All Good Things, All Good Things

1. Three loooooooooong long super long months later, I am a dozen donuts fuller and finished with my student teaching. I was beyond ready to be finished, and super relieved that the end had arrived... but still, it ended up being quite bittersweet. My kids were sweet and I got a lot of hugs (and a couple of handshakes), and some pretty epic cards. My name's CH and I like warm hugs.

2. WB turned 25 (!!) and we spent a weekend in the mountains. It was weird because the weather kind of went insane, and it snowed on his birthday, but it was still nice to get away with him. Some people are worth melting for.

3. I took both of my PRAXIS tests, and I passed them. Like, really, really, REALLY passed them. Silly worries.

4. I celebrated the one year anniversary of my hip surgery (it has been a year already?!) with a 6-mile run (followed by donuts). I'm training for a 10-miler on April 26, and debating signing up for a half marathon in mid-May that would fit in nicely with my preexisting training schedule for the 10 miler.

5. I also celebrated Free Cone Day, my favorite day of the year. It was infinitely better this year, physically-speaking, since I was not on crutches and didn't get ice cream on my hair. Unfortunately, they ran out of cones before I got into the store. WHAT?! How do you run out of cones on free cone day?! I know, I thought the same thing.

6. My master's portfolio is due next Friday. After that gets turned in, I have a couple more classes; then about 2 weeks off; graduation; and two first-session summer classes. The end is nigh! And, honestly, after student teaching and portfolio-ing, those last two summer classes? No sweat.

7. It is FINALLY spring/summer. Sprummer! Oh, so this is heat. I love it... ooh, but don't touch it.
I love spring, dislike summer. But honestly, anything is better than this XXL winter.




Can you tell I've recently seen Frozen once or twice or several times and that Olaf is my favorite? (Yeah, why?!)

This is What Happens When Grad School Happens

Since my last post on October 29, I have...

* Taught a lesson to my Civics kids, three times, all by myself. And, more importantly, I did not die.


* "Enjoyed" Thanksgiving break with my family, and by enjoy, I mean I did not enjoy it at all and was constantly doing work for the 3.5 days I was home.

* Hung out and took selfies with the new pup that my roommate brought home, Jax(ie).

 * Forced WB to do lots of Christmassy things with me. Notable: ice skating; saw the Nutcracker; driving around to look at Christmas lights; hot chocolate in PJs; s'mores; many many Christmas movies.

* Helped WB adopt a cat, Arya. And she's the best. (I now an co-owner of two animals, with no responsibility. Cuddles galore!)

* Went to the UNC Homecoming game vs. UVA. We won. Wahoo! (Just kidding. Go Heels.)

* Wrote 200+ pages of lesson plans for the "final project" (can you even call it a project? More like a process of death) for our Methods class.

* Freaked out a lot about this spring semester and student teaching

* Went to the high school a few times, trying to make it clear I'm not a student.

* Spent a few glorious days doing absolutely nothing but reading and watching television after the end of the hardest 4 months of my life

* Spent 10 days in Maryland with my family over Christmas

* Registered for a 10-miler on April 26. Hip who?

* Celebrated New Year's Eve in downtown Annapolis with my favorite guy, WB.

Now, I'm in school full time everyday. I start actually student teaching on the 27th, and will spend the next 10 weeks frantically trying to keep up with school, sleep, grading, and a life. (Ha! What life?!) Oh, and completing my hugely important masters portfolio. Which I guess is kind of super important, too. I am a mixture of nervous, excited, and dreading everything. The emotion that I feel the most rotates on a daily basis. Bring on the coffee!

Grad School Barbie

I stumbled across this post in my perusal of the internet this afternoon after I got home from school {I was in charge today while my CT was out for a planning event. Hot dang.}. It made me laugh out loud. Almost halfway there! My personal beacon is 8pm on November 13. After that, I think I will be able to make it through.



                                         

A new gift idea for your loved ones: Graduate School Barbie (TM).
 
Graduate School Barbie comes in two forms: Delusional Master’s Barbie (TM) and Ph.D. Masochist Barbie (TM).

Every Graduate School Barbie comes with these fun-filled features guaranteed to delight and entertain for hours: Grad School Barbie comes out of the box with a big grin on her face that turns into a frown after 2 weeks or her first advisor meeting (whichever comes first). She also has adorable black circles under her delightfully bloodshot eyes.

Comes with two outfits: a grubby pair of blue jeans and 5-year-old gap T-shirt, and a floppy pair of gray sweatpants with a matching “I hate my life” T-shirt. Grad School Barbie talks! Just press the button on her left hand and hear her say such upbeat grad school phrases like, “Yes, Professor, It’ll be done by tomorrow”, “I’d love to rewrite” and “Why didn’t I just get a job, I could have been making $40,000 a year by now if I had just started working with a Bachelor’s. But noooooo, I chose to further my education, I wish somebody would drop a bomb on the school so that I’d have an excuse to stop working on my degree that’s sucking every last drop of life force out of my withered and degraded excuse for a soul…” (9V lithium batteries sold separately)

Grad School Barbie is anatomically correct to teach kids about the exciting changes that come with pursuing a higher education. Removable panels on Barbie’s head and torso allow you to watch as her cerebellum fries to a crispy brown, her heart race 150 beats per minute, and her stomach lining gradually dissolve into nothing. Deluxe Barbie comes with specially designed eye ducts. Just add a little water, and watch Grad School Barbie burst into tears at random intervals. Fun for the whole family!

Other accessories include:
Grad School Barbie’s Fun Fridge (TM) Well stocked with microwave popcorn, Coca-Cola, Healthy Choice Bologna (99% fat free!),and a small bottle of Mattel Brand Rum ™.

Grad School Barbie’s Medicine Cabinet comes in Fabulous (pepto-bismal) pink and contains Barbie sized bottles of Advil, St. Johns Wort, Zantac, and your choice of three fun anti-anxiety drugs! (Barbie Medicine Cabinet not available without a prescription).

Grad School Barbie’s Computer Workstation. Comes with miniature obsolete PC (in pink of course), rickety desk, and over a dozen miniature Mountain Dew cans to decorate your workstation with (Mountain Dew deposit not included in price. Tech support sold separately).

And Grad School Barbie is not alone! Order now and you’ll get two of Barbie’s great friends! GRADUATE ADVISOR KEN, Barbie’s mentor and advisor in her quest for knowledge, higher education and decreased self-esteem.

Grad Advisor Ken ™ comes with a supply of red pens and a permanent frown. Press the button to hear Grad Advisor Ken deliver such wisdom to Barbie as “I need an update on your progress,” “I don’t think you’re ready to defend yet”, and “This is nowhere near ready for publication.”
Buy 3 or more dolls, and you can have Barbie’s Thesis Committee! (Palm Pilot and tenure sold separately.)

REAL JOB SKIPPER, When Barbie needs to talk, she knows that she can always count on her good friend Real Job Skipper ™, who got a job after getting her bachelor degree. Press the button to hear Real Job Skipper say, “Sometimes I wish I went for my masters degree” and “Work is so hard! I had to work a half an hour of overtime!” Real Job Skipper’s Work Wardrobe and Savings account sold separately.

WARNING: Do not place Grad Student Barbie and Real Job Skipper too close to each other, as there have been several cases of children leaving the room and coming back to find Barbie’s hands mysteriously fused to Skipper’s throat.

Author: Unknown

Post found from here.

We the People....

And so our people spelled it out, the things that we should beeeee... And they put those things down on paper and called it the Constitution.

The kids in my civics classes have a quiz on the Constitution on Friday, and for part of that quiz they each have to individually recite the Preamble in front of the whole class. Ms. T played this video in one of them so they could hear it. Every time I hear a Schoolhouse Rock video, the song is subsequently stuck in my head for DAYS upon end. As expected, I shall be singing this song for the next week or so.

I had forgotten the order of the phrases in the Preamble, so now I remember them again. The funny thing about teaching is that when you teach something, you know it so much better than you did when you learned it. And that, I've concluded, is why teachers know everything.

---

We the People, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Them's powerful words.

Revelations, Realizations

1. Graduate school is hard. Like, really, really, overwhelmingly, one-step-from-the-edge hard. This is for several reasons:

• We have so much work. I can't even begin to describe it to people who aren't me and my 6 social studies MAT classmates. Basically, every time you feel you get one step ahead, you go to class and discover you're actually four steps behind.
• I have no idea what I'm doing.
• I still don't know whether teaching is what I want to do, and whether I will/would even be a good teacher.
• I hate being bad at things, or feeling like I'm bad at things. And since I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm not good at it. And it's frustrating/annoying/overwhelming/stressful/hard to keep things in perspective/etc. etc.
• Teaching is hard. Shame on you if you've ever thought otherwise.
• I feel like I haven't talked to my non-school friends or family in weeks and I rarely ever get to hang with WB (or anyone else! Sorry roomie.) without having to do work. What I'm saying is I have less than zero free time, and I'm losing touch with the people and things I find most important.

2.  Fall is the best season. #sofall

3. Having friends in your graduate program is the best thing ever. Coincidentally, they're also some of the best friends ever. Funny how that works.

4. Fake it til you make it. Or something.

5. I'm incredibly grateful I chose a program that is only 1 year, because I wouldn't be able to do any more than that.

6. As much as I love winter, I have never before in my life been so excited for winter break.

7. I'm taking a mini-vacation with WB next weekend for Fall Break, and it is going to be the best weekend ever. Even if it rains, or it's cold, or we don't enjoy the things we choose to do, or don't have fun (none of these are possible), I won't be bringing ANY schoolwork, and that in itself will make it the best weekend ever. Plus, I really love WB. So that's a bonus.

8. Everything will get done, some way, some how.

9. Lots of people love me, support me, and think I'm going to be an awesome teacher. I don't always believe them - it depends on the day - but I sure am grateful that they think that.

10. Malala is amazing, inspiring, and everything I want to convey in my teaching career:

First Day of School!

Today was my first day in school!

This fall, we are spending one day per week observing in the classrooms of our mentor teachers, for whom we will be student teaching in the spring. After just one day of observation, I can say that this method of doing things is a fantastic idea. There are so many things NOT related to teaching that you have to master in a school that it is wonderful to be able to get to know how to use the copier, where to send naughty students, where to make coffee, etc., before you're personally responsible for the learning and well-being of 100-some odd children. And, of course, it's a bonus to be able to get to know the students throughout the year before you take over. Of course, when student teaching comes around and I'm teaching 3 US History courses of varying levels and 2 Honors Civics classes, this will still be me {with slightly less flair}:

I'm in a cool, unique situation and have two mentor teachers {one is currently out on maternity leave}, so I'm not going to be teaching all of the kids I saw today, but Teach B is great. Students like her, she has experience, more flexible/easy-going about some things, more strict on others, super friendly, loves her students.

Also of note today:
- I got several keys, a lanyard, parking spot & permit, and key FOB today; and will have an ID, loaner computer, and school e-mail address next week. I'm important.
- Two 10th grade boys asked me to follow them on Instagram.
- I managed to wear my heels all the way through lunch {mostly sitting down all of this time} before I had to change to my flats.
- I had the forethought to bring flats.
- I now have the teacher's version of the Civics textbook, and it is gigantic. And it has all the answers. I am queen of the world.

I'm Baaaack.... Sort of

Hello, long lost bloggy friends! I am writing this little check-in post as I wait for about 20 minutes before I head off to my first official class, because.... grad school.

I spent the past several weeks trying to psych myself up for school, hardly working, attending country concerts, working on a Raleigh bucket list, driving back and forth to Maryland and to Chapel Hill, packing up my life, unpacking my life, attempting to soak up what is was left of summer, and having repeated anxiety attacks. And now we have arrived.

I have a cute apartment in Chapel Hill and I'm waiting on the arrival of my roomie in a couple of days {hi, AK! Just kidding. You don't know I'm writing about you. Mwa ha ha...}. I thankfully live only 1.1 miles from my best friends and boyfriend, so the little free time I will have will not be spent driving all over creation {goodbye, Raleigh --> Chapel Hill commute!}. And I had orientation yesterday, and let me tell you... they didn't mince any words.

I was fully expecting {and mentally prepared for} student teaching to be an immense drain of time, energy, mental capacity, etc... But I guess I wasn't as prepared for them saying that the spring {i.e. student teaching} might be worse than the fall, that maybe we'll be busier when we are full-time teaching. Yikes!! They told us not to make any plans for Thanksgiving and to tell all of our friends, family, and loved ones that we will be unavailable until next June.

Let me tell you. I got home from orientation and sat in complete silence for a few minutes in my apartment as I tried to process this. As I thought about it, I realized that I would rather be worked hard in the fall and prepared to teach, than to breeze through these classes and show up to student teaching overwhelmed, un(der)prepared, and super frazzled. At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

Of course, I had the co-requisite panic attack about what if I hate this program, what if I hate teaching, what if I'm rubbish at teaching, what if I fail/drop out/accidentally fall down the school stairs to my untimely death {just kidding about those last three. except the stairs thing. girlfriend is a clumsy creature}.

Thankfully I have the best family and friends in the world and I know they will be a great support system as I navigate the terrible awful world of graduate school and student teaching. WB has already been a huge blessing and I haven't even really started yet. My hope is that I will enjoy my classes and being in the classroom {we will observe in our classrooms one day per week throughout the fall semester} and that therefore the immense amount of work will seem.... slightly less immense. I am also planning to enforce a rule I hope to use now and in the future when I am employed as a teacher: specifically limiting the times when I am allowed to do work, and when I am not {right now I am thinking after 5pm on Friday and after some as-yet undermined time on Saturday afternoon/evening}, in hopes of keeping my sanity and work/life balance.

Thanks for bearing with me, party people. Let the 4-hour class fiesta begin!

When somebody asks me if I'm ready to start class again...

The Only One Worthwhile

Good morning! Some teacher-y news this morning. A new report rates hundreds of teacher education programs throughout the US, and fewer than 10% of schools were given a favorable grade. To quote the article, "The review gave only four programs in the United States its highest ranking of four stars. Only 20 elementary programs and 84 secondary programs made the report's 'honor roll' of at least three stars." 

Guess who came in with 3.5 stars {out of four} as the only education program worth attending in North Carolina? You guessed it. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's secondary education graduate program.

I knew I made the right decision. Love my school.

Full story here.

{source}

In other news, I'm actually headed back up to Maryland in a few hours {seriously, I should be paid for advertising I-95 & I-85 or something with the amount I'm driving on those roads} for a week for more dogsitting. Not of the big fluffy variety this time, but little miniature white pipsqueak dogs. But they snuggle, and they love me, so it's okay. I'm waiting to leave so I can hear the verdict from the SCOTUS and I hope it's a productive, useful, forward-moving verdict. Ain't no one got time for goin' backwards, ya hear?

Catch ya tomorrow from Maryland - hopefully from a freer, more equal, world. :)

The Alarming State of North Carolina Education

A former professor from NCSSM wrote this column in response to the NC Senate's idiotic ideas on education and teacher reform. This idiocy hits home for me because I am about to go back to school to get a Master's in teaching - but if the education system is dismal, as they are trying to make it, then what, pray tell, is the point? I might as well be going to school in Maryland, hooking up with the teachers I have connections with {there are a LOT}, and getting myself a job up there - where the cost of living is higher, but also the pay and standards and treatment are higher.

I encourage you to read this article, and make your voice heard. Teachers play such an important role in the world - and in your life and your own children's lives - that they cannot possibly be overvalued. Sadly, as with most of the do-good professions, they are dismally dismally undervalued.