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!