AmeriCORPS

I heard back from AmeriCORPS, a program called UCAN Serve that allows you to volunteer for 600 hours and get a $2k education voucher from the government.  My student teaching will count perfectly!  Yay for a bit of money to help with grad school tuition!!!

Official Week 1 and Week 2

Well, in week one, I started taking over bits and pieces of the routine-- mostly I was in charge of the daily warm-ups, the small group phonics lessons, and walking the kids around campus for specials and such.

Week two started the control of more serious lessons.  I have officially taken over the Science curriculum.  My wonderful mentor teacher Mrs. V. will not have to teach another Science lesson for the rest of the year.  Or at least until May... MPS has these great Science kits that they send us, so they technically have "lesson plans" created, and they send us all the materials.  For my kids, however, why would anything be easy???  I take everything from the box and recreate the lessons in Spanish using the parts I like and that will best help my kids to not only learn the Science, but also the Spanish.  After my first Science lesson I thought I was going to throw up. It went very poorly because of, well, me.  The second time around (i get to teach every lesson twice, which I LOVE) it went MUCH better and I don't feel quite as sick... :)  That was the first day I felt like a real-life teacher.  I ended up staying at the school working on my planning and prep for a few extra hours while the whole 2nd grade team went out to have drinks.  They're good to invite me, and also very good to let me decline :)

I'm also taking over the Spanish grammar lessons, and starting next week, the Social Studies curriculum.  So I'm looking for some fun ideas to present my Early US History Unit starting next week, and going until Spring Break! :)

Pre-Student Teaching

So I have had two weeks of pre-student teaching.  I've LOVED it.  I'm having so much fun observing and wandering around giving input to the various students. I absolutely LOVED parent teacher conferences.  It reminded me that I really do want to work in adult education and family literacy programs.  YAY!  I'm loving it.

Flashing Lights

So Becca says it's time to write in my blog again.

I think I should probably tell you about my Thursday morning this week.  I leave for school at 6:45 every morning; and it's still dark.... It's pretty rough :)  So I was driving to school, and I was running a tiny bit late (as usual).  I eat a yogurt for breakfast every morning, and it usually happens on my way to school.  So I'm zipping through Gilbert trying to cut my drive a little shorter, and suddenly there're very bright flashing lights behind me in the darkness.  I pull over and the police officer asks me if I know why. Thinking of my usual driving habits I say, "um, maybe I was speeding?"  He says, "Well 55 in a 45 isn't really a big deal, it's more because you turned too wide and into my lane. I was turning left and had the right of way."  "Oh. Sorry."  So he kindly gave me a verbal warning, told me that the driver's license I've had since I was 16 was too old and I should go get it updated....

Turning too wide?? I think he pulled me over cuz he saw me eating yogurt while I was turning...