Birthday Dinner

Another year is gone and once again we celebrate our birthday! Since the three of us (Danny, Dan Sr. and I) have January birthdays, we decided to celebrate together at Fogo De Chao in Addison. It was sooo yummy! We all had a good time! My student teaching is going great! I love 6th grade! Teaching is tiring work..I am so tired when I get home and then I have to prepare for the next day.. So, not much of a social life. Then today I find out I have to incorporate a service learning project into my student teaching.. I am supposed to tutor a student 30-45 mins a DAY EVERY DAY... That is next to impossible when you teach from 7:50-2:20 then students return from rotation at 3:15.. Somehow I will fit it in..I always do!

Residency

My residency started on Monday and I LOVE it!.. I started teaching today and will teach tomorrow too... My UTA mentor came for a surprise visit yesterday as well. She told my mentor teacher to let me jump right in and start teaching asap, which ironically we were planning on my teaching the next day ... hehe.... Today I introduced a new genre, science fiction! We first did a quick read about the Loch Ness Monster, then we discussed science fiction and what it is... We discussed sci fi movies and scientific and technological advances. We then read a story that was set in the year 2157 that had the main characters finding a "book" in the attic of their great-great grandfather's house. After the story we discussed what things we already have available to use that were similar to the story, like...e-readers, use of scantrons ( used for testing esp.. in college). I took Dan's old palm pilot and the kids got a kick out of seeing that ancient thing. I feel like everything went well and the students actively participated in the discussions. I was surprised the students actually remembered me and were excited to see me :D My mentor teacher said that by December they were asking when was I coming back... I realized how much I missed those kids! I have discovered I really like the elementary better than the junior high. In fact, I'm kinda dreading going back to the JH... But, for now I'm going to concentrate on my awesome 6th graders and enjoy and learn as much as I can for the next 6 weeks.. It blows me away when I think this time next year I will have my own classroom...I am so thankful that my Heavenly Father has called me to be a teacher..It is such a comfort to know that this is what I am supposed to do...My supervisor told me to have the students do a teacher evaluation/recommendation on me before I leave...now, that is going to be interesting... Later!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ok, so I'm a little late in posting this , but I have really enjoyed the time off from school! Here are a few pics from Christmas.... We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and dad in Grandbury and were treated to an awesome snowfall! Of course the ride home was scary due to the ice on the roads and I guess Grandbury doesn't have sanding trucks...well at least not on Hwy 377! Christmas Day we spent with Branden and his family. It was sooo cute watching our g-baby open presents! We spent New Year's Eve safely tucked away at home! Danny made his famous black eyed peas and cornbread which we eagerly eat in hopes of having good luck this year! I have one more day off then it is back to 6th grade for me! This will be my last semester at UTA and I will spend it student teaching full time! I am looking forward to returning to 6th grade. The kids are old enough to discuss things with and they still want to please the teacher. 8th graders not so much. So, come Monday I will be working full time. Boy, will that be different! I haven't worked full time since???? Hope I survive!!