Week 1 Journal

This week was a really good learning experience for me in many ways.  There were a few things that I felt like I was pushed into but Miss Baird said that I did a good job and that there was still much more for me to learn.  I was nervous about some things and I was excited for some things.  I really only had one day in the classroom this week because on Tuesday we went on a field trip and I learned so much on the field trip, like how I never want to plan a field trip.  The students had fun but I spent the day worrying about if I was going to lose a student. 

            This week:

§  Responsibility of watching students and making sure all were with us.  Lots of counting students on the field trip and to make sure were all there.  A group of us walked from Albertsons to Nature Park and I was in the back making sure that no students fell behind us and I could see all students.  Learned lots of name because I had to use them to tell them what they should and should not be doing as they came close to running in the road or refused to walk in front of me.

§  I helped the class out with some sign language.  They read a story about a deaf class going to a concert and the book had some pictures of words. Some of the words were hard to understand how the hands were going and I had told them I took ASL in high school so I helped out the class with the sign language.  The students even came up to me afterword finger spelling words to see if I could tell what they were spelling. 

§  I taught the language arts center.  The work book pages we did had to do with the story we read.  It was using vocabulary words from the story and placing them in sentences.  The second page was dealing with giving more detail about a sentence.  This was the hardest page and not many of the students got past this page.  It gave them a sentence and they had to give more detail from the story about it.  The last page we were able to get to had to do with adjectives since they have been learning about them.  They had to color some words in a picture that were adjectives and they had to fill in the blank in sentences with adjectives.  It really tested their ability to recognize and use adjectives.  The first page they were able to do on their own but the second and third page they really needed a lot of help.  I would ask questions to try to help them figure out what the answer was.

§  I was on recess duty today with Miss Baird.  It was interesting and a little crazy.  The students all wanted to play with me and I kept hearing “MISS ELLIOTT” from all parts of the play ground.  I had I few girls attached to me most of the time so I tried to get them to run around and play.  We did some jumping jacks and played tag.  They kept complaining about how cold it was and by the time I was done with them they were complaining about how hot it was. 

§  I taught the math lesson on making and labeling arrays.  I am not a fan of Saxon math and their script for me to read to the students.  So I started off the lesson with them at the kiva and gave them some examples like a marching band or the calendar being arrays.  I showed them on the board what an array was and how to label the array.  I then went through the script having the student come up to the board and draw the array and label it.  I made sure that I called on every student at least once and asked lots of questions for them to all answer.  I used repetition on which number goes where and what were rows.  I had them go back to their seats and use the tiles and their work sheet to each draw and label some arrays.  They made it with their tiles first, then they could draw it when I told them too and label it when I said to do so.  I made sure each student was done before we moved on.  After the three examples were done they went back to the kiva and we reviewed again everything we had learned.  I went over the worksheet with them and handed it out to them.  I walked around the classroom and just monitored for the rest of the time. 

There were some moments this week that I really had to think about how to handle something.  In the moment I really don’t have time to stop and think but I have been thinking a lot yesterday after school about how I can help a few of the students in the class.  They give up way to easily and when I keep trying to push them to do their work they get more frustrated with me.  The only thing that I can really think of to help them is to go against one of my biggest things as a teacher.  I refuse to spoon feed the students.  I will not give them the answer.  I will ask them questions that will get them to give me the answer but I will not tell them point blank what the answer is.  I feel like the only way to help a few of the students is to tell them what the answer is.  Though even when I have done that one boy still gets mad at me because I tell him to write it down.  Another thing was how to I know how if the students know the material when they work in groups and I know for a fact that they wait for their neighbor to write down the answer and they write it down.  I tried to get a student to jump a question ahead to answer it for me and he got very upset with me. 

The biggest this I need to work on is just what is above.   I want to find the best way to help the students and help them learn and not get frustrated too much.  I believe that the stopping and thinking and what I need to work on really will be focused on this the next few weeks.  I know these will take time and multiple tries but I won’t give up on the students.  

<3  Erin Christina

2nd Grade Field Trip

First I must say that I really really wish that I had a camera and had permission to take pics today!  It would be so much better to be able to share with you.

So today the 2nd grade went on a field trip!! They arrived at school and I was there to great them at the door.  I used names that I could remember and got to use my teacher voice and make sure they all put their backpacks up and grabbed their lunches, coats, and stuffed animal and sat down on the keva.  Also had to make sure everyone was there and that they all had lunches.  You could tell how excited they all were for this field trip.  They were all showing me their lunches and their stuffed animal. 

We loaded the bus after I counted over and over again that we had all the kids (it is what I remember from field trips, teacher always counting us.) and one little girl from my class just had to have me sit next to her, so I did of course.  We sat at the front of the bus.  We headed off to the hospital to go to the Teddy Bear Clinic. 

The Teddy Bear Clinic is where kids can go and learn what it is like in a hospital and how to take care of themselves so they don't have to go to the hospital.  They even got to put their stuffed animal through the process of getting admitted to the hospital and getting weighed and measured like you do every time you go to the doctor and their animals ever got a shot AND a band-aid.  The schools all in the hospital district had a coloring contest too for this clinic and the winner would win a BRAND NEW BIKE!!  Well early in the rotations a lady came up to me and one of the other teachers looking for a student and told us that at the end of the rotations they would announce that he won the bike (one of the kids in my class won!! I was so excited and couldn't wait for them to announce it!!)  So we split the 64 Second Graders into 4 different groups to go through the clinic (and for half of the clinic I was the only teacher with the students!!)  The students got a tour of an ambulance!!  We then entered in through the ER and was shown a decontamination shower and they explained what it was.  We went into another room where there was a bear who was really sick wearing a mask and hooked up to an IV of honey.  The doctor explained what an IV was to the students and had the kids try to figure out what was wrong with the bear.  We went from there to learn about washing our hands and how long they should and about how bad germs were.  We had a D.A.R.E talk after that in the next station and about what is bad for our bodies.  Poison was the next station and the last was when they got to admit their animal to the hospital and go through that. 

The next stop on our field trip was Albertsons.  I know it sounds weird and different for a field trip but we went there and learned about the food pyramid (which is not the same one I grew up with).  It was fun to go around the store and learn about always and sometimes foods and what foods did what for your body.  One of the boys in the class I am in dad works at Albertsons so he was getting high fives and stuff from all the workers.

Our group was so large we split into two groups to go through Albertsons and we were in the first group and so my teacher had the great idea of walking to the park that we would go eat out lunches at.  This park isn't on the OTHER side of town but it is a LONG walk.  So the plan was just to walk so the student were just sitting on the bus for 30 min and the bus would pick us up along the way.  Anyways we were walking across town with me and the actual teacher and about 32 Second Graders...yes I was very much parinode of losing a kid!  I was in the back of the group and my teacher in the front of it.  Kids at the front were running so we were basically two different groups and I was trying to make sure all student were ahead of me.  I had a little attachment the whole walk there and a boy who would not walk in front of me and walking so slow and was SO mad at me for continually telling him to walk in front of me.  When the bus caught up to us my teacher told the students that they could keep walking if they wanted to and they could get on the bus if they wanted to.  I was happy the bus was there and planned on getting on it.  Well my attachment made me keep walking.  So I continued to manage my walking slower group and making sure all student were safe.  Then one girl in my back group was jumping over a bar when I told them not to and she hit her knee.  It was anything, will probably be a bruise tomorrow so to make her feel better I was making up songs about her knee.  "Your knee is wonderful!! It doesn't hurt at all!! Because it's wonderful!! Yes it is!!"  We also sang the same song about our feet. 

So we ate lunch at nature park and walked around and fed the ducks and it snowed while we were there a few times in the wonderful Idaho summer weather. 

We got back on the bus an hour later and went back to the school for like a hour and a half left of school.  We were all so tired.  They read a story about a deaf boy and it even had some sign language in the book.  I told them that I took it in high school (yea like 6 years ago!!) and so they kept asking me how to sign things.  I taught them after the story how to ask to go to the bathroom.  They thought it was so cool.  They had to do  a math sheet and then it was time to go.  By the end of the day I had almost all of their names down (I learned them on the walk because I had to keep yelling at them to behave!)  So I was handing out notes and papers to them and I would not give them the paper until I said their name.  I almost have them!! 

So that was our day!  Field trip day!!  Sorry I really tired to be in depth but I am so tired so I kinda didn't in places.  Came home and did homework for a few hours after that.  Now I am again up way past bed time and I really have to pass out. 


<3  Erin Christina

My Life as an Elementary Education Major

The new semester started on Tuesday.  This semester I am taking 15 credits. 
I am taking Math Method, Science Methods, Social Studies Methods, Assessment and Evaluation, and my Senior Practicum. For my practicum I am in the a 2nd grade class for the whole school day.  Actully I am there 30min before school starts to 30min after school is out.  I have been one day and it is an ever stronger testimony that I am were I am supposed to be.  I got to teach some yesterday too!  It was a lot of fun.  I still have some more to learn but I am excited to really grow more as a teacher.  I will hopefully be posting more here and sharing such an amazing experince. 

This is also my last semester on campus.  I am still waiting to hear where I will be doing my student teaching.

This is really all I have to say right now.  But I am excited to learn and to grow.

OH.  So my classes are only M-TH so I have Fridays off.  So since no class on Fridays I am so excited to be going to the temple in the morning and I will have the rest of the day for homework.  Three of my roommates and I went to the temple this morning.  It was amazing!  The weather outside not so wonderful but getting to go to the temple and do the work for the dead and being able to sit in the Lords house was just amazing.  I was able to reflect on so many things.  A main point being that on Sunday we will be celebrating Easter, the resurrection of Christ.  Christ suffered so that we might be forgiven for our sins and he hung and suffered to feel the ultimate pain and become the ultimate sacrifice for us, and he came back from the dead and he lives and all this he did for us for our lives here on earth and for what the eternity holds for us as well.  I am so grateful and so blessed. 

Happy Earth Day!

<3  Erin Christina

It is all messed up

Nothing has been going the way it should be going and it isn't very much fun for me to have to go through.  What is wrong and why wont by body accept the pills I am taking and just work like how they should.  I have only had one goon month out of the last 4 months.  It is just stupid and ridiculous for it to be reacting in the way it is.  If it didn't cost so much I would of stopped a while ago.

Other news...well there is none.  School is school and tests are tests and I am stressing if I can make it to graduation because there is still so much that has to be done. 

<3  Erin Christina

Here is something

I am going to be Auntie Erin to a nephew Orry William Elliott.  I am so excited to meet him in July.

I have been sick lately due to well the usal why I am sick.  My body ealier this week took out its revenge on the last 3 months.  But for now I am in the clear once more.  Lets see it my body starts not being normal again after month 1 this time around. 

I have got some pretty good test scores lately and I am still holding As in all my classes.  I start a 2nd block class on Tuesday and I get to be back in the class rooms once more.

I miss my family and I wish I could be home and spending time with them but I know I am doing what the Lord wants me to do out here.  At times I do feel discourged thinking all is lost.  I just look around me and count my blessings and I have nothing to fear.

Weight gain, feeling lonely, feeling lost, discouragement...I may sometimes let these things win but there is an eteral perpestive that saves me every time.  I really am blessed and it has been a theam this year for me to count my blessings and to remember no matter what that God is over all.  Prepare for the worst and the best is yet to come. 

Grad app in, sign up for classes in 2 weeks, lots of test still to take.  I love my life no matter what.

<3  Erin Christina

Blessed

My life is blessed and I have to remember that.  I know my Heavenly Father hasa plan for me.  My life is full of stess thinking about the future and I have to remember that what is most important is right now.  I have fears of my plans not working out.  I remember when I was a little kid thinking I would of had my happily ever after by now, but now I dont want it.  Funny how much we all grow up in different ways and dreams and wants change.  I thought I would be going to BYU, I am going to graduate from BYU-IDAHO.  I was going to be the world greatest singer (hah, like that would of ever happened) a choir teacher, but now I am going to be an elementary school teacher.  I am in charge of teaching the next generation. 
I like the direction my life is going in.  Last year was a horrible year full of pain and depression.  I am back on the right path and both feet planted on the ground.  Nothing is going to take me aways from what I have my mind set twords.  The end is in sight.  I can see it.  I have been told my plan for next semester is basicly suiside and I am so scared.  But I know with the Lord I can do it.

I am so excited next week Courtney finds out what the baby is.  I remember when we were all little and we have all grown up.  I look at my brothers and I am so happy that they are a great exsample for me. 
Jonathan graduates from his school in May.  I am so proud of him. 

Every year I go home and I hate it and find it pointless for me to be home and wish I could be up at school and be done by now.  I know why I went home this last year.  I grew so much in my family.  I finally felt like I was part of the family and accepted.  I grew so much closer to Ryan and there had always been that huge gap between us. 

I am still scared to death about what the future holds, because the end of school is in sight but I cant see what is between now and then and I cant see what comes next.  But isnt that the beauty of life. 

I love my anti-social school work life. I would not change my life for anything.  I am blessed.

<3  Erin Christina

Oh

Change of plans...I am anti-social until July.

Sorry for the lack of posting life got crazy.
In Idaho.
In school.
Scared to death already about not graduating in July.

I will try to post a better post about everything sometime this week.
I will also try to post AT LEAST once a week about everything going on. 
If I dont post, I am probly dead.  Ok not really but dead to the world.

<3  Erin Christina