Location, Location, Location

I seem to have a crew in the states and in Vietnam looking for a teaching job for me. Both crews have found jobs that are available, it's just the matter of seeing if someone will hire me and, well, where I want to be. Of course, there are plenty of strings attached where I go. There's not an easy path and funny it may be, I don't think they're worn in either.

The pro's and cons to both are simple: I won't have the comfort and the people that I love in my life for a year if I relocate across the world. Brian and I are currently doing it again for the second time and I can't bear to do it. If I stay in the states, I am missing out on an adventure, but am able to start my career and get experience that everyone claims to not hire anyone if they don't possess even an ounce of it.

Everytime I start thinking about it, my throat seems to start closing up in anxiety. I almost wish I was starting a new semester instead.

{Until then, I'm going to enjoy spending time with my family}

Plans After Graduation: Leaving the Country

Next month, a little after Brian leaves (again), I will be flying to Vietnam! I'll be taking a 19 day long trip, that might last longer than 19 days, and seeing Vietnam again. This time with my aunt and grandma. At first, I thought it was going to be a miserable trip because I thought I was going to be dropping off my grandma, but come to find out with another phone call 24 hours later, she changed her mind!

Not only do I get to see my roots with more mature eyes and eat amazing food, I get to spend more time with my grandma...and hopefully find a job at the same time.

Oh, and P.S.- It's currently 90 degrees there. I can't wait!

[One of my favorite memories was walking through the market]

Here and There

Here: I just had an interview for an SOL tutor position at my school last week.
There: I just got off the phone with a school in Guatemala City.

I honestly have no idea what to do or where to go. I absolutely hate the fact that nothing, not one thing, is certain after graduation. I am panicking at the thought of it all. I haven't heard from anyone about the job here nor will I know about the job in Guatemala until Monday or Tuesday.

I want just ONE thing certain after I graduate. Is that too much to ask for?

I'm Susan and you should hire me.

So the application process has already started. I feel like this desperate crazy person applying for everything and anything I can get my hands on in the teaching word. This is with the exception of lunch aides and janitors. I would take the secretary job if it would get me to the door to a classroom. Keep your fingers crossed and wish me all of the luck in the world, please!

Gratitude towards VT

Dear VT,

Our class thoroughly enjoyed the mammal kit that you sent for our science lesson. The dead animals made the lesson quite lively.

Sincerely,

Ms. Danh

Sunrise

For once, I am actually not looking forward to daylights savings time because on my way to school, which is extremely early in the morning, the sun has been rising along 460. It is absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't ask for a better way to start the day.

Vaccines, Hand Sanitaizers, and Cold Meds

I have no idea what is going around, but it's just gotten everyone in a tizzy. In the office, there are 5 huge boxes of little bottles of hand sanitizers. Those were the left overs after distributing one bottle per student and faculty member. That's over 500 bottles.

The other day, we sent home a form for parents to fill out if they want their child to get the swine flu vaccine at school for free. Somehow, the schools in the county are giving them for free to all students. Yes, we did talk about every single detail at the faculty meeting. No, we will not be strapping children down to give them the shots.

Let's hope that nothing to horrible happens that day.

I really am regretting not keeping up with my vitamins over the summer. I just got sent home because my vision got blurry, was feeling dizzy and nauseous, and my head was pounding in just one spot. I couldn't tell you what that was about. I'm actually glad to be home in a warm bed and not having to worry about passing out in front of the class.

Best of all, it's an early release day so I don't have to worry about missing too many hours.

Constitution?

So the unit that I'm teaching right now in social studies is government. The question that I asked the class as an intro question to the day's lesson last week was, "What document is the foundation of our government?" It's not the Constitution, if that's what you're thinking. It's the 10 Commandments.

More Sniffles

I really really REALLY hope that I just have some sniffles. There's been talk about swine flu at other elementary schools and about the vaccine given to faculty members in the county. I am keeping my fingers crossed and pray that no one at the school has to deal with this!

Falling

While running and crunching on the beginnings of the autumn leaves, I realize that things are starting to fall into place. No pun intended, I promise! I realized that this past week, I was more relaxed and comfortable in the classroom. The students are getting the hang of me and vice versa. As much as I would love to be back in the kindergarten classroom and not deal with the crazy amounts of lesson plans that third grade calls for, I'm glad that I got placed in this classroom in particular.

My cooperating teacher is absolutely amazing. We work really well together and I'm comfortable around her. We have an understanding of each others workload and our need for some time away from work. She's fun and so creative! She's willing to help and lend a hand. She is just awesome. It's funny how serendipitous I got placed with her because my cohort leader has no idea who she is and has never worked with her before. I got placed in the right classroom.

My students...oh my students. I am still trying to figure out how much they do and don't know. I made a mistake and assumed that they knew how to make lists. It was apparent that they didn't because they were writing paragraphs as opposed to bullets. I do love their personalities. They are still goofy and resilient. They don't have an ounce of maturity in them and if they do, it will surprise me. They don't sing like the kindergartners, but that's okay. That just means that they can handle the other fun activities.

I might be jinxing myself with this blog, but that was my revelation while taking in the crisp air.

Another Head Cold

It's 16 days into school and I'm sick again. I am definitely doing a mini-lesson on how to be less germy because I have another head cold. I realize that I am going to be sick for either a while for on and off for a while. I might as well try and decrease the germ population in our little learning cottage.

P.S.- I will sit down and write a blog soon because I will be spending Friday night in bed with the fall breeze coming through my window and a box of tissue next to me.

3rd Grade

I realized on day 1 that 3rd is NOT my thing. These kids are going to eat me alive, but I'll hopefully will have a backbone AND a voice that can project by the end of the semester. Hopefully. If one of my students...let's call her the new girl...doesn't help me find either one of those, I don't know who will. A good fallback would be to teach kindergarten for the rest of my life, which I would so not mind at all.

Oh, it's day 7. I'm already sick.

Meet the Teacher

Today was the first day back at the elementary school. My CT is super nice and the "learning cottage" is a pretty sweet deal for one reason only: our very own SMART Board. If you don't know what it is, look it up. It's the awesomest piece of teaching equipment EVER.

Tonight was "Meet the Teacher" night, where the parents and students can meet the teacher and see the classroom. About half of the parents and students came in. It was very neat to meet them before school starts on Wednesday. All of the students, but one was excited about starting the school year. We used the SMART Board to see if they were or not!

P.S.- I'm super duper exhausted, not because I did a lot around the classroom by all means, but because I was super duper nervous and excited.

Last Week of Summer

I've got to make this next week count because it is my last week of summer...as a college student. I realize that I have summers off for the rest of my life since I will be a teacher. And yes, that realization is glorious! But as for this past summer, I only accomplished one goal, which was to be able to run 2 miles straight without stopping. The other goals not so much:

1.) Sew something
2.) Make something out of my Julia Child's cookbook
3.) See "Julie & Julia"
4.) Hike...anywhere!
5.) Bike to Lane Stadium
6.) Beach camp

It probably sounds ridiculous that I'm upset about not accomplishing those, but once the school year starts back up, the elementary school will have my life shackled down with a ball and chain. Okay, I should say that because I will absolutely love every minute of it, but I won't be able to do or think about anything else. I will have so many more summers to cross those items off my list, but for now, they will stay.

P.S.- I bought my first Lacoste polo today :)

P.P.S.- I guess I'm in love with Blacksburg now because I almost bought a gorgeous dress that the girl at the counter called the "Hokie Dress" because it was orange with a maroon floral print.

Teaching Apparel

I know I'm as broke as a joke, but I can't help looking at clothing on J. Crew's website. Their clothes are simple, clean cut, and classy. Basically, the perfect verbs for a wardrobe in my opinion. While looking through the dresses section, hoping to find any teacher appropriate ones, I find this dress. I'm madly in love with it. Too bad I could never afford it or find an occasion to wear it...other than a wedding in September!

My teaching apparel search will continue with or without the dress nonetheless.

Cursive and Fractions

I just found out that I am placed in a 3rd grade classroom next semester. I'm super stoked and super nervous at the same time. It could be fun: teaching Ancient Rome and Greece; a little bit of life systems, motion, and energy. Or it could be horrific: fractions and multiplication. Better yet, it could be even worst: awful and mean students.

But for now, I'll keep looking on the bright side and be wishful that it's going to be a fun semester.

Haiti

I am back in the states after spending a week in Haiti. And to be quite frank, I do not want to be back at all. I can be cliche and say that it was a life changing trip, but I am not sure how to change my life after it. Do I come back with a new sense of appreciation for what I have and how I live or do I look at everything in disdain and change my life completely so that I am not living so frivolously?

I do know this: I will go back, not sure when, but I will. If that is the case, I would be teaching English to students who "greedily want to learn," according to Brother Harry from the orphanage. Sure, I would have to learn Creole, but which is harder: learning a new language or dealing with students who do not want to be in school?

Living in Haiti would be hard, but it would be so simple. I would be living simply so that others may simply live and it would be easy to do it there than here. Plus, eating mangoes right off of a tree would not be hard getting used.

3 1/2 More Days

I only have 3 1/2 more days with my kindergartners. I honestly will be the most miserable person for the next couple of weeks. Sure it was frustrating at times, but I will miss them so much. One of my student's mother came in on Friday asking if his schmencils (smelly pencils) got take away from him because he was missing two. After I explained what happened (that's another funny/aggravating story for another day...), she explained that her son will be out for the next week, maybe two, for surgeries: tonsils and adenoids taken out and tubes placed in his ears. I feel SO sorry for this child. He has no idea what he's in for. I'm already starting to miss them.

At the same time though, 3 1/2 days means no more work sample units, bull crap finals, and 5 page papers until August. I will insanely antsy this summer since I'll have nothing to do, which is the complete and utter opposite of this entire year.

I am going to be in shambles this summer.

Never Been Happier

I know it's been a while, but there are so many entries that I've started and haven't had the time to finish, but I just had to write this...

It finally hit me that I've never been happier and I can honestly say that.

I've never been closer to my family up until now. It's unbelievable how far we've come and I can only hope that we get closer through the years.

Brian and I are back together after the ups and downs. What we have feels so comfortable and genuine...it's almost hard to explain.

Then there are my kindergartners! I've been in the school full time for one week and it has just flown by. The hours go by quick and my kids make me so happy despite their behavior...funny story to come later. Even though I end up taking a nap everyday I come home, I love teaching.

"If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire." St. Catherine of Siena

And my friends...I could not have asked for more understanding friends since this semester has been insane and I have been M.I.A. When we do get together, we make the best memories.

There are more pictures on Facebook if you're interested ;)

Catch a Bubble with Me

It's one of the best feelings to know that you taught something and it sticks to the students. I taught the kids that every time I count to three, they say, "Catch a bubble with me." And they would catch a bubble with their mouths. It is the CUTEST thing to see 21 students sitting in front of you making the bubble face! It also gets them quiet :)

I read "Runny Babbit" by Shel Silverstein, one of my favorite books, to the kids yesterday because they got so into making new silly words. Just to sum up the book, Shel flips the beginning sounds of the main words. Unfortunately, I think it went over their heads because they were trying to comprehend what I was reading to them. It was worth a shot.

A fun, but kind of unsuccessful, math activity deals with dominoes. It's hands-on and gets the kids going. They had to take the dominoes and add the top number to the bottom number. The problem was is that there was no clear bar that split the two sections...it was completely black with white dots. This definitely confused some of the kids. If you ever see any dominoes that have the white bar in between, pick them up for me and I'll pay you back.

I had a success with a very moody student. She is that student that would have to get her worksheet done right then and there even if everyone else is on the reading carpet. For some reason, I told her that I would color with her later during play time if she comes over to the carpet. She did go sit and forget that I was going to color with her. Oops.

Another success is making a light bulb turn on for a kid. This kid has trouble with beginning sounds and sounding words out. These silly little works have three letter words and so I kept trying to sound it out with him and it just didn't work. Finally, I tried the brush it off strategy. You tap your arm, beginning with your shoulder, with every sound you make then you'd brush it off to say it together. Bat: B- shoulder, A- elbow, T- wrist. Unfortunately, I forgot to review with him this morning what he did yesterday so that it would stick. Let's hope I remember tomorrow! He just needs that extra little help and he should be fine.

I have begun to notice that this one student acts up even moreso if he isn't chosen by the teacher to answer a question or partcipate. I'm going to have to keep an eye on him. He is bright and when he does do his work, it is fantastic.

Another thing that I have noticed is that these kids pick their noses all of the time and there's nothing I can do. I feel like it's fine because they are kindergartners, but at the same time I should say something because they are still learning and how are they going to know if no one ever says anything to them?

Funny stories: One of my students had uncontrollable hyper tendencies and can be extremely sensitive. I was sitting at my desk putting booklets together while the class was outside for playtime. My student walks into the restroom. Within seconds, I hear him throwing a fit! I started to freak out, but decided to wait a minute to see what he would do and to hear what he was saying. Thankfully, he came out of the restroom in tears because he couldn't get his pants unbuttoned. By the time he finished washing his hands, he was acting like nothing had happened.

That same day, while the kids were putting on their coats at the end of the day. One of the boys decided he wasn't going to wear his coat and put it in his book bag. The funny thing was is that he wore his detachable hood with the Velcro part covering his mouth. It was the funniest thing to see!