It has been a long time since I posted on here. With so many life changing experiences, school being one of them, I prioritized my and my family's needs over my wants. Blogging has been a want, so I set myself back for a bit to prioritize my responsibilities.
I love to write and it's a favorite past time of mine (can you tell?). I used to be my high school's newspaper writer and photographer. The latter is something I do as well. On sunny days, or even dry days, I take my Sony DSLR with me and click away. I actually improved on my skills and have geared my heart toward photography art, albeit abstract or camera "painting".
As an educator, I would love to invest in simple point and shoot cameras to hand out to children and have a go at it. Although I use a DSLR camera, point and shoots work just fine and it is very easy to do something like what I just did on the above example. Ssshhh...that's a TV commercial -- upside down. I call it "Valley Rain". Photography has been my latest hobby and I've been lugging my camera around with me -- even to my classes -- to catch any opportunity regarding education. I would post pictures of my classmates and other children on here -- they are quite beautiful -- but because this is public domain, I would rather not.
I love to write and it's a favorite past time of mine (can you tell?). I used to be my high school's newspaper writer and photographer. The latter is something I do as well. On sunny days, or even dry days, I take my Sony DSLR with me and click away. I actually improved on my skills and have geared my heart toward photography art, albeit abstract or camera "painting".
As an educator, I would love to invest in simple point and shoot cameras to hand out to children and have a go at it. Although I use a DSLR camera, point and shoots work just fine and it is very easy to do something like what I just did on the above example. Ssshhh...that's a TV commercial -- upside down. I call it "Valley Rain". Photography has been my latest hobby and I've been lugging my camera around with me -- even to my classes -- to catch any opportunity regarding education. I would post pictures of my classmates and other children on here -- they are quite beautiful -- but because this is public domain, I would rather not.
So...school's out for summer. At least for the time being. I won't return until June 21st for the summer session. Spring session has been quite a ride for me. Loaded with classes and more visits to my practicum site AND to my son's school, I completely feel optimistic about my future as a teacher. Only time (and experience!) will tell. The most exciting part about Spring Session 2010 was my unit on the butterflies. I co-taught one lesson with Mrs. Dearly and did a unit presentation with Cohort 32. When I did the presentation, I passed out live Painted Lady caterpillars to each one. I kept the extra ones at home and passed those out to my children. Watching the transformation was the most incredible and exciting thing to observe! It was also nice to hear about what's been happening to my cohorts' caterpillars. My favorite part was when they -- my cohort and children -- asked questions and I had the (pre) knowledge to answer them all! Perfect teaching moments for me. And I cherished every second of it.
Another exciting moment for me was when my Practicum Supervisor (PS) came in to observe me. I so needed a professional opinion on how I did as a teacher. Although the lesson took about 40 minutes, the evaluation took about one and half hours. She noted that I can be oblivious to those who need behavior intervention. Blame it on my preschool mode. I've been used to children walking/running around the classroom and having "free choice" to anything in the classroom. So when two boys continuously drank out of the water fountain (there is one in the classroom), I didn't do anything about it. My PS was very concerned about how "...when a teacher speaks, those are very important teaching/learning moments...." and that I must have every child's undivided attention (unless they desparately need to go to the restroom/healthroom). So, yes...duly noted and will practice at next session. My PS really liked how the children got along really well with me. She was also impressed at how many students were actually paying attention and very engrossed in the lesson and activitites I provided. I did tell her that these are very smart/bright and motivated kids.
I will miss this class when I move on to my internship come fall 2010. But that's for my Advisors to decide. Something about my math exam that I had to re-take. I won't go there -- it was quite a traumatic experience and now I'm ready to face the consequences. Nontheless, I am going to finish this program no matter what obstacles -- either academic, personal, or business -- will come my way.
On a brighter note -- public schools are getting ready to end the school year loaded with field trips, field-day, field-whatever. As a little treat to end the year, Mrs. Dearly and her class will be going to The Pacific Science Center in Seattle tomorrow. She invited me to go and I can't wait. It's not about the PSC -- I want to see how a field trip is handled, especially one that's far away and out of their school district. Another observation, but probably my last (yay!). The next time I'm with a class, hence, my internship, I will be doing the "actual" teacher-responsibilities. Anyway, one step at a time.
What the class do not know, except Mrs. Dearly, is that toward the last day of school, I will provide a pizza party for the class :). What a great way to end the year. My cohorts have already ended theirs when the last Elementary Ed. class was in session. I think I'm the only one finishing off the school year with my practice-site. I wanted to. It's my choice. I was in the class ever since the beginning of the Winter session, now I'm gonna end it with them. And pizza that is.
More to come...
