This week has been amazing! I loved the beautiful weather and the sunshine. But....all my schoolwork has killed me. Between observing, going to class and doing homework my week has been crazy. Thank God its the weekend! 


I was so happy to watch part of the "Wax Museum" project that my co-operating teacher has her 6th grade students do.  First the children pick a famous person from now or in the past, then they write a biography on that person and finally they write a one minute speech summarizing the person's life. The last part of the project is to dress up as that person and have the school come and listen to your speeches. All of the students lined up around the perimeter of the gym and were "frozen" in place until someone came and pressed on their button on the floor. All of the students that I got to see were fantastic! I was so impressed by how hard they worked and how amazing their costumes looked. 


One boy dressed up as Pope John Paul II and had a full pope's outfit on! Another little boy was Shaun White, so to complete his costume he wore a long red wig and snow pants. Some of the other students were Beyonce,  Princess Diana, Justin Bieber, President George Bush and Rob Dydrek. One girl was a ballerina and she came in her full ballet outfit and even stood on her toes when someone pressed on her button! Every student did great and I wish that I could have been able to go see the second day but I had class :( 


Unfortunately, I'm almost done with my 40 hours and I'm going to miss these classes so much. My co-operating teacher has so many great ideas and now she is having her 6th grade class do mock trials and in April they are going to do "Law Day" and are going to have a mock trial with real lawyers and a real judge from the Newark Courthouse! These students have such a great time and I love seeing how excited that they get! I got so lucky to be with such a great teacher who has such great students! 

Since I didn't post anything new about St. Patrick's Day, here's a picture of my dog Dixie from St. Patrick's Day. She got her nails painted green and wore a Happy St. Patrick's Day button! 

Almost Spring Break!

I cannot wait until next week for Spring Break! I'm so happy that I only have two mid-terms to take before the break, bt unfortuantely they are big tests. My favorite part of the week is Friday because I get to go into the classroom that I observe and interact with the students. Since my teacher is the language arts specialist for three sixth grade classes and three fifth grade classes, its hard for me to make a bond with any one particular class, but there are some students that I have gotten to work with that are so sweet. They are so happy when they get to have one-on-one attention and work with a grown up. Nothing feels better than spending the day helping the students with their writing and helping them with projects. I love it!

I was very surprised that my co-operating teacher didn't do anything Dr. Seuss themed for Read Across America Day on Friday. I think that since the children are older, she had to stick to her lesson plans, but the school was extremely decorated where I was. When I walked in, there were giant Dr. Seuss plants (I don't know what else they would be called) outside on the walls in front of the main office, and there were younger children wearing "Cat in the Hat" hats wakling in the hallways. They looked adorable!

My co-operating teacher is so good with the kids, and I am so lucky that she wants me to get super involved with them. I love being able to work with them and she offers me so many experiences to be in front of the class. I'm still a little nervous to do that yet, but soon I know that I'll feel confident enough to go.

This past Saturday, I attended a music teacher's workshop in William Paterson for my Fundamentals of Music class. I was surprised by how much fun that I had, but I felt that the workshop was best for the current music teachers that could apply everything to their classrooms right now. For me, I may not ever have the need to use those new techniques in my classroom, so I made sure that I didn't intrude or keep any teacher from being able to participate. It was fun to learn new songs and activities, and it was worth waking up early on my Saturday morning!