Birthday Weekend Fun!

I had an awesome birthday! School was fun and my kids were really cute. We had a party and Jodi surprised me with balloons which of course I got very excited about. We went to Dave and Buster’s, which is like a big kid Chuckie Cheese, and played until we were all ready for bed.

Saturday morning we got up super early to catch a Chinatown bus to New York; we had so much fun! The bus ride was actually kind of fun. We slept, because it wasn’t very crowded and I enjoyed the bus stop breaks where we got supplies of treats which we shared with our bus friends. In New York we did a lot of smaller things. We had at more famous quaint restaurants and went to fun stores like FAO Schwartz. We stayed at a nice little hotel where we enjoyed some good ol’e television. It was a really fun trip…here are the funny highlights:

Chinatown bus: Okay not as bad as I thought. Let me just say the bus stop was between the Chinese restaurants Wok ‘n Roll and New Big Wong. We laugh about that randomly still.

Subway trips: Being in DC we all felt pretty confident on the subway, because we use the metro here everyday. Of course it is different, but the same idea. Well one big difference: the doors close A LOT faster. At one stop we causally got up to get off just like we usually do in DC, well not quick enough for the subway in New York. Tracie managed to get off but no one else. The doors shut without anyone else getting the chance to leave and so we continued to the next stop without her. We were laughing hard for the next 10 minutes as we had to go 2 more stops to turn around and go back. It gets better. When we finally were getting on the subway to go back, those stinking doors started to shut on Kami. I seriously thought we were now going to have people in 3 different locations. But she fought her way through the closing doors which were trying to shut regardless of who was in the way. Oh it was a site to see! Needless to say, we were much quicker at getting on and off the subway. J

TGI Friday’s: We ate in Times Square at the TGI Friday’s and we thought since it had only been one day since my birthday we thought we would see if they would sing and maybe get a free dessert. When we asked they kind of sounded unsure, but they did sing and brought us a nice big brown sundae. We were all very pleased with ourselves until they brought us the bill and charged us 9 dollars for the dessert we did not even technically order. Who does that? At least they usually tell you it will cost and ask you what you want. Nope. So we argued and they ended up not charging us, but really?

Good times in New York City!

Well I am excited to come to Utah! I had a dose of sadness yesterday, because two of my kids were suspended which means I won’t see them again. When I found out they were going to be suspended (for showing their private parts to a girl during recess) I also realized I wasn’t going to see them again. So I found a camera and went to go grab the two boys to come in the class picture. As we were walking to the classroom I was kind of explaining that I wouldn’t get to see them again since my last day is Friday. One of them started crying sending the other one into tears also. I started getting emotional, but I calmed them down because I was thinking: we are going to take pictures we can’t be crying. We took some class pictures and then I took the two boys back downstairs to the office and they started crying again. I gave them a hug and that made me cry too. I am really going to miss them. I am not sad about not having to teach them anymore, but I am sad because I feel like I am breaking their hearts. I feel like I have been a constant adult they can rely on and many of them don’t have that. I think tomorrow is going to be tougher than I thought; those crying boys faces are forever going to be engraved in my mind.

Jodi suprised me with balloons! I love her!

Love them! I swear I am not that white, they make me look like I am dying. :)

All the other kids were standing on a
chair, but this girl isn't. She is so tall
and beautiful, but a pill.

Happy Birthday Miss Collett! Nothing better then
elementary kids to make you feel special for your
birthday!

They love me...most of the time.

On the way to New York City baby!



Serendipity. Seriously good frozen hot chocolate.

So our annoying principal has this
"think green" idea that he constantly
bugs us about on the intercom. It is
suppose to be something about if you
are in the "green zone" you are being
good, but if you are in the "red or yellow
zone" you need to be better. It is
actually a good idea, but he is so
annoying about it we all hate it...Notice
our faces. We found this in FAO
Schwartz and we almost died laughing.



Very interactive toy store. Probably
meant for kids, but hey we aren't too
old yet!


Love New York!

Spring break

Spring break was amazing and desperately needed. Jodi and I got to spend tons of time with Ashlin which was a total blast. She is one smart little girl! I am grateful Chad was able to give us buddy passes to watch her. Thanks SO much!

I also got to see my family which was also needed. I miss my family out here! I ran around trying to see everyone as much as possible. There was not enough time, but the good news is I will be back in 2 weeks! We have all decided we are ready to be done. I want my own classroom where I can do things exactly how I want. I can't wait for next year! I met the principal of my school and he was very nice. I also got to see the site of my school; it is in a gorgeous area.

I am going to finish out the last 2 weeks strong. It is my last chance to make as much of an impression as I can.

Here are some pictures. We went to the cherry blossom festival Saturday.



So stinkin adorable!


The new addition to the Meyerson family. He
is hard not to love.


Eating the Jefferson Monument


Yummy




Now I am holding it. Maybe these pictures
should be in a different order. :) Although
then again 3 people couldn't eat the same
monument....well nobody could really eat a
monument. Yep I am done.


The cherry blossoms! It was a dreary day, but
it still looked really pretty.








We went to the kite extravaganza on the mall strip.
I was really surprised at how many there were.
We were constantly dogging them which made
the experience even more funny.

Let the good times role!

I have had the most wonderful week! Everyday was a good day with a lot of learning. Monday and Tuesday were unbelievably excellent and probably the most productive days since I have been out here. Like I have said before a lot of days feel very worthless, but both days I got through all of my lessons and I felt like my students were actually learning. Wednesday and yesterday my teacher was home sick, so I had the class to myself. Surprisingly it wasn’t too bad. Usually the kids are a lot more difficult to manage when my mentor teacher is gone, but they really haven’t shown too much of a difference in behavior this past week. I was still able to get a lot done and I didn’t really feel too overwhelmed with any management problems. I did have a fist fight go on at the end of the day Wednesday, but I handled it and nobody got too hurt. J I will explain more…I just finally felt like a teacher. I felt like I had my class under control. I know my kids. I know how to handle each child on an individual basis which allows me to be a teacher on a deeper level.

Good Stories:

Okay, the fight. I have had 2 other major fights that involved fists, tackling, or serious aggression. This one I think has topped them all. It began with an exchange of chips between two boys in my class. To make a long story short they were fighting over who the chips belonged to. Both boys have a temper and it became violent quick. I looked up to find one of the boys throwing the other down on the floor. Then the boy on the floor got up and gave the other kid a bloody lip. At this point they were chasing each other around the room. After two desks were knocked down I was able to get in the pathway of one boy and I kind of grabbed him and swung him out the door as another teacher came over to help. So that teacher took him and I was able to deal with the other one still in my class. I calmed my class down and we continued with the day. I had a discussion with them and things were better today. They just don’t know how to handle their emotions or deal with arguments. They know how to fight. They are 7 years old and that is what kills me. It is sad that all they know how to do is fight. But I successfully handle the situation and it didn’t seem to affect the classroom environment too much.

One of my students was walking past a Jesse Jackson poster in the hall and he said:
“Miss Collett look it is Jesus. Jesus Jackson” He was reading the poster; needless to say, he needs to work on his reading. J

I was very proud of one of my students because the principal came into my class and my student actually proved that he had learned something that day. (Side Note: My principal drives me crazy. He is a lot of talk, but doesn’t really do much but bug everyone. He periodically drops in unannounced and if he feels like it gives a quick 5 or 10 minute lesson on nothing to do with what the students are learning.) So, he dropped in the other day and saw that fractions were written on the board. He asked the class what they had learned about fractions. Alonte raised his hand and explained how to show a fraction in a picture. It was so adorable and I was so proud of him for remembering what we had learned. The principal proceeded to give a dumb lesson on which fraction is bigger which no one understood. However, I taught bigger fractions today and almost the whole class got it!

My worst student has never been better! ALL day today he was unbelievably incredible. He followed directions, finished his work, and never left the class, all very big successes for him. I think he finally believes I am on his side and I really do care about him. Even today he wouldn’t take off his hat and so when I finally got a chance to talk to him about it I found out that he was embarrassed because his hair was half braided. So I made a deal with him that he could tell me anyone who made fun of him and I would keep them at recess. He immediately took his hat off and the day continued without problems. Ah I wish I could explain in words how wonderful it was to have him behave the entire day.

Okay, best story of the week: In the morning my students come in and write in their journals. I have a journal prompt on the board to help them get started. Well, the other day my journal prompt was “If you found a pot of gold what would you do?” I got the usual I would buy a play station, a swimming pool, food, etc… Well I had two really cute entries, strangely enough the same two boys who got into the fight. One said, I wouldn’t pick it up. I would leave it there and try to find out whose it was. The other said, I would give some to the homeless, then I would give some to my mom and dad and then I would give some …and he made a small list of people he would give the gold to. He never once mentioned what he wanted. Too cute! I was laughing about it all day. They have the biggest hearts.

Too much fighting!!!

The weeks are flying by. Weekends are always something to look forward to. Last weekend Dad came to visit! We had a very good time. We enjoyed the hot tub, TV (a novelty these days since we don’t have one), Georgetown, and other DC attractions. We got to go to the spy museum which was my favorite part of the weekend. One part of the museum was interactive and we were able to find out valuable information for the government. We even got new identities. J

This past weekend was nice and relaxing. We were suppose to go to Philadelphia with our supervisor, but it was raining all day Friday and Saturday so we decided another weekend was a better idea.

School is getting better. The good days are starting to seem more frequent these days. I am not sure if my attitude has changed, if I am just use to it, or I am actually making some kind of a difference; I am hoping it is the latter. I can see my students improving a little bit so that is encouraging. There are so many things I want to do with my students, but my time is running out. I only have 4 weeks of school left! That blows my mind a little bit considering I felt like it would never end in the beginning. A lot of days feel very unproductive, but I do what I can. In fact on Friday I felt like it was a very unproductive day, full of simply managing the class. However at the end of the day I was so sick and tired of all the fights that had gone on in my class I was ready to explode. There had been the usual arguments about “busing in the line” or getting in front of someone in line, fighting over pencils, paper, markers, anything you could imagine, etc… But then on I also had the extra pleasure of dealing with one girl who had written a note to someone that said “Edugwu is ugly.” I intercepted the note and immediately dismissed the girl from my classroom in order for her to think about what she had written and to keep me from screaming. She consequently stayed with me during recess and wrote one nice thing about everyone in the class. Then after lunch I caught two girls making fun of another’s student’s ears. SECOND grade people, I mean come on! In second grade you should be sweet and innocent. So at that point I had had enough. I got everyone quiet real quick and proceeded to give a talk about how making fun of each other is rude and I would not have it in my classroom. After I finished my speech I went around the room and let everyone give one complement about each student in the class. It was actually really cute and went really well. Everyone was eager to give out compliments and some were really adorable. So that is the kind of teaching that takes place a lot around here. It was the only productive thing that went on all day Friday, but it was an accomplishment. I just wish that one time would stop the constant fighting. One step at a time.

I found out I will be going to Utah for spring break and I am really looking forward to that! I can’t wait to see everyone! Keep in touch!

Field Trip!!!

We went on our first field trip yesterday. It took a lot of effort to finally get on the field trip with all of the permission slips and "ok's" from everyone, but in the end it worked out. We walked about 4 blocks to the Air and Space Museum. The kids absolutely loved it! They were just beaming the entire trip. Each class took 4 or 5 students, so we had a total of 12 kids with 4 adults. It was nice to get out of the classroom and get a chance to really get to know the students. They are so much fun! I can't wait for the other field trips we have planned.


Walking to the museum. Single file line...not
easily kept. :)


The whole crew.


The students loved "flying" the airplane.


The kids got to participate in a paper airplane
contest. They learned about balance and stability
in the process. The kids really had fun with it.



My 4 that came from my class. They were a fun
group.




We had to eat at McDonalds. They are in love
with it out here.


Well today was an awesome day! My supervisors from BYU came for a visit and watched one of my lessons today. The lesson went unbelievable well, so they thought I was pretty amazing...or something like that. hehe. I am lovin' it!

Also, Dad is coming out so I am excited for that!