy for me to be getting this far and are nothing but proud of me. And their love and support means the world to me. Now, if you are reading this, you probably know me, and you know I LOVE pictures. So because I am thinking a lot about my family this week (as always!) I want to share some pictures with you before I talk about a few things I learned this week from teaching and just being with my students.

This is my cousin Emily. She is a year older
than me. We don't see each other often
but we always have a good time when
we do!

Sissie. She rocks. Even though sometimes
I want to knock her head off. I love her.

Pops!! Pretty much the best Dad ever.

Two of my YOUNGER cousins, Nate
and Kalvin, even though they look
like giants next to me now!

Kalvin, Jill and Erin. Again, Kalvin is
the youngest in this picture. Hard
to believe we are all growing up!

Grandma Lois :-) No matter what
mood you are in, you can't spend
time with this woman and not
leave smiling. Her phone calls

are like 15 minutes of free therapy.

Basically my family rocks. I wish I could put up even more pictures. Their support just means a lot to me and I would't have made it to this point in my life without them. But I have made it to where I am, and I have learned more from my student teaching experience than I ever thought possible. And I still have five weeks left of where I am, and eight more weeks at a new school!

Each day I am able to learn a little something new about each student of mine. Whether that little fact I learn be about how they do academically, or how they are as a person, it doesn't matter. Every time I learn something new, I learn a new way to possibly connect with that student. I feel that some if not most of my students need that person to connect to. I know I won't be there for them forever, but for now I am something stable for them. 

I've learned that not every student comes from the most stable home life. I already knew that, but now its been real for me. I was thinking this week how much I used to take my family for granted. School might be the only stable thing some students have in their life. With this thought in mind, I try to make the school work fun for students, while they are learning what they are suppose to be learning of course. I guess overall, I feel that my students might teach me more than I could teach them. I'm already learning a lot about them and from them. I just hope they keep bringing it on :-)

The learning never stops!

The start of week THREE already?! I know I still have five more to get through after this one, but it is already going by so quickly!! I am teaching Science and Social Studies full time now. It is still very nerve-racking! I know it will keep getting better little by little, but I just would like to be successful now!! Back to patience is a virtue huh? ;-)
I had my first official observation last week already. It went oookaayy.....not at all how I pictured it in my head the night before and all day (go figure! :-p) BUT after talking with my cooperating teaching I do feel better about it. She told me the lesson plan itself was beautiful. She also told me that if I didn't feel overwhelmed with it and nervous, she would be worried. I need to be learning as I go along, so no, I won't rock out a perfect lesson plan and delivery of it right away. Time and self-reflection is what I need to succeed. So after talking through how everything went, I do feel better about my first big observation. Although, I'll never be completely happy with how it all went, I do know it is all very typical of first observations. I don't think I will be able to stop striving for perfection for the beginning though!
After what I thought was a failure of a lesson plan, I had the opportunity to lead my first IEP meeting! For all of you who are now confused what the heck IEP means, it stands for Individualized Education Plan. Each student I work with has an IEP written for their specific learning needs. So this meeting was an annual meeting to discuss progress and further steps for the student. After that meeting my cooperating teacher did tell me I did a very good job with that which did put a smile on my face! After a struggle of an afternoon, I did get to end on a good note!
It is the start of my third week and I am already learning so much about so many different things! As scary as it was the first week to be thrown into this particular setting, I am very glad I have been given this opportunity!! :-) Stay tuned for more!

xoxo