I have been taking a break since March from my blog to focus on school work and I must say that I have actually missed it. When my professor first mentioned doing a blog I actually groaned. I must say that I actually did not groan as loud as when she told me I would have to use a Mac in her class. For those of you who are Mac users I know this may sound foreign, but I am truly a PC. Bring on the brown suit and glasses!! I can not help myself. I am married to an IT Network Administrator who also groaned when I told him I would be using a Mac in that particular class. Now here it is July of 2009 and I have done two things somewhat successfully: I started a blog and I figured out how to at least turn on a Mac and save a document on it. Now onto the news and musings that you may have missed since I last wrote in March!
I am in the teacher certification program at The University of Washington and since I last wrote many teachers have been laid off in our state. The state of Washington, like so many other state in the union, are simply broke. Within our state’s government, teachers took the largest hit. In a class last quarter at the UW (please pronounce u-dub or we will get slightly offended), we even had a few teachers sit apprehensively and angrily as they waited for lay-off notices in their districts to be handed out. I sat in that class, with another member of my cohort, wondering if there will even be jobs for us when we graduate next Spring. The answer: probably not. Fear struck my heart. I DO NOT want to go back to the medical field. What do I do?
The answer: you can not deny a calling in your life and you need to go forward. So here it is, Summer, and I am stuck in class that I really could live without and a professor who made us stand on one foot because one of us snickered in the middle of class. Really?! Yes, really! However, one bad apple does not ruin the whole bunch! (Anyone know where that saying comes from?) I have learned so much form my previous professors and look forward to seeing some of them again in the Fall! Not to mention I spend time with some really great people who are in my cohort. As an aside: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!!
September Experience starts soon and here is the skinny on my assignment. I have been paired with Cindy Jourdan who has been teaching for nine years and often times has me in stitches. She is already someone I know I will know for the rest of my life and look to for help as I start my own classroom. Fifth graders!!! Can I tell you how relieved I was to find that out? I was scared I was going to end up in a kindergarten classroom.
I am in the teacher certification program at The University of Washington and since I last wrote many teachers have been laid off in our state. The state of Washington, like so many other state in the union, are simply broke. Within our state’s government, teachers took the largest hit. In a class last quarter at the UW (please pronounce u-dub or we will get slightly offended), we even had a few teachers sit apprehensively and angrily as they waited for lay-off notices in their districts to be handed out. I sat in that class, with another member of my cohort, wondering if there will even be jobs for us when we graduate next Spring. The answer: probably not. Fear struck my heart. I DO NOT want to go back to the medical field. What do I do?
The answer: you can not deny a calling in your life and you need to go forward. So here it is, Summer, and I am stuck in class that I really could live without and a professor who made us stand on one foot because one of us snickered in the middle of class. Really?! Yes, really! However, one bad apple does not ruin the whole bunch! (Anyone know where that saying comes from?) I have learned so much form my previous professors and look forward to seeing some of them again in the Fall! Not to mention I spend time with some really great people who are in my cohort. As an aside: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!!
September Experience starts soon and here is the skinny on my assignment. I have been paired with Cindy Jourdan who has been teaching for nine years and often times has me in stitches. She is already someone I know I will know for the rest of my life and look to for help as I start my own classroom. Fifth graders!!! Can I tell you how relieved I was to find that out? I was scared I was going to end up in a kindergarten classroom.
They frighten me. The kindergarteners do. With their little backpacks, inability to communicate fully, snotty noses, and need to be helped in the potty. Frightening. For those of you who take this challenge on you have my respect. Fifth graders, as I found out the last few weeks of school, present their own challenges but I must say Cindy Jourdan is a pro and she has her students respect. Now that is something to write about, but more on that in future blogs. I will be at Phantom Lake Elementary located in Bellevue, Washington. The school was rebuilt in 2004 and is beautiful. The downside: it takes almost an hour to get there in traffic. The upside: innovative programs, a school that believes in the whole student approach, seniors who help out in the classrooms, and a master teacher who believes in getting there BEFORE traffic begins. A woman after my own heart! Now if only I can surmise whether or not she appreciates chocolate croissants lightly dusted with powdered sugar. We will see!!
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