Well it is official, student teaching is now underway, it has begun,it is currently happening!! FINALLy is all I can say!! Woohoo!! And let me tell you it is so awesome, I am completely LOVING it!! Seriously, I love it so much even I can't believe it! Ok, I guess I will start from the begining.
In case you didn't have a chance to read the previous post, I am in Miss Newsom's first grade classroom. To be completely honest, this was not the grade I wanted to be in at all! Not even a little bit. I really wanted 2nd, but I also like the bigger elementary kids (2nd-4th or 5th). However, there was no one else available that had either been teaching long enough, or didn't already have a student teacher, hence me going to first grade. Let me tell you though, I could not be HAPPIER! I am so glad I am there. The first day of school was great, it was wonderful to watch exactly what it is I should do when that door finally shuts behind me and I am left alone in a room with around 20 little faces looking at me for what to do next. This is vital, and something I was so excited to see.
We do have a room full, 23 students to be exact, which is one over the limit, so we have now reached the "exception" zone with class size. The other 2 first grade classes have 22, making it reach a grand total of. . . get ready, 67 six to seven year olds. Needless to say, it gets a little crazy! I don't really feel the pressure of having so many kids, but that's probably because I have a great teacher! We get along great, and that is such an amazing blessing, and probably what has made this transistion so smooth!!! I am trying to remember to write everything down, so that way I will help myself when I have my own classroom.
Speaking of my own classroom, that is the thing I am most excited about, having my own classroom. I was walking through the hall the first day thinking to myself, "This is great, I am having a blast, I really actually love what I am doing. This is exactly what I am supposed to be doing, and I know this because I get a joy out of being here." It isn't a happiness, it is a joy, and that is so much more than I could have asked for!! I was worried before (like I do everytime before I go into a classroom) then I got in there, and was like, "Yes I can do this for the rest of my life." Wonderful stuff to find what you are supposed to do and actually be trained and able to do it! God is so good!! So yeah, that is the chronicles of the almost first day (not the first day, since it is not my first day as a classroom teacher).
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Changes
Changes are happening all us right now in the Clifton household. For starters we now have a new member of the family, s little black lab mix , 6 week old puppy named Sadie. Yes in case you're wondering she was a spur of the moment thing! We took friends over to get one of the 8 puppies left at Kandis and Charlie's house and came back with one of our own per Mark's request. He has always wanted a lab puppy, and said he wasn't planning on getting one until he was leaving and couldn't put the one he was holding down! I know, I know, what were we thinking? To be honest with you I'm not sure yet. She is just a baby, but training her to use her crate and all has been much more of a challenge than it was with Ellie! We will continue to press on though and see where thiz takes us! Right now I'm trying to keep her awake sp she will sleep when I leave ( though I doubt thAt happens, she isn't too fond of being in there right now).
I was telling Mark I think I got too spoiled with Ellie and how good and easy of a dog she was and is to train and take care of! She really has been wonderful and a great addition to our little family! I can't imagine life without her now! We have really bonded over the summer! I have always wanted a dog relationship like that. One that is just easy, almost like they just understand and get you. I love how easy she is to travel with and how much Mark and I love to take her places! It is a blast and really adds to a trip, plus she loves the car so that is good! She has taken well to Sadie being here, playing mommy since she is bigger right now! I'm worried about her though because he hasn't been eating very much in the past couple of days and now she is limping around:(. We are giving it a couple more days to see if it gets better! Poor Ellie girl!
Also on the horizion is student teaching! Woohoo! Finally at this point in my college career and it feels good! I'm excited to see alm the stuff I will be doing and to learn the tricks of the trade! I mean come on, what other profession to you get this kind of opportunity with? Tonight is the Elementary Open House/ Meet the Teacher day, so I will be there with the teacher whose room I am in. It is a first grade classroom, and I have Mrs. Newsome, whom I love! I am excited about this upcoming year, now that I have had a chance to come up and meet her! Well until there is more time! I'll try to post s pic from the phone if I can!
I was telling Mark I think I got too spoiled with Ellie and how good and easy of a dog she was and is to train and take care of! She really has been wonderful and a great addition to our little family! I can't imagine life without her now! We have really bonded over the summer! I have always wanted a dog relationship like that. One that is just easy, almost like they just understand and get you. I love how easy she is to travel with and how much Mark and I love to take her places! It is a blast and really adds to a trip, plus she loves the car so that is good! She has taken well to Sadie being here, playing mommy since she is bigger right now! I'm worried about her though because he hasn't been eating very much in the past couple of days and now she is limping around:(. We are giving it a couple more days to see if it gets better! Poor Ellie girl!
Also on the horizion is student teaching! Woohoo! Finally at this point in my college career and it feels good! I'm excited to see alm the stuff I will be doing and to learn the tricks of the trade! I mean come on, what other profession to you get this kind of opportunity with? Tonight is the Elementary Open House/ Meet the Teacher day, so I will be there with the teacher whose room I am in. It is a first grade classroom, and I have Mrs. Newsome, whom I love! I am excited about this upcoming year, now that I have had a chance to come up and meet her! Well until there is more time! I'll try to post s pic from the phone if I can!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!
I have finally downloaded pictures from my camera onto my computer, so here a few of them. Some with captions, some without, all fun!
These first few are from World Changers!
These are the great kids that made up my crew for the week! We had a blast and got stuff done!
These are a two of Mark's face a couple of days after the incident! It is looking much better each day though!
These next few are some of what we did today. We got up, ate some breakfast, watched some television, and then talked about what we were going to do that afternoon. We have both been wanting to get out of the house and take Ellie to do something active and all, so we thought, "hey we should go to the lake, take a picnic, walk around, and swim, and have a nice little family day!" So we get up, make our lunch, get on lake attire, pack up Ellie, and step outside. . . only to be greeted by dark clouds, and a humid rainy day! We then felt like big dummies for getting everything ready for a lake day without looking outside at the weather! However, this does not discourage us long, and we decide to go ahead and go and make the best of it. When we make it there, it is dark and windy, not looking to good for our picnic day at all. We end up eating in the car, which actually proved to be a lot of fun, and we had a good time with it. After we finish that, we decided to get out in the rain and let Ellie out to run around! She LOVED IT! She just ran around, smelling everything, and inspecting all spots! We are getting her more accustomed to water, she isn't afraid of it necessarily, just gets tired of having to hold her own body weight and swim at the same time. We ended up heading out after a couple of hours of just good wet fun because the thunder wasn't letting up and we didn't want to chance anything! It was so fun, to just decide to do something spur of the moment, and the adapt to the conditions surrounding us.
This was our picnic basket
Me sad it was raining
Us before we all got wet!
And after a good day in the rain!
I have also purchased new items to help complete the look of our house, but haven't had the chance to take any pictures!! Let me tell you how excited I was to get the things I did! I went with my mother and the first stop we made was at Mardel, this new Christian and Education store in Longview! They were having a HUGE sale on teacher stuff so I just had to go! I was able to get many items for myself and a couple for friends too! Everything I purchased was on sale for five dollars and most things were over ten dollars without the sale price! I spent the some of my birthday money on this, and it was well worth it. Then we headed to Hobby Lobby which is right next door, and saw they were having a sale on their furniture! Inside the door was a hutch type thing that I had been keeping my eye on for the past month and a half. It had consistently been going down in price and was there marked down to $166 from $500. I knew this was my last chance to get it, since me and about 4 other women were eyeing it at the same time. I called and checked with Mark before purchasing it, but not without having another $20 taken off for various damages! I was so pumped, and it looks great in our kitchen! We then headed to the spot of the day that we came for, TJ Max where I had planned on buying stuff for our master bath since we having nothing for it! I ended up finding hand towels and curtains to hang up to disguise the washer and dryer spot. Mom was able to find another thing of curtains that were marked down to $10 from $17 and we got ours for that price as well! Since it was all purchased at TJ Max it was much cheaper then at an actual department store! It all looks so good and I am happy with my purchases!
Speaking of the curtains, they aren't just disguising a hole in the wall where a washer and dryer should be, but there is an actual washer and dryer there! Thanks to the GENEROSITY of my Noni and Poppy we are now washing clothes in our house for the first time in our marriage! They decided to buy a new washer and dryer and gave their old ones to us! I cannot tell you what an enormous blessing this has been, or how incredibly thankful I am for this gift!
Well I think that is all for now! Should be enough, don't you think =]
These first few are from World Changers!
These are the great kids that made up my crew for the week! We had a blast and got stuff done!
These are a two of Mark's face a couple of days after the incident! It is looking much better each day though!
These next few are some of what we did today. We got up, ate some breakfast, watched some television, and then talked about what we were going to do that afternoon. We have both been wanting to get out of the house and take Ellie to do something active and all, so we thought, "hey we should go to the lake, take a picnic, walk around, and swim, and have a nice little family day!" So we get up, make our lunch, get on lake attire, pack up Ellie, and step outside. . . only to be greeted by dark clouds, and a humid rainy day! We then felt like big dummies for getting everything ready for a lake day without looking outside at the weather! However, this does not discourage us long, and we decide to go ahead and go and make the best of it. When we make it there, it is dark and windy, not looking to good for our picnic day at all. We end up eating in the car, which actually proved to be a lot of fun, and we had a good time with it. After we finish that, we decided to get out in the rain and let Ellie out to run around! She LOVED IT! She just ran around, smelling everything, and inspecting all spots! We are getting her more accustomed to water, she isn't afraid of it necessarily, just gets tired of having to hold her own body weight and swim at the same time. We ended up heading out after a couple of hours of just good wet fun because the thunder wasn't letting up and we didn't want to chance anything! It was so fun, to just decide to do something spur of the moment, and the adapt to the conditions surrounding us.
This was our picnic basket
Me sad it was raining
Us before we all got wet!
And after a good day in the rain!
I have also purchased new items to help complete the look of our house, but haven't had the chance to take any pictures!! Let me tell you how excited I was to get the things I did! I went with my mother and the first stop we made was at Mardel, this new Christian and Education store in Longview! They were having a HUGE sale on teacher stuff so I just had to go! I was able to get many items for myself and a couple for friends too! Everything I purchased was on sale for five dollars and most things were over ten dollars without the sale price! I spent the some of my birthday money on this, and it was well worth it. Then we headed to Hobby Lobby which is right next door, and saw they were having a sale on their furniture! Inside the door was a hutch type thing that I had been keeping my eye on for the past month and a half. It had consistently been going down in price and was there marked down to $166 from $500. I knew this was my last chance to get it, since me and about 4 other women were eyeing it at the same time. I called and checked with Mark before purchasing it, but not without having another $20 taken off for various damages! I was so pumped, and it looks great in our kitchen! We then headed to the spot of the day that we came for, TJ Max where I had planned on buying stuff for our master bath since we having nothing for it! I ended up finding hand towels and curtains to hang up to disguise the washer and dryer spot. Mom was able to find another thing of curtains that were marked down to $10 from $17 and we got ours for that price as well! Since it was all purchased at TJ Max it was much cheaper then at an actual department store! It all looks so good and I am happy with my purchases!
Speaking of the curtains, they aren't just disguising a hole in the wall where a washer and dryer should be, but there is an actual washer and dryer there! Thanks to the GENEROSITY of my Noni and Poppy we are now washing clothes in our house for the first time in our marriage! They decided to buy a new washer and dryer and gave their old ones to us! I cannot tell you what an enormous blessing this has been, or how incredibly thankful I am for this gift!
Well I think that is all for now! Should be enough, don't you think =]
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