Googley Goggles

Whew. Another week has flown by. Can you believe I've been here a month already? So my students were quite the bunch this week!

One student thought it'd be funny to call me "baby." Thus he did. I asked him not to and corrected him with "Ms. Daniel" every time he said it. A few days later he did stop. But his parents came to parent night Wednesday. They said their son can be a bit of a smart-aleck...so I told them what he's been calling me. They were embarrassed, to say the least. But the other parents found it to be quite amusing. Yeah, parent night. Not too many showed up. I was surprised by the number of single parents. Apparently I'm "perky"- that's what one dad said to his wife who works at the school. haha. And then there was this one odd parent that met us and asked "Do you get donated equipment and not use it?" What kind of question is that? And he also asked me what I thought of the polygamist trials. I didn't comment. And this same dad emailed me like five times the next day asking what his daughter needs for the class. He sent me a copy of his ebay bid for a couple TI-83 calculators and told me he's going to donate them to our classroom. His daughter informed me that he always does this and to just ignore him. haha.

Goggles! So, BYU-education program emphasizes using "Inquiry" methods for teaching like all the time. You're an awful teacher if you don't, apparently. But I have realized that you cannot do inquiry with these kids. They lack the basic knowledge to go out and figure things out on their own. A lab is somewhat inquiry related. But it becomes direct because they have to have the steps repeated like 100 times and can't figure out what they're doing at all. They barely can follow instructions. I love them, so I am patient. at least I try. But they do not keep their goggles on!!! I had to tell SO many kids to put their goggles back on. Like it's a joke! Some kid did say "Safety never goes out of style"...I was surprised by his support of goggles but happy nonetheless. I might just make them wear goggles at their desks as a punishment if they don't wear them in the lab. Seriously. We can't do labs with these kids. I will keep trying.

You remember that annoying coordinator lady we have? Yeah, well somehow I managed to be on her good list. She's even understanding of my sleep-issue when she totally isn't with my other roommate! Odd. I did get blood-work done this week (I almost fainted. lack of H20). There's nothing wrong with my insides. So it might be the meds I'm on. We shall see. I'm still "perky" so everything is fine.

I went to the National Cathedral this week. Very beautiful. It's right down the street from our high school. Neat.

There are a lot of little lakes around here. Yesterday I got to go kayaking and canoing! Our friend's aunt and uncle have a place near a lake and have the kayaks and canoe! So Brian and I went with a couple others and had a wonderful afternoon on the water. We saw a bald eagle, woodpeckers, turtles, jumping fish...all on the serene beautiful lake!

I started and finished "The Memory-Keeper's Daughter" this week. Amazing. A doctor delivers his wife's babies- twins. A boy and a girl. The girl he notices has down syndrome and so he sends her away with the nurse and told her to bring her to a clinic/institution. He tells his wife the girl died at birth!!! The nurse raises the girl in another city. It's an amazing book. Captivating. It's crazy what that one secret would do to the family.

Well, on that note...I'm off to church. Another week of adventures in chemistry to be continued...

I ain't no cute lil barbie doll

Teaching this week was amazing. I have three classes of chemistry that I teach. One class meets everyday and the other two longer every other day. I just started a unit on a bunch of basic chemistry stuff- units of measurement, density, states of matter, physical/chemical changes…all that good stuff. Each day I’m learning something new on how to teach them. Like one day they didn’t do their homework. Nobody did! So we talked about what we can do better next time- like I can be clearer about assignments and write them on the board, they can bring their books to class, etc… and it actually worked for the next time. My classes are really well behaved. One class I changed their seating around so they wouldn’t talk…and another I changed around because they are so segregated socially. There are a few sleepy/inattentive kids and I’ve been working with them. And the kids who aren’t as good at English (mainly Asians), I’ve got some ideas on how to help them out with quizzes and tests…so we’ll see.

Becky (my coordinator-lady) came in for a whole 90-minute class period and observed me. She’s quite judgmental, mind you. She was so amazed with the way I taught. She said I’m a natural. Ms. Petree said, “She does this every day!” She had nothing but good things to say. ☺

Here are some classic moments from this week:

Ms. Petree is just so sweet to me. She brought chips and soda for each class on my bday! And she’s just awesome. I tell her all the time she’s “cute”…
Me: “oh, you’re so cute!”
Ms. Petree: “I don’t know what you mean by that!”
Me: “Just that you’re thoughtful and sweet…”
Ms. Petree: “oh, you can call me cute then!”

A kid in my class: “She sounds like a Barbie doll.”
I wasn’t supposed to hear that, but I did.
Another kid replied: “Barbies don’t talk.”

Ms. Petree cut and permed her hair.
Me: “Did you do your hair?!?!”
Ms. Petree: “No! I had a beautician do it! If I did it, it’d look like it does everyday at school!”


Card from three nice Asian gals in my third period class:
Front: “Happy Birthday” written in somewhat curly letters.
Inside: “I’ve been saving these pubic hairs for weeks!” then in handwriting “Happy birthday! You’re a good teacher!”
WHAT?!?! So I know these gals are not 100% proficient in English- I really don’t think they know what that word means…but it is sure funny! goodness.


We were going to the Zoo on my birthday. Three of my roommates were going to meet me, and so was Casey. But, come 4:00, when we were going to meet up, nobody could come! So I went to the zoo by myself. I got to see my favorite lil poison dart frogs! After that I went home and met up with everyone. We went out for Thai food and then had cake and ice cream at our apt. A lot of people came by! My roommates made a yummy german chocolate cake, too. How sweet.

Thanks to all of you who emailed/called/facebooked/texted/mailed me a card or whatnot me on my bday- that means a lot! It was good to hear from each of you!

This weekend wasn’t terribly exciting. Ms. Petree took me out to dinner after school Friday for my bday. I cut my hair super short again. A few of my roommates and I went to go see “Across America.” Saturday we went to a bbq at a biology teacher’s house in Maryland and watched a film-festival in our stake (Church-related). Marci and I had fun on the metro because we had a whole car to ourselves…so we sang and danced to my ipod music. haha!

Just gearing up for another week at Wilson High. Teaching is exhausting. I’m starting to feel it. I need to find a good doctor around here but they’re all booked until November! So I’m doing what I can- working out a few times at our gym upstairs and trying to get enough sleep (or just time in bed…). Thank goodness for Sundays. A day of rest and no stresses. Have a good week, everybody!

Chemistry at Wilson High

This week was our first week in the schools. I'm at Wilson High School. My mentor teacher is Ms. Petree. She's awesome! She's been teaching for 41 years- can you believe that?!?! So she definitely has experience. She is so easy-going. She's a hoot. I don't know how else to describe her- she's a hoot!

I'm learning to balance- I'm very effective with my time and have gotten a lot done during the day (lesson plans, lab prep, copies....pretty much everything is ready for the next two weeks). So when I get home from school I can have time to relax. I recognize the helpfulness of good teaching resources- good problem sheets and labs and such. I appreciate the book we use- there are a lot of good things in it.

I'm learning about different class-personalities. I have one class that is very grade orientated and on top of things- they don't like busy work and generally do well. I have to be on my toes to gain their respect knowledge-wise. Another class though needs a little more motivation and yet they don't argue about grades and they have confidence in their teachers' knowledge.

This experience is also different for each one of us. I feel so confident and prepared and organized while others have such different situations in their classrooms and everything lends to different emotions and stresses. I'm really trying hard to be a good friend to the girls I live with. I feel really close to all of them.

I have quite the social life here. Always something. I had another great first date. We even made a funny little video about socks. haha. My roommates are always up for adventures, too. Good times.

Anyways, I start teaching this week! And my birthday is Thursday...and there is salsa dancing in the district this weekend, too! So much to look forward to!

The Adventures of Week One

I am loving it here in D.C. This week has been amazing! And entertaining. I think one of the things that just makes everything great is that I have awesome roommates. All six of them are amazing and we just have tons of fun together. We have a BYU coordinator out here- her name is Becky Vanatter. She talks a lot and gives us really long unnecessary lessons and tells extremely long stories...we're just not intrigued. The week was very long because of her. But I guess we'll have to get used to that. She's like our mom, but not in a good way. It'll be interesting.

We toured the Library of Congress and spent a day in Mt. Vernon. We got personalized tours from Becky. On Friday night we got a group from our ward together to visit the Monuments. We only saw Lincoln and Vietnam, however. Last night I had a date with a boy from our group the night before! We went to the other monuments- FDR and Jefferson at least. He's great.

So we have church today and then we start in the schools tomorrow. We did visit all of our schools. There are 5 of us at Wilson high. Yeah- there are 11 gals total- but 3 are married and 1 lives with her folks so 7 of us live together. I briefly met (like 30 seconds) my teacher- Ms. Petree. The only things I can use to describe her are short, old, and rumor has it she's a hard teacher. She won't be there tomorrow so that'll be lame. Becky tells us we have to be flexible. Okay. I can see why.

Wilson HS is in a nice area but kids are bussed in from all over D.C.- specifically urban areas. There are rich kids and poor kids so diverse in many ways. 50% african american, 20% caucasian, 20% hispanic, and 10% asian. It's a beautiful school, for being old. Nice woodwork. The mascot is the tiger and the colors are green and white.

So, I think that's all the updates. It's gonna be an adventure! At least that's what Becky says...

DC, baby

I arrived this evening in D.C..... Long day of flying and a fun taxi driver to boot. I was locked out for 45 minutes or so because none of my roommates were around. There are seven of us living together. I was a bit hesitant of this situation because we’re ALL student teaching (some elementary ed some secondary) and basically have the same schedules and activities…that’s almost like having 6 mission companions at once! 24/7. But I really don’t think it’s gonna be that bad. I have met all but one so far and they just seem great. We’re all girls with confidence and willing to take a challenge in life. I like them a lot so far. Oh, did I mention our penthouse is beautiful?!?! It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a den, living room, dining room and kitchen. It looks brand new. I have the den room to myself. I will get a bed and stuff- but the furniture doesn’t arrive until Tuesday. Our complex has a 24 hr gym, a convenience store, a computer lab with printers and coffee, and a pool. We’re superduper close to everything. The city of Arlington/Crystal City is mostly underground! The stores and such that is. We’re on the 12th floor! I'd say we're pretty spoiled here. Pretty dang spoiled.

Tomorrow is a chill day (groceries!) and then Tuesday we start our week of orientation with our BYU coordinator lady, Becky. That’ll be grand. I shall keep you posted!

Travelling

Aug 18- left Provo and headed to St. George. My best friend Tammy lives there with her hubby. They've been married 3 months! Cute. We enjoyed the sun and went to the Donny Osmond Concert!
Aug 21- Made my way thru Vegas and ended up in Los Angeles. My Aunt Pam lives there.
Aug 22- My sister, Jessica, flew down from Spokane to hang out with us in LA. We went to Disneyland/California Adventure, shopping downtown, 3rd street promenade, farmers market, the grove, venice beach (including biking on the beach), and a couple swap meets. Crazy times!
Aug 26- At 6:30pm we set off for Seattle. Mind you, it's an 18+ hour drive. We only slept for an hour and a half in a McDonald's parking lot.
Aug 27- Arrival at our Aunt Orva and Uncle John's home in Sammamish, WA. Their Mormon neighbors met me (haha). The next day we went shopping, to Pike's Place, and had a nice family get together
Aug 29- The drive back to Spokane. My sister got a nice speeding ticket. I get to stay with my family way up north of Spokane (Newport/Lake Sasheen). I stayed with my sister one night and had my early bday dinner and such. Had fun at a bbq labor day weekend
Sept 2- Flight to D.C.....just wait and see!