Oh, boy.

I have done it again. I have completely 100% ignored this entire blogging idea. According to my records, I have last checked in to the blogging world on February 10th. Oi!

So much has happened in the 3 short months that have elapsed that I could not possibly fill in every missing detail. However, I intend to do my very best.

Oh, golly. Not long after my last post, I began my full take over of all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade social studies and science classes. My days went by quickly and I soon realized how physically exhausting teaching all day was. I came home the first few nights sounding like I had been screaming at a rock concert. Quickly, my body adjusted and I was right in the swing of things. When I first began teaching this past semester, I was scared out of my wits to take any chances. I took the teacher edition of each textbook as my Bible. I felt like I would royally screw up anything I created on my own. I continued to everything "by the book."

However, this completely changed when my cooperating teacher and I began planning the first science fair for the school. There was no path to follow, no manual to refer to, and most importantly, NO TEXTBOOK. An entire unit on the scientific method and creating a science fair was created from my cooperating teacher and I brainstorming. Overall, the science fair was a huge success. We held it after school and I had the opportunity to meet a lot of the student's parents. A lot of people came! There was even a demonstration by a group of high school science students who did an excellent job.

After the science fair, I began traveling to each class with the fourth graders. This was another period of time that I had to adjust to the demands of this undertaking. I was hauling around all my books in my arms! I had to build some muscle mass here people! However, I LOVED teaching all of the disciplines. Since I had felt my way through the whole science fair unit and succeeded, I was not afraid to try my own material for the remainder of my experience.

I taught a unit on Sounder in reading and created a unit that combined elements of literature circles. The students completed writing assignments, illustrating assignments, quizzes, etc. I tried to teach a little bit of everything over the course of the 3 weeks that they students read the book.

I realized that I loved incorporating drawing into my lessons. In English, the students were learning about adjectives. I gave them a white piece of paper and told them to imagine it was a place mat. Then, I had them draw their most favorite meal as if they were looking down on it. The drawings turned out completely adorable! After their picture was completed, the students had to write ten sentences using the noun linking verb adjective format. I wanted to emphasize the adjective concept being taught, but I also wanted to emphasize the importance of following all directions for the assignment. The results were great.

My experiences during student teaching were great, but I must attribute must of this to the ladies that I got to know along the way. They took me under their wing and made the experience so rewarding and beneficial. I was never left hungry. I was never completely in the dark. I was never left overloaded without a helping hand. I thank all of those ladies from the bottom of my heart for their kindness and guidance!

All in all, student teaching was one of the greatest academic experiences I have every experienced. At times I may have felt overwhelmed, but I loved every single moment. I realized that I have pursued exactly what I need to be doing. Is it cheesy to call it my "calling"? Oh, well. If it is, I can't help it. I took the chance to change my major three years ago without complete confidence that is was the right decision. However, now I know I am exactly where I need to be.