Busy (ish) Day

Okay it was a busy day, just not really from a teaching standpoint. Today we journaled, took about an hour and a half of ITBS tests, and I taught some religion. After that we had lunch, music, library and computer (I plan computer), and math. That’s it. As you can imagine, I didn’t do much. Except for computer… I did retest the kids on STAR. (It’s part of AR and our reading curriculum. Basically it tests for the students’ most appropriate reading level (on a grade level scale).) Anyway, I am SO excited because my kids have shown a lot of improvement in the past month. Ya know, the time that I’ve been teaching! People, I’m talking bringing kids up by half a grade level. THAT’S FANTASTIC.  It pretty much made my entire day… which is saying something because it’s been a long day. Hence why I’m posting now.

After school today, I attended my glorious student teaching class. You know, the one that meets for one hour a week and can totally suck your entire soul because you realize again that you are still a real college kid and you actually have to accomplish things (like papers- yuck) outside of your classroom. Anyway, today in class I realized that next Tuesday (7 days) EVERYTHING is due. All the papers, the electronic piece, the whole nine yards. Cool.

After class, I did not pass go, did not collect $500, but proceeded straight to track practice. At the dome. Sprint workout (1x500, 8x150). Immediately afterward, I (a BCU basketball insider and charger spirit extraordinaire) attended the girl’s basketball (we lost) and boy’s basketball (we WON!) games. Which leads me to the here and now where I sit on my couch with my sola amiga Monica, listening to Jason Aldean Pandora, and thinking about all the things that I should be doing while contemplating going to bed. I’m thinking one half hour of work, followed by some well-deserved and much needed sleep time.

Until tomorrow…

Peace, love, and sweet baby angel dreams,

Jayna

Confusion.

Have you ever seen the look of confusion on a second grader’s face? Have you ever seen 17 of those looks at once? I have (Mean girls reference anyone?)! Today, we started Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and my rockstar teacher also began teaching math again. Which means that she taught for most of today. Testing this morning was okay for the kids because really, I’m not sure that I’m comfortable (or even allowed to be) proctoring a standardized test and it wasn’t a lesson. But this afternoon, we came back from art and the kids were all looking back and forth between my teacher and myself. They couldn’t decide what was happening because I wasn’t in the front of the room ready to teach like normal. It was so stinking cute. And sad. I’m giving subjects back already for goodness sakes!

The first subject to go is math. Math first because we are just getting into money and time. While I’m comfortable teaching money and time, the requirements between our math book and our standards do not align. I would rather give math back now than chance wasting important learning time on a subject and standards that I’m not totally comfortable teaching. So there’s that. Over the next 12 days (that’s all I have left!). I will begin giving back science, religion, spelling, reading, and journaling (probably in that order). And then, (November 25^th) I will have my final student teacher evaluation meeting, my electronic portfolio (complete with written examples of my work, a video clip, a final reflection on student teaching, and my own (5 PAGE) philosophy of education) will be complete, and November 27^th will be my LAST DAY.

Craziness. I can remember the day that I sat at my desk (in the back corner of the room, behind a shelf haha) and realized, oh crap. I’m doing this all semester. The whole time. Every. Single. Day. (That was a scary thought.) And now looking back… it all went so fast. Wahh.

I will keep you updated on how I feel about all this being done with teaching stuff… although really, this is only the beginning. :) Kinda cool actually!

Now speaking of math, I totally forgot that I had taken a picture of this gem from last week's math test. The question was to answer with position (using an ordinal number). Here's the result. 

I almost wanted to give it to him. 

Until tomorrow…

Peace, love, and crafty answers, 

Jayna

Happy Saturday!

It's yet another special Saturday treat (in blog form). Mostly because I didn't blog yesterday. (I'M SORRY!) This blogging nonsense is awesome (for you and for me.) It's somewhat therapeutic and also informative... but it does take time. And time management has not always been my best quality. But since I love ya'll so much, I'm going to fill ya in on what happened yesterday!

School went well... yesterday was my last day of full teaching. Crazy! I didn't even realize it until last night. But next week the kids take the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) tests and so half of our time will be devoted to that. Plus my rockstar teacher is going to start teaching math again because we are studying money and time. Technically, the kids are not required to learn everything about money and time anymore (not sure why that seems like a good idea). But it's not in the standards and therefore there is not a lot of bonus time for it. I suppose we'll see how not (fully) teaching time or money works out when we have financially illiterate kids who also can't read an analog clock. Soooo yeah.

I can't remember anything specific about yesterday that was super awesome, and nothing was super bad either... except for one student. The one who (constantly) wants attention. He is a strange kid. Very immature, very controlling, pretty smart, but very annoying. He's been a tough one to deal with. Yesterday he was in trouble quite a few times for not participating and also for telling his partner during one activity that he was "clueless". I just about lost it when he said that. So my teacher and I gave this particular student an ultimatum. Because he is the one who choses whether or not to participate and what type of attitude he will have, HE is the one who will determine where he sits in class. If he makes good decisions to participate and pay attention then he gets to stay in his desk and work with the other students. If not, he (without warnings) will be sent to a desk in the back of the room that has a wooden divider/cubicle thing around the top so that he is isolated from the rest of the class. I know that it probably sounds crazy and harsh, but #1. it's not entirely my idea and #2. nothing else is working. There is no way that this student is going to "win" and continually be allowed to do whatever he pleases during class. I'll let ya know how that one goes too.

Now that I think about it, we did have one other not-so-good incident involving one of my students calling another student "a big stupid nerd and dumbo" or something like that. The student who was did the name calling (ironically enough) is always the one who claims to be bullied. It's ridiculous. I hate "bullying". The word, the concept, the whole nine yards. A lot of that stuff shouldn't happen anyway, so I am by no means trying to say that name calling is acceptable. But the amount of actions and words that are classified as "bullying" is getting to be ridiculous. Kids no longer have tough skin. They don't know how to handle other kids or people not liking them. Parents (by being very involved to "stop bullying") are not doing their kids a huge disservice. The reality is that world does not care about each individual kid. While the parents may have made their children the center of THEIR world, the rest world does not think that they are all special. The world will not cater to each child the way that their parents have, and if the kids are not prepared for the world, they will eventually fail. And (having no prior experience with the real world or failing) it will be devastating. Obviously this is not something that I can fix, but it is really something to think about. I hope in the future we will see more parents who have a realistic view of their children in the world. Keep your fingers crossed.

Well, now that i've done a significant amount of ranting, Let me break up the blog with a couple of my favorite journal entries from yesterday.

“Today is happe hour.” (TGIF. I wish it had been happy hour at school.)

“I want to be a placeman. I want to ride in a plaecar all day. Placemens because my favorite color is blue and there yonefrms are blue. I like placemen because they cach bad giys. Placemen are speshel because they cach the bad giys for us.” (This is what my student chose to write about. Out of all the things in the world, I think this is pretty neat.)

Well loyal blog readers, I'm off to enjoy my Saturday.

Until Monday (maybe)...

Peace, love, and country music,

Jayna

A Rough Day Indeed. Plus Bonus Friday Eve.

Hump day was not a fun time in second grade. At least yesterday afternoon wasn’t. After a fun morning of reading groups and snow spelling (writing our words on our desks in shaving cream), we struggled to follow rules in the afternoon. Two of my students got in trouble for kicking another girl on the playground even after she asked them to stop. Another student (who is constantly vying for attention of any kind) spent the entire math lesson twisting and turning and playing with his coin manipulatives. Instead of chastising him, I simply put his name on the board and talked to him during recess time. He, along with the other two students wrote notes home to their parents (only 1 cried). In their notes, they explained their behavior and why it was not acceptable. They then had to take their notes home, get them signed and return them today. Woof. I know it’s a rough consequence for a second grader, but they will only be as responsible as we treat them. Obviously, we have high standards for the kids.

Luckily today has been a better day. After yesterday’s afternoon shenanigans, I had track practice, lifting, and Boyfriend came to visit. We went to cheer on BCVB in their last regular season game, and then came home and just did nothing. It was glorious actually, but the blog life was one of the last things on my mind. Oops.

On to today (Thursday, November 7^th as my students would write it).

Today was a really fun day for me because my teacher spent most all of the day out of the room. I know (Hey Miss Specht! Know is one of our spelling words!) that I have been teaching everything for 5 weeks now, but today was the first day that I was really by myself. No other teacher ladies. Just Miss Specht (the adult?) and seventeen little cherubs. Here’s the best news… No one died, and we all learned things :). I realize that died sounds a little dramatic, but I couldn’t use cried because I did have a crier today. He was upset that I kept him in for laying his head on his desk (literally) all afternoon. Whatever. Do the crime, do the time (your recess is MINE). Kind of catchy isn’t it? That gives me an idea for a blog segment… rhymes heard ‘round the classroom. Enjoy!

“You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”

“Dot, dot, not a lot.” (For when we glue things.)

“Qué pasa calabaza? Nada, nada limónada.”

Capisce? Capisce! (That’s how I ask my kids if they understand or not. It’s hilarious.)

We say a whole lot of other cutsie sing songy things but I can’t remember what they are now. Ask me sometime!

And now, an excerpt from a second grader’s journal. The prompt was to write about what it would be like if they could build their own library. Responses were hilarious, but I only had time to write down one. (That’s what being an actual busy teacher lady and having to leave right after school (for track practice) will do to you.)

“My library would have twenty-nine flors of books. I will be strong. I will build a library so kibs can build stamina. love books I say.”

:) Those cuties always make me smile. On that note, I’m off to the library to finish my final reflection on student teaching. Did you catch that? Final Reflection. GAH! Wish me luck!

Until tomorrow… (ish)

Peace, love, and inconsistent blogging,

Jayna

Count Yo' Blessings.

Today was the first snow of the year. That’s right, we’ve got that icky sticky white stuff a-swirlin’ and a-flyin’ around the sky along with a mixture of rain today… which means that my kids are a little screwy. Teachers swear that the kids are like little barometers. If the weather is about to change, then their behavior will change too. It’s crazy how accurate they can be!

School today flew by. It seems like each day goes faster and faster. It’s crazy that I’m almost done student teaching, but it’s also really nice. I’m ready for a break and I’m glad that the days aren’t dragging on. Dragging days= dragging kids= crabby teachers, so it’s a great thing that teaching is going so quickly.

Know what else is great? Reading 2^nd grade journal entries. I am incredibly proud of how well the kids are writing and (today in particularly). Today my teacher even commented that she had read a few of the journals and SHE (after 25 years of teaching 2^nd grade) was impressed by how I had pushed the students to write so well. So yes, I’m very proud :) Even I didn’t know I could do that for my students. Check out what they wrote today. The prompt was to write about 2 things that they are thankful for and why…

“I am thankful for me and my famly. I am thankful for food. I am thankful for all theos thigs. If we did not have food we would diye. If we did not have a famly we would be lowle.” (You are right, we would be very lonely. I didn’t realize my kids would express that feeling through writing.)

“I am thankful for my famaly. I am thankful for Jesus. Becase thay love me. Becaue he is with us every day.” (He was so proud of writing this that he ran up to show me right away.)

“We are thankful for food. because we would stav to dath and we would not be here.” (Good thinking señor. Truth.)

“I am thankful for God. Because he made me and my friends. I am thankful for my Parents. They mean so much to me.” (Okay, I almost teared up when I read this. What a sweetie.)

“I am thankful for the food because we stay alive. I am thankful for the earth because it has oxgen around it. I am thankful for God because he made all of the plants. I am thankful for God because he made all of us.” (Pure genius.)

“I am thankful for christmas. Because Jesus rose from the dead. I am thankful for livying. Because I have fun.” (So close, and right idea!)

“… I’m thankful for a lot of things but the most thing I’m thankful for is Jesus died on the cross for us.” (She’s 8 years old and knows and accepts Christ’s death for us more openly than most people I know.)

“The first thing I am thankful for is my famliy. Because family’s are pepele that God gave you. Family’s are all children of God and they are loyal brother’s and sister’s to you. Family’s are peple who will help you along the way and they will teach you to walk in the light of God. When you you are just a yung little kid they will thech you prayers. The next thining is Jesus. Because God ast Mary to bring his son into the world. If Jesus was’n’t born there would be to much harm and fitis in the world.” (People, I cannot make this stuff up.)

“I am thankful for water. Because we can swim in it. And plants Because we get food from plants. And plants give air to us.” (Someone has been paying attention in our science lessons!)

“I am thankful for my famliy. And I am thankful for my home. Because they are really special to me. And because I wouldint have all these things if it wasint for God.” (I would also like to thank the academy…. Such a sweetheart.)

“I am thankful for my home. Becouse I get to sleep. I am thankful for food. So I am not hungry.” (Ladies and gentlemen… Breakfast Boy.)

Now if that doesn’t melt your heart, I’m not sure what will. Truly it reminds me of how we are to be child-like in our faith, full of love and wonder and trust in God. It gets so much harder to do when you’re experienced in the world, but hanging around little children can really humble you… at least it humbles me.

And now, I would like to add what I am thankful for today and why.

Today I am especially thankful for my grandpa on his 74^th birthday. I’m so thankful for him for being a wonderful role model to his children and grandchildren and to the thousands of college kids that he has influenced over the years. My grandpa is filled with patience and love and I aspire to be like him (although I will probably never be as calm) someday. Thanks grandpa (I know you’re reading this) for being wonderful. Happy Birthday!

And thanks to all of my other family members too…. My grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, cousins, and all of the extended family. I would not be half the person that I am without your influences. You. Guys. ROCK. :) and I really, truly, with all of my heart, mean that.

These people are the best. Thanks for always being my #1 (and 2, 3, and 4) fans!

Okay, enough of being sappy and sentimental for tonight. Let’s break it up with our quote of the day from math class!

Me, “How much is a fifty-cent piece worth?”

Student,“$1!”

So. Close. :)

And with that, I’m off to do homework for the night. Until tomorrow…

Peace, love, and a month of thankfulness,

Jayna

Routine

Is it weird to say that I love the routine of elementary school? Even though school is madness about 67% of the time, the other 33% of the time totally keeps me sane. I love having a routine for the kids and it (surprisingly) makes the days and weeks go by much faster.

Speaking of those days and weeks going by…. I only have 17 days left of student teaching. HOW CRAZY IS THAT? And a better question… WHAT THE HECK AM I GOING TO DO WITH MY LIFE AFTER THAT? Obviously, I will spend one more semester taking classes and finishing up my degree. In the spring I will graduate with a major in elementary education, a minor in Spanish, and endorsements in reading and coaching. Then I have to be a big kid, like a real grown up teacher lady. With like a job. And probably an apartment and stuff. I’m not sure that I’m ready for that. How will I decide where to go? It’s been insane thinking about the preceeding questions and talking them over with my family and college friends. In a few more months we will all go off our separate ways. There will be no more walking down the hall or up a couple flights of stairs to visit everyone. There’s talk of North Carolina, California, Pensylvania, Colorado and all sorts of places. I’M NOT READY FOR THIS. But I suppose that I have a few months to prepare. Starting by setting my schedule for spring (my final) semester (tomorrow morning at 7… bleh).

Adding to the fact that I’m (willingly or unwillingly) becoming a big girl (adult?) is the fact that I passed the second part of my Praxis II test! Which means that yes, I am smarter than a 6^th grader (questionable in math though…) and that I am one step closer to licensure in the state of Iowa. Unfortunately, I am still waiting on the results of the first part of the test (PLT). It should be any day now. CRIPES.

Ps….

Bahahahaha. Funny every time. 

Bonus things.

I am SO ready to be just a college student again. I love teaching, I really, really do, but it has been INSANE trying to be an awesome teacher lady, college student, college athlete, education club officer, roommate, girlfriend, sister, daughter, etc…. and trying to do them all super well. Mostly it results in little to no sleep (pretty normal for those of you who know me). Also totally exhausting. Then again, I have to keep reminding myself that I don’t get to do this forever. This is my last year of doing all of the things. My last year. Yes, after this I will more than likely be a busy teacher lady and coach and many more things, but it will never be the same as it is right now. (Sorry guys, apparently I’m feeling extremely sentimental right now.)

But really, I was thinking about it all earlier. This will likely be the last year that I live in Sioux City. Not that I love Sioux City, but it’s been my home for 4 years. BCU has been wonderful to me, and I’ve never been more glad that I came. (Shoutout to 18-year-old-super-unsure- and-indecisive Jayna who made one of the best (and scariest) decisions to come here. Well done.)

As Grace would say, “MEEEEMORRRIIESSSS!”

And on that note, here are some photos from memories made this past week… enjoy :)

 My sister, the cheerleader. And of course, my beautiful momma. 

My sister, the dingus. Gosh I love that little nugget.

 The pre-picture...

The picture. Love these girls. 

 I love the friends that might as well be family. I've been blessed with a lot of them....

See what I mean? 

Until tomorrow...

Peace, love, and sappy reminiscing, 

Jayna

PS- My class is STILL waiting on our pen pal letters from Nevada. Darn USPS.

But Really, The Worst Blogger Ever

… okay, I know I’m really not the worst blogger ever, but I’ve been pretty stinking bad this week. It has been a very crazy, busy week. Track practices have finally picked up which is very exciting, but also highly inconvenient. Our practice time is usually at 3:30 or 4:15. I can’t leave school until 3:45 and I usually need to stay behind so that I can be prepared and planned out for upcoming lessons. I’ve also been attempting to have a social life (ehhh), and have been an avid Charger cheerleader in the final matches of volleyball season and for upcoming wrestling season. (I can’t wait for wrestling!!) (And basketball too :))

Okay, anyway I really have been making an effort the past few days to get the blog up. Here’s the proof…. The drafts of Wednesday and Thursday’s blogs. I had even started on today’s already!

Wednesday:

Our journal prompt today was to write about your favorite book. Here are blurbs from two of my favorite writers, Breakfast Boy and The Ranter.

“My favorite boob is Green Eggs an Ham. It is funy. I wont to eat Greer eggs. Sam I am is funy!”

“My favorite book is Click Clack moo Cows that tpye. I dont know how cows know how too spell and tpye? It was funny when they wrote a letter too farmer brown. Saying were closed no milk too day and it said to eggs too.”

Thursday:

HAPPY WEEN!

“Halloween is the funest holiday because you get to where costume’s and you get candy!”

My kids are so stinking sugared up. Good thing we didn’t plan on learning much today!

Friday:

Apos’trophe’s

This week we have been learning about apostrophes. Apostrophes are a hard concept for second graders so we have spent a lot of time talking about ownership, singular words and plural words. (We have not addressed contractions yet.) The kids are catching on, but there has also been a hilarious amount of apostrophe abuse in our journals.

Despite how crazy these kids can make me…. I do love second grade.

Here’s what else happened today…

We had to do the mass today for All Saint’s Day. The kids did an awesome job of reading and singing and participating, but especially reading. There were some hard words like Solemnity, extraordinary, and surprisingly enough Lamb and pure were tricky for them to spit out. But they practiced and made me very proud today :)

The cutest faithful journal ever…

“I contit wate for November 1^st it is all saints day we have mass saints day is very fun. Some days’ are fun like Halloween and crismis so is sanse day to! Saints day is all abawt all the saints that follow Gods 3 cmandmits. Saints are holle pepolle in the world and they blev in God.”

Also, one of my students (Breakfast Boy) has been journaling about a pet lizard that he got for his birthday. Today, Breakfast Boy (who sits in the front row) quietly gets my attention and says, “Miss Specht, I have to tell you something.” Then he proceeds to tell me, “We found out that my lizard’s not a boy; it’s a girl.” I asked how he found out and he replied, “She had babies.” So now instead of one birthday lizard, my Breakfast Boy has 7. When I asked, he said that they were keeping them for now and that he changed the lizard’s name to Mrs. Leatherhead.

It’s so hard not to laugh out loud sometimes. It was impossible when he told me that the new name was Mrs. Leatherhead.

So! I have exciting news! Next week is my last full week! Of teaching absolutely everything! So that we be really cool! Also kind of sad. It’s crazy how fast this semester has gone by!

Speaking of almost being done, I am almost (almost) done with all of my Praxis testing. I take the last part of the test tomorrow morning at 8. Say a prayer for me please!

Until Monday,

Peace, love, and surprise sex changes,

Jayna