Hello again blogger world! I missed you! Hopefully ya’ll had
a fabulous Labor Day… it’s debatably my new favorite holiday. Believe it or
not, I actually had a relaxing weekend. I spent some good time at school and
lots of time at home with my momma (on a rollerblading/biking adventure), with
my sistahs, and my daddy. It was nice to do nothing! Now back to the real
world…
And the real world is TIRED. Try as I may, college always gets the best of me when it
comes to bedtime. For example, last night I planned to drive back to school, do
a little lesson planning, and go to bed. But in reality I drove back to school,
chatted with my roommate and her boyfriend (so spicy!), went to Glofest (a
gathering of BCUers filled with music, food, glow sticks, and yard games), and
stayed late up telling stories and shooting the breeze with my friends. Gahh. I
will keep attempting to sleep more… but until then, Starbucks vanilla
doubleshot energy drinks will be my best friend. YUM.
I’m going to need that caffeine to figure out what the heck
I’m doing with my teaching! The subject I’m picking up this week is… drum-roll
please… social studies! Social studies is stressing me out. It’s a tricky
subject really, especially in 2nd grade. Because truthfully, the school
system and state standards do not really care about social studies. Insert
surprised gasps here! But it’s true. The standards for social studies are vague
and time allotted for teaching social studies is sparse (because all of our
time- and I do mean ALL of it) is spent stressing reading and math. While
reading and math are vitally important subjects, the time spent in reading
groups and doing math drills has pushed social studies and science almost
completely out of the curriculum. While students do learn a lot about social
studies in the lower elementary grades by interacting with each other, I do
think that there should be more time spent teaching social studies… but then it
becomes a question of WHAT to teach. 2nd grade spends a lot of time
learning about their community, so I’m hoping to teach this week about
community helpers. I’m just hoping that through late night brainstorming and
excessive amounts of caffeine, I’ll have some sort of epiphany or revelation
for a kick butt lesson plan.
Speaking of kick butt lesson plans, I’m currently working on
one to impress my student teaching advisor. She is coming to observe me during
my religion lesson on Thursday. That being said, this lesson plan has to be
even more bright, shiny, and sparkly than most. It also has to be written down…
correctly… and detailed… in the BCU lesson plan format. Gahhhhhh. That stinking
thing sucks the life outta me every time. Also in the works is a fun Fiesta
Friday activity on the Spanish days of the week and based around a listening
activity. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep my space cadets LISTENING and
involved!! Time to get planning!
Finally, to answer my Dad’s question, “What funny happened
at school today?”
Today, one of my kids brought in his WWE wrestler dolls for
show and tell. He proceeded to tell the class all about the Smackdown, John
Cena, the Undertaker, and how each of them aren’t reeeeaallly wrestlers, just
acting, but they are all pretty good. Also, he is a wrestler, but a real one.
So. Stinking. Cute.
Until next time…
Peace, love, and a slow death by lesson planning,
Jayna
