Focusing on the small victories!

This week was pretty good. A mix of good and bad days, but more good. I finally have the hang of things and I know my kids pretty well. They all respond differently to management, so I have learned what works and doesn't work for each student.

My toughest student has been responding really well to me lately and he has even participated in a lot of my lessons! The other day he finished 2 whole assignments and took a test; I couldn't believe it!

Subtraction with regrouping (when you have to borrow) is really tough for the students. So last week and this week I really worked on it with them. They still need to work on it, but they are getting better. A few of the higher students who can subtract have been working on multiplication too. For some reason they all really love multiplication, so they have been excited about that.

Friday the students took a spelling test and everyone but 3 students got 100%! When I came only one student got every word correct! Nice! Their spelling is atrocious, so they really need to work on it. I was happy to see so many succeed and I could see that they were proud of themselves as well.

The weather is pretty nice here most of the time. It never snows, but rains occasionally. The wind chill is what really gets to you. It is piercing. However, most days it is in the 40's making it feel like a spring day when the sun is shinning and the wind isn't blowing. We have been lucky with good weather on the weekends which makes it possible to explore a little more. Last weekend we went to the Air and Space museum and this weekend we are planning to go to the Museum of Natural History; after watching Night at the Museum of course. :) I am really excited, because we are planning to take a few students on field trips and one will be at the Air and Space museum and another at the Museum of Natural History. My students rarely leave their neighborhood, so I think it will be very beneficial to them. It is so sad that they live 4 blocks away from all of the museums and yet very few have gone to a single one. I can't wait to take them!

Well I have heard it has been like Alaska there in Utah, so sorry about that. I strangely miss the snow, but I am sure being there for a week would cure that. Well I miss you guys and I hope all is well! Hugs and Kisses!

And a special kiss to the little man who warmed so many hearts: Jacob Travis Meyerson. You are loved and missed by many.

"Oh my gosh" (say it with attitude)

Today marks one month teaching here in DC! I really can't believe it has been a whole month. It went by so slow at first and sometimes it still does, but when I think it has been a month already it seems faster. I am definitely getting attached to my students out here. They can all be very sweet at times and they just love attention. They all hug me like 5 times a day.

Well today was not so great. My teacher didn't show up to school and so I was alone all day. The kids are a lot harder to manage when she is gone. They really try to test me. I actually felt more in control then I have before, but it was still really tough. For 45 minutes after lunch I was trying to get the kids to sit in their seats quietly for a few minutes to calm down. 45 minutes! Plus, my supervisor came to observe and so that made me feel more stressed. The worst part of the day was when my hardest student tried to tackle me and finally hit me in order to get into the classroom. When he came back from recess I could tell he was too hyper and needed to go somewhere else. Plus I was told he wouldn't even be in class, but he ended up in class about 1/2 of the day. Anyways, when he came back from lunch I asked him to go talk to the councilor. However, he didn't want to go. I told him he could not come into the classroom until he went to see the councilor and this is when the shoving and hitting started. It wasn't hard or anything, but I had to call security to come get him. Good times. The worst thing about that is that it gets all the other kids more hyper. So, it was a tough day, but the good news is I made it through! I am learning...

I hope everyone has a good weekend! Oh... in reference to my title...my kids say that like 3 times a day each when they don't want to do something. Arg!!! The attitude kills me! Gotta love them though. :)

Pictures!!!

I finally took some pictures of my kids so here you go!
In case you didn't know...you can click
on the picture to make it bigger.


Ah they seem like such angels...


Doesn't that girls smile just make you want to
hug her? She is so cute, but she is very chatty
and can have some serious attitude. :)








Can have the most attitude of anyone I have
ever met. She tests me, but I love her!




They were showing me their pictures they drew.


The boy it the back sits by himself right next
to my mentor teacher. He is a tough one.

The week finished off with a bang! My supervisor came on Thursday to do her first formal observation and it went really well. The kids did a really good job and the lesson ran smoothly.

I started to feel sick Thursday afternoon and it got worse by Friday. I have been relaxing for the most part this weekend, but I still don't feel great. Teaching is much more difficult when you don't feel very good. Hopefully I will get better quick!

Here is a video. We were having a
party, because they had behaved so well. They
were showing me their dance they learned in music.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Bad News: Lost my wallet on the metro. Good news: There are good people in the world. Better news: I can totally teach these kids!!!

Yes somehow I managed to lose my wallet on the metro Friday night. I was coming home from the temple and when I went to exit the metro I couldn’t find my wallet. However, a woman found it and returned it, untouched, to the metro lost and found. I feel so lucky! The DC temple is gorgeous. I wish I would have taken a picture, but it was a really neat experience. I realized that the only other time I have been to a temple outside of Utah was when I was like 12. So, it was a different experience out here in DC. We had to get a time slot and then we were treated like princesses, because we were the only ones there.

So, today was amazing!!! It was my first day teaching the entire day by myself. I planned every second of the whole day. I was very nervous and I was sure that I had forgotten something important. But from the moment the students walked into the classroom I was determined to make it a good day. I decided I was going to really try and not yell at them and I was going to keep them engaged and learning. I wanted to be sure to give out a lot of compliments and positive reinforcement and it worked like at charm! The kids were the best they have ever been; even my teacher couldn’t believe it. They followed instructions, sat quietly on the carpet (mostly…kids will be kids), participated, and were genuinely trying their best. The entire atmosphere of the classroom changed; it was an unbelievable feeling. It really just solidified my belief that keeping students engaged, showing them you care, and giving them positive reinforcement really works. I can’t even describe to you how good it felt to see my students working hard and trying their best. There are just no words… I am exhausted and most of the time I am sure I won’t have enough time for everything I need to do, yet at the end of the day I feel like I a million bucks. Because I know that at least I helped one student become a little better or learn a little bit more, even if it was that they just realized that someone cared about them. Whoa there is no better profession for me!!! And don’t worry…I am not getting my hopes up too much. I don’t expect everyday to be so wonderful, but you must savor these days as a teacher.

I have a few funny stories:

1. The other day we were waiting for the metro later at night. On the other platform a train came to a stop, but it was not for passengers and the lights were completely turned off. Then on the last car of the train the doors opened and a metro officer came out with a SHOTGUN, or at least that is what it looked like. She just stood there until the train left. We all were sure she was just going to open fire on us. It was quite hysterical.

2.This is one of the stories to show how annoying it can be not to have a car…So, one of my roommates organized a ride to church with some guys in our apartment complex. Jodi and I were running a few minutes behind, as usual, so we told the rest of the apartment to go and we would catch up. They told us to go to the boys apartment. When we got there no one answered the door, so we went to the lobby hoping they would be there. We waited at the lobby trying to get a hold of people, but we couldn’t get a hold of anyone. Finally at 12:50 we gave up and went back to our apartment. Turns out we just didn’t knock hard enough, because the boys were just waiting for us at their apartment. Missing church, because we didn’t have a way to get there was a new experience. J

In other news:

This weekend we went to the Holocaust museum. It was very moving. It was emotionally draining and I don’t plan on going again anytime soon, but it is a very neat experience.

Love you all!

My crazy life

Another week has come and gone. I seriously feel like I have been here for a whole lot longer than 2 ½ weeks. This past week went pretty well. I had a few bad days in the beginning of the week. My teacher had to go to a workshop Tuesday morning, so I was all by myself. That isn’t supposed to happen, but it has happened to half of us already. It seems subs are hard to get around here, or the school just doesn’t want to get one. J Anyways, the kids are 10 times more out of control when the teacher is gone, so that wasn’t the easiest day. But I did make it through!

The end of the week went a lot better. I implemented a rewards system in which the students get a sticker at the end of the day if they receive enough “smile faces”. It has worked for a lot of the kids, so that is great! I also really started teaching a lot on Thursday and Friday. I planned math and some writing stuff. If the kids are engaged they really respond better, so that was good to see. I even had them in groups and they weren’t killing each other! I am excited to continue with math and writing while taking on more subjects throughout the day. I will probably be teaching all day next week.

This weekend was a 3-day weekend, so that was really nice. Mostly we just worked on planning and stuff. We have what is called a teacher work sample (TWS) that decides if we pass/fail student teaching. You must plan a unit, teach it, have an assessment, and then reflect. It is pretty intense and we all just want to get it done, so then we can relax a little more. We did get a chance to go up the Washington Monument. The views are awesome! You will probably need to check out Jodi’s blog for pictures of the view.

And a new week already begins…ah the adventures that lie ahead. Love you all!

Part of the group that went up the monument.