What happens when three fourth graders have a chance to wind down after a tough lesson and enjoy birthday cupcakes courtesy of one of their mothers? Very entertaining conversation! We helped them begin the conversation by asking if they had enjoyed the previous evening with their families. One of the boys proceeded to tell us that his brother is in special 'aide' (not special ed, mind you - special aide.) Looking at one another, the teacher and I prodded him to explain to us what special aide is - to which he replied he did not know. Mrs. Fleming explained that it is a class where some students can go during the day to get extra help (since we know what type of special services his brother receives) on school work if they need it. He remained confused by this so one of the girls decided to help by blurting out - "Duh, you're in a class like that right now!" Definitely one of those "you had to be there moments," but if you knew and loved these kids like Mary and I do, you would have joined us behind the bookshelves turning purple while trying to maintain some composure and not laugh at them trying to define "special aide."
In other news, one of our boys is getting ASL (American Sign Language) instruction for 30 mins, twice a week, and I got to join him in his first lesson - which means I get to learn as well. The two young ladies teaching are both deaf themselves and come with an interpreter, but were so sweet as I mangled my way through finger spelling and demonstrating the few signs our student knows and the ones we think would be relevant to helping us teach and assess him. I can't wait to learn more! Today we worked on letters, numbers, colors, and his personal favorite: train. (He LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine.) So fun! I hope once I get a job and an income that I can enroll in some ASL classes myself. I think it's something that I'd really benefit from knowing!
I think my nerves are officially gone with regards to being observed (at least until the principal observes me). My observations couldn't have gone any more smoothly if I'd scripted them. The first was Tuesday when Mrs. Fleming observed me in preparation for my LSCO observation the following day. My lesson that day was still "Statements versus Questions" - but each day we focused on a different question word. Tuesday was 'who.' I taught them "Who stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?" and put the words to the verse up on the Smartboard so the kids could each come up and manipulate the verse before we got started. I had them identify the questions and statements in the verse, highlight keywords and punctuation marks, and then fill in their names as the person who stole the cookie when it was their turn. They seemed to really enjoy it - though it was probably more the opportunity to use the smartboard than it was my lesson :) Either way, the lesson went really well, and I was quite pleased. I, of course, have things to work on - but I expect to have things to work on throughout my career. I don't ever want to stop getting better :)
Wednesday, my official eval, was perfect :) Mrs. Dixon even told Mrs. Fleming she should take a 9 week vacation and just let me have her classroom. I have to admit that felt pretty nice. She gave me a perfect score, which I'm grateful for, but don't feel I deserve. I don't by any means think I'm perfect.
However, during the whole process, I think the most rewarding part was when two of the students looked up at me during their Independent Practice and looked at me with really wide eyes, saying "Miss. Simpson - I GET IT!" And they did - going from making a 20 on a worksheet to making a 100 on a worksheet - without my assistance. That moment and many more to come are why I know I'm where I should be. I can't tell you how warm it felt to know I'd helped them understand something they'd been struggling with. They have even shown that they can transfer the knowledge to other worksheets and settings - the sign that they really did get it and weren't just memorizing answers on a worksheet. Way to go, boys!!
Well, my first official lesson as a student teacher was interrupted by a fire drill. The poor kids were out in the freshly mowed grass for 15 minutes smacking mosquitoes so much it looked like they were all dancing to the beat of some unknown music. Then there were the kids who stopped to wait in ant beds...sigh...needless to say, it took us about 10 minutes and lots of alcohol based GermX to get the kids to focus on the lesson and not the unbearable itchiness that was distracting their already uber-distractable selves. I did get through the lesson and felt it went well considering all that took place during it.
In other news, Midget has taken Gig 'Em to a whole new level. She has 'adopted,' per se, three little frogs which have taken up residence in the flower bed nearest the garage - underneath the big floodlight which illuminates the front walk (and half the neighborhood) where all the bugs fly around. She usually just 'herds' them with her nose to get them all in the same spot - in the flower bed if they've hopped over the bricks onto the sidewalk. For a reason unknown to me, she decided a few nights ago to pick one up in her mouth. I don't know if she intended to eat it, help it, or play with it, but regardless - the end result was that it peed in her mouth. Totally disgusting, but incredibly hilarious to watch her cough and sputter trying to get the pee-taste out of her mouth. It was like watching Donald Duck have a sneezing fit! I did brush her teeth and clean her face really well after we came inside (and she was furious about that!) and we didn't go back out the rest of the night. Needless to say, she has not made any further attempts to go gigging since the little froggy went wee wee wee all the way home.
Well, I have officially completed my first two "observation" weeks in student teaching. Though, my personality did not allow me much observation time; I found it very difficult to sit on my duff while there were students in the room needing help, and the two aides and teacher were helping other students. The kiddos seem to be responding very well to me, and I'm already quite attached to several of them. I still miss my kiddos from Vidor, and I need to call some of the teachers that are still there to check up on my darlings.
Anyway, I've been doing a lot of tutoring/content mastery work with them the past few weeks rather than teaching lessons. Some of the kids seem to be behind level on reading mostly though their intellect is on par with their classmates. Definitely a different world from last year with my severe and profound classroom. I'm enjoying the exposure to the different learning levels. We have several ranges of ability in the resource room so I'm getting my personal need to be challenged fulfilled daily, which definitely motivates me in a fun way.
Next week starts my official teaching schedule. I'll be teaching a Language Arts lesson everyday to our 3rd and 4th grades. Mrs. Fleming loves my ideas for the lessons - hopefully the kids will enjoy it and get something out of it. We've chosen for me to work with them on recognizing Questions versus Statements because we have several students that really struggle with that concept. I'm incorporating songs, poems, games, and jokes into the lessons to try and appeal to all of them. I'll keep you all posted!!! Should be exciting. I'll be officially observed by my college supervisor for a grade on Wednesday. Yikes!! I'm trying not to be nervous. I'll have to be observed countless times over my career so I might as well get over that!
Now for the elementary school humor of the week. We've been teaching all of the children in the school to sing a chorus of "Happy Birthday" while they wash their hands to make sure they wash the recommended length of time as per the CDC. Well, believe it or not, some of the students are actually doing this - breaking into song together with their friends in the restrooms as they wash their hands. Yesterday one of the teachers reported that she was in the hall while her class was taking their restroom break, and she overheard one of the first grade girls tell her friends, "I'm tired of singing 'Happy Birthday' - anyone want to sing the 'ABCs' instead?" Too cute!!
Alas, I must come to the end of my journey. Sunday, 9/6, was my last full day in Baltimore. We did achieve our goal to sleep in, waking around 10 am and venturing once again to Ellicott City for breakfast at Sarah & Desmond's. We watched the many people and their dogs come and go during our meal, and Matt asked one of the other guests where he might find a good bike shop. We drove over to the store that he recommended and browsed for a while before heading back to CCBC for an afternoon nap in the sun before Matt had to go to work again. I tried to sleep but couldn't - so I amused myself taking pictures of Matt sleeping and various other things within my view while he slept. Eventually we did have to leave the serenity of nature so that he could go to work. I amused myself by talking on the phone and playing on facebook while he was at work - once again unable to take a nap to pass the time. Picking him up from work proved to be an adventure, as downtown was a maze of people and police cars after the Orioles/Rangers game had ended at Camden Yards. However, I successfully evaded both in my meandering, and still have no idea how I happened across Matt - but I did, and he took over the driving as we headed to Diamondback Tavern in Ellicott City for one last hurrah. When we arrived, Matt's friend Brandon and the bartender, Mike, were the only people there - but by the end of the evening the place was quite crowded. Apparently Midnight Madness is quite popular :) Prior to the crowd's appearance, Mike entertained us by mixing his concoctions very creatively (think Tom Cruise in Cocktail). Definitely a first, but hopefully not a last, for me! I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. We played a round of shuffleboard, which I officially suck at(even after Matt and I tried to fix the leaning table), until we had to leave due to the 6am flight I had to board at Reagan International in D.C. the next morning. We bid adieu to his friends, and I held back the tears as I realized that the most wonderful weekend of the year was truly coming to an end.
3:30 am came REALLY early, and before I knew it, we were outside the terminal saying good-bye. I managed not to cry this time - a first I think, and probably only because it was 4:30 in the morning, and I was hardly conscious enough to realize what was happening. I passed through security and boarded the plane without incident - and by early afternoon collapsed onto my bed exhausted, but blissfully happy, having had a fantastic weekend. Though I knew it would inevitably end, the weekend could not have been more perfect - nor could my summer have ended and my student teaching semester began with anything more amazing than seeing my beloved friend.
Thanks to Miss Fu for making the weekend possible - I can't possibly thank you enough! And thanks to Matthew for allowing me to come visit and keeping me around for 11 years! I love you both dearly!!
Saturday was a lazy day - for me anyway :) We got up around 8ish and headed to downtown Baltimore. Matt unfortunately had to work 9-12 so we ate breakfast downtown at the Panera before he headed into work. I took the car back to the house; one thing I did learn is that parking in downtown Baltimore is a huge nightmare! Worse than trying to find parking at under the main building at USAA after the day starts if you can imagine that (for those of you who've experienced the lack of parking after 8:15 am)! So I managed to find my way back to his place with the help of his GPS - who yelled at me several times because she had to recalculate her route. I had hoped for a round of applause from her when I finally did reach the house. Alas, there was none. Anyway, I wasted away the four hours doing various things: showering and getting all girlified, chatting with friends, checking facebook, etc. Around 11:30ish I headed out to go pick him up. Getting downtown proved to be much easier - I still had to use the GPS, but she didn't yell at me. I gave myself extra time thinking I'd get lost, but between the GPS and my lead foot, I arrived early and circled around the various streets of downtown for a few minutes till he called to let me know he was waiting. I should point out that the speed limit ranges from 55-65, so for the speed demon in me who has a hard time going only 70 on a Texas highway, you can imagine how difficult it was to maintain the proper speed while behind the wheel.
Anyway, we went to Subway for lunch to take a break from the fried foods of the nightlife and then drove to Matt's campus, CCBC (Community College of Baltimore County) to eat outside. Again - outside in September in mid-day! More weekends like this and my pasty white skin might get some pigmentation and NOT glow under a black light!
Oh, and I found the sign to the left utterly amusing :) This is on the CCBC campus near a steep incline - which apparently lends itself vulnerable to college-age stupidity during the winter :) But being from Texas, it's just not something one sees every day!
We drove to Alexandria, VA Saturday night for Samantha's birthday dinner. She and a group of her friends had been wine tasting all day - with the finale being dinner in Alexandria and hanging out at her place afterward. We met them at Sam's place to carpool to dinner at Taqueria Poblano (http://www.taqueriapoblano.com/). Yes, I ate Mexican food in Virginia. Their salsa was really good! I was impressed being so far from 'the border'. I ate so many chips & salsa that all I ordered for dinner was a taco - which was pretty good, too. I enjoyed the company a lot - many, many new faces that I don't think I'll remember all their names, but lots of good company. Overall, it was a very relaxing evening. I think we left Sam's about 12:30 am and drove home. And then crashed with the intention of sleeping well into the morning on Sunday.
Morning dawned on Friday, 9/4 - beautiful! No need for A/C - in September. SEPTEMBER! No swarms of mosquitoes, a wonderful breeze blowing through the window...it was surreal. Matt had to go to class at 9, so I took my time showering and putting on the make-up...essentially being girly to pass the time. I think he got home around 10:30 or so, and we ventured back to Ellicott City for breakfast. We stopped at this really cute, bakery/cafe called Sarah & Desmond's (http://www.sarah-desmonds.com/). They had all sorts of pastries, coffees, smoothies, teas, homemade breads...and I was surprised that it wasn't pricey. I noticed that the coffee shops and cafes in the area were much more common than what I'm used to seeing and very popular and affordable. I enjoyed the atmosphere and people - everyone was relaxed, coming in from walking or biking to joining for breakfast or meeting friends. It had a very neighborly feel and was also very dog friendly just like every other place in the area that I'd noticed. We had bagels for breakfast, and I enjoyed a wonderful cup of 'Hippie Blend' coffee - which I got several times over the course of the weekend. Very yummy!! I should have taken some pics, but I distract easily :)
We spent most of the day driving around and just looking at the area - old neighborhoods, houses, and several of the state parks in the area. In SEPTEMBER, with the windows down and no A/C!!!! I don't think I can stress that enough - still shocked! The deer were also out in mid-day SEPTEMBER, which I found fascinating. We sat on the side of the road in one of the parks - I think it was Patapsco - just watching them. I think we counted four adults and two fawns. At least one was a young male with short spikes; he kept his distance. We could tell the females watched him for orders though as we got closer. They didn't seem to mind our presence though. I was able to take several pictures (some, you'll see, I forgot to turn the flash off) before they decided we were no longer welcome in their presence, and they hopped away.
Friday night we joined some of Matt's friends from the aviation program at CCBC, Dave & Jessie & Jessie's boyfriend (can't remember his name) at Illusions Magic Bar & Lounge (http://www.illusionsmagicbar.com/) in downtown Baltimore. It was apparently voted one of the top 9 bars by CNN Travel - something they mentioned during the show and are quite proud of, which considering how many bars there are in the country does seem to be a huge accomplishment. At 10 pm on Wednesday-Saturday evenings, Spencer Horsman performs a show behind the bar - card tricks and his finale of hanging upside down from the ceiling while attempting to escape from a straight jacket. I, of course, was pulled up on stage by Spencer's dad who owns the bar and was a former circus clown to assist in one of the tricks. In this 'illusion', Spencer had me blindfold him and used a sword to try and determine the cards selected by other audience members. We mixed the cards up all over the table, some of them falling on the floor, and he still found a way to get the cards. I tried to figure it out while up on stage, but noticed that there were various stab marks all over the table, so in the end, I gave up the urge to figure it out and succumbed to the entertainment of it all. It was a great night - definitely something I wouldn't have thought to do as a 'tourist'. The benefits of spending time with locals :) I noticed later that a lot of people had videoed and taken pictures during the show, so I was disappointed that I hadn't done the same, but I thought it might be a little tasteless and kind of rude to do so during a live performance in such close proximity to the performer. I did, however, find someone else's video on YouTube, so I'm embedding it here.
Kuddos to he who took the video :) It's hard to tell in the video, and in this one Spencer's hair looks like it's a different color, but Spencer reminds me of a young version of the actor who played Carlisle Cullen in Twilight - as Carlisle Cullen with the platinum hair and the fair white skin. Matt said he looked like a cross between Macaulay Culkin and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. (I gave him Macaulay Culkin - could never see the JTT resemblance. You can decide for yourself - I found his facebook page; debating on if I should 'friend' him - http://www.facebook.com/SpencerHorsman). Anyway, I was impressed by the performance, but also at the abdominal strength Spencer had to have to perform the trick with all the movement - you'll notice that in the video! Leave it to me to be more impressed by his unseen abs than by the straight jacket - but I found that just phenominal!
Anyway, it was a nice evening and fun to meet some more of Matt's new friends - I'm sure they'll be getting to know each other a lot as the start down the road of aviation together. Definitely an evening to remember!
Wow...I don't even know how to start this blog post. Labor Day weekend was without a doubt the best weekend of 2009, and I don't think it will be topped this year or any time in the near future.
For me, the weekend started out on Wednesday evening (9/2) when I went to League City, TX to spend the night with Hilary for her birthday - the big 2-9!! Wonderful dinner at Ichiban's, a hibachi grill restaurant -amazing meal! I was so glad that I got to spend her birthday with her. I spent the night there and left for Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston the next morning for my flight at 7:55 am to Reagan International Aiport in Washington, DC.
Both my flights went well - I, being as shy and reserved as you all know I am, talked to the people on the flight next to me for a bit. I was a bit disconcerted the the co-pilot's name of the flight to DC was Tim Taylor - as in Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor, but the flight went smoothly without bumps, tweeks, or male grunting over the intercom, and we landed without a hitch, about 5 minutes late.
Matt met me outside baggage claims, and we headed off to Mt. Vernon (http://www.mountvernon.org/)to meet his friend (now my friend too, of course), Samantha for a tour of the property and collection of George & Martha Washington. Sam is a cataloger/researcher there, which I found fascinating. It really made me think about how much of the nation's history still exists up there - since Texas being a fairly young state has very little of that history. Seeing everything up there made me wish I'd paid a bit more attention in the years of history the Texas public school system poured into me.
I was able to take a few pictures at the property - most everything cannot be photographed because of the damage it can do to the artifacts. However, the re-creations were available for photos...the one to the left is the kitchen. This was separate from the actual house itself. The house had been 'restored' so to speak to match the era decor of Washington's time. The main entertaining room was painted a very bright green - for those of you who knew me in high school, imagine the color of my first car. That's the wall color - bright calypso green. We were also able to see the rest of the house, huge rooms which hosted many guests, and the bedroom where George Washington died in 1799.
To the right is a photograph of the tomb which houses the sarcophagi of George and Martha Washington (bottom middle-ish) and about 25 of their other family members. The tomb was built over several years, requested by George Washington to replace the old family tomb, and was completed in 1831. The last member of the family to be buried in the tomb was in 1855.
After Mt. Vernon, Matt, Sam and I went to happy hour in Old Town Alexandria, VA and walked along the waterfront. It was SO beautiful there. We were there just before sunset, so the view was amazing. I enjoyed people watching; the whole area, Alexandria, Baltimore, & DC is very pet friendly, so people would have their dogs with them in restaurants, shops - even church! I love it!! I took several touristy photos here. I couldn't help it. With the weather not requiring shelter to prevent me from melting and the peaceful sounds coming off the water...I think I could have just stayed watching the boats, fish, and birds the rest of the evening. One of the other cool sites we visited was Gadsby's Tavern (http://www.gadsbystavernrestaurant.com/) - one of the places where George Washington had dined, which is still in operation...one of the old ice houses used during his era exists under it. So fascinating to think about how much history still exists literally right under our feet. Texas wasn't even a fathomable possibility when all of this was built. Beaumont wasn't even established till 1901...and it seems like things here are old!
Across the Potomac from where we were lies Washington National Harbor in MD (http://www.nationalharbor.com/). It was really pretty with the sunlight reflecting off of it. And it was gorgeous lit up at night!
I also took the opportunity to take a pic of Sam and Matt...and to get the first pic of Matt and me of the weekend.
After parting ways with Sam, we went to Matt's place to drop off my stuff and then we went to one of his and his friends' favorite places, Diamondback Tavern (http://www.diamondbacktavern.com/) in Ellicott City, which is near Baltimore. It's such a cute little city with a lot of old homes and buildings which have been there forever (or so it seems). The city itself reminded me a lot of Fredericksburg, TX or Main Street in Boerne - lots of shops, coffee houses and cafes. And again, very dog friendly. There was a Baltimore Ravens game that night, but I guess since it was away and preseason, there weren't many people there to watch the game...which was nice that it wasn't extremely crowded. We went to 'DBT' several times over the weekend.
