Blurbs on the past week November 27, 2007

*11/20-Last day of classes and work before Thanksgiving. Didn’t pay much attention to school. Work was an easy 5 hours since I was still in training at the new center. Spent time on the computer doing a online orientation which kept loosing my work causing me to frantically try to catch up. Then I went to lunch with my “buddy” from work, which was much better than my last buddy lunch from the last center. For one, we actually ate food (Chinese Buffet in Five Points). Two, there was no awkward, “So where did you go to school?” and all those stupid getting to know you interview like questions. It was very casual even if I didn’t talk to much because of there was actually 2 other people. I got to know more people at work. It was good. I spent the rest of the night on the computer finishing an online class project, which was probably the most school I did all day.

*11/21-Woke up to the phone ringing and Phil saying, “We are going to be late.” Turns out my mom decided not to wake me up, even though she said she would, so I could get ready to go hiking with Kevin and Phil. I had to hurry out of bed, get ready, and then drive to school 12 to meet up with the guys. We ended up going to this new place that Kevin hadn’t even been to yet called Dingman’s Ferry. It has now earned the name “Broke Neck Mountain” for the fact that if you fall climbing up the side of the first obstacle (a waterfall), you will break your neck and therefore die. It caused me to get out of my comfort zone and challenged me. Phil has some embarrassing video of me during the first obstacle and will not delete it. It is not me at my finest. Later, Phil and I went to see “No Country for Old Men”. Great movie and you should go see it.

*11/22-Woke up to the realization that I had not emailed one assignment in for my teaching class. Went downstairs and helped make baked ziti. Had a Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Took a nap and then went to my aunt’s house to have another Thanksgiving dinner. Afterwards, went to Phil’s house to visit with his family minus anymore food. Played Pictionary and then went home and to bed with a couple extra pounds.

*11/23-The start of a long and emotionally exhausting weekend. Wake up and find out that my dad is in more pain than he had been in for the past coupe of days. He has not eaten, but vomited repeatedly. He’s in a cold sweat. Basically, he was not good. Yet, (this will be the start of a slight rant) he refused to go to the doctor/hospital. Why do guys always insist that they are okay, when they are not? Why can’t they visit a doctor? Why do they not acknowledge that they a) human and b)mortal?(end of rant) Finally, after I go online and scare him with a little webmd knowledge, we call an ambulance and proceed to the emergency room. We get there at about 1 pm and after 8 hours of testing and (mostly) waiting, the surgeon says they are going in to remove his appendix. Most of the day it was my dad and me. Mom had to work and there was no way my sister’s were staying in the hospital for that long. I was drained by 9:40 when they rolled him into the operating room. Plus added emotional strain, I just wanted to pass out. Doctor comes out and says my dad had to be lying because his appendix had already burst which meant he had to be in pain for at least 10 days. Good job dad! Saw dad get situated in a room and then hit the sack.

*11/24-Visited dad in the morning for a couple of hours. Then proceeded to stay home and lounge the day away. I was in a funk. I was not the normal Samantha. I found out today how truly awesome my friends are in trying to include me and how much my church family cares for me. Though I didn’t leave the house, the invitation was enough to brighten my day a tad bit.

*11/25- Went to church. Was on the way to visit dad, when my mom decided to inform me that he was coming home and that I had to pick him up. This meant a little more pressure on me and I turned into frantic Samantha once again. Got dad home and got his medicine. Afterwards, I got some fellowship time with my church peeps. We got together to go see Rob Bell in NYC. He was great. It was a little lengthy, but it was awesome. I love the last thought when he was talking about the bishop asking the woman about her visions of Jesus. The bishop had asked the woman to ask Jesus what his last confession was and when the woman asked Jesus he said, “I don’t remember”. That was a WOW moment.

*11/26-First day back to the grind. I was so tired and hated waking up to my mom asking me if I was going to school because that meant that my alarm had not gone off and I was late. Went to my first class and did nothing, but I got back my lesson plan and got an A. I was very happy and I felt that I may actually be doing well in school. Took a nap between classes. Went to my Shakespeare class and found out I got a C-/D+ on my last paper. Was then returned back to the planet earth and rushed to work. I LOVE the new center. I’m not working in the infant component and get to be with the babies. I love it. After work, I went to pick up Leopard. I was so happy because it is beautiful.

*11/27-Today is alright. Had my first class, which I was late for. Did absolutely nothing. I’m probably not going to do much in the next class, but I’m beginning to feel the end of the semester crunch. I have to go to work later, but that’s fine.

That’s been my week. Whew!

20 hours completed November 15, 2007

As a student at William Paterson University who wants to become a teacher, there are some things that I am required to do. One of them is that I have to complete 20 hours in the field. Today I realized, is when I would finish those 20 hours and I only realized it when it was nearing 3 o’clock.

It has been an interesting experience. Mrs. Sarah Becker has been my teacher in teaching and has really pushed me through these 20 hours. She has made sure that I got the most out of these hours. I have led a small guided reading group and worked with them on the story of “Rumpelstiltskin”. I have taught twice in front of the big group. I have graded assignments, called attendence, and even heped them with their math.

Yet, today may hold one of my biggest accomplishments. I had to teach the whole class. In my earlier blurb, I talked about my nervousness and feelings of not being cut out for teaching. I was so upset because this is one of my dreams. Today was very helpful.

I walked into the classroom at 1:15 and saw that the DARE officer was in the class, instructing them on how to say no and such. I sat down next to Sarah and listened to the DARE officer instruct the class. I kept looking at the class, hoping that I wouldn;t have to teach. I had prayed in my car before going into School #12, but I still felt anxious. The DARE officer said sorry to sarah for going over and then left. I looked at the clock and it read 1:40, which made me think that I wouldn’t have to teach because they had not done any language arts for the day. It’s essential that the day include 20 minutes of Language Art instruction and 60 minutes of Language Art Centers. Since Sarah usually has them ack up at 2:45, I thought that I was set. I was wrong.

Sarah tells me I’m on and says to the class that I’m going to be teaching. So I get up and Sarah has them get their Social Studies books. I have them open to page 314 and we read a little. Then I have them all stand up. I say that we are going to re-enact the Revolutionary War. I go through a little story nd have them sit down as they get killed. They enjoyed this, but kept trying to dodge me as they had to sit down.

I wanted them to discuss important people from the lesson so I had picked a couple of people from the chapter and split the class into groups. I went through an examle of what I wanted them to give me and set them to work. They did very wel except one group. They took forever to get started and by the time I had called time, they werent ready. I helped them when it was there turn, but I could tell that they were upset. I realize that I should have been more on top of them to get settled. I tried, but I should have been more forceful.

Overall, the lesson was much better than my first attempt. My first attempt was pretty bad with me not having them involved and not being confidant. Today I felt confidant in what I was doing. I guess my prayers worked.

I just feel reaffirmed that this is my calling. It always feels good to be encouraged.