Student Teaching is Done!

    I just completed my last day of student teaching yesterday.  It was bitter sweet, since I am going to miss the students, the other teachers, and the school.  We had a pizza party for the kids to celebrate.  They cleared up six whole pizzas.  They also wrote me letters about the favorite lessons we did while I was teaching, which I plan to keep. 

    My master's degree coursework is also complete now.  I can barely remember the last few weeks, since I was busy writing so many assignments and papers and finishing my portfolio.  It is so strange that this journey has come to an end already. 

Student Teaching and Other Updates

    A couple weeks have gone by since my last update on student teaching and my semester so far. Student teaching is going well. So far math has been easiest and most interesting to teach. So much has changed in how math is taught since I was a kid, so many times I have to brush up on my math skills. There is a lot less memorization then there used to be in math, and I have to keep that in mind when I teach. Today's students are expected to understand the why behind math and not just memorize how to complete the problems. Place value. addition, and subtraction is taught using something called base 10 blocks. The blocks come in either 1, 10, 100, or 1,000 and can be added together to represent numbers. Borrowing and carrying for addition and subtraction and now called regrouping and is many times taught through using these base 10 blocks.


    Well, that is it for now. I’m looking forward to a busy week ahead. This weekend is my husband Joe and I’s 6 year wedding anniversary. He has a bad virus or flu or some sort right now, so hopefully he will feel better by this weekend, and I don’t get sick. That way we can enjoy a day together. I think we are going to Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. There is one of my favorite restaurants out there and it is just so beautiful to walk around with the old buildings and tall oak and maple trees.

Update on Student Teaching

    What a challenging profession teaching is, but very rewarding as well.  I had no idea how much work teachers put in every week until I went to school for education.  I have a new appreciation for all the hard work millions of teachers put in every day. 

    The students I have been working with are great.  This week I am going to be teaching a third grade math class.  That means planning and teaching my own lessons.  This weekend I have to plan three more days of lessons for math.  I already planned for Monday and Tuesday.  I have done some instruction over the past week.  I did a couple of warm ups and worked on helping a couple of students finish their assignments yesterday.  I am excited, but a little nervous as well. 

    It is going to be a busy week.  Wish me luck. 

A Busy Couple of Weeks

    It has been a busy, but productive couple of weeks.  I have now completed two weeks of student teaching.  I am really enjoying it so far, but it is hard work.  When I got home yesterday from student teaching, I considered going to bed right away.  Since I am in a special education resource room, I have been doing a lot of setting up, meetings, and assessments.  Being in the school really brings to light the amount of testing students today go through. Education is a whole different world today and in North Carolina than when I was in school. 

    On Tuesday I got the results of my Praxis testing exams, and I passed.  It was a relief to not have to worry about when I would have time to retake the exams.  Now I just have to focus on student teaching, lesson plans, and the rest of my classes.  I can't believe September is almost here and in December I will be done student teaching and I will have my master's degree. 

Summer Classes Done

    So after a long summer of classes, I am happy to report that I have submitted my last assignment for the summer.  I took two classes first summer sessions and two classes second summer session with just a week off between the sessions, so it has been a busy and exhausting summer.  Student teaching starts in 10 days from tomorrow. 

Top 5 Things I Learned From Being a Grad Student

5. You can never buy too much printer ink.


4. Other social outings and events always happen at the same time as you have to be in class.

3. Sleep is optional.

2. Never put off for tomorrow what could be done now.

1. No matter how much time you spend on research, reading, writing, or homework, there is always another assignment to complete.

A Decision Made About Student Teaching

    I am very happy to announce that I have made a decision related to student teaching. My special education license covers mild to moderate disabilities from kindergarten to twelfth grade, so a large span of selection. I am very excited about teaching, since I will be able to work with children with learning disabilities and ADHD, which is an area that I am very interested in and very passionate about.

    At first, I wanted to student teach in a high school. I have always wanted to teach high school, and I had so much difficulty in high school that I felt this is where I really wanted to provide the extra support these students need. I also don't have much experience with young children, so I wasn't sure how I would be around younger kids. At one point I said I never wanted to teach elementary school. I would have been happy to skip over my field experience in elementary school, but it was required. Meredith College requires field experience for special education in high school, middle school, and elementary school. As nervous as I was about working with the elementary school kids, and even though I wasn't overly interested in that age, I am really glad I did it. I was able to experience what it is like to work with younger kids and what it was like to work with emerging literacy skills, which I find very rewarding. I really enjoy going in for field experience this semester at the elementary school.

    Originally, I had told my advisor I was going to student teach at a high school. Then, I started spending more time at the elementary school and tutoring this student in reading, which I am really enjoying. The more time I spend with the elementary school students, the more I am enjoying working with them.

    After I completed my math methods homework today, I was thinking about my student teaching. I was thinking about the large amount of math required in high school, and math isn't my favorite subject. I enjoy English. I bet everyone knew that, since I am writing a blog and a book. I love to write. I always have, and I always will. I also know how important it is to provide appropriate literacy education in elementary school, and I know I could make an impact with elementary school students. Due to these factors and after many hours of consideration, I decided to change my student teaching from high school to elementary school. My student teaching will start in August 2010, so only a few months from now. Even if I don't end up teaching elementary school, it will still be a good experience to have a strong foundation in teaching basic reading, writing, and math skills.

    Since the semester is nearing an end (36 days left), things are getting very busy. I have multiple assignments to work on for the end of the week. I do have some extra days off though for Easter, so I don't actually have another physical class to attend until next Tuesday. I am trying to stay sane when possible.

    On another note, I just heard that Stephenie Myer is releasing a novella related to the Twilight series entitled, “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.” It will be available on June 5, so during my summer semester. Good thing it is only 192 pages.

    Thanks for reading and check back soon for more updates.

Second Semester Graduate Student

   So, I should be going to bed right now, but I decided I wanted to make another blog post instead. At first these blog posts might seem a bit random, but eventually they will seem to have more of a pattern. Just hang in there.

   I wanted to tell you a little about my educational situation at the moment.  In addition to my writing endeavors, I am a second semester graduate student at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. I am studying special education. I am not currently a teacher, though I have thought about teaching for many years. At least since I was in high school and probably earlier. I used to play school with my friends, my cousin Chris, and my brother when I was a kid. Sometimes I was the teacher, and sometimes I was the student.

   Graduate school is nothing like I thought it would be. The last couple of weeks during fall semester I spent entire days working on papers and presentations. I would get up in the morning around 8 and work on homework until I went to bed around 10 or so at night. Good thing I don't currently have a job.

   This week is the last week before spring break, so I have a busy week. There are multiple projects due. I have a lesson plan that I will be teaching tomorrow night in class on weather. It is still not done. Part of being a graduate student is learning to work on tight deadlines.

   I'll let you know how my semester is going in future posts. Thank you for those who commented on my first blog post and are now following my blog. I plan to make a few more updates to my blog throughout the week. Good night.