Summer!!!

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
                                                   -Dr. Seuss

I am no longer a first-year first-grade teacher!  I'm not even a second-year first-grade teacher!  I am now a second-year second-grade teacher...for the first time!!  If this pattern continues (first grade is all about finding patterns), then next year, it will be third grade.  I kind of hope that doesn't happen, just because it would be kind of nice to have my feet planted in one spot long enough to feel like I know what in the heck I am doing!!  Plus, more than two years with the same group of kids, and they might just have to come and take me away....to the funny farm!!

All of my things (which wasn't that much) have all been moved into my new room, which is a portable classroom.  I have to say, I really lucked out with my room.  First of all, there is my OWN air conditioning.  Meaning, I just have to push a button, and my room can have the perfect climate. That is a huge change from last year where my room was always about 15 degrees hotter than the rest of the building (or so it felt).  Secondly, I inherited some really cool furniture for storage, which I DESPERATELY needed since the room is just a blank cube.  Thirdly, I have all the wall space in the world to hang things....the entire room is like a giant cork board!!

True, there isn't any running water, and you have to go out into the weather every time that you step out of your room, and there isn't a Smartboard or projector (YET), but I really think that I am going to like the room.

 Also, it is really sad to leave my first grade team.  We have become great friends, and they are such a wonderful group of teachers that I have learned so much from.  But now for the silver lining!  My new team also seems to be amazing!  There are a lot of really great teachers at my school. :)

During the last week of school, the cuteness factor for my kids shot up astronomically!  (Maybe this was partly because I knew that summer break was right around the corner, and so I had a better attitude, but I'd like to think that I am such a ROCK-STAR teacher that they finally started to behave) :)  Haha!

But really, it has only been a week since school got out, and I am already really missing my kiddos! I made a memory book for them, and also a video with pictures and things that we did throughout the year, and we watched it on the last day of school-- it made me see how fun these kids were, even though I wanted to run away from them sometimes(or most times).

Now that it's summer, I am STILL working in my room.  Hopefully this ends soon, and I can focus on my vacation!  Although, I still have no idea what I am doing this summer.  But I want to do something AMAZING!!!  And no, sleeping-in doesn't count!  I really am itching to go somewhere and do something!!

My progress on my room so far.  I know....it is so bare and blah!  Hopefully I can change this soon though.  I love my two locking cabinets and my double sided bookcases though!  They make me happy! :)  I am also lacking desks and student computers....just have to be patient!

Flying time.....

154 days....that's how long I've been a teacher.  In 24 days, the school year will be over, and it will no longer be my first-year!!!  Craziness!!  I have decided that I am really good at being really inconsistent with my blog.

Some room arrangements and such.....

This is how my classroom looked when I first walked into it.  all I remember saying, was that's a lot of chairs!! :)

After I set up my room....the first time.  I think that my room has had over 100 makeovers :)

Major set up change #2.  This was in November.  I wanted to have the rug closer to the Smartboard  for math and phonics. Like the hanging pumpkins? :)

Our fall bulletin board.  We wrote acrostic poems, and made falling leaves bags.

A couple more changes around Christmas time.  We had a Grinch, that students would do good deeds for each other, and write them on a heart, and we tried to cover up the Grinch with the hearts before Christmas Break.....we got pretty close!!  :)

After Valentines Day....can I say, sugar rush? :)

Our most recent addition....a student work board!  Their artwork is held up by clothespins with a crayon hot glued to them.  

This post has just turned into a collection of pictures, but pictures speak a thousand words, right?  I can honestly say that I have never been so challenged in my whole life, and teaching is definitely a way of life!!  Just like my room has evolved and changed over the year, I feel like I have as well.

I also recently found out that I will be moving with my group of kids next year to second grade!  I will be moving out into a relo, so I get to say goodbye to my classroom, and figure out some creative storage ideas :)  I will leave you with a picture of some silly grass heads we made for our growing unit!!

Time to catch-up!

Shake and shake the ketchup bottle

 None'll come, and then a lot'll

-- Richard Armour

It has been far too long since I have done anything with my blog.  So now, it will all come splurting out like ketchup! (get it?  I am "catch-ing up"  J  haha!)

The rest of my adventure in Chile was AMAZING!!!  

I got to live with some of the most amazing and kind people I have ever known!  

¡¡¡Amo a mi familia Chilena!!!!

I was placed in a  4th grade class at a all-boys private school, which just by itself was definitely an adventure!

These boys had a gift for mischief, and I found myself in a situation where I had to really step up and implement some of my own classroom management techniques. The teacher that I worked with was GREAT, and really let me try some of my ideas, which I quickly found out that some were better than others.

But as the weeks went on, I quickly realized how much I was going to miss these crazy boys!  I can honestly say that I learned more about who I am as a teacher during this time more that anywhere else I have ever been.  I got to work along side some amazing teachers, and I learned a lot from each of them.  

Chile is such a beautiful country!  My only regret is that I got to spend so little time there.

While I was there, I got to try my hand at surfing (didn't go well J ), watch a rugby game, eat some amazing food (Pastel de Choclo and Pineapple Juice) and see some amazing sites!!

At the end of our trip, we decided to go down to Pucon (the lake district).  While there, I made some great friends, did some zip-lining through the treetops, horseback riding to a Mapuche villiage, 

and other amazing-ness.  

Since I opted for the cheapest flights, I ended up getting some amazing lay-over time!  On the trip home, we flew to Rio de Janeiro,  and waited for 6 hours for our flight to New York City, where we then had a 12 hour lay-over.  We decided to make the best of it, and enjoy our time in the Big Apple.

We rode the subway around, saw the Statue of Liberty (from a distance), strolled around in Central Park, and walked through Times Square, where I tasted true New York Pizza! We even saw a movie being shot close to Central Park!!! Then we had to race back to the airport to make our flight home, which we were an hour early for :)  Time well spent, I must say!!

My experience in Chile was one that I know that I will never forget.  I met some truly amazing people that made such a huge impact on me.  I felt my first "real" 6.5 earthquake.  I rode the Metro.  I rode up a REALLY steep hill in a ascensor.  All-in-all, I feel that this experience has been one of the most influential that I have had in my life.  

The day after I got home was graduation day.

Even though I had a serious case of jetlag, it was a wonderful day, and I got to spend it with many people that mean so much to me!  Plus, I loved how campus looked a little like Hogwarts ;)

On August 6, 2012, I got a call from a school where I had interviewed 3 days prior.....

I am now a real teacher!!!

I got the job just a few short weeks before school started, and so I have felt like I have been in a continuous WHIRLWIND.  Luckily, I am not the only one--there are two other first year teachers in the first grade, one in second, one in 3rd, and one in 4th. But, I still feel like I have been scrambling trying to get things all ready for my little first graders.  Every minute is a learning minute, and I am clearly seeing where I need to improve. 

Here we go!!!!

I have already been in Chile for 5 days, and I can't believe how much I love it! The people here are so kind, and very chill happy people.

The flight here was great, but really long. We left Monday at 9:45 and got to Santiago 1pm on Tuesday. But part of that is we lost 4hours in the time change.

For the most part, the trip here went without a hitch. The only thing that caused this poor girl some stress was that my checked luggage somehow got forgotten in Mexico City. But luckily, I had a change of clothes in my carry-on.

My first few days here have been great! I met my AMAZING Chilean family- my mom Gilda, and my two sisters Caro and Javi. Not to mention my new pets, Balto, Poli, Europea and Diego :) Pictures soon to follow!

I am living in Viña del Mar, which is right next to Valparaiso, which both are right next to the beach. We got to go around to the different schools where we will be teaching, and on the way, we did a little sightseeing.

The beautiful coast!

Me, Erin, Abbie, Kate, Lauren, Tom

Sand-dunes! They surf them :)

On Friday afternoon, we went to Valparaiso, and took the trolley around the city, and then walked around a bit. Then we took an Ascensor up a super steep hill to Concepción. It was so picturesque up there!

This was the trolley ride through Valparaiso, and some of the amazing buildings :)

The Ascensor....so fun! :)

Pictures from Concepción #1

Pictures from Concepción #2

Pictures #3

Pictures #4

As you can tell, I took a LOT of pictures....but I couldn't really help myself. The word that kept going through my mind over and over was "WOW!" I seriously couldn't believe how beautiful everything was up there. There was street art, everywhere, and I wish I could have taken more pictures..... :)

Well, tomorrow I will be beginning my teacher-iness.......I am super excited, but also kinda nervous, because who knows what it will bring!

A New Chapter

Well, I am finallystarting my actual blog, instead of just what I did in my Educational Technologies class :) I think that this blog will be all about my journeys in becoming a teacher, so here we go!

Right now, I am doing my student teaching in a fourth grade classroom. I love the kids and the teacher that I work with.....I've got to say, that I have been completely spoiled in that department! Everyday, I feel that I get just a little better, and I learn so much more! The kids in my class are really so great, and I am so lucky to get the opportunity to be around them.

And now I am getting ready to start another adventure......student teaching in Chile!! I know, crazy right? I really am so blessed! I get to do the second block of my student teaching in the beautiful city of Valparaiso in the wonderful country of Chile. I think that the best way to describe my emotions is NERVOUSLY excited!!!

So I will continue to post as I keep moving forward in this amazing adventure that I have found myself in the middle of.....

Webquest Success!!

In class we made a lesson plan on webquest. Here's my link:
Chunk Change.
I thought that this was a great way to write a lesson plan. I have seen WebQuest's used in different ways too. I have seen it where the students all go to it individually, and then follow the directions. I have also seen in my practicum, that the teacher used it to organize some different websites that she wanted to show her class on the projector. They were learning about the Olympics, and so she showed some footage from the torch relay, and some of the events. It was really great, because the teacher didn't have to waste time surfing, and looking for what she wanted.
I really liked using Instructional Architect too. I think that it is a great program. I really like how easy it is to use. It basically walks you through the entire project, and gives you lots of chances to go back and change what you've done if you don't like how it turned out.
If I had more time, energy, and money, I think that I would like to have my students practice with money on my webquest, and then have them come to a "store" in our classroom, where they would be able to buy some items (kind of like fish pond prizes, but they would "pay" money for them.) I would give them the money ahead of time, and each of the items would be like 70 cents, or 44 cents, or something like that. :)
I really liked the planning sheet that we used, because when I sat down to do my webquest, it was nice to reference it, to help me know what kind of information I needed to include on the webquest. The peer evaluation was also really nice, because it was helpful to get another person's point of view about how it worked for them.
I learned as I did this project, that it is important to plan out the things that you want your webquest to include, so that you can keep it focused, and not branch off in a million different directions.
Overall, I really like using WebQuest, and I liked how easy it makes it to incorporate technology into my classroom.

Fun with Fotos!!!

Today in class, we learned more about digital photography, and how to implement it into the classroom. We learned how to use Photoshop, and also a fun program called Comic Life. It is a program for Mac where you can do pretty much anything to a picture. You can do lots of cool effects to the pictures, and it is very user-friendly.
This is a project that we made in groups. We took pictures of different geometric shapes and angles in the real world, and put them in a little presentation. It was lots of fun to take the pictures and search for the different shapes, and it was ever more fun to put them them together in a presentation.
Now, I am seeing shapes everywhere.......