Mr. Mark R. Board

So my students thought that it would be really funny today if they all decided to stop talking to me. They decided they were going to talk to the white marker board behind me instead of actually talking to me.

I played along and drew a face on the board with "Mark R. Board" written above it. (Disclaimer: This was not a name I came up with, but a name from a puppet show thing we had on Friday.) Anyways, I gave them their assignment, and the students were like, "Can we work on this with partners.........Mr. Mark R. Board?

I would look at the board, and then turn around and say, "He says no. Sorry." After a couple more questions with responses from Mr. Mark R. Board, I let them get started on their assignment.

Soon, I hear from the back of the room, "I don't get number 3.......Mark R. Board."

I looked up and smiled, and went back to my grading.

"Yeah, like, how are we supposed to figure out what 3b is?" The students look up at me, and then quickly remember that they decided not to talk to me and turn their heads to the front board. "Mr. Mark R. Board?"

More questions came, but they did not want to ask me. After their assignment they were supposed to work on their art projects that we didn't finish last week.

"Can I do my math instead of art.......Mark R. Board?" Then a glance at me. A smile from me, and then back to my grading.

It was quite hilarious how the students weren't getting the answers they wanted. Hmmmm......maybe they need me a little more than they thought they did.

Another Week

So, two of my kids are out with H1N1. I don't think anyone in the school has it except the kids in my class. Hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes were very popular in my room this week.

It's so weird to have two kids out. We had three kids out sick one day too. It feels like so many kids are missing, especially when three kids equals about a third of the class.

So my kids have been begging me for a new seating arrangement. I said that they could sit wherever they wanted to if they didn't complain the entire day. If they did complain, I would put that person in a new spot. They actually did very well with the no complaining thing, which was very nice for me. There were a couple of eye rolls and loud sighs, but I let them get away with it because the complaints weren't verbal.

We did an art project yesterday with the 1st/2nd graders. Little kids are so fun! They are so much cuter than my 7th and 8th graders! Sometimes I wonder if I should have taught younger grades, but then I remember that they can barely spell their own names and they sometimes can't get their coats zipped up by themselves. Then I realize that I probably made the right decision with teaching junior high kids.

Oh yeah, and we never get sidetracked in my classroom.........oh wait.

Things that were learned in school today....

- Gum will not harm you if you swallow it. Although the body does not digest it, it is still able to run its course. BUT if you swallow a lot of gum, it could lead to constipation and intestinal blockage. One of my 7th graders is worried she's going to die.

- Elvis Presley sang "Blue Suede Shoes" and dances funny. I told the kids that the song "Air Force One" is like modern-day "Blue Suede Shoes" because it made people want to buy that kind of shoe. One kid had heard of that song...which is probably a good thing, because it is not a song that I promote - and I told my kids that. So then I gave them the example of Air Jordans. Better? Yes, I think so.

- There is a new form of a Kindle called the Nook. (These are kind of like ipods for books) I am excited about them, and I think my kids thought they sounded kind of cool.

nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp?cm_mmc=Google-_-Nook%20-%20Nook%20-%20Exact-_-Nook-_-nook&cm_mmca1=10851528&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Nook_-_Nook_-_Exact&utm_creative=Nook+3484215924&iq_id=10851528&H000000012

- There are also new ear buds that are being marketed. They have bananas, paw prints, and screws on them - it makes them look like they are coming out of your ears. Weirdness.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/21/solid-alliances-new-earbuds-are-crazy-ugly/

- You can buy an application to turn the iPhone into an instrument.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhCJq7EAJJA

- No one in my class had ever heard the Zelda theme song before.

- My students were making the international symbol for "retard" in my classroom today. (Smacking your hand sideways across your chest) I told them that I did not want to see that in my classroom. They were all in awe that I actually knew what that meant.

But they can't get those things past me. I'm so on top of things all the time......

Fridays.....

Wow, so yesterday was DEFINITELY a Friday. The kids were.......energetic yesterday. I suppose that's a good way to put it. The afternoon was definitely worse than the morning.

We had flag football intramurals over lunch, so I don't know if that got them all crazy or what it was. Perhaps it was the mushy chicken alfredo at lunch?

Anyways, so our afternoon always starts with DOL (Daily Oral Language), which the kids ALWAYS complain about and ALWAYS ask if they actually have to do it. I tell them that it's called Daily Oral Language for a reason - we do it DAILY. So they had four sentences to copy down and correct. Four. Then they went up to the Smart Board to make the corrections. This usually takes about ten minutes. Well, yesterday it ended up taking about 25 minutes. I think they now view DOL time as "Ask Miss Van Egdom questions" time. I'm starting to wonder if they are trying to make it last as long as possible.....hmmmm....

So after DOL we started science. I had a few demonstrations focusing on states of matter and phase changes. I was going to take two beakers of water - one hot, one cold - and put food coloring in them to see how quickly or slowly they diffuse. Well, I took one of the beakers and put it in the fridge in the morning so it would be cold enough for our experiment. Well, I go to get the beaker, and I realize that I accidentally put it in the freezer. So I have a beaker full of ice which is now cracked. Perfect. I then grabbed another beaker and got cold water from the sink. I am such a fast thinker.

Then we had a little fun with balloons. Our science book says if you take a balloon outside on a cold day, it will shrink. So I gave every 7th and 8th grader their own balloon (bad idea #2). We headed outside and pretty much nothing happened. The balloons were maybe a little more squishy than they were before. I let the kids play with the balloons for about 5 minutes, which they were pretty excited about. But it didn't help that they started playing with their balloons in front of the 1st/2nd grade room window. Oh, their poor teacher.

We headed back to the room and I made all the students put their balloons in their lockers. I threw my balloon behind my desk and ran to the teachers' lounge to make copies while the kids were working on their art project. I come back to a noisy room and everyone looks at me when I enter.

"What happened?"

"Well, we popped your balloon."

"And how exactly did that happen?"

"Well, it was like going through the air and Devin's pencil hit it."

"Hmmm, but as I recall, I put the balloon behind my desk before I left the room. How did it get all the way over here?"

"Ummm......well, my eraser flew across the room, so I had to go get it."

"That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard!"

Laughter ensues.

So yeah, that's my class on Friday afternoons. Needless to say, I'm glad it's the weekend.

Weather-related????

Does anyone know if there is an actual scientific correlation between weather and the hyperactivity of children? I'm going to bet that there is, whether actual research has been done or not.

My kids today were so crazy hyper and random! Wow. It was exhausting, yet hilarious.

Some of the following questions were asked in my classroom today:

"Did you know that Cain has actual descendents? Like people descended from Cain!"

"How did Methuselah die?" My clever answer: "Of old age." hehe
"But does that mean that Methuselah lived longer than his dad?"

And, these questions were not asked during Bible class. We aren't even studying the Old Testament in Bible class. These questions were asked during DOL - yes, daily oral language.

And then we had to make a decision as a class on what the 7th/8th grade favorite meal would be, and then the cook would make it. Yeah, good thing we had some extra time today. That ended up taking about a half hour. You would've thought that World War III was happening in my classroom with the way that the kids were yelling at each other about mandarin oranges and garlic bread and green beans.

And then one girl yells out, "Kiwis are for African Americans!"

ummm.......what? My jaw pretty much dropped and I have no clue where that came from.

Ahh, such is the life of a junior high teacher.

"We have two for-sure adults here..."

So this past Wednesday we went on a field trip to Sioux Falls to tour the Power of Fire house and to do the Fire House. It was a really great experience, and I think the kids really enjoyed it.

There were some crazy things in the Power of Fire house. It's a real trailer house that actually caught fire and now has been preserved. You can see where the fire started and how the smoke damaged the house. You could see the outline of teddy bears that were sitting against the wall. The phone was completely charred and melted, while a paper decoration was fine right below it. You could see the ketchup bottle had started to melt and was leaning towards the source of the fire. Neat stuff!

The funniest part of the day though, was probably where the leader of our tour could not figure out if I was a student or not. During his presentation he kept saying things like, "The two adults in here know that....." or, "If you ask the two adults....." Well, there were three of us. The principal, the 3rd/4th grade teacher, and me. So basically, that's telling me that I look like an 8th grader. Awesome. My kids kind of snickered a little when they realized that he didn't know that I was a teacher.

Later, the man said to me, "So......you are........"

"The seventh and eighth grade teacher," I replied.

"Oh, yeah, I thought you looked a littl to old to be one of the students, but I wasn't really sure."

Wow, really? Oh, well. At least I'll look like I'm 30 when I'm actually 40, right? Ok, maybe not.

The Real Thing

Wow.

The last time I wrote on this blog, I was a pretend teacher, or, as some call it, a student teacher. Living the life of a student teacher, my cooperating teacher gave me tips on what to plan, gave me pages and pages of lessons she had done in the past, and gave me encouraging advice. The kids loved me because I was someone other than their actual teacher. I was responsible, but if anything went wrong or got out of control I could depend on my cooperating teacher to bail me out.

Fast forward to the present.

Now, I am in my third week of teaching. Real life teaching. I am a real teacher. Crazy how fast the summer went. I am pleased to say that I am surviving. I come home quite exhausted every night, but supper is usually waiting for me when I get home. (Thanks, Mom.)

Yes, that's right. I am a 22-year-old college graduate living with my parents. Now before you go judging me for being a mooch, my parents thought that it would be a good idea for several reasons:
1. I will be able to pay off my college loans much quicker.
2. I will be able to pay my parents back for all my college tuition much quicker.
3. I will be able to keep my mom company, because she doesn't do too well when her kids are gone.

There are also several reasons why I think that it's a good idea to live with my parents:
1. Free food.
2. I'm living in Sioux Falls, and not Inwood. There is the commute every day, but still, I'm living in Sioux Falls, and not Inwood.
3. I get to sleep in my water bed.
4. I am saving lots of money.
5. Quite a few friends still live around here - also with their parents. It's a little weird that, as college graduates, we're still hanging out at our parents' houses. Oh well.

Such is life.

And then there's the teaching. But hopefully I'll get into that in my next blog. I really will try to keep up with this whole blog thing. I kind of slacked off in my second half of student teaching.

Off to put some grades in the gradebook.

***Note to those thinking about becoming a teacher: If you don't like to take work home, don't become a teacher.

Round 2

So I haven't really done very well at this whole blogging thing yet this session. I'm way busier than my first session already, and it's only the second week! So tiring!

So I'm at Sioux Center Christian in 6th grade. They are definitely different than my third graders. Not quite as cute, and not quite as nice. Sixth graders have attitude. There are some kids who are just so much fun, and even though they're talkative, they're really nice kids. And then there's some kids who just get on your nerves! But I'm learning. I'm getting to know the kids better which is fun.

I'm doing my unit this session. Making Children's Picture Books. It's actually quite fun. There are piles and piles of picture books all around the classroom right now to serve as models for the students. We've been reading several of them, and I have definitely found a newfound love for Chris Van Allsburg. Amazing man! (He's the guy who wrote Polar Express, Jumanji, Wretched Stone, The Z Was Zapped, etc.) I also love books by William Steig! I think the kids are enjoying reading the books too, even though they try to read the shortest ones and get away with the least amount of work possible. Hmmmm

Anyways, I'll try to keep up with this whole blogging thing, but I have a feeling I'm going to be ridiculously busy coming up here pretty soon.

The Grand Finale

It's over. Done. I'm currently sitting on my water bed in Sioux Falls, dreaming of the warm Florida weather that I've left behind. Remind me again why I came back?

I miss my Florida friends! Sooooo soooo much! Can I please forget this whole Sioux Center thing and go back to Florida?

Ok, sorry. Done complaining. So my last week at Lake Worth Christian was quite interesting. The week started off with my teacher being sick for two days, so I was in full control. This last week was my week of having full control anyways, so it wasn't really a big deal. It is really interesting though to see how the kids act differently when their actual teacher isn't in the room. Definitely a little more talkative.

It was heartbreaking telling the kids that it would be my last week. So sad! I had become so attached to them, and they'd become attached to me. But, the week went well, and I expected the class had a little something planned for Friday - my last day. Third graders aren't very good at keeping secrets - especially about parties. They would come up and ask me what my favorite kind of cake was, and try to be all sneaky about it. Oh my.

So Friday came, and what do you know, they threw me a party! They all went around the room and said why they thought I would make a great teacher. We had brownies, ring pops, and Capri Suns. And they gave me a framed picture of me with the class. Also, a bunch of the kids made me cards, which of course were adorable. One card, written by one of my cutest, sweetest little girls, brought tears to my eyes. It made me really realize why I want to be a teacher.

It said:

Dear Miss Van,
I will miss you a lot and I have high hopes for you.

I will never forget you. You were a great teacher and I'm

sure any school will be greatful to have you there.

You made everything different in third grade and something

happened. You made it exciting and I hope all of your friends

like hearing about us. You changed third grade.

You changed me.

I will miss you very very much and I hope I will see you

again one day. I loved you being here and I will really miss you.

Love your best pal.

Bible Food Fest

So we're doing a nomad unit on Abram and we had a Bible Food Fest! There were lots of new foods that I was sure I wanted to try, but I ended up liking a lot of them! Surprisingly, my kids were probably even more daring than I was and wanted to try everything and liked almost everything too! I would've never tried goat cheese or lentils in third grade!

Do You Have These Kids Too?

So I've been definitely picking up on some things about my students, and I was wondering if there are kids like this in every class.......my guess is yes.

--- The girl who can't seem to answer a single problem on her worksheet without your help. She would have you do the whole thing for her if she could. She just can't seem to figure out the answers without you going over every one with her. She's always coming up to you and asking questions. VERY needy. But cute.

--- The girl who can't stop talking. No matter what. She always has a comment, and it's usually funny. But you have to try to hold back laughter to let her know that it's not appropriate to say something about EVERYTHING.

--- The boy who is NEVER paying attention. No matter how many times you tell the students what page of the book you're on, he still doesn't even have his book out of his desk because he was off in Lala Land.

--- The kid who always seems to forget to put his name on papers.

--- The kid who thinks that everyone in the class has to raise their hands but him.

--- The kids who should be getting things right on their assignments, but are too lazy to read the directions.

--- The kids who wave their hand around in the air crazy excited, and then when you call on them they say, "ummm.....I forget."

--- The kid with ADD that sometimes forgets to take his medication. Ahhhh!!

--- The kid whose mom brings him fast food for lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY! And then he complains.

--- The sweet, shy, quiet girl who barely ever talks to you.

--- The kid who asks to go to the bathroom everyday and gives you that look that says they're about to explode, so you can't say no.


I'm sure you guys probably have kids like this in your classes too. And my kids have a ton of other quirky little things about them, but I love them so much. It was my birthday on Monday and they all sang to me like three times (once in Spanish!) and they all made me cards. Oh, they are just so adorable! As much as I want to teach middle school, these little third graders are definitely starting to grow on me.

"No Hi-Fives for Satan"

On Thursdays we have chapel, and this past Thursday we had a band called the Carpenter's Tools. They did praise and worship songs and then did a little liturgical dance, drama thingy to the song "Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot. One of the band members played the Jesus figure, one played the devil, and two others played demons, or bad people, to bring the main girl down.

So after chapel, we were all filing out of the gym, and the band members were in the crowd giving hi-fives to the kids. All of my third graders were going crazy, except for one - "Stanley." He stood there with a very somber look on his face - almost a glare. When the band member got to Stanley he was like - "What? You don't want to give me a hi-five?"

Stanley simply said, "No hi-fives for Satan."

The band member happened to be the guy who played the devil figure in the drama dance thing. He laughed in disbelief and was like, "But I'm not really Satan!" Stanley just shook his head at the man and walked away.

It was possibly the most hilarious moment at school thus far. AND it can be the new Christian slogan on all the t-shirts in Christian bookstores - "No hi-fives for Satan!"

Third Grade Humor

Q: What do you call a mini rockstar?




A: Elfis

The Many Different Ways to Spell "Sentences"

- sentnces

- sentensese

- sencets

- sentenseces

- sentencents

Substitution

So today we had a sub. This wasn't just any sub - this was Mr. P! He's the director of the aftercare center at the school. I also found out today that he's a freshman in college, and has taken Ed 101, and that's pretty much it. But then a little later in the day, I found out that he took off a few years before going back to college, and he was also a pre-K teacher. Ok, so his credibility level rose in my book. He didn't do all that much though today since I'm teaching all but two subjects right now.

It's crazy what happens when a young, attractive, outgoing guy like Mr. P gets thrown into a school of all women. I seriously think that at least half of the staff at Lake Worth Christian have crushes on him. Especially the secretary, she told him he smelled good, and mouth to me, "He's so cute!" when he wasn't looking. It was interesting......

It was really neat though to kind of be "in charge." It felt like I had my own classroom. I had to step up and do more of the disciplining and be tougher than I usually am. Without my cooperating teacher's strictness, I had to try to make up the slack. I just can't be too mean though, so the kids got a little rowdy today, but we survived.

I got to see my parents today! They're in Florida now! I think they're even going to bring me lunch at school tomorrow, which will be so great!

Side note: this morning I found a half-dead cockroach in our sink - soooo gross!

Oh, and here are some pictures from our field trip to the post office last week!

Strengths

Empathy, Belief, Adaptability, Developer, and Harmony.

My teacher bought me a book called Strengths Finder 2.0 and it gives you this code to go online and take a test and figure out your strengths. I took the test and those came up as my five top strengths. We were discussing the results and my teacher told me that she has never seen anyone with so many "teacher" strengths. She said all of those were perfect for being a teacher and I had found my calling! Hurray! Affirmation!

Correction

Mom and Dad are coming in ONE week! Time really is going so fast! So crazy!

And she flies

40 degrees?!?! I thought I came to Florida to get away from the cold! Ok, so some of you are probably rolling your eyes and thinking, "Elizabeth, it's like below zero here." Maybe my blood is thinning out or something already. I didn't even bring a coat to Florida! It is quite hilarious seeing all the little kids all bundled up in their layers of sweatshirts and coats and scarves and gloves. I don't think they realize how good they have it. One teacher the was even wearing a huge, heavy coat that went down to her knees and had fur around the hood. Wow. Floridians.

Teaching is going great! I really like my class. They're a goofy bunch of kids, with some behavior issues, but my cooperating teacher has very structured classroom management which has helped a lot with this class.

I've continued teaching spelling, and this week my "project" has been the new girl in the class. I've been trying to help her catch up with the rest of the class. She came from a public school where the kids hadn't learned much multiplication, and was placed in a classroom of third graders doing long division. So I've been plugging away with her trying to teach her all the multiplication facts. It takes awhile, but I've come up with some fun little things. My advisor would be so proud.

And life here is great! I'm meeting tons of new people, and everyone is just absolutely fantastic! This long weekend was great! We went to a coffee house and listened to some music. Also went shopping and looked at clothes that are more than I'm paying for rent each month. Mexican Train Game, Rock Band, and an attempt at picking up Euchre also made up my weekend. It was great and relaxing, and so fun to have a social life!

Mom and Dad are coming in about two weeks, which is exciting! It's hard to believe that it's almost the end of January! Time is going too fast!

Home Sweet Florida Home

So now I'm about 5 days into student teaching. It's going well. I've been teaching spelling all week and I think it's been going alright. I'm getting to know the kids better, which is great! Oh, kids are fun. There's this one girl who is freaking me out though because she looks almost exactly like my sister did when my sister was in third grade! So it's so weird to look at her because she reminds me so much of Breanna like ten years ago. I feel I have some sort of weird bond to this girl, and she's probably like freaked out by her student teacher who looks at her so strangely.

So I'm living with five other girls here in Florida, and my first couple days here were not amazing. Everything was new - the location, the house, the roommates, the schedule, student teaching, everything. I think I forgot how horribly I handle change, and I was really, really homesick the first couple days here. Now it's going great and I'm happy to be here and really liking my new roommates and everything. Here's a couple pictures of the house I'm living in.

This is the front of our house. There's a railroad right next to it with several trains going past several times a day. They're really loud and make the house shake a little bit. We also have a neighbor who likes to scream a lot and throw hammers and her boyfriend. It's a nice little neighborhood. :)

This is our porch area/reading room. It's a really nice cozy little room with a hammock. Super cute and fun, and now I actually have some time to do some reading for fun! Crazy! That probably won't last too long though....

This is the kitchen, and then that doorway leads to a little laundry room area. This is kind of the gathering area of the house because there's always a bunch of people over here. Oh, and I live with artsy girls who like photography, so that's why there's lots of pictures on the wall.

Here's the living room area. Two couches, and a dining table behind the blue couch, but isn't pictured. And don't be fooled by that TV looking thing. It actually only plays movies. So I am stuck in Florida with no TV! How am I supposed to watch my shows? And a new season of Survivor starts while I'm here! Alas!

And here is the bedroom which I share with Bethany and Erin. It's our awesome Uni-bed! Erin and Bethany share the bed on the left, and I have that queen-size air mattress on the right. It's awesome, we know - very cozy. I think three-fourths of our room is just bed.

The Beginning

One day down, 61 days to go. I had my first day of student teaching today at Lake Worth Christian in Boynton Beach, Florida, and now I'm back at the cozy little house sitting in the dark on the couch in West Palm Beach. I'm living with my bestie from Sioux Falls, and her other roommates. They're all super nice and have been doing everything they can to make me comfortable here. I'm still adjusting, obviously, after only two days here, but I'm sure I'll get more comfortable.

One pet peeve - the house is like very dark. They don't have many overhead lights, just a couple lamps. And I really like everything being light. I think it makes me sleepy when everything is so dark. And waking up at 5:45 this morning made me sleepy enough!

So I'm teaching third graders, which is a little younger than I'd ideally like to teach, but they're fun so far. They're so tiny though! They are an interesting bunch, and I'm sure they'll give me a good challenge. I'm definitely a little overwhelmed, but everything is new to me, not just the student teaching experience.

Also, just in case you were wondering, it's very nice here. I love sitting outside in a t-shirt and shorts. I think it got down in the 60s or so today and everyone was apologizing for it being so cold. What?! 60s?!? Cold?!? I don't think so! It's been great, but I haven't had a chance to go to the beach yet. Maybe this weekend.