College

College

C razy amounts of homework, all of which seem to have the same due date

O pened books are essential in learning as we research

L ack of sleep is a normality

L aughter is necessary to get through it

E xams are always in the back of our minds

G  rades are what we care most about

E asy? think again!

Taking a risk

Photosynthesis. The subject studied today in class with my fifth grade practicum students. As I get the opportunity to teach my first lessons I get the opportunity to experiment and learn. As I sat down to plan my lesson I started to think of ways to help the students have fun with the content. I wanted my students to enjoy learning about photosynthesis. How was I going to make this lesson fun for them? I decided to implement a music video about photosynthesis. My fears about showing this video crept in. What if the student’s don’t like it? What if it this video doesn’t provide them with the knowledge I thought it would?

            It was time to start my lesson. We discuss the importance of the sun in a food chain. Students are being engaging in the discussion and are showing knowledge towards the topic. Photosynthesis comes up in our discussion. It was time to make the decision. I chose yes to the video. The students’ curiosity arose as I clicked on the video. The song began and I saw unsure faces. The faces of children who think that they may be “too cool”  for this. I saw faces turn to their peers looking for assurance and acceptance of the video. The song kept playing and I hear a random shout come from the back of the classroom “PHOTO- Synthesis”. Then smiles started to break from the students and I started noticing head bobs to the catchy tune. By the end of the video the class was singing with the video! They were loving it! At the end of the day all I could hear was the singing of this song. “Photo-synthesis, photosynthesis, sing it with me now, photo-synthesis, photosynthesis.” Sometimes taking a risk is well worth it. The joy that came from this piece in my lesson really helped the students to get into the topic. I couldn’t stop smiling. =) I did it. I helped students learn.

Power of a Smile

 

BUZZZZ! The yelling of my alarm clock wakes me up at 6 o’clock in the morning. I just fell asleep, I thought to myself as I frantically reached for my phone to shut off the obnoxious noise. My eyes were heavy and my body was still half asleep. My uncombed hair was a great indicator that my sleep was a little rough last night, as it was jutting out in all directions due to the rolling around I was doing in attempt to get comfortable. The million things on my mind must have had something to do with my struggle to relax. It was definitely effecting my morning because it took me twice the amount of time to get ready than normal. The struggle to pick out an outfit was ridiculous. I couldn’t make a decision to save my life. Finally I grabbed some pants and a shirt and called it good. I jumped once I took a looked in the mirror. The bags under my eyes were uncoverable. It was time to head out the door. I had to go to class like this?! I was a complete mess. How was I going to get myself together before the students saw me? I tried thinking of solutions to this problem. Then it hit me! The one thing I forgot to do this morning was smile. I began to allow myself to smile and things instantly changed. My face lit up and my attitude had changed. My day was flipped from upside down to right side up just through the power of a smile.

you CAN do it

“I can’t do it!” she said, as she vigorously erased the sheet of paper that sat in front of her on top of her desk. Frustration began to invade her face as she tried to draw a Bengal Tiger for her science biome poster. She dropped her pencil in attempt to give up and looked up at me with her brown, irritated eyes. Then I noticed her face instantly shift to a helpless face. “Could you please draw it for me? She pleaded as she placed the pencil into my hand. She was so polite, and so hopeless I almost considered sitting down and drawing it for her because I was beginning to feel bad for her. She was upset, which was upsetting to me, and naturally I just wanted to make her happy again. Instead, I kneeled down by her side and simply told her that she could do it. We sat for a few minutes talking about strategies that might work to help her draw this tiger. “Draw it as you see it”, I told her. She decided to give this tiger one more shot. She began to carefully draw the tiger just as she had seen it in the book. She was still unsure about it, but I could tell that she was becoming more confident in her work. The second she finished the outline of her drawing she turned around and looked at me with a smile. I knew exactly what she was smiling about and this made my heart smile. Her tiger was beautiful and she was very proud of it. She couldn’t stop showing it to her classmates around her table. Today this girl learned the lesson on the joys of not giving up. It was quite a wonderful thing to experience.

the Kumquat experiance

It started with just another trip to Safeway to get a few things for lunches. While Tim and I strolled down the produce isle to look for some apples, there we saw them, sitting in a small black basket right behind a huge stack of fruit. They were so cute! (About the size of half of a thumb) What were these peculiar things? My first thought “baby oranges?” They looked just like an orange, but mini size. Tim and I were curious about these little guys, so we decided to check them out. As we approached the basket of unknowns, Tim immediately snatched one up to his puzzled face to smell and examine. Meanwhile, I was searching for the label to unravel the mystery of what these strange oranges were. To our surprise they weren’t oranges at all, but were called Kumquats? This was the first time I had ever seen or heard of anything like this. Kumquat? How strange? Tim was still looking at one, as he asked “how do you eat this thing?” We couldn’t fight our curiosity, so we decided to buy a few to try out. At this point, we weren’t even sure if they were edible. We had to do some research to figure out what these Kumquat things were used for. Of course, we found that they were edible, as a matter of fact; you just pop the whole kumquat into your mouth, peel and all. Supposedly the peel was what made this fruit sweet.

 

I still have yet to taste my kumquat, but the excitement builds inside me as I think about what it might taste like. Tim and I told each other we wouldn’t try it without each other. There is always something so exciting about trying something new. Sometimes it is actually kind of scary because what if you end up hating it? But then again, what if you love it? One should not let fear of trying something new stop them from trying it, because what if it turned out to be amazing?

The Beauty of a friend

The living room screams with silence as I sit on the black leather couch with my feet up on the handmade coffee colored coffee table. All one could hear in the presence of this room is the clicking of my keyboard and the turning of the pages in his book. He sits across the room on the love seat that matches the couch I am comfortably lounging on. We both silently work on our homework allowing the gears in our heads to turn and turn as we try to finish just one more assignment. 

 

We like to share. We share the living room, we share the table, and we share the silence. One thing we do not share is a conversation, but we share glances and we share smiles. We smile because we know that we are lucky to be able to share a friendship with one another. It makes me smile because we share this comfort level that even when the room is silent it is still comfortable. This is friendship. The importance of friendship has become clearer to me as I have walked through my journey. It is through friendship that helps us grow as people.

 

Through my friendships I have gained confidence in myself and I have gained a sense of belonging. It is healthy to have these strong bonds with another person. Looking at this outlook as a future teacher it really makes me think about my future students and how I will implement the importance of friendship in my classroom. I want my students to cherish their friends and learn how to be a good friend: because life is just so much better with those friends that have our backs! =)

A Piece of Today...

Its 3:30 and its time to get started. I put on my Nikes and I lace them up tight. I check the weather to gage what I should put on, and today it's pretty chilly, but not so cold that I need a hat to cover my ears. I throw a jacket on and run out the door of the EOU women's track and field locker room. The door slams behind me signaling that I am on my way.

My team awaits, standing on that magnificent surface that all sprinters have dreams about. Today is considered our "easy" day of training, but I always seem to question the easy part. Every Tuesday its the same thing. We all know the drill. Warm up for fifteen minutes, hurdle drills for seven minutes, workout for twenty minutes, strengthening circuit for ten minutes and stretching for another ten minutes. 

Before I knew it practice was over!

Where did the time go? I feel so accomplished and so refreshed. My stresses have been stripped away and my body feels good. I have come to realize that my relationship for this sport is very much Love /Hate. I think that this is the way running is for many. They go through the pain to feel that gain! My passion for running is growing as I sit here and reflect on my practice today. I am realizing that running is not just about running, it is way more than that. Who would have thought!