Monkey Bread: Kaitlyn Bakes

Kaitlyn begins her monkey bread, carefully dividing the biscut dough into bite size pieces to be rolled in cinnamon sugar. Jeff looks on anxiously, could Kaitlyn be his undoing?


Friendly on-lookers cheer for the bakers.


Kaitlyn prepares the dough...


Jeff fitfully awaits the outcome...



Who will win? Which monkey bread baker will be declared king of the monkey...bread? Stay tuned for the next installment of "Monkey Bread Bake-off!"

Monkey Break Bake-Off In Pictures

Jeff prepares his dough, the secret ingredient, as Kaitlyn looks on and mocks (mocking is allowed during a monkey bread bake-off!).


Just before rolling the dough cinnamon-roll style, Uncle Jeff liberally sprinkles cinnamon on the dough. Kaity still mocks!


The monkey bread takes shape...


...and into the oven!!


Uncle Jeff threatens, "I'm going to kick your bunt!"

What will Kaity do? How will her apple monkey break stack up to Uncle Jeff's? Does Uncle Jeff's high school experience making cinnamon rolls at Cinnamon Sam's give his monkey break an unfair advantage? Tune in for the next installment of Monkey Break Bake-off!

My First Day of First Grade

I just woke up from nap time...

Today was my first day of first grade! I met the class I will be with this spring for student teaching and spent the day helping in the classroom. Sue Grim is a twelve year veteran who is an amazing teacher! She oozes patience and on several occasions actively reflected on occurrences and how she could could effect a different outcome (education theory in action!). She's calm, she's happy, and she's focused, all qualities I will do well to emulate.

The students? WOW! What a good week to see them in action. Holiday break is only three days away, it was raining so the students were on rainy day schedule, and the place was a zoo! The little kiddies couldn't focus, besides there was a new adult in the classroom trying to learn their names and their classroom procedure. Tomorrow will probably be a better day.

By the end of the day I was tired and hungry. I came home, folded some laundry and took a nap. It's 11:50 p.m. and I just woke up an hour ago. I think I'm going to have to get more sleep!

I love first grade!

Pictures as promised

The "Worship Team," Guitar Students, Intermediate and Advanced Choirs

This church was pretty cool. It was a large metal contruction building with stucco on the outside and completely finished on the inside. The had two other buildings, a fellowship hall and a student center (probably classrooms). This congregation was forsightful enough to buy a really big piece of land so they could grow.


Kaity and Mr. Trenbeath the director (Kaity is wearing flats.)


The Advanced Choir

FINALS ARE OVER!

Except for a few small projects that have to be uploaded to the internet, FINALS ARE OVER!!! I feels like 50 pounds has been lifted from my shoulders, I'm a foot taller, and I don't know what to do with all my extra times...until I look around at the condition of my house, then I get a pretty good idea what needs to be done! Thanks to everyone for their prayers, kind words, and support. In reality, it feels like the time FLEW. Of course, it's not over. There is still sixteen weeks of student teaching, but that's going to be a GREAT experience.

I'll upload a few pictures from Kaitlyn's school concert Tuesday night when we get home from Prescott. When I figure how to embed the video, I'll but up the vidoeo of her solo...I'd put up the video of her signing to "Peace, Peace," but you can hear me singing and that is NEVER pretty!

Hugs to you all!

STUDENT TEACHING!

I've been anxious to hear about my student teaching assignment, musing out loud when it would come, and annoying my cohort friends. Friday was a BUSY day and looked to be on the stressful side when I got a phone call from Chase. "Cheryl at Paradise Valley Unified School District HR department called. You're supposed to call her." I called immediately. I HAVE A STUDENT TEACHING PLACEMENT!!! Here are the blessings:

1. The school is two blocks down the street from my house!
2. The teacher is an 11 year veteran that I have worked with before!
3. The principal, the husband of a favorite professor, is retiring this year. If there is an open position, he'll do my interviewing!
4. The principal meets with all the student teachers once every two weeks for a lunch meeting, to debrief and educate them!

I will be in a first grade class, which is not my first choice. However, the teacher is AMAZING and I know I will learn a boat-load from her. I am a little scared of first grade because it is such an important year--what if I screw up and a kid doesn't learn to read and then is a ditch digger for the rest of his life? He'll look back on his education and say, "Drat that Mrs. Yates! She ruined my life!" However, first grade is optimal read-aloud time--fun voices, dramatic reenactment, literacy projects!!!!! I'm pretty good with 1st grade math. HUGE ADVANTAGE: 1st grade science might be the only science I really know and/or understand!

I am so excited that my family has had to scrape me off the ceiling six times. When I hung up with Cheryl, I cried my eyes out. Relief SWEPT through me and the impact of the blessing hit me like a ton of bricks. I cannot wait for the new chapter of my adventure to begin!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a good day! Everyone had school, Chase had to work, but it was peaceful and good having my kids close by...most of the time! I got lots of phone calls from family and friends, many great cards. More than anything, I appreciate being remembered this year. Silly, huh? I love the digital camera my kids bought for me, I'm THRILLED that I get 10 piano lessons with Kaity's amazing piano teacher, but I was just happy to be remembered.

School news: friends in my cohort are starting to get letters with placement for student teaching. We are supposed to start hearing in the next week. I can't wait!!!!!!

I pray for wisdom...I pray for wisdom FREQUENTLY. Seems Social Studies is the source of my need for wisdom right now. On Tuesday night our instructor passed out a rubric (a guide for scoring or grading) for a debate. He suggested that we could used this rubric to score a classroom debate, and, HEY, let's use it to score the Presidential Debate which he just happened to run across a web site where we could get live feed in the classroom. A groan went up across the room...I guess everyone feels the same way I do: we're tired of beating our heads against the wall in a conversation that isn't going to change. Regardless, we watched the first 30 minutes of the debate. Afterward, we tried to use the rubric to score both Senator McCain and Senator Obama but it was obvious that few members of the class were able to view the debate without bias. It would work in a classroom where the students haven't yet formed the biases color adult vision.

Sometimes I feel like I can make a strong point in this class, like wisdom just might be seeping into what I'm saying, and other times I just feel like I'm better off not saying anything. Maybe that is wisdom, knowing when to speak and when to remain silent..."How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!" (Proverbs 16:16) Good thing that wisdom is more valuable than gold, since I won't be making much gold as a teacher!

Side note: If you watched the Presidential Debate last Tuesday, you probably saw Todd Smith, lead singer of the Christian group Selah. He sat on the front row to the immediate left of Senator McCain. He submitted a question for the debate and was chosen to attend. He met Senator Obama afterward, who asked him what he did. When Todd Smith told him, Senator Obama said he would look up his music when he got home. Todd Smith offered to send him some of his recordings. I'm sure he was seeing it as a evangelical opportunity. The Lord can work through music!

Biting my tongue...

Political conversations are never easy. Most people try to avoid them. In fact, it is considered polite (in an unwritten kind of way) to avoid political conversations with strangers so as to avoid conflict. What happens when you're forced into the conversation? Well, sometimes I try to gracefully bow out, other times I state my belief with the caveat "But that's just how I feel." Other times I blow people out of the water so that they have to add the caveat of their own. However, among my school friends, we mostly try to avoid political conversations. We know who's a Democrat and who's the Republican. We know who's been around the block a few times, and who allows their lack of experience to rule their mouth.

Welcome to Social Studies, the elementary study of all things historic and GOVERNMENTAL. Political conversations are unavoidable, since they are requisite fodder for classroom discussion. Add to that the fact that the field of education is predominantly Democratic...well, what's a poor Republican to do? Pray for wisdom, campaign for McCain, and hope November gets here REALLY soon!

It begins

The semester is in full swing; two weeks down, fourteen to go!

Changes include a couple new instructors, Suzi Figuoroa, a spunky, dynamic BME instructor and Jim White, a committed, passionate educator teaching Assessment and Social Studies methods. Focus is on 5th & 6th grade and most of us are set for practicum in those grades. Student teaching letters are beginning to circulate, although no one expects firm answers until some time in late October/early November.

I'm seeing some stress among my cohort friends, inability to concentrate, lack of interest in the intense amount of reading, more bordem than concern about assigments--the end is in sight and we're all ready for it!

An interesting comment from an instructor...we were doing a group analysis of a chapter. Our group finished up and I was lamenting that I was afraid that I was going to forget EVERYTHING that we'd learned and some poor kid would suffer for my lack of knowledge. The instructor reassured me that we would forget it all, that it wasn't that important, and everthing would be fine. That diploma will be the most expensive piece of paper I've ever owned!

Student Teaching...ONLY 4 months away!

I got off the telephone this a.m. with one of my favorite college instructors of all times. If you live in the Phoenix, AZ area and plan to pursue a degree in elementary education by taking the prerequisites at community college, contact me and I'll hook you up with the BEST educator of teachers from whom I've had the privilege of learning. I've been worrying about my student teaching placement. Here's the scoop:

I applied for the Rodel Promising Student Teacher program which matches exemplary student teachers with Rodel Master Teachers. It is a prestigious program which awards participants $10,000 upon completing three years of teaching in a Title I school. That would pay for my student loans. So when it came time to apply for student teaching options, I didn't give much thought to my second choice because I was pretty sure I would be accepted to Rodel.

My mom, who knows me better than anyone, was the one who planted seeds of doubt. She really didn't think I would be happy teaching in a Title I school. The more I though about it, the more I realized she is probably right. I wanted the Rodel for the prestige and the $10,000, but I worried about being able to communicate with my students an their parents.

In the meantime, my student teaching application lists as a second choice "Paradise Valley Unified School District, grade 3-6." However, this wonderful community college teacher of teachers previously taught in PVUSD and offered to shop my resume to her colleagues. I took her up on it, and now have multiple options for student teaching. I am so thankful!!

One last thing: when I realized I had put NO prayer into the process of finding a student teaching placement, I was ashamed. I started praying, and this is how things unfolded. God's knows me better than my mom; His plan is perfect. When I follow his plan, I live in amazement of the things he does for me. I am truly blessed.

Lessons learned?

• Take it to God first; seek His plan. It works out much, much better
• Networking: as important in education as it is in business!

School starts today! Oh, the adventure of learning...

This is the fourth time I have tried to post. I let tendancies get in my way: perfectionist tendancies, selfesteem tendancies, lazy tendancies. But I have exciting news and whether or not anyone else reads it, I'm putting it out there for the whole wide world to know:

I passed the content portion of the AEPA! There, I said it.

Despite my fears that the Performance Evaluation question was my undoing (I hadn't had that methods class yet), I passed. Better still, all my cohort budies that took the test with me also passed. Two friends took the whole thing, two other friends took parts like I did. Now my big decision is when to take the last part, and I'm leaning toward the September date. The November date is just too deep into the semester and VERY close to finals.

I've also been developing a study aid to market to my college friends. They are vocabulary flashcards. Content areas are differentiated by color; I've placed them on rings to make them easier to flip through. I'm not totally impressed with all the definitions they provide, so if I continue the project I'm gonig to have to do a little digging for better definitions.

It's hard to believe that the semester is only two weeks away, graduation is only nine months away, and a teaching job is just a little less than a year away! I must admit that finding a job is a little worrisome for two reasons:

1. Our program director told us that this past spring, members of the graduating cohort hard time finding position in the big districts in Phoenix.
2. My cousin in Missouri said that 3000 applicants applied for 300 jobs in the Independence School District near Kansas City, MO.

I guess we'll see what the future holds...

In The Beginning...

Hello all you teachers, future teachers, thinking-about-being-a teacher, moms, believers, and wanders that googled the best Chinese take out in your neighborhood and landed (by some quirt of fate) on my blog! Since this portion of the blog is about becoming a teacher, that's where I'll start.

I have completed my first two semesters of Northern Arizona University's block program. Now you're wondering, "Isn't NAU in Flagstaff and don't you live in Phoenix?" You're quick; you're very, very quick! I'm in a cohort program at my local community college just a few blocks away. I've finished Literacy Methods, Science Methods (sorry, Dr. White, but I didn't learn a thing!!!), Classroom Management (learned TONS, can't wait to try it out!) , Elementary/Middle School Psych (thank you Teeny Tiny Toni!), Elementary/Middle School Curriculum, Schools and Society, and a computer class of which I just can't recall the name. We've had delightful instructors and our program director truly cares about us and wants to see us succeed. On her caring alone, I would recommend this program. Dr. Nancy Duke is a loving person, but even more important, she expresses that love for her students. I've had practicum experiences in 1st and 3rd grades and this fall I'm headed to sixth grade. Should be GREAT fun!

Enough facts, let's talk about the deep stuff...
About three or four years ago, I came to the realization that if my wonderful husband of then seventeen or eighteen years were to die, I would not be able to support my children. Sure, I think I could find a job, but life would get very, very hard. Always before I thought I would move back to the mid-west if something happened to the big guy, but at that point the realization struck that my kids were too old to move; Arizona was their home. About that time, my two oldest kids were starting college (home school...we'll talk about that later). I realized that it was time that I could go back to college.

I started taking the actual education prerequisites that the would be required for admission into any program--such fun! And then I started looking at programs. ASU offered a one year bridge program that would have me finished by December, 2008. Tempting! I talked with husband, made plans, talked with friends, made more plans, talk to my mom, and made more plans. I didn't talk to God, however. A one year intensive program would have had me in a classroom 50 hours a week not to mention homework. You can do anything for a short time, right? God knows me better than I know myself. The very day I honestly began to pray about His will for my educational career, my dear friend came over with information about the NAU's distance program with a degree in Elementary Education. I knew He had opened a door.

Now, I've got one more semester of classroom time, fifteen last practicum hours, and at least the Professional Knowledge portion of the AEPA to take (I took the Content Knowledge portion this summer...we'll talk about that some more, too!) and then STUDENT TEACHING! It gives me goose bumps to think about it--the good kind AND the bad kind...

All my life I know that God has lead me. I know he is leading my through my education. I cannot wait to see what the semester holds!

I love quotes, and this one in particular: "A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary." (Thomas Carruthers)