What's a Crayon?

Here it is...The story of what's a crayon!

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting for this post!

During one of the typical days at Marian, a group of the education cohort was walking between classes to get lunch. After buying some subs at Erbert and Gerberts the group was walking back to the Stayer center to take over a classroom to studiously work on complain about homework. 

 On the walk across campus, the ladies were chit-chatting and Amy, in her typical fashion, was texting.  Jaime, or Mama J, was talking about some clean-up she had been doing near her job the past weekend.  She was mentioning picking up some kind of drug needle thing and had said there was a crayon nearby.  So Amy, who wasn't really listening, heard the drug reference and then the crayon reference, and assumed that the two were connected.  Perhaps a crayon was some sort of drug term that she was not aware of!  So she uttered the words, 

"What's a Crayon?!"

The entire group turned and looked at her and burst out into laughter.

Apparently it was just a crayon, like a crayola, laying in the grass.

And Amy will never, ever live it down. Ever.

The end!

I've got the summer bug!

I have to be honest...I am just itching for summer to be here.  Don't get my wrong, I have loved my student teaching placements as well as the students and staff that have gone with them...But I am just totally ready for summer to be here. 

So is my skin.  I am verrrryyy white right now!

I just cannot wait to wake up a little late, lay in bed for as long as I want, go swimming, help my dad on the farm, hand out with friends and family, and relax!

Thankfully this spring hasn't been much of a spring...today is it only about 55 degrees out so I really am not missing out that much by being indoors.  But now that Alec is on summer break I just can't wait to have more free time like he does!  (that is very ironic because the guy works wayyyyy more than fifty hours a week!  Free time in our lives has been very limited lately)  It has just been crazy with full-time student teaching plus working every day during the weekends, only having forty hours a week is going to be relaxing!

I also cannot wait to do some serious camping this summer.  Alec and I didn't get much of a chance to go last year, but when we did we had an AWESOME time.  We both just really enjoy being outdoors, staying active, and checking out new places.  Here are some pics from our adventures last summer!

Devil's Lake State Park last summer!

Morning beer anyone?

Seriously?! This is so beautiful!

It was really dark by the end of our hike!

Can you find my handsome boyfriend?

This is when we stopped at Point Beach on our way to Door County :)

At a watch tower at Peninsula State Park...This park was gorgeous!

So basically...I need summer! 

We both really want to go camping at Peninsula State Park which is way up in door county. We only visited there last year during our trip to see a play that was held outdoors.  It was Alec's first time going to see that type of live theater and he loved it so we can't wait to go back!  They have an enormous park, and I can't wait to spend some time there and explore everything this gorgeous place has to offer!

I feel like I need to write down a bucket list of all the things I want to do this summer!  I'm a little obsessed with list-making...I keep offering to make Alec a list of things that he wants to do.  Who does that?!  The poor guy probably thinks I'm crazy!  Maybe I'll just be spontaneous and live on edge this summer. 

Or not.

Either way I cannot wait for summer to be here!

 Only 7.5 days of school left until summer begins!

10.5 Days left!

Oh my gosh it feels like I was just counting down the days I had left before I started student teaching...It is hard to believe that this journey is coming to a close.  My school days have been a lot more laid back lately; having a good time working individually with students and really getting to know them!

Last weekend actually marked my graduation from Marian University.  It was definitely a huge mix of emotions throughout the weekend.  Friday night was our school of education pinning ceremony, where our cohort of student teachers got to celebrate our accomplishments.  I felt so blessed that so much of my family was able to make it to this night!  I felt like I had a cheering section in the chapel!  The ceremony was short...which is perfectly fine with me!  And the guy who gave the speech from our class even made mention to our classes inside joke about "what's a crayon?"...my blog's namesake!  (It's a long story!)  I was able to take many pictures with my family and friends that came with and we all headed out for pizza and drinks at Joe's fox hut afterward.  It was a lot of fun getting all of the family together and I enjoyed celebrating this goal of mine that has finally been achieved! 

Saturday was the actual graduation ceremony, and I think I would have been a little more emotional had it not been SO HOT outside!  It might not have been so bad, but we were all wearing black caps and gowns!  (The only positive to that was that I didn't get very much sunburn!)  Mostly I was just thankful for the ceremony to be over so I could take off my gown.

After more pictures and the ceremony my family headed home to get ready to go to Wisconsin Dells for the night.  We packed up the van and headed towards the Wilderness!  It was a fun night filled with water slides, a nice dinner, and falling asleep somewhat early!

Now I am back in the classroom until the end of the school year...I am glad to be able to finish out the year with my students and see how teachers typically end their year.  Still no movement on the job front...lots of applications in but still no word on any interviews...but this is what I am keeping in mind...

That's all I know for now!

Dun da da!

Well, today marks my last day of teaching my last two blocks of the day!  And technically I am not even teaching, just giving out their assessment.  I seriously cannot believe how fast the time has gone, even though numerous people warned me about it...time still flew by so quickly!  Just because I am done full-time teaching does not mean that I am done here though.  I will spend the last three weeks of school observing and helping out in various classrooms throughout the school.  I am looking forward to seeing how other teachers run their classrooms because you never know where you might end up!

I am starting to get very excited for this weekend when I will be graduating from college!!  Friday night we have a school of education pinning ceremony, which I'm hoping will be more personal since it is just my education family. :) Then Saturday I will graduate at about 12:30.  Our ceremony is supposed to be outdoors but storms are in the forecast so it might be changed to indoors.  I'm a little bummed about that because that means only five people can be in the actual room where the ceremony takes place and everyone else will have to watch from a viewing room...Oh well!  Then right after graduation my family and significant others are all heading to the Dells for a night of fun and relaxation.  I cannot wait!!!

It is going to be very weird graduating over the weekend and then still having to come back to school, but I am glad that I get to see how the teachers end out the school year and it will be a better closure with my students then just leaving all of a sudden.

Still no word on any interviews yet, but I am hopeful that maybe I will here something in the next week or two...We'll see!

Cheers!
Amy Lynn

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow!  It's been a while since I have posted at all!  The time is flying here in 6th grade math!  I have finished my "full-time" teaching and am now only teaching the last two blocks of the day!  By this time next week I may be completely done with teaching my darling 6th graders. :(

What have we been up to in math?  Well we finished our chapter on inequalities last week...over fifty tests scored and put in the grade book! Now we have moved on to the final chapter on the book which is all about different ways to represent functions.  (More exciting than you think!)  My supervisor came for the second time last week and had a lot of positive things to say.  She will be coming for the final time this Wednesday which is going to be a little bit hectic!  We are doing a standardized test tomorrow and then Wednesday is going to be a review day for the first three sections of the chapter.  It is going to be a highly organized peaceful chaotic event!  Oh well! 

Since I am free during A block I have had the chance to tutor an 8th grader who was home for quite a bit of time due to a surgery.  He is working in the algebra book and I am having a lot of fun!  I feel kind of nerdy being so excited about algebra, but he is a wonderful student and I am having a lot of fun catching him up!

I have been applying for jobs like crazy!  I have yet to hear anything yet...but hopefully I will be getting some calls over the next few weeks...

These past few weeks have also been hectic because of work!  Last weekend I had to waitress Friday and Saturday night and then worked at my summer job all day on Sunday...I figured it out and with my hours at school I think I put in close to 60 hours last week!  Between my crazy schedule and Alec's crazy 60 hour+14 credits work week I can't believe we ever even see each other! I am also definitely getting the "itch" for summer break...I cannot wait to go swimming and camping and just spend a lot of time outside!

I think that is all I know for now!
Miss Narges

This is how I feel!

Observation and Week 4

Well hello there!

Last Friday was the day I was observed by my Marian University Supervisor!  I did not get very much sleep the night before, I kept tossing and turning thinking of all the things that could happen while she was here.  The next morning I was ready to leave very early so I ran to Starbucks and got some coffee.  (Probably not the best idea when you are already anxious!)  As soon as I actually got to school and was able to start getting everything prepared I felt a whole lot better. 

The lesson actually went very well!  The thing I am really learning about this age level is that they like to test your limits.  I do not, nor will I ever, enjoy being strict...but I have learned that with this age in particular you have to start out fairly firm and then you can ease up, after they know your expectations and that you mean business!  While my professor was here there was a little attitude from a few students, but she said I handled it beautifully.  She also said she did not think I enjoy being strict, but she knows I can do it!  (Imagine that!)  She gave me a few "mathematical" suggestions that I should try to work on.  Such as highlighting important language, and thoroughly explaining all of my steps because this is the first time most students have ever seen this kind of math!  Basically once it was over it was a huge sigh of relief!  Now I only have to go through that two more times and I will be DONE!

Teaching has been going wonderfully!  I will begin teaching all of the classes during the day starting tomorrow!  I am really looking forward to it!  It is kind of hard to just step back and watch because I feel like I am so ready to do it all on my own!  This block that I have been teaching is the advanced class so I am going to be changing things up quite a bit when I pick up the other two classes!  I am currently administering my very first test (that I created!) which is very exciting, but also kind of boring because I am just sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting to get them back to correct!

Want to know something exciting that happened?!!  One of my students sewed a pillow for me!!!  During my first week here it was her birthday and I was asking what she got for the big day and her parents got her a sewing machine!  I was telling her about my sister and my mom and how they are a lot better at sewing than me and that it is an awesome skill to have and then on Monday she brought in a pillow that she made for me!  It is now adorning the seat at my desk :)!

By the way that is my desk!  It started off as only this little table thing but I think my CT felt bad because I had so much stuff on my little desk so she gave me a file cabinet to use as extra space as well :P  Then I reused my cut outs that my aunt had made for me as well as a few extra ones from school to put together this masterpiece ;).

Week Numero 2.5

I had quite the strange start to my placement seeing that Easter fell right in the middle of the first two weeks...so I am just starting my first full week here.  Although I have only been here a short number of days I am starting to feel comfortable and am ready to get going with my own teaching!  I am beginning teaching one of our three classes starting tomorrow! 

I am finally starting to feel the flow of the middle school world.  I have to be honest, those first few weeks were a little rough.  I missed my second graders and I just felt out of sorts coming into this classroom with only nine weeks left of school.  Luckily I have a wonderful cooperating teacher who is letting me jump right in, and the staff at this particular school is extremely kind and welcoming.   I am finally starting to get a feel for this age level and am realizing how wonderful 6th graders are!  I can see why some people love the middle school setting (although those 8th graders still seem a little scary!)

I should mention my experience during my first week!  I made it through my entire first placement in the elementary school without getting seriously sick once...well on the third day in the middle school I had to go home because I got the flu!  It was so terrible, I felt awful leaving on my third day there!  Thank goodness my teacher was very understanding and I was able to come back the next day.

• How are my days set up now that I am in the middle school you might ask?
• My alarm goes off at 6:04 and I enthusiastically jump drag myself out of bed right away after hitting snooze three times. ;)
• I arrive at school every morning at about 7:30.  
• The students are allowed in a little before eight and I stand in the hallway to greet them as they come in.
• Our first block runs from 8-9:30, this is the block I am taking over tomorrow!
• From 9:30-11:00 we have prep time which is crazy to me because in the elementary school there was nowhere near this much time!  Typically we have meetings with other teachers int he building during this time.
• Lunch is at 11.
• At 11:30 we have an enrichment time with a group of students for a half hour.
• From 12-1:30 we have block C.
• From 1:30 until 3 we have Block D.
• Then the day is over!  (Well for the students at least, teachers have to stay until 3:30; although most are there a lot later!)

Well I think that is all I know for now.  I'll try to keep up with my first experience teaching this week.  I also get observed by my professor on Friday, which will probably make me a little very nervous!