End of the Trimester

This past week was the last one of the trimester at Rigby Middle School, so it was pretty hectic! Since my Creativity class changes every trimester, Friday was my last day with my current students. It was pretty bittersweet, I'm not gonna lie. Having a class of 33 students in such a small room has been a challenge for sure, but I've grown to know each of them pretty well and it was sad to say goodbye. These kids have been such a memorable headache, lemme tell ya!

Friday night Jake and I went and saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and it was SO. GOOD. I was trying not to get my hopes up because I knew it wasn't gonna be the same as Harry Potter, but it was so fantastic! See what I did there? ;)

I have what's called a Professional Development Day this upcoming Monday. It's a day that as students, we would have had off as a holiday. Teachers from the district get together and go to special workshops about different topics within education, and I know it's dorky but I'm RIDICULOUSLY excited about it. The workshops seem really interesting so I can't wait to learn more about being a good teacher!

Children of God

HAPPY NOVEMBER!! I can't believe the year is almost over, it's so crazy. 2017 cannot get here fast enough!! 

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately when I get frustrated with how things are going as I'm student teaching is that we're all brothers and sisters, and children of God. It's easy for me to get so frustrated with a kid for how they're acting/the work they're giving me (or not giving me). Not to their face of course, because I don't wanna make any kids cry haha, but I'll come home and rant to Jake or sit there and just let the angry thoughts stew in my head, and be ready to just throw in the towel. And when I get to that point, I try to remember that these kids are, first of all, KIDS. For me, 8th grade was 10 years ago. So it's been a while, but I can still think back and remember what I was like and the things I cared about when I was 13-14. And it helps me be more patient with my students. Second of all, remembering that they're children of God really helps me have patience. 

These kids, whether they're LDS or not, are important to Heavenly Father. He cares about them SO MUCH! And He put them in a place where they'd have the experiences they're having, because He knew they needed them to become the people they're supposed to be. And who knows, maybe I was given this position at Rigby Middle School because there is one kid who I'll really be able to touch, or who really needs ME. Not any old teacher, but me specifically. How cool is that? When I try to think about my career like that, and about the kids I'm working with, I become so much stronger. Not that the problems go away, because kids are kids and MAN OH MAN can they test your patience, but I feel like I'm capable of handling the challenges I'm presented with. 

I go through this cycle of frustration to exasperation to "spiritual patience" roughly 3-6 times a week, though, so don't think I'm some amazing person or anything haha. I have to "talk myself off the ledge" so to speak on a regular basis. I know it's worth it, though, because I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm learning a ton and having some overwhelming and stressful experiences basically every day that I'm in the classroom, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

What's a blog post without a

cute Zoe photo?!

Gettin' Spooky!

Student teaching is the most challenging but rewarding thing I've ever done. I had a student a few weeks ago that has made so much progress since the beginning of the school year that when I was looking at their work, I started crying. No joke. I'm so freakin' proud of how much they've been able to accomplish, and to know that I've been an influence for good in their life got me all choked up.

General Conference was AWESOME! There were so many great talks, but I have to say that Russell M. Nelson's was my favorite. I can't wait to read it once the talks are available in print version! His talk just really spoke to me.

Jake and I have been having a blast getting our little apartment looking spooky for Halloween, and I have to say we really outdid ourselves. It's so much fun having your own place to decorate and make your own, especially during the holiday season! I love it!

When I Grow Up...

Whenever anyone asks me "When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?" I usually get pretty tired once I've finished responding. Because the list is pretty long, people.

Barbie (yes, I wanted to be THE Barbie doll. Pretty ambitious for a little girl, if I do say so myself.)
Artist
Elementary school teacher
Writer
Singer
Fashion designer 
Journalist
Interior designer
Archaeologist
Anthropologist
and then for a while I had no freaking clue what I wanted to be. 

I think I wanted to be an artist mostly because of my Papa, who worked for Disney for a long time. He would always draw Disney characters on homemade birthday cards for us, and sometimes he'd sit down with me and show me step by step how to draw Mickey Mouse or Donald or whoever. And I thought it was the coolest thing EVER. Eventually I discovered that I have no talent when it comes to drawing, unless you count stick figures...so that dream ended.

I think every child, especially girls, want to be a teacher at some point in their lives. I would set up stuffed animals or make my little sister pretend to be my student, and give them pretend homework and tests and whatnot.

A writer. For as long as I can remember I've really loved writing, and I used to get in trouble for it during school. I would rush through my work so that I had some free time before we moved on to another activity. And I would sit there and either read a book, or start writing my own story. I wrote my first "full book" when I was around eleven or twelve, and all I remember about it was that it was set in colonial times (a time period I was obsessed with for quite a while). I don't know what ever happened to it, though. What a shame.

Fashion designer: this was my dream from sixth grade until early high school, when I finally discovered that I just don't have the right kind of creativity to design clothing, nor the patience for sewing something like clothing. 

Journalist: my senior year of high school I took a journalism class and got to write articles that were put on our school's newspaper website, and I had a lot of fun with it. But the rushing of deadlines and stress associated with that just wasn't for me.

Archaeologist: I thought this was SUCH a cool job! You got to solve historical mysteries and all that jazz, and find old artifacts and learn about ancient civilizations. But once I realized that I would have to be digging through dirt all day, I decided that just wasn't a good idea for me. I'm not such a big fan of dirt.

Anthropologist: I started becoming obsessed with the TV show Bones at the end of high school, and took an anthropology class one of my first semesters at community college. I don't know if it was the professor I had or the actual work, but the class BORED ME TO DEATH. So, while I am still in love with Bones, that dream just isn't realistic.

For about a year and a half of my community college time, I had no idea what I wanted to be. I took a lot of psychology classes which I found really interesting, but couldn't see myself going into any kind of fields associated with a psychology degree.

I ended up getting 2 degrees from my community college; one in Social and Behavioral Sciences and one in Humanities. I was planning on going to BYU-Idaho and just getting a good old plain English degree, when I finally figured out what I wanted to do: teach. But specifically, high school English. Here's my explanation from my teaching website for why I have decided to become a teacher:

"For as long as I can remember, I have struggled with school. As a child in elementary school I was often reprimanded for rushing through assignments and doing them improperly, writing my own stories when I should be doing a math assignment, or simply not paying attention. At parent-teacher conferences, my mom was always told that I was “very smart, but she just does not try hard enough”. I was dubbed a slacker; a girl who does not care about her education, and who never will. The only place in school where I excelled was English. Grammar concepts were easy for me to pick up, and essays or research papers were a breeze. I managed to graduate high school, with the help of supportive teachers and patient parents who would pay for tutors or pick me up after school late in the evening if I stayed for help.

"Two years after I graduated high school, my mom started receiving promptings to have me tested for a learning disability. After four months of meeting with a psychologist, intelligence tests, and answering literally hundreds of questions on my strengths and weaknesses in learning, I was diagnosed with ADD. Through help from my doctor and beginning to research my disability to better understand it, I began seeing a change in how I viewed myself and my abilities, and education as a whole. Over a period of one year, I went from a 2.6 GPA to achieving a perfect 4.0 my final semester of community college, and I decided to pursue a career in teaching.

"Through those years struggling to learn and keep up with my classmates, not once did a teacher suggest that I had a learning disability, or say anything regarding my abilities--teachers told my parents and I that I lacked the proper motivation, or even simply saying that I was stupid or incapable. Most teachers lack a knowledge or understand of learning disabilities; signs to watch for in their students, things to be aware of, tips for helping them to succeed, or ways to make the classroom environment one that they can learn in more easily. Because of the experiences I've had struggling through school, I know that there are hundreds and even thousands of other students experiencing the same difficulties. No one should ever have to feel too stupid to learn, and I plan on changing that."

I think another big reason why teaching is so appealing to me is because I want to be a mom sometime in the future. I'd like to be able to stay home with my kids when they're young, but I don't think I want to be a stay at home mom for forever. Having my teaching degree would enable me to go back to work, but still be home in the evenings and early mornings to help take care of kids.

I still have a bit longer before I finish my degree and do a semester of student teaching, but this is the longest I've stuck with working towards a specific educational goal and I know I won't be changing my mind again!