Project ThreeSixtyFive: Week Thirteen.

Last week's pictures make me smile. I love Spring and all the wonderfullness of it (yup, that's a word I don't care what you say). What more could you ask for than pretty backyards, yummy treats, pregnant bellies, fresh flowers, spring dresses, happy dogs, and bbqs? The only thing I'm missing is my hammock and a day off work, but that will come soon.







And please say a prayer that I survive this week. Even though it's the middle of the semester all of my classes are coming to an end. I have my PACT (a hundred or so page report/videotape/lesson plan) due Sunday, my RICA (four hour reading instruction test) on Saturday, my VAPA (visual and performing arts) class final due tomorrow, and tonight is the last night of my technology instruction course. Holy MOLY! But then all I have left for this semester is student teaching, including two weeks of solo teaching, and an observation final, neither of which I'm stressed about!

PS If I do survive this week, I promise I'll start posting more than just my Project 365 pictures... really, I will.

Two Things.

1. I have always been in love with the classroom. When I was little I would come home from school and beg tell my sister to play school with me. [If she didn't want to play by my rules, then fine... she could find someone else to play with]. And to top it all off, I have been in school for 21 years and I want to be a teacher. So after realizing all this, what did I decide to do? Yup, I have a little wooden desk in my front room now. So when Jordan is at work, I can play school all by myself!



2. I saw Ramona and Beezus on Wednesday and I fell in love. I remember reading the books when I was little, and I even have a Ramona The Pest T-Shirt. Now I know my taste in movies is a bit immature, but if you love Disney Channel Movies as much as I do- you will love this one. I should do a post with my all time favorite movies, because I'm not sure you understand just how ridiculous my taste in movies is. Who else cried when they saw that the new Chronicles Of Narnia was coming out? Yeah, didn't think so. Anyway, you should really go see this movie. If for nothing else, Uncle Hobart is pretty darn adorable.



See, I told you so:

My Life, In A Nutshellhouse.

When I was in high school I thought the world revolved around my getting straight As. Needless to say, I graduated at the top of my class with a 4.2 GPA. What was next? Well, going to a University of course because settling for a Jr. College or even a State School was just out of the question. I wanted to conquer the world, and show everyone just how successful I could become so I went to UCSB. I was going to become an engineer, because I thought I loved math. Well, it turns out I didn't really love math I was just exceptionally good at it. Fast forward a year and I'm back at home, depressed, and without any direction. That was until I decided I had gotten it all wrong. Being "successful" wasn't what I wanted, I didn't even know what that meant. Money didn't make me happy, so why was I trying to make the "big bucks" anyway. I didn't want to be stuck behind a desk for the rest of my life. I loved people, I loved kids, and I absolutely adored people with special needs. So, that's how I got where I am today. 8 years after high school graduation, and still in school. But with a smile on my face.

Oh, I did fail to mention that in between all that, I changed my major more than 5 times before I finally figured out I wanted to be a special education teacher. This is a list of my majors, ridiculous huh?

1. Engineering
2. Math
3. Women's Studies
4. History
5. Speech Pathology and Audiology
6. Liberal Studies (finally)

One of the things I struggle with often, which I'm sure a lot of people do, is remembering that it isn't the material things in life that make us happy. They are just kinda nice to have around when you are bored!

For example,

I want my own bike. I had to sell mine to make some money, but thank God I have an amazing sister who is letting me borrow hers. Who needs a set of wheels when you have family like that?



I would love to own a bunch of different gadgets. But then again do I really want to get sucked down that path? Now that I think about it, I'd rather save my pennies for a month of garage sale shopping.



This is one that's hard to get out of my stubborn head. I really (really really) want a nice camera. I love taking pictures, but I think I can wait until I have the excuse of having a child to take pictures of.



Now that I got that off my chest, it's time to play housekeeper.


Images from WeHeartIt.

The Good, The Bad, and The Hilarious.

The Good:

Today I taught my first full lesson plan to a 3rd grade class. It was a Social Science lesson on symbols and flags. I brought in flags from different countries, and talked about the symbolism of each. Then I had them make up their own country and flag. They had a blast, and were absolutely adorable. One little boy said his country was all about peace and harmony and his flag had a picture of a fox, which represented the wildlife that was preserved on his land. How flipping adorable is that? Then another little boy said his country was all about "rocking out and wildfires". When I left they all fought to give me hugs, and they begged me to come back again. I know, my heart melted. I cannot wait until I'm a teacher.

The Bad The Hilarious:

Iris fell. Yeah, she thinks I forgot about these pictures... but of course I didn't. Last weekend she decided to swing on my rope swing, and it snapped. Now I have to tell you, the thing was hanging by a thread and I warned her that it would break if anyone sat on it. But did she listen? No. And did we laugh at her when she fell hard? Duh.

Testing=Torture.

Sorry I haven't been here in awhile. School is taking over my life at the moment. But that's okay, I only have a few weeks until Summer break. And let me tell you something- I cannot wait! I won't waste a second of it. And of course I will write more often, promise.

One good thing about school is that I have to do projects that require me to work one-on-one with students get to surround myself with kids on a regular basis. I visited the most adorable third grade classroom this morning, and really didn't want to leave. Oh, and this past weekend I had to complete a set of tests on three different children, so we had our family friends over for a bbq. Pretty good cover up, huh?

I felt bad that I had to test them when there were having so much fun, but I need to get over my disdain for testing (or maybe not). That is one part of teaching I just can't make myself enjoy; standardized testing is just torture. There are so many other ways to assess students, I don't need them to memorize facts and fill in bubbles thankyouverymuch. I do, however, understand that these tests are used to ensure that all children are receiving a quality education. But in reality they create an environment of stress, and teachers end up having to teach to the test. And what does that really accomplish? Oh well, I don't have time to keep ranting, I'll do that later I'm sure.

Here are a few pictures from this Sunday.