My Classroom

Tomorrow will be the first day! Wish me luck!

This is for Julia. Found this in Iceland!

First day!

So my first day was today and it was very long.  It started off at 4 am.  I woke up and I couldnt fall back to sleep due to the time difference so instead I made a bowl of cereal while trying to figure out our german dish washer.  Then I waited until 7 to catch the bus to start the first day.  As I entered the bus I hit my head on the bar of the bus and everybody laughed.  Then when I reached  my school my teacher put me to work.  He first asked if I liked spiders, hamsters, and creepy crawlers.....and I hesitantlty said no but now I am a pet keeper for my class....then next thing I knew I was thrown into being the house keeper of his classroom.  Due to the school closing down at the end of the year we have to do a deep cleaning.  One closet in his room took me an hour and half to clean and he has six!!!  I found beano in one..I know I shouldnt share that but it both made us laugh.  In all honesty though it will be an exhausting 4 months he excpects a lot from me. I will be doing a lot of teaching and I feel totally unprepared.  It will take me a few days to get back in the swing of things.  But I love being here and feel very fortunate to be apart of this expereince. 

For this weekend my roomies and I are exploring the town.  Well the librarian is kicking us out.  So I must go. Love and miss you all!

Kelsey

Arrival to Iceland

Well Amber, Anabel and I landed safetly in Iceland....we rushed through security because we only had 20 minutes to catch our connecting flight....and when we arrived to our gate it was luckily delayed and hour so now we are eating pringles and drinking soda because it is midnight at home!  Love you all and miss everyone

Last Day

Tomorrow is my last day of work.  I am truly going to miss my kids in my class. Everyone has such a different personality and such different gifts that you cant help but grow to appreciate and care about them more each day.The summer flew by way to fast!

 As exhausting and time consuming it is to work at a preschool during  the summer it is so worth while.  It is like I am constantly watching that t.v show hosted by Cosby...Kids Say the Darnest Things....if I could record the outrageous and most imagative responses from what I hear daily....I could be the new host for that show. I also have learn some valuable skills and increase my slang/ vocabulary...which I seem to use on my friends such as hey I'm going "potty"  ....or I begin to count down to my friends when we need to go..."ok if you arent ready to go out in 10 seconds I am leaving and then I proceed to count down....It is qutie absurd how my two lives of teaching and trying to be an adult are now bluring. I could be losing friends by my actions.

 Another great thing about teaching is it keeps you in with the in.  I have learned what is cool and wht is not so cool.  Like Justin Beiber...not cool anymore (so last fall).....but B.O.B so cool.  Also, when my 8 year olds know more slang then me such as .... IKR..." I know right" or ADL "All Day Long "  it is impressive but also quite disturbing. Honestly sometimes I think they are speaking another language. I think we have confirmed that we become the most efficient but perhaps the most laziest people in society because of all the abbreviations we have created.

But besides the interesting things I have learned from being around kids it is also the most rewarding job.  I am grateful to work with these kids this summer and hope to take some of the things I have learned from my school and preschool apply that to my student teaching.  On that note TTYL

Kelsey

Four days left

Well I have four days until I leave and start my job of becoming a real life teacher...It has only taken me five years of college and a good amount of loans to accomplish my degree in Education. And let me tell you it was a journey in a half. Writing lesson plans after lesson plans and memorizing my states requirements of meeting the standards took a lot of time and dedication!  Now, I wont get into the politics, the institution of education system, or how much work teachers put in ....that is for another blog...I am just here to write to keep my friends and family informed about my experience of student teaching and becoming a certified teacher while I am abroad.

 Ever since I went to Japan I have had the bug to continue my  travels of experiencing the world.  So I have decided to do my student teaching in Germany on an Army base.  I am teaching fourth grade and I am so excited to work with this age group. You would think a future teacher of America would be organized. Well, I haven't packed and literally have only 48 hours to get my life together.  I have been so busy working at my preschool and trying to fit in any free time to family and friends  that I havent thought about my journey to Europe. I have put my trip to Germany on the back burner.  Now, I know that might sound crazy to some but when you work with five year olds everyday for nine hours the last thing you want to think about is preparing for student teaching. Instead I grab a glass of wine or a super dirty martini and de-stress myself from thinking about the kids ;) So here I  am starting my blog about my experience ...I hope to learn how to become a stronger teacher, I aslo hope to explore as much as possible the new culture and most of all I hope I take away from this experience, is a new understanding about myself .

Learning how to teach art....this is what I spent the big bucks on!

Kels

Student teaching is basically a half a year