The CALLING: ECDC Reading Camp

For the past week i have been tutoring at the ECDC for the first session of the summer reading camp. The child i tutored was Sebastian, he was a 2nd grader. MAN talk about an EASY kid. he was very quiet and well mannered, as well as his brother, who was also in the reading camp. He however had to leave for mexico today for the rest of the summer.
So now i'm observing another tutor and his 7th grade student and have QUICKLY come to the conclusion that i NEVER want to teach above the intermediate level. It is SO FOREIGN to me! Right now the tutor seems to be working on comprehension and memory via a science lesson. The boy is reading a chapter about space, the earth and its qualities. The tutor is asking the boy to recall and to list the layers of the "pheres": troposphere, stratosphere, homosphere, and mesesphere, on a pictogram. he is making a point to show the student how quickly the words on the page are being used to lable all of the images on the picture.
Something that i would have trouble with would be the quietness of the ENTIRE PROCESS! With my kiddo we were EXCITED to read about all the different stories, we wanted to see where the next page would take us. even with the NONFICTION books!
I think that it is a calling from GOD to teach each grade level, that i have found my calling and that it lies with the elementary graders.

Unperfect

My hair isn't always having it's best of days,
and my skin isn't always clear.
My fingernails are bitten and ragged,
and my body... ohh my body has seen better days.

But I KNOW that
I am a STRONG young woman,
and I can accomplish anything that i want to.
I may use some moose, make up, acrylic,
and a treadmill to mask the mess but,
I have a Family and a Man, who love me,
A Future, that is TOO BRIGHT for me to see,
and a GOD who thinks that I am PERFECT, unperfectly.

The Simple Truth

So since completing my class and moving on to summer vacation I have decided to continue my blog. YAY me, right? ya ya ya... whatever... it's just another activity that i can do to keep myself and my mind busy, ALL SO THAT i DONT notice just how much i MISS KEYTH. So now, all of you, "My Fellow Bloggers," can officially read my HOPEFULLY, daily journal (my life) like a book. oiy.

So here's the RUN DOWN. The List of Happenings, Events, and LIFE Altering EXPERIENCES which have occurred in my LIFE, during the past month.

1. I completed my 4th OFFICIAL Collegiate semester and am a Junior, Education Mjr.
2. I FLEW on and AIRPLANE to DFW BY MYSELF!!! (&& I DIDN'T get LOST!! YAY!)
3. I managed to drive through Downtown Dallas at 2 am -- and we made it home ALIVE!
4. I turned 20 years old -- on May 14th... (i will NEVER be a teenager again-- haha)
5. I introduced my PARENTS to my FUTURE mother in law and grandmother in law. (worked out VERY nicely, if i do say so myself)
6. I survived a ROAD TRIP from Dallas to Corpus Christi with 5 people ages ranging from 5 to 55.
7. I went to a Mav's PlayOFF game and to a Rangers Game.
8. I took my Best Friend, Keyth, to the airport and watched him get on a plane to Japan. (that, to this date, was the hardest thing i have EVER had to do).
9. I decided to attempt to use Blogger for the rest of the summer... we shall see if it lasts...

I think that I have done some SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH in the past few weeks. I've learned more about myself and the things that i CAN accomplish. I've learned how to survive without leaning on someone else 24/7 and how to make short term GOALS which help reach LONG TERM goals and most importantly how to accomplish them. I've learned how to LET GO. To LET GO of the people you LOVE. They will come back to you when God wills it happen.


WORDS of SIMPLE TRUTH
Some advice that i have picked up through the struggle of allowing myself to let Keyth leave the country for a matter of MONTHS is that one should ALWAYS be nice to everyone and anyone with whom one comes in contact, for they are fighting a much bigger battle that one may not even begin to comprehend.

WE DID IT!!

WE DID IT!!!
The boys and I got it DONE!!
It was definetly frustrating at times but with a little bit of online help and some Excellent planning on my part, if i do say so myself, we are completely finished with our research together. Now all that I have to do is figure out how to add my class and professor so that they might watch the video.
Throughout this experience I have learned that as a teacher you have to work as a team with your coworkers, roll with the punches, and go with the flow, PLAN AHEAD, and KNOW your STUFF! I think that with a bit of extra practice I will be able to take on my own classroom and will definetly be using the Blogging System throughout the school year with my students.
Sarah

ALMOST THERE!!!

Today is Wednesday, and the boys and I have done a LOT of work! We hit some speed bumps along the way but we are taking them in stride. One of those speed bumps was having to share the computers with 9 other group projects and their mentors. So we made the best of what we had to work with, we ended up doing all of our journals and planning on paper so that when we got to use the computers we got to upload ALL of our work at once and today we did JUST THAT! IT was SO FUN to see all of our work go up and get completed so quickly! Another speed bump we hit was timing for our meetings. The boys both had violin practice today and we had to meet a little bit earlier than usual in order to get our work done. It is WONDERFUL to have such a lenient and cooperative teacher to work with. Ms. Reynolds is a DOLL!

Here is the boys link if you would like to SEE MORE!!

Going With the Flow

Today I helped two children, Santiago and Kevin, research their class project on Moths! They were excited to be in the computer lab and allowed to use the computer on their own. I began helping them by introducing myself and learning their names, project, and where they stood in the completion of their assignment. I then directed them to google.com and helped them search for kid friendly search engines once we isolated that site, we began asking questions, such as, "What are the differences and similarities between Moths and Butterflies?" The kids were supposed to complete a blog about what they have learned about their animal, but unfortunately we ran out of time to do so. Tomorrow is a new day and I will be meeting with the boys again and we will try to complete our leftover agenda. 

Here is their blog!

Frustrations As A Teacher

Today I came to class, EXCITED because i was almost completed catching up on all my homework, everything was falling into place and going right! My friends, however, weren't so happy. They had been downstairs to the 2nd grade class in order to fulfill the service project for our class, and came back quite frustrated. They described the event as a complete chaos and a waste of time, full of technological difficulties and miscommunications. The girls said that neither they, the students or the student's teacher knew what was going on or what to do.
Meanwhile, I'm sitting here not having been a part of this experience thinking, WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!! Then my professor came in and the girls explain the disaster, and Dr. Elwood explains that we are teachers, we have to make sense of the complete chaos and "Make IT Work."
This was a lesson that I needed to learn. It made me realize that in the real world no one is going to hold my hand and show me how to get things done, I have to be able to "think quick on my feet" and do what needs to be done, not only as a teacher but, as a person and a student.