5th Graders and 5k's

Last week was my last week with my fifth grade class. I was a lot more sad then I thought I would be. 3 hours, once a week, is not nearly enough. I'm so excited to be a teacher. It will be so amazing.

With that being said I want to tell you about my teacher moment I had in the classroom last week. I felt like such a teacher haha. One of my fifth graders, Libby, came up to me and said, "Ms. Kristina, I don't know how to write a summary." So I responded with, "Well, Libby, I've never read this story so I need you to tell me what happens in it." She took off, cause fifth graders love to talk, and told me a 5 minute overview of what happened in the story. Here, I cut her off and said, "Libby, what have you been doing for the past five minutes." Immediately her eyes lit up. "I've been summarizing!" So then I told her she just needed to write it down like she was telling someone the story who had never read it. It was really neat to me. I love teaching.

Since it was my last week, I have to move to 2nd graders next week. I'm slightly worried about this because I've never been with children that young in a classroom setting. I taught 2nd graders at church but that is so much different. Plus, going from 5th to 2nd is a huge change. Agh! I really just can't wait until I get my own class for a whole year!

Several months ago I posted my bucket list. I've been slowly working on things on it and this past weekend I ran my first 5k. I was so thrilled to be able to finish. I've been training for the past two months or so but I still wasn't sure I was ready. I finished in 31:19 so I was very happy with my time. Not bad for my first 5k that I didn't even think I could finish. haha. Here are some pics from the race.

Shanna, my sister, ran too.

Crossing the finish line!

Festivity

Recently I've been purchasing small, and I emphasize small, decorations that go with the season. Up until last week I had one tiny Christmas tree and that was my only holiday decoration. While walking by the dollar section at Target I noticed a couple of dish towels that had jack-o-lanterns. I decided, with no hesitation, to purchase my first fall decoration. I immediately went home, hung them on my oven handle, and texted a picture to my boyfriend with the caption, "Aren't I festive?" It's the little things that get me excited haha.

This semester has been so much different than any one I have had thus far. While I do still have homework, I don't have anywhere near the amount that I have had for the last 3 years. I find myself sitting at home, having absolutely nothing that I have to do. It's also been good for me to be able to take more time for myself. Usually I am going constantly. But this semester I have been able to really take some time and relax. I can not tell you how good this feels. Now, if only my boyfriend were here.

That being said, I have noticed a huge difference in my attitude. It's amazing how much happier I can be when I am not exhausted and stressed out all the time. I've also been running. This, to me, is an attitude thing, too. Before when I would try to run I would always have excuses as to why I couldn't do it. I was too fat, too tired, too busy, too...ugly? Haha. Okay that doesn't make sense. But still. I had so many excuses. But now, I have successfully ran 3 days a week for 6 whole weeks. This is a big deal to me because usually I don't make it past the first week. It's so rewarding too. Not only do I feel healthier, I feel better about myself because I am doing it. All by myself even I am doing it. It's wonderful.

Hum. I thought I had more to talk about. I feel like this post was very jumpy. I get distracted easily. Sorry. Haha.

-Kristina

Not too much going on

There hasn't been a whole lot going on with me lately. I had my meeting with the dean. That was good I guess. He didn't really solve anything I don't think but it was very stress relieving, and just a good release, to get everything out to him about that professor. He did listen and told me that he would set up a meeting with her. So maybe stuff will change...idk.

Long distance sucks. In case you were wondering. I hate it so much. But it's okay. I'll survive haha.

Recently I received a letter from a good friend that was one of the most encouraging things ever. I don't really know how to explain it because most people don't really understand what I needed encouragement about, but she did. It was beautiful. And I can honestly say that it has helped me tremendously over the last couple of weeks. Friends are great things to have.

This is an incredibly short choppy post. I just wanted to update but didn't have a big thing to talk about. Just lots of little things haha. Okay. Bye.

-Kristina

Meeting with the Dean

This semester, and last also, I have had continuous issues with one of my professors. She is totally unclear and seems to be clueless about everything relating to her class. For example, here's how an e-mail conversation went between her and I.

Me: Webct says our lesson on Phonemic Awareness is due tomorrow but our syllabus says that it's due next week, which is the correct date?

Prof: That subject is okay.

Me: Uh. So is it due tomorrow then?

Prof: Ok.


If anyone can make sense of that conversation please let me know. She's also the professor from the beginning of the year who said, "I'm not going to teach you how to teach." Which is exactly what the class is for. Here's another conversation that she had with a student in class.

Dana: I don't have a field placement yet, so who do I teach the lesson to?

Prof: Well what school are you at?

Dana: Um. I don't have a field placement yet?


Anytime we ask her a question she completely avoids the question. It's very annoying and makes it impossible for us to know what we need to do. I'm definintely not learning anything about how to teach reading from this teacher.

Yesterday I decided that I want to talk to someone above her about her teaching. While I know that professors have tenure and all that crap and so her getting fired is highly unlikely, I would like to at least bring it to the Deans attention that she is an awful professor. I have no idea what will come of it. But I am armed with examples haha. And I know that my whole class will back me up.

So, Friday, at 1:30 I'm going to talk to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The little interaction that I've had with him hasn't gone over too well in the past. But I know that he is where I need to start at least. This probably sounds childish that I'm going to "tell on the teacher." But I think that it is a serious problem. She is teaching reading methods and math methods and those two subjects are the hardest subjects to teach, and most important with NCLB guidelines. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

-Kristina