Sorry for the lack of blogging this weekend... it was relatively crappy on a weekend scale. Saturday I woke up too early and couldn't go back to sleep, so I tried to get some productive things done around the house, which pretty much just led to getting overwhelmed with the disaster area that is my apartment at the moment. So then I took my pupperdog for a walk, which was nice, although I felt bad because it was too short for either of us, but as I had to get to the library to do some research I figured a little was better than none at all. So I was at the library for a couple hours before meeting my group to do finish up our Unit Plan. That went relatively well, and we went straight from there to Marci's house for a dinner-thing. The dinner thing was really nice, good food, good conversation, and a 16 month old to entertain us all. That was probably the best part of my weekend, although it sucked to be thinking about all the other things I could have been using that time for to get things done. But I still enjoyed it. Then I came home, finished my part of the Unit stuff, and organized my notes for my individual lesson that I had to teach.
Sunday morning I got up, put some ribs and bbq sauce in the crockpot, and spent pretty much the entire day working on my lesson/school stuff with the exception of some errands in the morning (posterboard, markers, and dog food) and a nap in the afternoon. I took a break at dinner time for some tasty ribs, and watched some video of my two nephews, and then it was back to work. At about 9:00 I very suddenly got both a splitting headache and very very nauseous, followed shortly thereafter by a second showing of my dinner. Not fun. So then I got a Sprite and some tylenol and went back to work again, hitting the pillow around midnight.
Needless to say that I didn't get much sleep and was feeling crappy this morning, on top of which it was just a Monday in every way, shape, and form. Specifically the kids were just off the walls today which did NOT make for a great practice session. Luckily I was just "the audience" which involved sitting in the top row of the practice theatre and shouting at them when I couldn't hear them. Not so much fun for the headache, but it could have been worse. Unfortunately the kids were not that great today during rehearsal, so there was quite a bit of negative feedback, which of course frustrated them, etc. etc. We tried to end the day on a high note with a compliment session, but it was pretty half-hearted on all sides.
All of this, as you might be able to imagine at this point, leads to not the best mood to be in to teach my lesson. However lunch seemed to sit ok in the tummy, I bummed some Ibuprofen off Jess, and I made it through. I actually think it went pretty well (it being the condensed-3rd-grade-version of the geographical history of the Pikes Peak Region) and I am very glad that we are done and have nothing else super big to worry about this week.
After I got home I spent an hour out in the park with Sherlock (I sat on the bench while we played, but we were both ok with that). Tonight I still have to work on the program for the play, get in touch with the theatre tech guy (who is cute, so that isn't really on the list of complaints, I just need to remember to do it), read the five million chapters that I neglected reading over the past several days, and the other four things that I have forgotten at this point.
So in conclusion, that is why I am glad Monday is over. Although I have to say, that this link (sent to me by my Mommy) was the best part of my day :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNTdWbVBgc
Monday, June 30, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
If I Ran the Circus...
I would make it full of kids! :) Yesterday I taught my jester lesson. Bet you didn't know...
~there is actually record of a dwarf who entertained a pharaoh in Ancient Egypt
~the word for "actor" and "jester/clown" is the same word in Latin and Chinese
~what we think of as renaissance jesters came from the Roman empire. Occasionally the emperors of Rome banished actors from the cities, so they traveled around the occupied regions, including Britain.
~in the middle ages and renaissance, jester was the only profession that could ascend the social ladder. Jesters could be anyone: peasants, apprentices, disrobed monks, petty thieves, etc. If you were entertaining enough you could be "discovered" by a rich lord or even royalty and be promoted to a high social standing.
~the court jester represented freedom of speech for a society that had none... he could say (almost) anything to the lord/king as it was always taken as foolery. He/she (yes there were famous women jesters too!) allowed the king to laugh at himself which made him much more lovable to his subjects.
~royal physicians of the middle ages prescribed laughter to balance the four humors that governed the mind and body. So even then they knew that laughter was the best medicine! :)
Ok so there is much more... but if you want to know I'll let you go to the library! After the lesson I taught them how to make jester hats. I found the pattern online and they were a hit! Today they finished the hats and a friend of Dedra's came and taught them how to juggle (kind of). They had a blast anyway... and here are some pictures of both the hats and the juggling.
So it was a great way to end the week! Unfortunately this weekend is going to be too short since we are doing a group unit plan (meeting tomorrow afternoon) and we also have to each do an individual lesson plan to teach Monday from the unit. So.... lots of homework! But for now, I am treating myself to pizza and an evening of doing nothing :)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Professions of the Elizabethan Era
Its Friday tomorrow right? This week already feels incredibly long and its only Tuesday :( Although I have to say that the best part of my day yesterday was my Mommy. She came to the Springs for a Dr. Appt but brought me lunch and Mommy-food. For those of you who remember the care packages... its that but better because she brings just-cooked stuff too!! MMMMmmmmmm :)
So today I had my first official "lesson" to teach in Shakespeare. I think my fellow MATs are getting a bit of a different experience because, while Dedra is delighted to have me there, we have a focus (getting the play done by next week!) and we don't have time for much else. I keep hearing about these hour-long activities and lesson plans and such that other people are doing, but I was told to keep it very short.... So it was short and sweet but it went well! I started by dressing up (borrowing a hat from Dedra's costume box) as a Cheese Monger - someone who sells cheese. I was pretending to write a letter (with quill/scroll) as the kids came in this morning and asked them to gather-round and help me. I read them my letter (to my Mom who lived in Canterbury) about my life as a Master Cheese Monger in Elizabethan London... telling them about my day, my brother the baker, his new apprentice, going to see a play at the Globe theatre, etc. etc. Then I asked for their help in what else I could write about... they gave some fun ideas -- talk about the rats and the plague, the lords and ladies who come to my shop, etc. Then I had them draw a paper out of a bag -- half of them got a modern-day job (pharmacist, dentist, banker, etc) and half of them got a Elizabethan job (apothecary, cordwainer, haberdasher, etc.) I had picked some hard ones, so they had a fun time trying to figure them out... a few had to read the description on the inside of their paper before they found their match. The best part was that for a project to work on (when they weren't painting the set or rehearsing) was to pick a profession and write a letter to their family pretending to be an apprentice and telling about their life just like I had read to them. They came up with INCREDIBLE stories! They were so great -- being an apothecary and not being able to help people with the plague, being a blacksmith and almost cutting off their thumb, being a cook in the royal kitchen. I was just tickled :) They got up to share at the end of the class today and it was so fun to hear them read.
In afternoon-class we have moved from Language Arts in the classroom to Social Studies. Its not as much fun because I really don't like Social Studies at all, but I suppose that means I should pay that much more attention so I can make it fun to teach and therefore fun to learn :) That sounds good in theory, and I have some good ideas.... so, we'll see. Part of this portion of the class is doing a group lesson -- so my group is developing a lesson on the early history of the Colorado Springs/Pike's Peak area. Should be interesting as I know nothing about it!! Tonight I have to read a education magazine/journal and summarize some "idea"of how to teach something to the class tomorrow. Mine is geography, so hopefully it has something fun I can pull out. Also its very rumbly and thundery outside so I should get off the computer :)
So today I had my first official "lesson" to teach in Shakespeare. I think my fellow MATs are getting a bit of a different experience because, while Dedra is delighted to have me there, we have a focus (getting the play done by next week!) and we don't have time for much else. I keep hearing about these hour-long activities and lesson plans and such that other people are doing, but I was told to keep it very short.... So it was short and sweet but it went well! I started by dressing up (borrowing a hat from Dedra's costume box) as a Cheese Monger - someone who sells cheese. I was pretending to write a letter (with quill/scroll) as the kids came in this morning and asked them to gather-round and help me. I read them my letter (to my Mom who lived in Canterbury) about my life as a Master Cheese Monger in Elizabethan London... telling them about my day, my brother the baker, his new apprentice, going to see a play at the Globe theatre, etc. etc. Then I asked for their help in what else I could write about... they gave some fun ideas -- talk about the rats and the plague, the lords and ladies who come to my shop, etc. Then I had them draw a paper out of a bag -- half of them got a modern-day job (pharmacist, dentist, banker, etc) and half of them got a Elizabethan job (apothecary, cordwainer, haberdasher, etc.) I had picked some hard ones, so they had a fun time trying to figure them out... a few had to read the description on the inside of their paper before they found their match. The best part was that for a project to work on (when they weren't painting the set or rehearsing) was to pick a profession and write a letter to their family pretending to be an apprentice and telling about their life just like I had read to them. They came up with INCREDIBLE stories! They were so great -- being an apothecary and not being able to help people with the plague, being a blacksmith and almost cutting off their thumb, being a cook in the royal kitchen. I was just tickled :) They got up to share at the end of the class today and it was so fun to hear them read.
In afternoon-class we have moved from Language Arts in the classroom to Social Studies. Its not as much fun because I really don't like Social Studies at all, but I suppose that means I should pay that much more attention so I can make it fun to teach and therefore fun to learn :) That sounds good in theory, and I have some good ideas.... so, we'll see. Part of this portion of the class is doing a group lesson -- so my group is developing a lesson on the early history of the Colorado Springs/Pike's Peak area. Should be interesting as I know nothing about it!! Tonight I have to read a education magazine/journal and summarize some "idea"of how to teach something to the class tomorrow. Mine is geography, so hopefully it has something fun I can pull out. Also its very rumbly and thundery outside so I should get off the computer :)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
7 Bridges Trail
So after spending a good chunk of the day Saturday working on the first chapter of the MR (Master's Research) Paper which is due Monday, the finish line was in sight, so I figured I would take the pooperdog for a hike today. We went up to the same area as St. Mary's Falls and found the 7 Bridges Trail... which as you may have guessed.... has 7 bridges :) Its a nice trail that climbs up a creek/valley and crisscrosses along. Here's the pooper on one of the bridges:
We saw some absolutely beautiful wildflowers along the way.... my favorites were the columbines:
So now I need to go finish writing my chapter and maybe enjoy some lazy-time before bed. Hope you had a nice weekend!! :)
Sherlock actually isn't a big fan of crossing bridges if he doesn't have to, so while he very nicely let me take his picture (above) he much preferred going through the creek while I crossed the bridge (below)
We saw some absolutely beautiful wildflowers along the way.... my favorites were the columbines:
We saw lots of other doggies on the trail, and Sherlock enjoyed saying hi to everyone. He had very good doggy-trail-etiquette today! At one point I had to hold up a rock for Sherlock to go under:
I took that picture with the timer on my camera... pretty good eh? :) So we found all the bridges and the trail kept going, so we meandered on for a while. But then the clouds got dark and rumbley, so we headed back to the car. It was a fun hike.
So now I need to go finish writing my chapter and maybe enjoy some lazy-time before bed. Hope you had a nice weekend!! :)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Sneaky Pete and The Wolf
Ok so I need to get on to the homework, but it was such a fun morning I had to tell you about it :) We got the kids over to the arts center and settled them in a few rows up in the balcony of the new theatre (which is really nice by the way) The orchestra was already set up and ready to go, so they didn't have long to wait. There was a guest violinist, Steven Copes - very talented, who talked about his rare violin and did a very cool violin piece along with the orchestra. Beautiful music and short enough for the kids' attentions span. So then (this part was the best!!!) the conductor chose a few kids to come up and actually conduct the orchestra. Before anyone came up he showed us all -- with the orchestra playing the William Tell Overture -- that he waves the baton (just simple up-down, up-down) and if he crouches down they get quieter... and if he stands up tall they get louder... and if he goes fast theygetfaster... and if he goes slow they g e t s l o w e r.... and so pretty much EVERY kid in the audience raised their hand. He picked two boys and two girls, and I haven't laughed so much in a long time! If you have never heard the William Tell Overture in super-slow motion and super-high-speed -- well, my friends... you haven't truly lived!! :)
So after the "guest conductors" the next part of the concert was an adaptation of "Peter and the Wolf" called "Sneaky Pete and the Wolf" Its the same musical score, but with a completely different narration set in the old west. Sneaky Pete is your somewhat-washed-up gun-slinging hero, Laura is his very competent girlfriend, the wolf is El Lobo. It was a hoot!! I think the kids really enjoyed it, and I certainly did!! :)
Oh, and I got an "A" on my micro-teaching :) Yay!
So after the "guest conductors" the next part of the concert was an adaptation of "Peter and the Wolf" called "Sneaky Pete and the Wolf" Its the same musical score, but with a completely different narration set in the old west. Sneaky Pete is your somewhat-washed-up gun-slinging hero, Laura is his very competent girlfriend, the wolf is El Lobo. It was a hoot!! I think the kids really enjoyed it, and I certainly did!! :)
Oh, and I got an "A" on my micro-teaching :) Yay!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Controlled Chaos
If it is possible to be exhilarated and exhausted at the same time, then that about covers it! I certainly have had no lack of hands-on experience so far. Yesterday Dedra handed out the part assignments. A few have already been shuffled slightly, but for the most part they are settled and the kids are pretty psyched... I have heard a few comparisons (I have this many lines, I have that many lines), but they are all, for the most part, pretty happy with the arrangements. Since we have lots of kids, and not a lot of parts, there are multiple main characters for the multiple scenes which I think is a great way to do it. And she will introduce all the "Rosalinds" and all the "Orlandos" together before the whole play starts so the audience should be able to follow along as well. Yesterday we spent the main chunk of the morning just reading through the different scenes. She gave a little feedback to the kids here and there, but mostly it was just to give them a big-picture concept.
Today on the other hand (from my perspective at least) was jumping off the high dive for the second day of swimming lessons. You might keep in mind that she is use to having two MAT (that's what I am - Masters of Arts in Teaching) students instead of just one. We do have two "helpers" which are middle-schoolers who have outgrown this elementary program, but still wanted to come back and help... but while they are certainly willing, they don't exactly have classroom management skills, or the authority, to handle kids on their own. So anyway... this morning the kids were suppose to come prepared with ideas for drawing the backdrop for the play, which they would then sketch out (individually to start with) during their non-acting time. They also had a second assignment of drawing a self-portrait of themselves as their character (yes, I know "self-portrait of themselves" is redundant -- I'm tired). This sounds great as a few projects to keep them busy right? Sure...
So Dedra takes a scene at a time (3-6 kids per scene) outside -- yes, that's completely outside the building -- and leaves me to read lines of individual scenes with other groups (of 3-6 kids) while at the same time making sure that the other 12-18 kids are staying "on task" with their art stuff. Sure.... Her thought process was that the "helper" kids could kind of control the main group, but that didn't happen. I have to say that I think I managed it pretty well, and these are really great kids (translation - it could have been a lot worse), but good lord was I pooped by the end of the morning. In between completely stopping my scene on occasion to re-focus the entire group, I had the interruptions of "do you like my backdrop?" "I can't draw" "I'm done" "So-and-so did such-and-such" etc. etc. I am sure this is great practice for the multi-tasking in a real classroom setting, but I still would have set it up differently if I was the primary teacher. I can definitely see how it would have worked smoothly if there was another MAT in the class, but with just me... yah... controlled chaos. Super fun though. Seriously... I still had a blast. I think I did a great job translating the Shakespearean "wordage" into something the kids actually understand. And for me, that would also really help me memorize my lines (if i actually understood what it was that I was suppose to be saying). There is still a lot of "ewww...cooties" reactions to the shmoopy love stuff, and since its a romantic comedy, there is a lot of it, but Dedra says they get over that in the end. So I think I might talk to her about how we can re-juggle this set up a little bit... although she is already stressing out (I have been warned that she does this EVERY year)... so I might just have to take it as a learning experience and go with it. Thankfully, tomorrow all the kids from all the classes go to an orchestra performance of "Peter and the Wolf" so that should be fun (and a break from the chaos)
And of course the day that I am fall-down-and-nap-where-I-stand-tired, is the day that I am up for my micro-teaching lesson. It was teaching transition words (first, next, last, fourth, finally, etc) to third graders through Halloween-themed writing/drawing project. I definitely felt prepared as I spent most of Mon night and all of Tues night prepping... (yes, 9ish hours to do 15 minutes), but I was still nervous. It was much more nerve-racking to be up in front of my peers and my teacher, than it was to be in front of the kids... but I think I did well. There was certainly room for improvement (yes, shocking that I am not perfect, I know!) but I got a lot of compliments as well. So... if I get a good grade I'll report it, and if I don't, then you'll know not to ask :)
Ok... I'm all blogged out and there is a very patient puppy dog who is very patiently waiting for me to not be ratt-a-tat-tatting on this computer and take him outside to play. You probably won't hear from me until the weekend as I have multiple due-Friday stuff to work on. But I also like writing this (I hope you like reading it!) so you never know!
In the meantime, as my actors would say... "And now, adieu." [end scene]
Today on the other hand (from my perspective at least) was jumping off the high dive for the second day of swimming lessons. You might keep in mind that she is use to having two MAT (that's what I am - Masters of Arts in Teaching) students instead of just one. We do have two "helpers" which are middle-schoolers who have outgrown this elementary program, but still wanted to come back and help... but while they are certainly willing, they don't exactly have classroom management skills, or the authority, to handle kids on their own. So anyway... this morning the kids were suppose to come prepared with ideas for drawing the backdrop for the play, which they would then sketch out (individually to start with) during their non-acting time. They also had a second assignment of drawing a self-portrait of themselves as their character (yes, I know "self-portrait of themselves" is redundant -- I'm tired). This sounds great as a few projects to keep them busy right? Sure...
So Dedra takes a scene at a time (3-6 kids per scene) outside -- yes, that's completely outside the building -- and leaves me to read lines of individual scenes with other groups (of 3-6 kids) while at the same time making sure that the other 12-18 kids are staying "on task" with their art stuff. Sure.... Her thought process was that the "helper" kids could kind of control the main group, but that didn't happen. I have to say that I think I managed it pretty well, and these are really great kids (translation - it could have been a lot worse), but good lord was I pooped by the end of the morning. In between completely stopping my scene on occasion to re-focus the entire group, I had the interruptions of "do you like my backdrop?" "I can't draw" "I'm done" "So-and-so did such-and-such" etc. etc. I am sure this is great practice for the multi-tasking in a real classroom setting, but I still would have set it up differently if I was the primary teacher. I can definitely see how it would have worked smoothly if there was another MAT in the class, but with just me... yah... controlled chaos. Super fun though. Seriously... I still had a blast. I think I did a great job translating the Shakespearean "wordage" into something the kids actually understand. And for me, that would also really help me memorize my lines (if i actually understood what it was that I was suppose to be saying). There is still a lot of "ewww...cooties" reactions to the shmoopy love stuff, and since its a romantic comedy, there is a lot of it, but Dedra says they get over that in the end. So I think I might talk to her about how we can re-juggle this set up a little bit... although she is already stressing out (I have been warned that she does this EVERY year)... so I might just have to take it as a learning experience and go with it. Thankfully, tomorrow all the kids from all the classes go to an orchestra performance of "Peter and the Wolf" so that should be fun (and a break from the chaos)
And of course the day that I am fall-down-and-nap-where-I-stand-tired, is the day that I am up for my micro-teaching lesson. It was teaching transition words (first, next, last, fourth, finally, etc) to third graders through Halloween-themed writing/drawing project. I definitely felt prepared as I spent most of Mon night and all of Tues night prepping... (yes, 9ish hours to do 15 minutes), but I was still nervous. It was much more nerve-racking to be up in front of my peers and my teacher, than it was to be in front of the kids... but I think I did well. There was certainly room for improvement (yes, shocking that I am not perfect, I know!) but I got a lot of compliments as well. So... if I get a good grade I'll report it, and if I don't, then you'll know not to ask :)
Ok... I'm all blogged out and there is a very patient puppy dog who is very patiently waiting for me to not be ratt-a-tat-tatting on this computer and take him outside to play. You probably won't hear from me until the weekend as I have multiple due-Friday stuff to work on. But I also like writing this (I hope you like reading it!) so you never know!
In the meantime, as my actors would say... "And now, adieu." [end scene]
Monday, June 16, 2008
You know it has been a long day when...
... you open the back door of your car to put stuff in the back seat, get in the car, put your seat belt on, turn the keys, are chatting with the person sitting in the car with you, and then are wondering why in the world they are looking at you so strangely -- because the back door of the car is still wide open :) Thank goodness I was taking Jessica home after class or I might have just gone all the way with my door open! It took us a good 5 minutes to recover from laughing. Yes... most of you can attest to the fact that I am quite capable of laughing at myself :)
So other than that slight snafu, the day was good and went by really fast! I got to school a bit early as we had some last minute stuff to finish, but since Dedra (my GT teacher) was running late it turned into a bit of a scramble to finish before the kids showed up. So in came the kids, with their parents (we got rid of them relatively quickly) and while they were getting settled I took every one's picture. This was pre-planned so Dedra could put names with faces when assigning parts after the auditions (and I figured it would help me learn names faster). I was under the impression that meant I would print them out for her after the class, but as soon as I got everyone she asked me to go print them out. I was a bit bummed as I didn't want to miss any part of the class, but she wanted to take notes on the print-outs. So I ran (literally) over to the library and got them printed and came back in the middle of the "We're going on a picnic, I'm Polly and I'm taking Pears, that's Sara and she's bringing Soccer balls, etc." game... so I don't think I missed much. Of course the kids are calling me Ms. Frostman, which I don't know if I will ever get use to since it just makes me think of Mrs. Frostman (aka my mom). I need to find some good guy and marry him so I can be Mrs. Something-Else and it won't sound as weird :) Anyway!! After the icebreakers, we played Shakespeare Jeopardy. All the kids were sent a packet of info with the audition part, synopsis of the play, etc and they did pretty well with the Jeopardy. After Jeopardy we practiced insulting each other in Shakespearean dialect. That was HILARIOUS. Dedra had put together lists of Renaissance-period adjectives and nouns and the kids picked combinations of them. So instead of being a big smelly dork, you would be a lilly-livered, two-toed mealworm. It was very entertaining, and it helped the kids warm up for their auditions by being in character. Dedra has a very difficult job tonight, because out of the 24 auditions, only a handful were not really great!! I was impressed. I can't wait to see our finished product! So, other than the fact that it was raining as we were dismissing kids, getting down to the field and putting them in cars (we - including most of the kids - were all quite soaked by the end of this process) the first day with the Shakespeare Players was a lot of fun!! Note to self... tomorrow bring an umbrella.
At this point in the day, I could have just stopped and taken a nap, but of course we get to have class in the afternoons, so it was off to class we went. We started with sharing our morning experiences (everyone pretty much had a blast) and then Marci did the first micro-teaching lesson (she's the teacher, we're the kids, etc.) She picked a mini-lesson about synonyms and antonyms and did a great job... and I got some ideas for how to do mine (on Wednesday). Then we talked about teaching spelling. Since I suck at spelling I figured this would be something I could hopefully find some tips from... but its pretty much the same as when I was a kid. Oh well. At least I will have empathy for the crappy spellers in my classes :) At the end of the day we got 30 minutes to meet with the person that is going to be our mentor for our Masters papers. Oh!! Before which we got our journal responses back. I got an "A" yay!! :) So Jessica and I have the same mentor (which we both were excited about) He is a retired teacher/principal who works part time with the ed dept. at CC and seems very very nice. He also does magic shows for kids :) He said our outlines were some of the best he has ever read... which we thought was a pretty good start! Thankfully the next chunk of paper-due-dates aren't until next week, so it can go on the back-burner for a few days. So that was a good way to end the school day! Now its time for... yes, you guessed it.... reading/homework :)
So other than that slight snafu, the day was good and went by really fast! I got to school a bit early as we had some last minute stuff to finish, but since Dedra (my GT teacher) was running late it turned into a bit of a scramble to finish before the kids showed up. So in came the kids, with their parents (we got rid of them relatively quickly) and while they were getting settled I took every one's picture. This was pre-planned so Dedra could put names with faces when assigning parts after the auditions (and I figured it would help me learn names faster). I was under the impression that meant I would print them out for her after the class, but as soon as I got everyone she asked me to go print them out. I was a bit bummed as I didn't want to miss any part of the class, but she wanted to take notes on the print-outs. So I ran (literally) over to the library and got them printed and came back in the middle of the "We're going on a picnic, I'm Polly and I'm taking Pears, that's Sara and she's bringing Soccer balls, etc." game... so I don't think I missed much. Of course the kids are calling me Ms. Frostman, which I don't know if I will ever get use to since it just makes me think of Mrs. Frostman (aka my mom). I need to find some good guy and marry him so I can be Mrs. Something-Else and it won't sound as weird :) Anyway!! After the icebreakers, we played Shakespeare Jeopardy. All the kids were sent a packet of info with the audition part, synopsis of the play, etc and they did pretty well with the Jeopardy. After Jeopardy we practiced insulting each other in Shakespearean dialect. That was HILARIOUS. Dedra had put together lists of Renaissance-period adjectives and nouns and the kids picked combinations of them. So instead of being a big smelly dork, you would be a lilly-livered, two-toed mealworm. It was very entertaining, and it helped the kids warm up for their auditions by being in character. Dedra has a very difficult job tonight, because out of the 24 auditions, only a handful were not really great!! I was impressed. I can't wait to see our finished product! So, other than the fact that it was raining as we were dismissing kids, getting down to the field and putting them in cars (we - including most of the kids - were all quite soaked by the end of this process) the first day with the Shakespeare Players was a lot of fun!! Note to self... tomorrow bring an umbrella.
At this point in the day, I could have just stopped and taken a nap, but of course we get to have class in the afternoons, so it was off to class we went. We started with sharing our morning experiences (everyone pretty much had a blast) and then Marci did the first micro-teaching lesson (she's the teacher, we're the kids, etc.) She picked a mini-lesson about synonyms and antonyms and did a great job... and I got some ideas for how to do mine (on Wednesday). Then we talked about teaching spelling. Since I suck at spelling I figured this would be something I could hopefully find some tips from... but its pretty much the same as when I was a kid. Oh well. At least I will have empathy for the crappy spellers in my classes :) At the end of the day we got 30 minutes to meet with the person that is going to be our mentor for our Masters papers. Oh!! Before which we got our journal responses back. I got an "A" yay!! :) So Jessica and I have the same mentor (which we both were excited about) He is a retired teacher/principal who works part time with the ed dept. at CC and seems very very nice. He also does magic shows for kids :) He said our outlines were some of the best he has ever read... which we thought was a pretty good start! Thankfully the next chunk of paper-due-dates aren't until next week, so it can go on the back-burner for a few days. So that was a good way to end the school day! Now its time for... yes, you guessed it.... reading/homework :)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Today's Smile Brought To You By....
.... my oh-so-adorable nephew Max. He's just over two month's old! If you're going to be a frequent visitor to my blog, get use to seeing pictures of my two nephews because I love them to pieces!! Enjoy :)
My New Place
So here are some pictures of the new place!
You walk in the front door and have the kitchen on your right (front door next to fridge):
To your left is a coat closet and my desk area, followed by the door into the bedroom:
And Sherlock's favorite part... there are also lots of places to play ball :)
You walk in the front door and have the kitchen on your right (front door next to fridge):
To your left is a coat closet and my desk area, followed by the door into the bedroom:
In front of you (still standing at the front door) is the living room:
To your left is the bedroom:
If you make another left when you come in the bedroom there's a door to the bathroom:
You don't get to see the huge closet as its full of crap :) One of the best parts of the place is that it is on a hill on the west side of Colorado Springs, so the views are great. My windows look mostly south, but Sherlock and my's favorite place to stroll is on the west side. I don't know if you can see them in the first picture but the Garden of the Gods rocks (north west) are sticking up just past the pine trees:
And of course Pike's Peak:
And Sherlock's favorite part... there are also lots of places to play ball :)
Friday, June 13, 2008
TGIF
Having had somewhat random days off for the last four years, I am pretty sure I haven't been this happy that its Friday for a long, long time! Today we only had a half day with a short class in the morning and then final GT Camp prep time for another few hours before we were done. I am extremely tired as last night I think I hit the books as soon as I walked in the door (4:45ish) and hit the pillow around 12:30am. I think I am waking up some dendrites that haven't been used for a while!! We had a text chapter, an article, a journal-reflection (writing assignment) and the outline of our Master's paper due at 8am. Although from the stories I heard this morning, comparatively I got a good night sleep. But I've survived the first week!! And just in case you're curious, here are some of the highlights:
~The way a child thinks about their own intelligence is key
~I can now add bulletin board architecture to my resume
~I have become the new (unofficial) technical support for the elementary education department
~Glitter, Markers, Scissors, etc. are just as much fun when you're 29 as they were when you were 6
~17 states have cut ALL funding for Gifted and Talented children since the implementation of No Child Left Behind. Thankfully Colorado is not one of them.
~When in doubt, pull out Shel Silverstein
~One of the best things you can say to a child is "I don't know."
I am sure this will be an infinitely expanding list :) I am so psyched for the kids to come on Monday, but for now I am soooooooooo glad its the weekend. So things on tap for the weekend include sleep, sleep, planning a 15 minute lesson to present in class on Wednesday, sleep, starting to put together my real lesson on jesters for the GT kids, some sleep, reading, reading and more reading, sleep, some research for my paper, a siesta, and hopefully some in-the-mountains-and-sun time with the pooperdog! And maybe some sleep. Speaking of which, I think I'll go take a nap :)
~The way a child thinks about their own intelligence is key
~I can now add bulletin board architecture to my resume
~I have become the new (unofficial) technical support for the elementary education department
~Glitter, Markers, Scissors, etc. are just as much fun when you're 29 as they were when you were 6
~17 states have cut ALL funding for Gifted and Talented children since the implementation of No Child Left Behind. Thankfully Colorado is not one of them.
~When in doubt, pull out Shel Silverstein
~One of the best things you can say to a child is "I don't know."
I am sure this will be an infinitely expanding list :) I am so psyched for the kids to come on Monday, but for now I am soooooooooo glad its the weekend. So things on tap for the weekend include sleep, sleep, planning a 15 minute lesson to present in class on Wednesday, sleep, starting to put together my real lesson on jesters for the GT kids, some sleep, reading, reading and more reading, sleep, some research for my paper, a siesta, and hopefully some in-the-mountains-and-sun time with the pooperdog! And maybe some sleep. Speaking of which, I think I'll go take a nap :)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Advice from those who have gone before...
So another jam-packed day!! I just finished googling -- is that an official verb in the English language now? -- different ways to make jester's hats out of paper (from construction-paper-glue-and-scissors to origami) I'll have to run them by my GT teacher to see what she thinks will work best for our kids time-constraints and skill-base (and I'll have to make sure I can make it first!!)
So other than a intro-visit from the associate dean of students, and a tour of the library, today was another combination of class and prep for camp. Unfortunately CC is upgrading some of the technology in their classrooms over the summer, so right now our Shakespeare room has wires running all over... which meant that we couldn't get as much done (frustrating!) Hopefully they finished today and will be gone tomorrow. The most interesting part of my day was learning about the theory of Multiple Intelligences (Google it if you want to know!) which I feel will be incredibly helpful in creating lesson plans that will cater to many different ways of learning.
After class we were invited to a bbq put on by the graduating MAT students to pass on their knowledge. I should have taken notes because we got a ton of information.. kind of an unofficial survival guide. There were some pretty horrible stories, but at least we are forewarned! And it helped prepare us for some of the.... lets say it nicely... "quirks" of our professors. I also added some good ideas to my ever-growing catalgoue of ideas for teaching.... So hopefully we will all survive to continue the tradition of passing on the advice to next year's group!
Time to finish reading (oh so much reading!!!!) and get some sleep :)
So other than a intro-visit from the associate dean of students, and a tour of the library, today was another combination of class and prep for camp. Unfortunately CC is upgrading some of the technology in their classrooms over the summer, so right now our Shakespeare room has wires running all over... which meant that we couldn't get as much done (frustrating!) Hopefully they finished today and will be gone tomorrow. The most interesting part of my day was learning about the theory of Multiple Intelligences (Google it if you want to know!) which I feel will be incredibly helpful in creating lesson plans that will cater to many different ways of learning.
After class we were invited to a bbq put on by the graduating MAT students to pass on their knowledge. I should have taken notes because we got a ton of information.. kind of an unofficial survival guide. There were some pretty horrible stories, but at least we are forewarned! And it helped prepare us for some of the.... lets say it nicely... "quirks" of our professors. I also added some good ideas to my ever-growing catalgoue of ideas for teaching.... So hopefully we will all survive to continue the tradition of passing on the advice to next year's group!
Time to finish reading (oh so much reading!!!!) and get some sleep :)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
First Two Days of School
Can I just say how surreal it is to be back in school??? Even though my brain is so crammed full of new information at this point, it still feels like I am suppose to be going back to work soon... I suppose that feeling will go away as soon as the kids come...
So Sunday afternoon was the orientation for my Masters program. We met at the Education house on campus and, along with munching on your typical veggies, crackers, and cheeses, we were introduced to some of the staff. They are changing department chairs this year, and I have a feeling that might be shaking up the dynamics of the staff a little bit, so we'll see how that all plays out. Anyway -- then we split up into Elementary and Secondary groups and I was astounded to find that I am one of only 6 people in the Elem program. I was a little disappointed to find out that there were that few of us, just in relation to having a little more diversity in the group, but everyone seems very nice so far. Miles, our token male, just graduated from CC (that's Colorado College, get use to the abbreviation!). Crystalyn just graduated as well and moved from Pennsylvania, but loves Colorado (I think she was born here) and is here to stay. Jessica also just graduated from somewhere else in Colorado and is married to Jordan who is in the 2ndary ed program. Marci, like me, has been out of school for a little while. She is also married and has a 15mo old boy who she has been home with since he was born, so this is a big adjustment for her. Pam is coming back to school after 20-something years. She has 3 kids. So while there aren't that many of us, at least we do have different backgrounds and experiences to draw from. For the post part we will not have much interaction with the Secondary Ed people, so you'll be hearing a lot about this crew I am sure!
Monday morning we all (Elem and 2ndary) met on campus for registration. I was apparently one of the few people who had actually turned in all my stuff that I was suppose to turn in ahead of time because, while we had 2 hours, I was done in like 20 minutes (18 of which was probably just waiting in line). Jessica was done too, so she and Jordan and I went and got our student IDs, books ($$ouch$$) and then sat on the porch of the Education House and chatted until 10ish when we went to our respective classes. We're starting with Language Arts and Social Studies, along with picking a topic for our masters paper (the outline of which is due Friday! yikes!) We also will be spending the next 4 weeks with a Gifted and Talented Elementary Camp that comes to CC every summer. Talk about cramming it all in!!! So Monday was spent going over 10 million different things (yes, I counted) like the syllabus, online assignments, masters papers, evaluation scales, etc. I was elected to be the "I.T." person for the class (setting up the laptop/projector system) as I was the only one who could figure it out. We also talked a lot about the structure of the entire program, which is insanely intense, but still sounds really cool. My brain was overflowing by the end of the day.
Today we met in class again first thing and were introduced to the teachers for the GT Camp and they pitched their classes to us (along with wonderful bribes: food, food, food, art supplies, shiny rocks, and food) The classes are grouped by age (1st grade, 2-3rd, 4-6th) and range from oceanography, around the world in 80 days, geology, China, etc. etc. Then they all left and we got to pick (half choice, half luck of the draw) what class we wanted to assist. I got my first choice which is a 4th-6th grade group of kids who will be performing Shakespeare's "As You Like It." I am super excited and the teacher seems awesome. Now I have to come up with two official lesson plans that I have to teach amongst the learning of lines, designing of the set, and making of costumes. I am thinking something about Jesters as Touchstone is a main character in the play... we'll see. Anyway, we also get to perform the play for both the other kids in the camp and for parents. AND we get to use the brand-spankin-new theatre to do it! It should be a hit!
The rest of this week we will be in class, then helping set up the room for our GT camp, then back to class in the afternoons. The kids come next week at which point we will be with them all morning and then have class in the afternoons. Strangely enough the Secondary Ed people are just taking one regular college class right now (expanding their background in whatever subject area they plan to teach). I am sure eventually I will be jealous that they have so much less stuff to do, but right now I am so tickled about this camp, and getting more real/hands-on experience with the kids, that I feel sorry for them not to have something similar to work on (and they are all jealous of us!! :) hee hee).
The other thing we did this afternoon was we got to meet up with the teacher we are teamed with for the school year, and also (in my case and maybe one or two others) the principal of the school we'll be at. My teacher is actually leaving next week for a 5 week trip to Paraguay to study a rain forest eco-system. Funnily enough she has no background in bio, so I thought it was so awesome that she chose to do that, I can't wait to hear all about it! And she and the principal seem to be good friends, so I felt super comfortable with them already.
Ok so that's quite enough for the first blog entry... not to mention I still have to read a good chunk of Shakespeare tonight. Sherlock was tickled that I did my first two hours of reading out in the park near my house while throwing his ball for him :)
By the way... I figured this (blog) would be the best way for you all to keep tabs on me for a while since (as you can see) I am going to be insanely busy for a while!
More to come soon!!!!!!!!
So Sunday afternoon was the orientation for my Masters program. We met at the Education house on campus and, along with munching on your typical veggies, crackers, and cheeses, we were introduced to some of the staff. They are changing department chairs this year, and I have a feeling that might be shaking up the dynamics of the staff a little bit, so we'll see how that all plays out. Anyway -- then we split up into Elementary and Secondary groups and I was astounded to find that I am one of only 6 people in the Elem program. I was a little disappointed to find out that there were that few of us, just in relation to having a little more diversity in the group, but everyone seems very nice so far. Miles, our token male, just graduated from CC (that's Colorado College, get use to the abbreviation!). Crystalyn just graduated as well and moved from Pennsylvania, but loves Colorado (I think she was born here) and is here to stay. Jessica also just graduated from somewhere else in Colorado and is married to Jordan who is in the 2ndary ed program. Marci, like me, has been out of school for a little while. She is also married and has a 15mo old boy who she has been home with since he was born, so this is a big adjustment for her. Pam is coming back to school after 20-something years. She has 3 kids. So while there aren't that many of us, at least we do have different backgrounds and experiences to draw from. For the post part we will not have much interaction with the Secondary Ed people, so you'll be hearing a lot about this crew I am sure!
Monday morning we all (Elem and 2ndary) met on campus for registration. I was apparently one of the few people who had actually turned in all my stuff that I was suppose to turn in ahead of time because, while we had 2 hours, I was done in like 20 minutes (18 of which was probably just waiting in line). Jessica was done too, so she and Jordan and I went and got our student IDs, books ($$ouch$$) and then sat on the porch of the Education House and chatted until 10ish when we went to our respective classes. We're starting with Language Arts and Social Studies, along with picking a topic for our masters paper (the outline of which is due Friday! yikes!) We also will be spending the next 4 weeks with a Gifted and Talented Elementary Camp that comes to CC every summer. Talk about cramming it all in!!! So Monday was spent going over 10 million different things (yes, I counted) like the syllabus, online assignments, masters papers, evaluation scales, etc. I was elected to be the "I.T." person for the class (setting up the laptop/projector system) as I was the only one who could figure it out. We also talked a lot about the structure of the entire program, which is insanely intense, but still sounds really cool. My brain was overflowing by the end of the day.
Today we met in class again first thing and were introduced to the teachers for the GT Camp and they pitched their classes to us (along with wonderful bribes: food, food, food, art supplies, shiny rocks, and food) The classes are grouped by age (1st grade, 2-3rd, 4-6th) and range from oceanography, around the world in 80 days, geology, China, etc. etc. Then they all left and we got to pick (half choice, half luck of the draw) what class we wanted to assist. I got my first choice which is a 4th-6th grade group of kids who will be performing Shakespeare's "As You Like It." I am super excited and the teacher seems awesome. Now I have to come up with two official lesson plans that I have to teach amongst the learning of lines, designing of the set, and making of costumes. I am thinking something about Jesters as Touchstone is a main character in the play... we'll see. Anyway, we also get to perform the play for both the other kids in the camp and for parents. AND we get to use the brand-spankin-new theatre to do it! It should be a hit!
The rest of this week we will be in class, then helping set up the room for our GT camp, then back to class in the afternoons. The kids come next week at which point we will be with them all morning and then have class in the afternoons. Strangely enough the Secondary Ed people are just taking one regular college class right now (expanding their background in whatever subject area they plan to teach). I am sure eventually I will be jealous that they have so much less stuff to do, but right now I am so tickled about this camp, and getting more real/hands-on experience with the kids, that I feel sorry for them not to have something similar to work on (and they are all jealous of us!! :) hee hee).
The other thing we did this afternoon was we got to meet up with the teacher we are teamed with for the school year, and also (in my case and maybe one or two others) the principal of the school we'll be at. My teacher is actually leaving next week for a 5 week trip to Paraguay to study a rain forest eco-system. Funnily enough she has no background in bio, so I thought it was so awesome that she chose to do that, I can't wait to hear all about it! And she and the principal seem to be good friends, so I felt super comfortable with them already.
Ok so that's quite enough for the first blog entry... not to mention I still have to read a good chunk of Shakespeare tonight. Sherlock was tickled that I did my first two hours of reading out in the park near my house while throwing his ball for him :)
By the way... I figured this (blog) would be the best way for you all to keep tabs on me for a while since (as you can see) I am going to be insanely busy for a while!
More to come soon!!!!!!!!
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