Frustrations!

So today I taught math and one of my students had a nervous breakdown because he didn't understand the worksheet. He made a big scene and banged around so I told him to stay in from recess. During recess I watched as he cried and told me his frustration with being stupid and not knowing how to do the worksheet. I wanted to badly to wrap my arms around him and tell him that I knew he could do it and that is why I asked him to. I wanted to tell him that I was feeling the same way and had shed many tears that very morning over what I was feeling.

The rest of the day I thought about my relationship with my Father in Heaven and I realized that he had given me the opportunity to see a small glimpse of how he feels. He has so many great expectations for me and my life and it is overwhelming sometimes because I don't have those expectations for myself. I often times sell myself short and cry and throw my tantrums and just say I can't do it.

Well, that student cried through his whole recess and then 10 minutes later came and handed me the completed worksheet. I decided then that I would put my best foot forward and try to live up to the expectations put on me because the Lord will not ask us to do anything that we can't!

Good times

I found this amusing so I thought I would share it with you. The kids are not allowed to chew gum in school, but when you get into 6th grade you think you need it to live. Well of course they all chew like cows so it is not hard to spot. Well I have not told them that this is how I spot their gum so they think I am absolutely amazing at spotting them. They will also put a piece back in right after I watch them spit it out. They also put half of the piece in the garbage and keep half in their mouth. Well, I beat them at this game too! I told them that they would have to spit the piece of gum into my hand. For some reason this disgusts them more than me so they now spit the whole piece out. As I interact with them I think to myself, "did I think I was sly when I was their age and try to get away with stupid stuff? Probably!" That is one of the greatest joys about being a teacher...I am learning so much about myself through the process!

Countdown Queen!

So everyone who knows me well, knows that I count down to everything...well, I have a lot to count down right now so here they all are!
1. Last observed lesson of my college career-Tuesday
2. Trip to California-11 days! (I am going over Spring Break)
3. Last Day of Student teaching-12 school days
4. Field Trip to the planetarium-11 days!
5. Graduation from college-a little less than 3 weeks!
6. Parents coming for graduation-a little less than 3 weeks (yes my dad let slip that my mom and grandma are coming too! Yay for suprises that make me that happy!)

Well those are just the big ones! What are you counting down to?

Age of Innocence!

So I had an interesting day yesterday! A bunch of substitute teachers didn't show up so I was shuffled from my 6th grade class, who were in a particular feisty mood, to the 3rd graders who told me how pretty I was every 5 minutes, and finally ended up in Kindergarten where we learned about willy worm and the w sound. I definitely decided that I will never be teaching Kindergarten.

I watched them play during their free time and they were just so funny to watch. They were really hard to teach, but funny to watch. A bunch of them would come up to me and say something like, "Teacher (because they couldn't remember my name), one time my grandpa had a dog." In my head I am thinking, "okay, and why would I care about that?"

They just want you to know everything about them and they want you to love them instantly. I think that we all never lose this characteristic...we just become better at hiding it as we get older.

It was a fun and enlightening day! I actually missed my 6th graders!

inspirational

So I was listening to this song on the radio today and thought that it totally related to my life and it just put things into perspective for me! Yes it is by Miley Cyrus so you can judge all you want, but the lyrics are cool. So here they are!

I can almost see it
That dream I’m dreamin’
But there’s a voice inside my head sayin’
You’ll never reach it

Every step I’m taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shakin’

But I,
I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

Chorus:
There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get here
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

The struggles I’m facin’
The chances I’m takin’
Sometimes might knock me down but
No I’m not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on

Chorusx2

Keep on movin’
Keep climbing
Keep the faith

It’s all about
It’s all about
The climb

Keep the faith
Keep your faith

Diamond in the ruff!

So Tony and I went to D.I. today to find a birthday present (yes we are both poor) and we came across this beautiful lamp. It has a green round bottom that looks like it is made out of green liquorice and it has a bulb in the bottom part and the top part. We then decided to walk around the store and we found so many great things. If you just take the time to look, you can find beauty in everything.

I also went to the teacher fair today and talked to a lot of schools and interviewed with a couple. I went in stressed and sleep deprived from all the anxiety of the night before. As I walked around and saw all that the districts had to offer I realized that I have been stressed for nothing. As long as I am teaching and doing what I love, I will be happy.

That was my "diamond in the ruff" moment of the day. I would love to hear about your "diamond in the ruff" moments if you would be willing to share!

Childhood

I can never come up with titles for the posts so sorry about the stupid ones. Anyway, I had a great St. Patrick's day with the 6th graders. I wore a green shirt and these cute shamrock earings and the kids started asking me about my St. Patrick's days as a child. I told them how we would go all out and be serious about the whole pinching thing and how my mom comes from Irish background.

So the whole day I was thinking about all my childhood memories of St. Patrick's day and then I started thinking about my childhood in general. We are studying middle ages in Social Studies and the kids are designing their own castles and I was able to tell them about the time that I visited castles in Germany and they love me for it! I mean who can say that they got to do that as a kid? I had the best childhood and I had so many great experiences. I talk about Africa and all the experiences I had there and the kids just eat it up. So thanks mom and dad for all the awesome things I got to do as a kid!

Major Breakthrough!

So I had a job interview yesterday morning so I was gone from school for the whole morning and returned while the students were out to recess. This whole time I thought that I wasn't making a difference with them and that they couldn't care less if I was there or not.

This one boy who is especially slow to show emotion came in from recess and said, "Ms. Jones, where were you?"
Me: "At a job interview with Canyons district, the district that your school is in."
Abraham: "You should work here so that we can come visit you next year when you teach."

It filled my heart with joy to know that someone in that class does care what happens to me and acknowledges that I am there!

6th Grade Humor

So you may not think this is funny at all, but maybe that is why I teach 6th grade and you don't. I have the maturity level and sense of humor of a 6th grader because I thought this was hilarious...

So this kid Harvey has a little farting problem and today was no exception. He farted really loud and everyone looked at him and giggled. This one girl, Lizbeth, just calmly reached into her desk and pulled out a bottle of air freshner and sprayed it and then went back to her business. I almost passed out while holding my breath so that I wouldn't laugh. Later I went and asked her why she thought to bring air freshner to school with her. She told me that she brought it when she got put by Harvey because she knew he farts a lot.

I hope that I at least helped bring a smile to your face because I know that these little ones do that for me!

Love of Football

So I knew that my love of football and the endless hours of watching football with dad would come into good use someday. I just didn't expect it to happen the day that it did.

I had recess duty today and the boys asked me to be the football referee. I am sure that some of them thought I would just watch and let things happen. Some of the girls came over to talk to me because they probably assumed the same thing.

Well I watched for a couple of minutes and then blew my whistle and yelled, "that is an illegal block in the back my friend. They get 5 yards (I don't know if this is the distance in real life for the penalty, but we are talking about 6th grade recess football here.) I thought I was going to have to scrape the boys jaws of the floor.

As the game went on I ended up being more of a cheerleader because they knew I was watching carefully. So after one great play I yelled, "Good interception Jordan!" One of the girls standing next to me turned and said, "How do you get an intersection Ms. Jones?" I think she had to scrape my jaw off the ground.

So thanks dad for instilling your love of football into me. It will come in handy during the recesses ahead of me in my life!

The Universal Question of Why

So today one of my students was coming in from doing safety patrol and turned to me with a look of concern on her face and said, "Ms. Jones, why do you want to be a teacher? Why not be a doctor or something? You are too nice to be a teacher."

It is crazy what kids think about.

p.s. I ordered my cap and gown today and it brought a big smile to my face...7 weeks!

Square Root Day

Just for all you math lovers out there, yesterday was square root day (3/3/09). It will not happen again for a long time and if you can tell me the next time it will happen, you may be as much of a math nerd as me! :)

Next Generation

So today was definitely one of those days when I came home and said to myself, "now why do you want to be a teacher?" The kids were out of control today. My mentor teacher was so frustrated with them. I was proud of myself though because I stood my ground with a couple of them and showed them who is boss.

Then at lunch time my teacher told me that one of our student's dad had been killed over the weekend and that she would be coming back tomorrow. After feeling sorry for myself for about an hour after I got home, I started thinking about her and her situation.

She is the reason that I want to be a teacher. She will need love and attention more than ever now and I can give that to her. I want to make a difference in someone's life. I am a realist and know that I will not make a difference in every students' life that I teach, but I will make a difference in someone's.

As Elder Hales said last night, we are the rising generation and we are expected to stay on high ground and to lift others up. Well, that is exactly what I plan to do for the rest of my life!

p.s. I definitely don't know where I will be doing all this difference making yet, but I will let you know when I know! ;)