just another thursday

Okay, I just have to say I LOVE teaching. It is, without a doubt, what I feel called to do for the rest of my life. Every month, every week, every day, every class--I learn more and more. Student teaching started off a little slow, but over the past two months it's only gotten better and better. :) My students are good kids. Sometimes they talk more than they should and drive me crazy, but overall, they are great. I used to be crazy overwhelmed by writing lesson plans, making handouts and worksheets, and grading papers, and I do it all for free. However, I want to come back every day. I want to get out of bed (Maybe not as early as I have to, but I'm more of a morning person than I ever have been). and teach all day, every day.
So...a little more about my classes.

1st hour: I have 12-1, which is a senior level composition class. It is designed as a college prep course and far harder than any classes I took in HS as far as I recall, it has been a long time... haha The class is surprisingly talkative for 7:35a.m. but funny. A few of them are amazing writers and far ahead of a lot of college freshman I have encountered. I hope some of them get a kick in the butt when they get to college though because they can be a bit whinny about Shakespeare and the workload at times. :)

2nd hour: My prep. Basically I plan things out with Sarah or put on my headphones and knock out your typical teacher tasks. I dare you to say that 5 times fast. :)

3rd hour: Oh my juniors...This course is 11A. It is the harder of the 2 junior courses offered in our district. The first 6 weeks were dedicated to learning MLA, gathering sources, outlining, and writing a large research paper. Now, we review grammar briefly MWF and have been dedicating the rest of class time to reading 1984. Speaking of grammar, I still need to write their accumulative grammar quiz for tomorrow. On Friday I hand them a mini paper filled with mistakes, which review all the grammar and MLA we have learned up to this point, and focusing on the latest skill dominantly. This week it's colons and semicolons. Always exciting. :)

4th hour: Yearbook, and by far the most unconventional part of my day. You see, most of the girls who apply for this course, know Sarah and have developed a sort of teacher/student friendship with her over their time at Stoney. Some of them have even paid to take required classes in summer school, so they can take YB over and over--it being an elective and all. It's nice to get to know those girls because they are so sweet. However, don't get me wrong, they work VERY hard. Stoney Creek puts out one of the nicest yearbooks I have ever seen. I can't wait to get my copy of this year's in the spring.

5th hour: Mythology, which is a mix of juniors and seniors. This is a literature course that all these students have elected to take. It can be a lot of fun too. Since it's a literature class there are no papers, but there is a lot of reading involved. The class is broken down into different units by archetypes. We just finished the god-teacher unit, which included a few short stories and the novel Frankenstein. That class is rowdy in one word. haha It is composed mainly of boys, it's just after lunch, and it has 35 students--in other words, every desk is filled. Sometimes they can get a little crazy, but honestly I find myself trying not to laugh before I turn on my serious face and telling them to quiet down. :)

6th hour: Another section of 12-1. This class is very focused. They are doing an amazing job of getting through Hamlet and their college application essays were great. There are some very cool stories in that class too. From the guy who is the essence of school spirit to the injured football player/wrestler who can never play these sports again but was still voted captain and goes to every practice and game helping from the sidelines. You can't make this stuff up...he's truly inspirational to me and doesn't even know it.

Well, that's a brief look into my life...that is all. :)

grading papers

I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last entry. My life has been pretty hectic lately. I'm teaching full-time now, which is exhausting but rewarding. The best way to explain being a first time teacher is to compare it to freshman year of high school or college, particularly college. When you get there it's kind of scary and possibly uncomfortable at time, this is similar to those first observations you spend in a classroom. Then you get comfortable, make friends, and have fun until you hit that week. That week when you have 2 papers and a huge test looming along with a mountain of homework and you freak a little bit. You are incredibly stressed but somehow manage to make it through, probably getting marks a little lower than you were accustomed to. Then you get in the groove, work out a schedule, and learn time management. After this it's all downhill, and college (although challenging) becomes less of a nightmare. Well, writing lessons, teaching, and grading papers is the same way. The past two weeks like my "freshman year" and now that I have that under my belt it's coming much easier. Well...grading a stack of essays still takes a great deal of time; however, that's only because some of them are written so...(must stay positive...stay positive) creatively written. :) I love teaching though, and I can not wait to get my own classroom...that is all. :)

shall we dance?

The staff dance performance was yesterday, and it was fantastic! Note: we were better than any of the class performances. :) I admit this is coming from a somewhat biased stand point; however, I still believe it is a true statement. After 2 weeks of practices, sore muscles, and far too many 8 counts it all came together. It's nice to have a place in the Stoney Creek family. I realize that in another 2 months I will graduate and have to move on somewhere. It would be wonderful to come back to SCHS full time and actually be paid to teach. The reality of the situation still strikes me though...I don't think I'll be getting a teaching job full time in January in this state. Dancing in front of 1600+ people though...that was fun. :) Wow, I didn't realize how big that audience was until just now...good thing too. If I had realized that sooner I might have been a little more nervous. :) Well, short and sweet, this was all I had time for...back to lesson plans! ..that is all.

ode to autumn

There is always that one morning. If you've lived in Michigan for any extended period of time you know what I'm talking about. That one morning when you wake up with a shiver and realize at some point during your slumber summer ended and autumn commenced. It usually happens at about 3 or 4 a.m. because you have to get up and slide out from under your sheets and throw that extra blanket on your bed. No longer are you fighting with your sheets anymore prying them off halfway through the night due to the heat. Instead you now cling to every possible source of heat. Then when your alarm goes off and you start to slide your leg out of bed and your toe grazes the chilly floor you instantly cringe and fling the covers back over your body grasping for those last few moments of warmth from your safe haven of pillows and blankets.

I bring this up because this was 2 nights ago. How poetic that it happened on September 30th/October 1st. One month ending, a new month beginning--one season closing, a new season opening. I know there are official days on the calendar devoted to the starts of the seasons; however, we Michiganders know best when it comes to weather changing. After all, we experience these changes about every 20 minutes. We often joke around saying, "If you don't like the weather wait 15 minutes because it will change." There is a great deal of truth to this statement. In fact, this one characteristic of Michigan that I have come to love over the last 22 years. If I lived somewhere without 4 distinct seasons I might just cry. Especially autumn--with the reds, yellows, and oranges on every tree slowly overtaking the green; the apple cider; cool mornings and days perfect for sporting your favorite sweatshirt...it is by far my favorite time of the year. If only it could last a bit longer. :(

Hmm...Fall is awesome! That is all. :)

dance, dance

Celebration. A word that is often associated with fun, hard work, stress, and countless hours of practice in acting, singing, and dancing--the last of which is what concerns me today. Stoney Creek has an annual lip-sync competition, which I just found out today puts some of the college's club acts to shame. There are teachers who are better dancers than most students around campus. Even after a few kids these moms know how to move and put me to shame. I wish I was better at learning choreography faster! lol I'll keep you posted, but this is going to be funny to say the least.

see you at the pole

Alright, alright, ALRIGHT! You caught me. I admit it. Right now I am, in fact, journaling/blogging from school...gasp! I know, I know, I KNOW! You caught me. I admit it. I am, in fact, a horrible example. :) If it makes any difference though it's before school and technically I'm not on my website, but in fact, I'm writing what appears to be an email at this moment. I did want so badly to wait until after school to get this down, but that's when I have a team teaching meeting with Sarah and Emily then I'll just barely have time for dinner before curriculum night--also know as parent-teacher conferences....sooooo I'm writing now. :)

This morning was tough. I was exhausted from yesterday (being that I worked at school all day, did school stuff all afternoon, and then had to go into work all night) and I felt like staying in bed. However, I did somehow manage to find the strength to get up, get ready, get in my car, and get to school. Driving here was a challenge being that is was so foggy outside. It seemed as though I had transported to the cloud city on the plant of Bespin in Stars Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. (yes, I love all the Star Wars movies. Don't judge me because they are AMAZING.) After parking I walked through the fog and happened upon a group of no more than 30 standing around the flagpole.

You see, today is "See you at the Pole" which is a Nationally recognized event where students across the United States gather at 7a.m. at their school's flagpole and pray. Growing up I attended a private school and went every year. My brother was typically involved in the prayer and the majority of my school attended. I mean there were at over 100 people there every year. This might not seem like a large number, but when your school only has about 35 staff members and approximately 200 students 50% is a good turn out for an event that early in the morning. Now, here I am at a school with over 100 on staff and just over 1,600 students there were only 30 people here? It just blows my mind!

"See you at the Pole" always made me feel so special. It was like I was apart of something so much bigger than VCA (Valley Christian Academy) because 1,000s of other schools, private and public, took part in this event. I have nostalgic memories about singing and praying then having a nice breakfast with all my fellow Christian classmates and teachers to kick off another Wednesday. I even recall it being extra special one year because it fell on the same day as my sweet sixteen. Now, 5 years out of high school I find myself teaching at one of the biggest and nicest schools in the state, and it is filled with some good people. Some of them religious too I am sure; however, there is still something missing for me.

I want to be a Ms. Griffin, who used to pray with me if I was going through a rough week. A Mrs. Fox, who always had a smile on my face at school or when I would run into her at church later the same day. Maybe a Mr. Turner, who was cheery, had bible verses on his walls, and used to always say "every day is a good day, some days just happen to be great days!" There are so many others I could mention, but basically I just want to say as many wonderful things as this school offers there is just something these students are missing that I was so blessed to have and that is a Christian centered education. Other resources might have been lacking due to funding or class size, but I wouldn't trade my high school experience for any of them.

Even now, when I witness every day what public school is like. I'm not saying one is better than the other. I'm not saying that if you don't send your kids to a private school you don't really love Jesus. I'm not saying that if you do send your kids to private school they will not only get a diploma but also a ticket to Heaven. I just know that my faith is a huge part of who I am and that part was developed extensively because of my school. Note: my parents are the number one reason I turned out this way, and the fact that they chose to send me to VCA was such a supplemental blessing for me.

Private v. Public school? Not a debate I want to get into right now, but one thing I will say: What you do at home matters far more than the school building you drive to each morning...that is all. :)

22 years

I know I'm a few days late, but I feel as though I should make some remark(s) about turning another year older... Last Thursday (the 18th) was my 22nd birthday. I've never been huge on celebrating my birthday and having a monsterous party of sorts. However, I do feel it is important to acknowledge one's birthday, so I spent it with a few close friends, which was nice. It's hard to believe I'm 22 years old, and I was reflecting back over the past 22 years remembering good time, hard times, challenging times, special times, memorable times, and wonderful, heartwarming times.

22. My first day of school...kindergarten. I sat next to Brandi Miller, who became one of my best friends all the way through elementry school.
21. Building forts with my brother and all the neighbors. I was the only girl and a total tomboy.
20. Playing basketball in the driveway all summer long with Drew.
19. My first sleepover with Bethany and Sarah when I was 8.
18. Learning to play poker with my Grandma. :)
17. Family get togethers with my Mom's side, when we ate KFC for our main course along with everything else being homemade.
16. Picking up a volleyball for the first time in 7th grade, and instantly knowing I never wanted to put it down.
15. Driving to school with Drew and jamming out to the radio.
14. Watching Friends every Thursday at 8 with my family.
13. Getting Chinese food and an old mom with my mom then spending the whole night together, just with two of us.
12. Graduating with Trent, Jamie, Ryan, Brandon, Nate, Anna, and Mike.
11. Driving to away games with the girls in high school.
10. Fallfest and Winterfest trips with the youth group.
9. MDYC trips with Samantha, Amy, Jamie, Jen, Miranda, Angela, etc.
8. Spending a week of my summer from age 8 to 20 out at MCYC, as a camper to counselor.
7. Coaching jr. high girl's volleybal with LeAnn and always going to Dairy Queen after games.
6. Winning Districts my senior year in volleyball with Jamie, Samantha, Jessica, Meghan, Melinda, and Gretchen.
5. Taking my brother to college and crying like a little girl about it.
4. My brother coming home from college to surprise me on my 17th birthday.
3. Pledging Sigma Phi and being apart of it the next 3 years.
2. Living with Lindsay 4 years at RC...so many good times there.
1. Having the best friends and family in the whole world...