I'm Done!!

This post is a little delayed, but I am done with student teaching. April 11th was my last day teaching and I flew home on the 12th. I stayed in Twin Falls/Boise for the week and then moved back to Provo last Friday. It is really great to be back. I really can't believe that I'm graduating in 3 days!

My last day at Amidon was very bittersweet. The thought of not planning, not breaking up fights, not teaching lessons to students who really don't care, and moving close to family and friends again was the sweet part. Unfortunately (well not really) I have grown very close to the teachers and students at Amidon, so the last day was really, really, sad.

During the day, the three of us student teachers were honored at an assembly. We got our diplomas from Amidon and got to give a little speech to the school. In the afternoon, the fourth grade had a party which was a lot of fun... until about 3:00. As soon as my students had to start getting ready to leave, the concept that I was actually leaving finally hit them. A lot of them were sad, but hugged me and left. Some of them were acting really down and had teary eyes, but left without a struggle. Then came the hardest part. A few of my students fell apart. They were sobbing uncontrollably into me as I hugged them goodbye. Some refused to leave and just held on to me for about 10 minutes. I was flattered to know that they care, but upset because I felt like I was letting them down by leaving. They have experienced way more than any 9-10 year old ever should. Some have been abandoned by mothers or fathers. Coming to school is the one consistent thing in their life. They know what will happen every single day and they know that there will be a teacher there who loves them and works hard to help them. That's why it is so hard for them to have someone like me go. It changes the one consistent thing in their lives and removes one of the few people who really care about them and love them.

Here is most of my class including my mentor teacher Nikki. Two of my students were suspended that day, one was kicked out of class mid-day, one was permanently sent to an alternative school (he pushed a teacher to the ground, screamed profanities, and then brought a lighter to school the next day), and one leaves early on a bus because he has life-threatening asthma.

This is Xameina, Janay, Curtis, and I out at recess.

Aaliyah (on right) and a third grader dancing at recess.

Some of my students who stayed behind after class the last day.

The little guy in front was one of the students who was technically suspended that day. He is tiny. I was afraid Tyjzae was going to kill him before security got there.

Hillary was one who had a really tough time at the end of the day. At one point she said among her sobbing, "But who's...going...to..d-do...my...hair?!" As you can see, I just put it in a ponytail everyday so I'm sure she'll be just fine.

Nikita took it the hardest. This picture breaks my heart. I cried a little earlier in the day when I talked to her but I had to put a happy face on at the end of the day.

These are some of my favorite teachers at Amidon. Emily, on the far right, is the only white person in the school when we aren't there. Stephanie (far left), was a student teacher last semester. We had a fun dinner/game night our last night.

PS- I got a job!! Next fall I will be teaching 6th grade core at Forbes Elementary School in American Fork. I will also be the school's upper grade Social Studies Specialist so I will teach to all three uppper-grades!

Capitol Building

Our friend Joe took us on a tour of the Capitol Building today. He works there so he took us some cool places that the usual tour doesn't go. We tried to get on Nancy Pelosi's porch, but the cop was a greenie and didn't believe in bending the rules quite yet. We got to go Senate Chambers after turning over all food, drinks, electronics, keys, anything with a battery, etc... The cop made me turn my whole bag in after criticizing me for calling it a purse! She was a beast! We ran into a few senators but I honestly haven't got a clue which ones! I love the Capitol Building. It had been years since I had been there and I think it was a great site to see before leaving this week. Jessica and I had to run all the way from school to the Metro, to the other platform, to the building, and all the way around it to get there in time. It was like 2 miles in a dress with a heavy bag! It was worth it though. The first picture is Jodi, Jess, Steph, and I in front of the Brigham Young statue that represents Utah. The next picture is Jess and I in front of Philo T. Farnsworth. He invented the T.V. and he is from Idaho!

Neglectful No More!

As it turns out, my online journal (aka this blog) has thrived slightly better than any other journal I've ever had. Despite this fact, I have failed to post anything recently so here is the big update:

I only have 3 more days of student teaching. Three more days of college! I can't believe it. At one point, I didn't think that college would ever end. In fact, there was about a year of my life that I didn't think it would end but now, all of the sudden, it is over! Thinking about leaving D.C. and my class is very bittersweet. I am going to miss these kids so much. They all have larger than life, unforgetable personalities. At the same time, I am looking forward to moving on and having my own class.

Jodi, Jessica, Kami, and I spent our last weekend out here on a quick trip to New York City. We had so much fun! Here are the highlights of the trip in a photo journal format...

- The Bus: We took the Chinatown bus from DC's Chinatown to NYC's Chinatown. To paint a picture of what this is like, I just have to explain where the bus pickup was. The neon green bus pulled up right between two classic Chinatown restaurants, the Wok n' Roll and New Big Wong.


-Serendipity: I got to go back to one of my favorite spots in New York for frozen hot chocolate. It is a really popular place (especially after the Kate Beckinsale/John Cusack movie) but it is really worth all the hype. A waiter made fun of Jodi and I for sucking every last bit of our treats out of the glass before we left!


- FAO Schwartz: I love this place. If you are wondering why we all look so annoyed by "think green" it is because the principal at our school (who talks like Michael Jackson) says it ALL THE TIME! Green represents being proficient in standarized tests, and since Amidon... struggles... the big motivator for the last month or two has been to think green. It was sort of catchy at first, but now that it is on every newsletter, announcement, bulletin board, etc, it is just plain annoying. We were laughing so hard when randomly we saw this redundant phrase painted on the wall at the toy store. We also saw these awesome Harry Potter statues made all out of Legos. I wish they were my students. Maybe I could be the next Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher!



-Times Square: We had a lot of fun just hanging out in Times Square. I know, I know... almost every single picture in this entire blog I am wearing this dang green coat, but most of the time we take pictures outside and it is cold!


-Magnolia Bakery: I have been wanting to eat a cupcake from this place for a year and a half now since it was closed when I went to New York over Thanksgiving. It was well worth the wait! The cupcakes in this cute little bakery in the village are awesome! The picture is of our new friend who works there. Afterwards, we ate at a great authentic NY style pizza place called Johns.


-Subway!: Probably the funniest thing that happened on the trip happened on our way back from Chinatown. Chinatown is crazy in itself. The weirdness was heightened when we sat by a lady who had either gone crazy or was strung out on something. She kept "falling asleep" and almost falling out of the seat on the train. Then she would perk up, take a huge bit of licorice, drool a bunch of red spit, and then fall back asleep. When we got to our stop, we (meaning everyone but me) failed to remember that the doors close much faster in New York than in DC on the metro and they don't give you the friendly ding as a warning. Before I knew it, I was standing on the platform while all of my friends were on their way to the next stop. I tried for the next 20 minutes to not look like a crazy person laughing to myself while I waited for them to come back. Top top it all off, Kami almost got left out of the train again as they were trying to come back. Jodi and Jess had to wedge her in after the doors closed on her!

It never ends! ...

...The things I want to say that is. There are so many things that happen every day that I want to share on my blog, but I don't want to kill anyone with boredom. I'll try to make it snappy.

I got a new student last week. His name is Munashe and he is from Zimbabwe. The first day, the students were fascinated by him. They loved showing him around and asking him questions. He shared with us that at his old school "the teachers would hit us with a piece of a broken wooden chair if we talked". Apparently he loved his new-found freedom in American schools because by day two, he had made enemies with almost every person in the class, including the teachers. He's definitely a little punk, but is staring to shape up a little bit.

One of my students, Shawn, is crazy. Most of the time he is in special education, but some "lucky" days we get him all day in class. Shawn has ED which in the educational world stands for emotional disturbance (I think I talked about his crazy little sister, Spring, in an earlier post). The last three days have been pretty eventful with Shawn. Three days ago, he got in trouble in the hall going from recess to lunch. The janitor had to hold him down while he squealed like a stuck pig because he was so mad. Then the principal came and carried him (actually carried with his little legs sticking straight out) into his office. Yesterday, Shawn got in a fight with Ms. Miley, his Spec. Ed. teacher who already doesn't like him. He ended up calling her every name in the book...Everyname and then pushed her to the ground. She hit pretty hard on her knees I guess. I wasn't too surprised about the cursing (he has flipped me off, called me a B*%&$, and told me to go...somewhere on multiple occasions) but he was screaming the F-word and he actually pushed her! *Don't worry mom- I'm not going to die!*

This next parts for my dad-
This week and last week we have been studying poetry in Reader's Workshop. I wanted to connect the poetry to something all of my kids love- music. So, when I taught alliteration, I used the words for CSNY's "Helplessly Hoping". I played them the song too. I also used the words and music to Peter Gabriel's "Biko" to analyze poetry today. I've used a lot of other songs too, but these two stand out the most. Since I was little, every time my day played these songs he would say something like, "Listen how the beginning sound repeats. It's alliterations. See now we are on the H's. Now it's the G's..." With Biko it was always, "Get it? You can blow out a candle, but you can't blow out a fire because blowing on it only makes it bigger. Get it?" I finally spread that knowledge to others Dad! They surprisingly loved Biko after they got over the fact that they thought it was weird. They made me print the words to that and "Where is the Love" by the Black Eyed Peas so they could read again later. All day today I kept hearing random little voices singing "Biko, Biko, Because Biko" under their breath. I'm glad that I have found something that really connects my students with their culture and interests. Music is my new teaching tool, bribe, and reward for good behavior. Plus, I think a little exposure to something other than hip-hop and rap will be good for them. Having to convince a 10-year-old that Peter Gabriel was not Akon proved that to me.

*Sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll try to get some new ones on soon!

Winner!

I finally chose my "my favorite things" winner. Here she is... Stephanie Meyet! Whoo hoo!

*Disclaimer*
While the "favorite things" post was fun, I thought that I should formally announce now that I am done with "Chain Posts". That means, if you tag me in a post- All about me, what I was doing 10 years ago, If I were a Spice Girl I'd be ____ (I made that one up!), etc.- don't be offended if I never do it. It's not you... it's me. :)

Snippets from the past week

Because of my "favorite things post", I realized that I haven't given an update in a while. Last Saturday, Jessica, Jodi, Kami, and I (my regular crew) went to the Spy Museum which was a ton of fun. We did this thing called Operation Spy where we got to be "real spys"! All I can say is watch out Sidney Bristow.
At school, the fourth grade just finished their realistic fiction stories that they wrote. I'm excited to collect them on Monday and read the funny things they ended up writing. The third grade is also working on realistic fiction stories. Ms. Bryant, a third grade teacher, came in to talk to me the other day and showed me a story that I am going to photocopy. It was by a little boy in her class. As I read through the story, I came across a part that goes something like this. "Jack was playing basketball at recess. Some boys threw a basketball at his head. He went up to his teacher, Ms. Butter, but she started talking to another teacher so he just played by himself." I thought it was really funny but felt bad that I ignored him in the story until I kept reading through his notebook. I found another story about a boy named Zack who gets good grades in math but is failing social studies. He knows he needs a tutor. He gets a note from a tutor to come to the class after school to meet, but when he shows up, it is his teacher Ms. Butter! "You're my teacher," he asks. "Who better to help you than me," she (or I?) reply. That last quote is a direct quote! Apparently the boys in her class have a little crush, or so I'm told. Speaking of which, a bunch of the 4th,5th, and 6th graders are going on an overnight fieldtrip to a college at the end of April. A few teachers and I were talking about how to arrange the kids for room assignments after school in front of Curtis. Sort of quietly, Curtis goes, "I want to sleep in your room Ms. Buttars." I looked down at him and said, "Excuse me!" He just started giggling and said, "Oh! Nevermind! I didn't say anything!"
The other day, we somehow got on the conversation of Utah. I for some reason said I was from Utah and a girl quickly reminded me I was from Idaho but went to school in Utah. I said, "Well yeah, but I live in Utah." Another girl's response was, "You take the metro from Utah?!" I said, "No, the metro doesn't go that far, I fly." This shocked her even more, "You fly everyday from Utah?!" Well, after we got it straightened out that I currently live in Northern Virginia, a boy in my class asked, "What do they speak there? Do they speak Utah?" Oh my goodness these kids are clueless! "No! They speak English." The more I thought about it though, maybe they do speak "Utah". Outside of Utah, I have never heard "Oh my heck","Moun-uhns"(mountains), or a plethora of things that are unique just to the Cache Valley
Okay, last story. A 4th grade version of Stanley from the Office is in my class. His name is Anthony. Anthony has that same glazed over look that Stanley always has and is pretty quiet. I told Ms. Appel that he reminded me of Stanley and she just about died because she could see it too. Anthony, like Stanley, has no work ethic. Yesterday, the kids were supposed to be reading, I went to Anthony's desk and said, "Why aren't you reading like you are supposed to be doing?" His eyes slowly rolled up in annoyance to me. In an annoyed tone he replied, "Because I'm working on my crossword." He honestly does crosswords and wordsearches all day just like Stanley! I'm telling you, the resemblance is spot on and it is really pretty entertaining.

Rain Drops on Roses and Wiskers on Kittens...

As some of you know, I won my sister Carrie's favorite things contest. For those of you who don't know about this, my sister's friend Laura started this trend that is catching on like wildfire. Here are the basics, you blog some of your favorite things on your blog. For a week after your post, people comment on the things that like/want to try from your list. After a week, you put the name of everyone who comments into a hat a draw a name. Then you send that person what they wanted from your list and they have to repeat the whole cycle by posting their favorite things on their blog. Whew!

So here it goes:

1. Shout Color Catchers

These little guys are great if you are worried that the color from one thing in the wash will get on something else. You put in a little dryer-sheet sized thing and it soaks up and traps all the excess dye in the water. They also prevent your clothes from getting dingy as fast because the little tiny bits of color don't stay in the water.

2. Clorox Disinfecting Wipes

Ah, what did I do before these handy things? I love to use these easy-to-dispense wipes for pretty much everything. They are great for quickly wiping down and sanitizing the bathroom or kitchen counter between cleanings. I also like to wipe my phone, doorknobs, keyboard, etc. every once in a while just to kill all the germs.

3. Burt's Bees

This is the best chapstick ever. It is really natural and just works like a charm. Enough said.

4. i-Tunes

I really love i-Tunes. I love looking at the top best-selling songs, celebrity playlists, songs I love sung by other people, the little list they make of things they think you would like based on what you bought, and the free songs that you can download from new artists. If you choose this one and win, I will send you a little gift card as well as a list of songs that are on my own "celebrity playlist" right now.

5. Sharpies

When I moved to D.C. I was very limited to what I could bring. Nevertheless, I brought my Costco-sized million pack of Sharpies in every color and size. There are even retractable ones. I also have a sharpie that is about 2 inches long that I hook in my bag that I take to school so I always have one with me. My absolute favorite is this silver sort of shiny Sharpie. I have a deep love for all kinds of school/office supplies but Sharpies are towards the top of the list.

So that's it for my list. I would put more on here but I don't really know where to get anything in this city. Make a comment and I will draw a name a week from now!