Ahh....Spring Break

It's here! It's finally here!

Oh, I am so happy to finally be on Spring Break. I am finally getting some time to reflect, relax, and catch up on a million and a half personal things that I just haven't gotten around to.

I've heard it said before (or maybe I've read it somewhere...who knows) that you really start to realize who a person is based on how they react through the hard parts of life, and, guys, I'm not impressed with who I was going through a lot of those things. Luckily, every day I can make the conscious decision to change that.

You see, all good teachers (or anyone doing any type of job) understand how to juggle. You got your JOB ball, PERSONAL ball, and your MENTAL HEALTH ball.(Sometimes you got more than that, but for now let's keep it simple.) Now, when you watch veterans, they all look like this:

You're first thought watching them is, "Heck yes, I can do that. That's not too hard." Then you you attempt it and it comes out more like:

But that's okay! Well, I'm starting to realize that's okay. We aren't all just born good at something. (I have a fourth grader who would argue this, but I digress.) Whatever we are passionate about, whatever we enjoy doing, we had to practice to get good at it. It's okay to start off bad, because then you have no where to go but up.

Unfortunately, you won't always be successful at whatever you're doing, or it just might take you longer to understand the basics of juggling compared to other people. I have to remind myself every day that this is okay. What matters is that I am better than I was yesterday.

It's weird to think that I'm starting wrap up my experience here. It feels like I just started a couple weeks ago. I am thankful for the opportunity of working here; thankful for the chance to practice my juggling.

I know that I will get better as time goes on.

Until next time,

Kaity

Pushing Through One More Week

One thing I have learned in my life is that for every up, there is a down. Goodness gracious, y'all, this week was definitely a very low down.

To keep professionalism, I will not be diving into a lot of details. Let's just leave it at I felt that I received a lot of pertinent information too late and that it is frustrating that, as an intern, I must keep my mouth shut even though I feel like I should speak up. Of course, this started in the middle of last week, which set off an anxiety attack and led to a pretty rough weekend.
Basically, it was

There was a lot of self-evaluating that happened and a lot of realization that I'm a fairly negative person. Honestly, I don't mean to be. I believe it's not so much negativity as it is a realist, but I can very much see how people disagree with me on the matter. And it's tough being in that mindset. I don't always mean to have such a dark outlook, but I find it incredibly easy to slip into. The only problem is that once I'm there, getting out is like trying to pull myself out of a mud pit - not easy. It's much easier to sit there and stew than to climb out and keep running forward. (Yes, I did just make a simile to life using the Warrior Dash. I miss running.)

But God is good and allows us to have new beginnings multiple times in our lives. We get new years, new months, new weeks, and even new days. (There are many times that I am thankful a day will last only 24 hours.) Luckily for me, I can leave the old week behind and try to stay positive and happy through this next week. I'm not saying it'll be easy to do, but I will be trying my darnedest.

I mean, the week has started off well. All my students were calm and worked hard during their activities today. I'm suspicious, but I'm never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It's also my last full week teaching before I start transitioning out. It's crazy that I'm basically done here. It feels like I just started a week ago. I'm still learning so much every day; it feels like I'll never be fully prepared for my first year of teaching.

I just gotta push till April. I can make it.

Until next week,

Kaity

P.S. You can never use too many gifs. Hope y'all enjoyed!

Fighting the Ick with Positivity and Dayquil

Strangely enough - I was ecstatic to make lesson plans this weekend.

This isn't something that you will see me write often, but it is really how I felt. State testing is basically done (kids have the science one on Tuesday), but now I can go back to planning. I feel that I am back in control of what will happen in the classroom. No more test prep, no more odd test-strategies-but-not-telling-students-that activities. Just good, old match the standards teaching. (Part of this excitement may also be because we are doing a Fantasy writing and reading unit this month and that is my favorite genre!)

Now, I know come tomorrow those students won't be too thrilled with me. We're going from no homework and activities every afternoon to a structured schedule where they are expected to actually work and get things done. It'll be a bit of a fight, but I'm sure they'll begrudgingly accept the fate that is before them. Honestly, I really do try to make it fun, but I know this week will need an extra special helping of positive energy.

It is crazy to think of my journey in Indiana as halfway over and that I am finally coming to the end of my career as a student. I feel that the weeks have flown by faster and faster. I mean, heck, it's March! There was a point in January that I thought I wouldn't even make it this far! I know that I have my Heavenly Father to thank for the strength and also all my wonderful family and friends that keep pushing me to do my best. 

Unfortuatly, while my attitude and spirits are up, my body is a bit down. I have caught a case of the Ick (AKA Spring Sinus Infection) and it's hard to stay positive when the only thing you can think about is going home and crawling into bed. (Don't worry, I plan on making it an early night.) I am fighting it with gallons of Powerade and Dayquil / Nyquil - but I know it'll be at least a solid week before I'm ready to run around the playground again. (Which I did do last week. Let me tell you - 4th graders are fast!)

I hope that y'all are doing well and that the Ick doesn't hit you and yours!

Until next time,

Kaity

P.S. Anyone know some Deaf Ed jobs up for grabs?

Fun Story Time

Yay for surprise post!

Some quick background information:

So, this week is a bit of a double whammy for teachers and students alike. First off, it's part one of the Indiana State Test, the ISTEP. You can imagine how excited we all are. On top of this, we are celebrating Read Across America all week. (Extra background info: Read Across America is celebrated on Dr. Seuss's birthday which is today!) So, as you can imagine, we have been doing all sorts of fun things to keep the spirits up this week. Monday was a shirt from somewhere you've visited (Oh! The Places You'll Go), Tuesday was crazy sock day (Fox In Socks [TMI Moment: This book is horrible to translate into another language. Just. Horrible.]), Wednesday is crazy hat day (Cat in the Hat) and Thursday is P.J. day (The Sleep Book). 

So, today, being Wednesday, I brought in a silly hat. Well, actually, I made a silly hat out of Dollar Tree things. Basically, it's a $1 St. Patrick's Day hat that I cut holes in and put in a $1 Rabbit Ears headband and everyone loved it. In fact they loved it so much, that it was constantly stolen and passed from child to child. 

The kids also figured out that the ears could support another hat, if you put it on just right. Each time that I would sit or bend down to walk someone through their work, I would immediately feel pressure on my head as one of the students would run up behind me and shove a hat on the ears and take off again.

Eventually, we get to the end of the day and, bless those poor students, we were having them write their hands off to be ready for the essay part of the test tomorrow. 

Now, in a fourth grade class, I am considered tall. It's pretty awesome. When I get down on my knees, I'm just slightly shorter than the students. Today, my mentor teacher and I were having one on one sessions with the students to review previous essays they have written. As expected, when I knelt down to work with a student, another hat was placed on my head. Then this little darlin' (on the left) immediately ran to grab another hat and then the game began. Soon, there were five students seeing how many hats they could put on my hat. This was the result. 

Sometimes 4th graders can be a lot of fun.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Happy Texas Independence Day!

Until next time,

Kaity 

The Half Time Show

     I've just completed my double halfway point! Not only did completing last week mean that I have six weeks before I return to Texas, but I'm halfway through my full takeover of the class. Now, a perfect halftime show would be Spring Break. Unfortunately, instead I get a week of state testing. Well, not as much me as the students. We're all about at the same ecstatic thrill level, I'm sure. 

     That being said, this upcoming week is going to be weird and crazy for everyone involved. It'll be a good learning experience for me to understand the crazy role of testing from another standpoint. I feel like I've been experiencing that a lot - seeing the school day from a whole new perspective. I remember many times falling asleep in classes or counting down the minutes until I was free from the building. Now, there never seems enough time to get things done. I end a class feeling like I rush through everything I teach and never get a chance to go as in depth as I would like.

     Honestly, I'm not sure what else to tell, y'all. Right now, teaching is teaching. There are good days and bad days. I feel like I'm learning every day from both the students and the other teachers I interact with. I'm learning that I'm not the best with balancing life and teaching. I tend to invest myself wholeheartedly into whatever I do, so I tend to have problems giving everything 100%. If anyone knows a trick for this, I would be more than interested in hearing it. Or how to maximize your weekend. There just aren't enough hours in a day right now. 

That's really the best way I can describe the last two weeks. Also, it's starting to get warmer. That does make things more pleasant.

Until next time,

Kaity


P.S. ----> If you like books, then you should check out my BookTube channel! I make videos every Thursday!

The Final Boss Battle

So....I think that I have figured out an analogy for last semesters.

If you have ever played video games, I want you to imagine facing the Boss. Now, do you know what typically happens the closer you get to defeating the giant? It becomes 12 times as hard. They move faster, the send more attacks, and you're panting and yelling and screaming by the end of it. That is what my last semester feels like. The very end of a Boss fight.

And, y'all, I'm already tired. While I have experienced observing once or twice a week, taking on the role of a teacher when you aren't used to working full days (I blame the comfort of half days with college classes and never having to work Fridays) is a huge mental and physical switch. It probably doesn't help that I spend all day in my second language, and I'm not use to doing that, either.

The benefit of student teaching, however, is I get to make mistakes and I can fix them. I am having to relearn balance and how to manage my time. That's another interesting I've come to pick up. Time.

Time is different as a teacher. Classes don't always feel 50 minutes long, they feel shorter. I consistently remember falling asleep in classes and begging the clock to move faster during certain periods, but it's totally different from this side of things. Now, I don't have enough time. There's so much that needs to happen and so much they need to learn and BOOM! the day is over or POOF! the week is gone. I can't believe I've been here for four weeks. It's felt like two.

This week is a special short week because we had Monday as a holiday. So, four days of teaching - which should make things easier, right? I feel like I've worked out a lot of kinks in my own systems, but I guess only time will tell.

Quickly, I would also like to thank everyone for the lovely thoughts and prayers and encouragement that I can make it. I don't know if y'all know how much that means to me. If y'all don't mind praying extra hard for Friday, because my teacher is flying in to observe and, if anything, I need the kids to be normal just for that day this week. Just that day.

I don't know how much of this post is just spewing out words to a choir of people who've already been there and done that, but thank you for taking the time to read this anyway. It motivates me to keep typing.

Until next time,

Kaity

Videos for the week:

(If you're not into Harry Potter, don't worry about the last one. And, as always, videos are captioned.)

Nomingly Nomful (Charles Named My Post)

Hello, again! Week two has come to a close and week three is just starting up. I feel better prepared this week than I was was last week.

Last week, my first week of teaching,I managed to break even. Two good days, two bad days, and then a party, which meant that lucky me got an extra day of planning. It was rough, and I found myself easily being discouraged that things weren't going just right on, basically, my first try.

But that's why we have student teaching, right? That's why people sign up to do internships. It's an opportunity to practice before we are faced with the real deal and mistakes could cause problems. (I mean, I'm working with real children, but I have someone who can help me fix my mistakes versus me running around in circles shouting, "What do I do? What do I do?")  I get an opportunity to learn how to read students and get a pulse of the class. I get the opportunity to figure out my unique teaching style...well, to a point.

Fourth grade is a lot of fun. We're still at the age that the class is shorter than I am, so there is no confusion of who is the teacher, I still know the answer to about 90% of the questions that the students as me, and they're just old enough that you can be a little bit sarcastic with them.  Also, I can still be creative with my lesson plans. It's still alright to include lots of pictures and colors into homework and activities.

This week I continue with my math lessons and I take over the science class. During the month of February, the reading and writing sections become nothing but test prep. So, in other words, I get the fun classes. I really hope that my lessons are as fun as I think they are. ( Please send prayers toward the students and teachers here in Indiana this month. No one really enjoys the idea of test prep.)

So, here's to a fairly smooth week three. Best wishes on your week, dear readers!

Until next time,

Kaity

Videos of the Week! (And, of course, they are captioned!)