August 20, 2012 to August 24, 2012: Free WriteFirst Week of School Today was the first day

at H.H. Academy in the first grade. I first met with my teacher last Wednesday. Mrs. M invited me to her house for our first introduction. I would have met with her last May, but there was never a time that we could work out to meet with the busyness of the end of the year. I was happy to meet Mrs. M and find out that she has two lovely boys, which are stepsons. We had a great time getting to know one another. On Thursday and Friday we spent time in meetings, as well as preparing the room for our 26 students. We accomplished everything from diagrams and nametags to laminating and cutting. This week has been grueling to get into the swing of school. Monday morning, as the students began pouring into the classroom, we were bombarded with lots of loot; Kleenex, folders, hand sanitizer, and Ziploc bags. Procedure was set in place from the moment students walked in the door. We did morning work while unloading all the supplies. After morning work, we spent time going over procedures for the classroom morning routine. Next we did a read aloud on the carpet. We practiced walking around the school, right foot on the white line, and walking to the buses to practice end-of-the-day procedure. Before we knew it, day one was over! We have two students with emotional disorders and one girl with high anxiety. Our students seem delightful! On Tuesday, mid morning, the power at school went out, so we were in the dark, without any technology and lunch delayed, until 12:00, instead of 11:00. It was a hectic day! On Friday, my teachers son came down with a fever, so she had to take him home. I was left in charge of the class, with a supervisor present, but it was a hard afternoon. I taught too lessons in the course of 3 hours, and our E.D. boys both had a breakdown. The afternoon went as well as it could. When I picked the kids up from music class, I brought them back to begin the afternoon reading block with a schedule for the afternoon, and a read aloud. We had a difficult time following directions at the end of the day, but I think it was the excitement of a Friday afternoon. I have enjoyed, more than my time teaching this week, building a relationship with my colleagues and students.

August 21, 2012: How did I interact with parents today? Today I packed the students take-home folders. I had created a letter to send home to parents and guardians, introducing myself to families. Before I sent the document, I was sure to copy my letter to the principal, vice principal, and my teacher. I received approval to send the letter home. I put a friendly greeting in the first paragraph, and proceeded to list my favorites; from coffee, dessert, color, and family information. I also included some personal information about my education, and goals for student teaching. Contact information was at the bottom of my page. My parental interaction was definitely intentional and amiable. I greet my students daily at the door, along with my teacher, and usually parents are in tow with their students. Its a lot of fun to put faces together with parents and children. We also sent home a letter asking parents to send pictures with their child to school for our classroom door. I had a parent use my email to contact me about pictures for his child. The parent asked me to print off pictures because there was no way for the family to print pictures at home. I decided to be accommodating, and will print the pictures myself. *August 21, 2012: How did I impact other spiritually today? I impacted others spiritually by the relationships I have built with colleagues and my teacher. Its amazing how the LORD has established this place and time for me in the school, and its evident. I have encountered many other teachers that are believers, as well as staff members that are encouragers and lend support to me. I stayed after school to work this week, and after completing my little things for the next day, and I went next door to lend help to the teacher next door. Even helping with mundane oddsand-ends for a teacher that is not my supervising teacher, is a way that I can share a burden and help carry anothers load. Christ calls us to carry each others burdens, and if I can minister His love through service, though my efforts always imperfect, He is still able to lighten a loadwhat an honor He chooses me to minister such a great love! September 17, 2012 to September 21, 2012: Free Write What an emotionally and physically taxing week! I taught a full week of lessons from reading to math, with some social studies and writing. I worry that my lesson are stagnant, but I am following the outline to stay consistent with Mrs. Ms lesson plans. She is absolutely wonderfulthe Lord has truly

blessed me with such a caring teacher. She would be beneficial in a college setting because she offers a realistic, fresh perspective. Throughout this month, Ive really struggled with my housing situation here, and its been hard to feel so isolated. I have been praying for an opportunity to move if it is His will. Ive shared this challenge with Nicki (Mrs. M) because she has been a trustworthy, supportive friend these few weeks. All the while, I had no idea, she asked her mother-in-law if she had space available for me to stay with her during my second placement. It turns out that her mother-in-law is a Christian, has been seeking an opportunity to host a student, and is more than willing to let me live with her. Another pro, she lives 15 minutes closer to my second placement which will save me an hour of driving every day! Praise God! He has blessed me so much through her, and her boys. I get to read to them early in the mornings when I first arrive to school, which is a help to her because she has phone calls to make to parents. I have learned so much through her example of being a caring wife, mother, and friend; which has (honestly) surprised me because she is not a believer. I am so humbled by her love and compassion. I am eager to go to school and chat with her, to pray for her while she endures such a difficult class, and to grow in her example as a proficient teacher. September 19, 2012: What teaching strategy did I use today that was effective? I appreciate differentiated instruction, but sometimes its not always time-effective or at all possible, though administration would have it be. I sat in on a meeting with Mrs. M and the other K to 2nd grade teachers with the principal. They discussed differentiated instruction within the workstations during the reading block. Talk about unrealistic expectations! From the sound of it, the administration would love that each student have an individualized education plan. That would be virtually impossible to differentiate instruction while we have eight rotations during reading block; if each station were individualized by student, it would be like over thirty plans! Theres a difference between tiered plans and individualized plans. I taught thematically about pets this week. It was a lot of fun. I think thematic teaching is my favorite kindespecially for planning purposes. I used thematic planning to teach this week, which I found to resound within my students more than isolated lessons. We read outside literature related to

pets, non-fiction, and even did math related to pets. By the end of the week, my students were excited about learning and thematic lesson definitely connected a lot of loose ends. Another strategy I found effective was whispering and volume of my own voice. Ive had a terrible cold, sinus infection, and strep throat this week. So, by Friday morning, when I was supposed to teach our first science lesson, I literally had no voice and could only manage a whisper. It was hilarious how the students responded to my voice. We were sitting at morning message and I told them I could only whisper when I spoke, and they responded with intent listening skills. When I would ask a question in my whisper voice, students would whisper the answer! It was so funny and contagious! September 17, 2012: What happened today that makes me know this is the career for me? Funny moments. Everyday, I have happy or funny moments with the kids. I love reading with them, I love walking them to the bus, I love sharing with them in the morning and just talking; I love when there are opportunities for me to be a nurturer. I love when they tell me they love me. I love when we all laugh as a class. I love when I get to see that they understand something they didnt know before I taught it to them, and planning creative thematic lessons! I love teaching! I love being a nurturer. I think what I love most about teaching, is its like having 26 of your own children! However, its a double-edged sword. Its is crazy hard to have 26 children! I dont know how the Duggard family with 21 kids manages to actually enjoy their family! These are all the reasons I LOVE being a teacher, but so many of these thing that I love are tainted and waned by the harsh and brutal demands that are on teachers in the public school system right now. So I get so excited about this career, but I am quickly sobered by its challenges right now. November 26, 2012 to November 30, 2012: Free Write We had a lot to do this week before our field trip next week to JA BizTown! There were a lot of extra things we needed to get done this week as well, and it really put a crimp in my plans for the week. I have decided I am not a big fan of JA BizTown curriculum. My students are not super excited to go on this field trip, but I hope they have fun. Our field trip is December 6all day. We spent social studies time this week meeting together in work groups. Students met together to develop newspaper ads, TV

ads, and radio ads for their businesses. Our room was very crowded and noisy! I tried to keep volume in check throughout the hour-long period, but what a challenge with over thirty pre-teens in our small classroom! This next week will be our last week with The Hobbit decorations, which is fine with me I am ready for a change. I have come to realize that I like to change things up every now and then. I wish I could decorate the room with Christmas lights, but Mr. C is not keen on the idea of instigating any holiday, or religious holiday, affiliation in his room. I am conflicted: I understand his reasoning for this, but I dont think Christ is something to be hidden. Not to mention, 100% of my students celebrate Christmas! I can understand if you know that one student does not share in a certain celebration, but all my students love Christmas. I think it is very appropriate to learn about other holiday traditions around the world, whether religious or culturalstudents develop a greater worldview. At one point, Mr. Cook said he would be upset if he heard his childs teacher had introduced the topic of Islamic traditions or culture, or Jewish, but I dont see why that would be an upsetting topic for students to engage in? So many of my students have developed prejudices against the word Arab, and have developed negative attitudes, but that is stereotyping, and my students will be above the prejudices of our American mentalitythat all outside of the Christian faith is bad. Even if we do not agree with some other belief, there is validity to Christs command for us to love our enemy, to love others as we would be loved, and show He compassion and heart for all nations, tribes, and tongues. We began lit. circles this week! My students are enjoying literature, other than Basal leveled readers. We are reading Slakes Limbo, The Hiding Place, and The Tale of Despereaux. November 30, 2012: How did I establish a warm caring relationship with my students? On Friday, a girl in my class forgot to bring her homework. This was the second strike this weekshe had forgotten homework twice in one week. The consequence: detention after school. She is such a gentle, hard working student; I could see that she was devastated. I wanted the situation to be cut and dry: since she neglected to remember her homework, I would enforce the consequences. After I had collected all the homework for the week, I came back to her and she was in tears. I asked her to

step outside with me. I talked to her about the situation, when she told me how disappointed her parents would be. I offered her the option of staying in during recess to complete the homework, and warned her that the next time this situation happened, she would probably have a detention. I gave her a hug (I hate to see students cry over something as silly as homework), her tears showed me how important her school work is to her. I let her gather her composure, and then gave her time in the hallway before she returned to our classroom. November 29, 2012: What concerns do I have related to classroom management? I found out on Thursdaywe are getting a new student on MONDAY! Funny enough, Mr. Cook will be absent this entire week, in which case I would normally have no objections to a new student. However, this student suffers from PTSD after a rough childhood in the foster care system. Upon meeting her Thursday, I greeted her with a big smile and an enthusiastic Its so good to meet you! When I stuck out my hand for her to shake, she jumped behind her foster father. She seems shy, maybe slightly aloof so social norms, and definitely skittish. I dont think she will be coming on our field trip with us. I am praying that she does not have any severe outburst this week, and that the week is a fresh start for her at a new school. I plan to make a welcome snack-pack for her: Lucky Charms, with the label: Were so Lucky to have you in our class!