Oh, hello again.

 So, OD has been.. horrible lately, and I haven’t been around, because I was sick of not being able to open notes, load up my entry editor, etc. I’ve been thinking of you all, though, and I miss you!

So here’s what’s new- school is in full swing, Kasin is in 3rd grade and doing great. We really love his teacher. They’ve already done some art projects, with caribou silhouettes, oil pastels, clay, cloud projects in a jar- they MADE clouds with water in a JAR! So cool. He’s been loving it. She’s an amazing teacher, and we knew she would be. We requested her, and we’re so glad he did end up in that room. He has a bunch of kids in his room from last year and 1st grade, Isabel, for one, who I love! Blair and Amy and Lucy and Toyeupu from last year, and a bunch of kids he had in 1st grede but not in 2nd- Ethan and Darius and Zekias. He’s very happy with his class and his teacher.

They split the class in half during Math, and half the kids go upstairs to a different room with a lady named Mrs. Lundquist, she’s a Title I employee, and her goal is to help increase accuracy and proficiency with math skills for 1-3rd graders. They didn’t pick low or high scoring children or anything like that, Mrs. Dibert actually told me that she chose the kids who she knew she could trust to be unattended in the hallways during transition time. 🙂 Her room is really cool and she has lots of math games and manipulatives and charts and things. I met Mrs. Lundquist today, and she told me that Kasin is doing very well and appears to be quite good at math. I told her that he usually just needs a refresher at the beginning of the year and then he does great. 🙂

SO, as for me, I have been pleasantly surprised by the kids in my class. I have really enjoyed them. I have a hard time on occasion, because I want to make friends with the kids which could make it harder for me to keep them in line when I need to.. but honestly, it hasn’t been much of an issue, so far. The kids all like me, they’re very sweet and cooperative, and there’s only one "behavior issue" child. He is very withdrawn and he doesn’t seem to care at all about school or education in general, he has a very difficult home life, his mom has been in and out of jail and rehab, he has an older brother who ran away, crossed the border and traveled through Canada to Washington state as a teenager. It’s been very discouraging, because he’s a spirited child who needs something else. I feel like our class is a poor fit for him, and my mentor teacher doesn’t like him and doesn’t want to make an effort to help him. She just wants him to go away. She’s been teaching for 18 years, so I understand the tendency to become worn out on these kinds of issues, but it’s still difficult to watch. Don’t get me wrong, she gives him praise when he cooperates, she thanks him for progress or turned in work, but he is just lazy and careless, so she doesn’t have many opportunities to interact with him in a positive way. 

Aside from that, I have a sweet little Georgia Peach who I simply LOVE, she has the sweetest accent and she is extremely intelligent, she’s amazing at math, scoring so high above the other students that she is off the charts- even when compared to our other "gifted" students. She’s also cute as a button and looks much older than she is- astoundingly so. I would have never guessed she was in 6th grade and only 11 years old. She looks like she belongs in Jr High or High School. She’s darling. <3

I also have a sweet little mermaid child named Kenzie who I adore. She always looks worried, she has dark auburn hair and porcelain skin and a million freckles, and she’s just the sweetest thing. She’s really bad at math (like me! AWW!) and loves to read. She’s a string bean, very polite and quiet, and I think she has quite a few siblings (3-4). Her mom is part of the PTA and runs the local girl scouts troupe. They’re very busy, we don’t see much of the parents, they didn’t come to open house and only made a brief stop during the ice cream social. 

I could go on and on about each child, but I’ll spare you. 🙂 I’m having a good time getting to know them, and they’ve been great so far. I’m so impressed by how well they listen, and there are quite a few of them who are really excellent at difficult subjects- math and grammar, and have great study skills already. I’ve taught DOL twice, and I’ve given two math lessons. I have been observed by my supervisor/liaison from UAF. She’s very loosely associated with UAF, actually, she’s actually a grade school teacher, herself. She was, in fact, my brother’s 4th AND 5th grade teacher. She’s very nice, and she is also extremely particular. She observed me teach a lesson about multiplying decimals. I was extremely nervous about the lesson, and my mentor had told me that the liaison would be very picky, so that didn’t help me much, either. I scripted the lesson practically word-for-word, and I rehearsed it in my head a billion times. I had to google step-by-step instructions for how to multiply decimals, and I was really stressed about doing it wrong, showing the kids the wrong formula, etc. I was so worried about messing it up! It went great, though.

Even the Liaison gave me a stunning review. She said that I was a pleasure to watch, that I was obviously a natural teacher, and that when challenged in one of my methods, she said I responded "exactly how a perfect teacher would." She pointed out just a couple of nit-picky issues that my mentor says are just preferences, but I kept her written notes from the lesson and I shared my review with some of my colleagues, and they were excited for me and happy to have some advice. It made me feel a tiny bit famous/egotistical 🙂 lol

So yes, I’d say it’s going pretty well. However, my mentor and I have quite a few differences in.. theory, practice, and beliefs. She is a serious hard ass, and I am NOT. She demands respect, and I feel like it should be a mutually earned feeling. She is very strict, very picky, very demanding, very overwhelming and intense. I … am not really most of those things. lol In any event, I think she has a lot of good lessons, strategies, and skills. Her personality is really different than mine, but I think I can hold my own, grin and bare it, and get through this year. I feel like the School of Ed matched me with her to give me a challenge on purpose. I am going to just rise to it and be the most spectacular intern I can be. I’m glad that Kathy (my liaison) gave me such a great review, and I hope that really registers with the SoE team. I know they didn’t think I could do this, and I’m having a great time proving them wrong. 

I’ve also been going above and beyond on all of my assignments, turning things in early, and going to extreme lengths to complete the prompts. I’ve been very thorough and detailed in every written response. 

I hope to hell that things between Mrs. Thurman and I don’t become an issue… we get along well enough, but nine months together is a pretty long stretch. WISH ME LUCK! 🙂

~ ME