Phew!

3 weeks are down and I can't believe it!!
The best news is that today we finally got Internet at our house and it makes life so much easier! And more updates for you all :)

It has been, obviously, a crazy last few weeks. The kids have had a bunch of days off for holidays and grading days. Here are some bulletpoints of my last few weeks!

• I gave my pre-assessment for place value, for the main unit I'm teaching. On Wednesday my unit officially starts.
• I talked with my CT today and clarified what parts I would officially be taking over and I wanted to be the head honcho, or if I still wanted to kind of partner teach with her, or have her assist me sometimes. Starting Wednesday (no school Monday, class on Tuesdays) I'll be taking over the morning routine with breakfast, calendar, large reading time, leading my reading small group(s), the intermediate ELD group (about 8 Spanish speakers, a few English speakers), and math time.
• I had to deal with some "mean girl" conflict the other day. One of my ELL girls, she's pretty shy and quiet, always comes up to me telling who picked on her and what they said. It's not really my favorite but I feel confident doing it now. I also had to have a talk with two fourth-ish grade boys in the gym when they were lined up for the buses, when one of them flipped the other off. Geez!
• One day I was helping a kid with math and a ton of them were swarming around me needing help. I made them go sit down, and one girl, who's always clinging on to me, says "I think everyone's going to you because you're the prettiest girl in the room." Ha!
• One time a few days ago it was really difficult trying to get everyone's attention and
• Most every day I ask myself if I can quit......it's so overwhelming at most of the times! I hate waking up early...planning things in advance...writing the dang work sample...talking with so many people every day....but I think it will be worth it when I have my own classroom! :)
• Went to the school today to help with grading. Got to enter a bunch of grades into the system. Was kinda fun! :)
• The other day their Spanish teacher pulled me out of the class to watch her kids (my other half) and so I started talking in Spanish to them. Many of them looked shocked, and were whispering and laughing, it was pretty funny. They were saying "Djou espeak Espanish?" and "I didn't know you could speak Spanish!" Haha.
• Fancy pants are a lot comfier than jeans....just sayin'.
• The other, English-only first grade teacher is really encouraging to me, and I found out yesterday she is a Christian. She pulled me into the hall yesterday after school was out and reminded me not to internalize everything when you're having a bad day, to use the other teachers for sounding boards. And that you'll have bad days, but 80% of them are good. This was right after I had my worst day!
• I can't wait to start getting into the fun part of teaching! Trying to focus on the joy of what I am doing instead of all the tedious work.
• My Spanish convo class continues to be fun, last week when I told them it was time to go they all wanted to stay to play one more round of the game! Haha..
• I am getting my old laptop back tomorrow, so I have a backup if mine collapses again!

Well, I'm going to eat some of my chocolate chip cookies now, and do some more work, so ta ta for now!
S

Week and a half down, still alive.....

Hello all,
I'm sure you've already visited this site a couple hundred times to check out my invigorating teaching tales, so here ya go. ;-)
There's really too much to write it all out, but I"ll cover the basics with some nice bullet points.
What do I do?

• I have started taking over the large group interactive reading/phonics time, I'm still leading my small reading group, and have begun taking over the small (well 13ish kids) ELD (English language development) group. The teaching part, ironically, is the easiest and funnest part of the whole thing. Figuring out my hours with my ESOL internship, figuring out my 10 lesson plans for my unit, planning for observations, constantly assessing and thinking about objectives are NOT my favorite parts :)
• There are now only 56 kids total. Four left recently. 
• Most kids can say Ms. Omundson now...or just Ms. O
• I help with 2nd and 5th graders with my ELD supervisors once to twice a week now....for my ESOL hours. 
• For those that don't know: I have my part time student teaching (160 hours) and my ESOL internship (90 hours). It's tricky because since I have so many ELLs in my classes (29 total), a lot of my ESOL hours/lessons can count for part time...but since my CT (cooperating teacher) isn't ESOL certified, I have the two ELD teachers who I work with to get additional specialized instruction/experience
• I will probably have my first observation next week....none of us have met her yet....oh and my CT and I still haven't talked about WHAT or WHEN I am going to teach! Except I think the easiest thing for me to do will be math, because there isn't much discrepancy between the classes in that area (I would have to teach Giraffes one week, Elephants the next) whereas in reading, the Elephants are much stronger.
• Last Friday I went on a field trip with the kids....it was just Giraffes and Elephants, my two classes...to the Corvallis hospital. It was fun sitting and getting to talk with some of the girls more. I had a conversation with one girl on the way back, when she was telling me about something another student did. I was eventually telling her how everyone makes mistakes, and no one's perfect...and she responds, "Uh huh! YOU'RE perfect!" Needless to say she was shocked when I told her I wasn't perfect. I haven't been inside my 1st grade head for a long time! :)
• Teacher potlucks are the best....just sayin'.
• I had to get out my teacher glare for the first time today. It worked.
• I was explaining to the Giraffes today before reading time how Mrs. F wasn't in the room because I was starting to teach more, because I am learning how to be a teacher, etc. and a bunch of kids are like "yayyy!" haha. But I think a few are still uncertain of what's going on.
• I definitely feel like I have more authority since I've been teaching more....
• I was working on math with one girl who's really girly and cute and another boy comes up, a boy who has diabetes and a little bit of ADHD and is super funny and cute. He has a book (I think it's a Brown Bear, Brown Bear one) and is like "Hey Ms. Omundson guess what did you know this book is also a song? Can I read it to you? Actually can I sing it to you right now?" Haha! (this is the same who who asked me around October if I could come over to his house sometime) I told him I couldn't at the moment but would love to later and the girl is smiling and says, "It's kind of like you were going on a date"....lol!
• Having lots of dreams about the kids, of course! 
• They always weigh heavy on my heart especially after I leave, knowing they're going to the Boys and Girls club or to homes that many of them don't enjoy going to. A lot of crazy stuff they tell me.
• I pretty much know where each of the 56 kids are at in terms of reading, writing and math....and I'm starting to really enjoy walking around seeing what they can do, grading their tests and watching them improve. I was a little afraid when I started in October because so many of them were at super low-levels, but they have all improved, a lot of them with great gains!
• I am hoping I can incorporate more fun activities/art in the classroom....the extent of their art is coloring with crayons and colored pencils! I can easily see how hard it is in the tight schedule and with the many kids....but I think it is possible! I just feel bad with all the worksheets they have to do everyday....I think the curriculum can be a lot more creative. 
• I was walking to pick up the kids from P.E. one day and a 5th grade boy says "Hey Ms. O" to me in the hall. At first I was like, how does he know my name? Then I realized I helped teach ELD in a 5th grade room.
• I still think 2nd grade is ideal, especially after working in there last week.
• I never used to think I had strong opinions about anything (education philosophy wise) but being in my room makes me realize what I believe is important to teaching and the classroom (that's a whole 'nother story!)
• Cheesy but true: Showing students you care about them dramatically affects their behavior and willingness to try in the classroom. 
• The kids made these mice last week (for "If You Take a Mouse to School") and a girl gave me hers at the end of the day. "Don't you want to keep it, or show it to your mom or dad?" "No. And I don't have a dad."  Duhhh. Why did I say that. 
• On another note, I'm also teaching the college Spanish convo class on Wednesday nights. I hate to say this, but I enjoy this as much as (if not more) than elementary! I think it's just because I have my own students and I can do whatever I want. :) There were 6 last week, there were 10 tonight. Time goes really quickly, we've been doing lots of fun things, at least I hope so, but at least they are laughing a lot. And they usually linger after class for about 5 minutes! I'm no expert in Spanish, but I'm relieved that I've been able to answer all their Spanish questions and I enjoy pretending to be a Spanish teacher :)
• My computer screen crashed the night before two big assignments were due. I still have to get it fixed, I am borrowing a library laptop until tomorrow. Luckily they got some docs off my hard drive and sent a little late. 
• We still don't have WiFi at my house which is frustrating and it will be soo nice when we get it! 

Well, sorry to bore you to tears, I had better get going and get some work done, but thanks for checkin' in! Hopefully more exciting news for ya next time! :)
S

Four

Well, people, 4 days left.
Feeling incredibly stressed thinking about all the work that the rest of this year entails,
however also extremely excited! I've missed the kids and I think our connections and everything else will improve now that I will be more of an authority figure to them.
I don't think I've felt more inadequate for anything in my life, and no matter how much encouragement I receive, I know it's going to be probably the most challenging thing I've ever done, and I will make lots of mistakes. But that's part of everything you start out doing, right? Even if it's your passion.
Even though I'm going to be crazy busy, I'm going make a point to blog once a week, probs on the weekends, about the week...stories, things I've learned, etc...for my sake too!
It's just crazy that for 18 years I have been dreaming about this...and now it's actually happening. Feels pretty surreal but also long overdue.
Please be praying for me, and I will update after my first week next week! :)
Ms. O