Colorado Fun

Last weekend (as in May 20th), Steve and I headed to Colorado. We left Friday immediately following work (my last day as a teacher) and drove about 6 hours to Columbia, MO. The main purpose of our trip was to return Steve's brother's car. We had been borrowing it since Labor Day while he was away at college. Steve and I are so thankful that we were able to borrow the car (allowing us to save up and buy a new car, post to come!).

On Saturday, we stopped for lunch at Cabela's, a crazy outdoors/sporting goods store. It had a bunch of stuffed deer, moose, bears, foxes, etc, located all around the store. It even had a little museum about the different kinds of deer and an aquarium (with huge catfish and turtles). There was a little food court with different kinds of food you could eat, like bison burgers and Elk sandwiches. Steve tried the Elk and loved it. I being the unadventurous type, just stick with a basic burger. It was a nice little pit stop in between our 10 hour drive on Saturday.

We got to Steve's parents' house a little ahead of schedule. It was nice to be out of the car and able to stretch out and relax. Sunday was spent with his family at home. We had a little cookout in the evening, followed by a time of rearranging furniture. Our visit corresponded with the Ackermans getting the main floor redone. They were having carpet torn up, hardwood laid, and existing hardwood sanded in order to be stained along with the new.

With all the floor construction work being done during the day, we decided to spend Monday and Tuesday afternoons out and about. On Monday, Trish, Ian, Steve and I went to Celestial Tea factory. While there, we got to sample teas and take a tour of the factory. I am not a tea person; however, I really enjoyed the experience! It was neat to learn the differences between herbal teas (no tea plant present), green teas (tea plant harvested early), and black teas (tea plant harvested later). Learning the differences between the teas helped me to figure out why I can tolerate some teas(herbal) while not liking others.

After tea testing, we headed out for a nice little walk and lunch on Pearl Street. It was a nice little area where people are just able to hang out, spend time, relax, etc.

Tuesday afternoon was spent at the Denver museum. We saw a special exhibit about pirates. It was interesting to learn about pirate ships, how they operated, and what the life of a pirate looked like from beginning to end. After the pirate exhibit, we went to an exhibit formerly called the Hall of Life. Ian and Steve were reliving their childhood in this exhibit. They explained to me several times how they loved coming to the museum just for this exhibit. When you entered, you were given a little credit card that you inserted into a computer to create your profile. Then you went from station to station, inserting your card and collecting different health data. At the end of the exhibit, you inserted your card into another computer and got to print out all the data you collected. Apparently, when they were younger, you not only got data from the stations, but got points for doing the different things. They would always try to see who would get the most points; however, this is no longer the case. Regardless of the lack of points, the exhibit was still a lot of fun (especially watching Ian & Steve go crazy and act like little kids).

I feel like our trip really flew by. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Steve's family. Despite the 17 hours in a car to get there, we really enjoyed our little vacation. Steve was able to rest up and "stockpile" some sleep. We flew back on Wednesday and landed in Nashville. We rented a car from there to drive to Jackson. We had to wait an hour at the airport for an available car (which was kind of ridiculous) and the drive was about two hours until we got home. We were about to drive leave to return the rental car when I discovered that our car had a flat tire (making #3 for us in 3 months). Steve is now truly a flat tire expert and had the tire changed really quickly. We got the rental car returned and was finally able to relax after a stressful travel day. Steve only had 2 more days of work before a 3 day weekend. Our trip was not only wonderful, but wonderfully timed! His two days of work were sandwiched in between a vacation and long weekend giving us a lot of time to enjoy each other's company.

Last Day of School

So last Friday (May 20) was my last day as a first grade teacher. I wasn't able to blog about since we left right after school to head to CO, got back Wednesday night, and I babysat all day yesterday. This is the first time in a week I've been able to sit and relax in my own home. I'll blog more about our trip to CO in another post.

I didn't know what to expect for the last day of school. I was hoping some of the kids would stay home; but I was amazed when I only had 3 out of 14 kids! I had another student show up with her mom just to pick up her report card. By 9 am, one of the three students was picked up, leaving me with 2 rambunctious boys.

I pretty much let them do their thing, while I did mine. I put a movie (Space Jam) on and let them mess around on the computers while watching the movie. While they were busy being entertained, I worked on cleaning up the room. I was only responsible to make sure that the tables & chairs were stacked as well as marking anything movable with the classroom number. I, being the overachiever that I am, did a bit more than I was asked. I made sure everything was labeled, all the students' things from the year were cleaned out of the classroom, and swept/dusted the room. If I didn't do work while in the room, I'd have had nothing else to do, so it made the time go by quicker.

All throughout the day, some of my students and their parents came to pick up their report cards. Some of the kids gave me hugs and talked with me a lot; others, just asked for their report card and left. It was interesting to me which kids fell into which category.

After lunch, I moved my two boys into the room next door where the teacher had 6 girls. I was able to get my room "checked" and pack up stuff and just wait for either the two boys to be picked up or 3 o'clock; whichever came first! One of my boys was picked up around 12:30, so I just had one left. I colored with the students and helped the teacher get all her stuff done around the room, too. At 2:30, she told me that she'd take care of my student for the last hour and that way I can leave early. I said my goodbyes too all the lovely first grade teachers I got the privilege to work with. They are wonderful ladies & made me feel a part of the team.

I'm so thankful for this experience and how it has helped me grow as an educator. I will admit it was stressful at times and felt unfair with the situation I was thrown into, but I understand that God had a plan not just for me, but for those 14 students, too. But boy am I glad for summer!

What a Week

I can't believe this is my last week as a first grade teacher. I've enjoyed the whole experience, but I am totally ready to be done! I've learned a lot about classroom management and have gotten some more great ideas to add to my future teaching plans (whatever the grade may be!). Even though I'm certified for secondary (middle or high school) Social Studies, I've really enjoyed being in an elementary setting and may (some day) get certified to teach elementary.

This week is going to be pretty crazy at school. Of course all the kids have the end-of-year-summer-is-coming squirm going on. They are all ready to be out of school as much as I'm ready to be done. There really isn't much "academics" going on this week (especially for 1st grade), so my week will be consisting more of babysitting than teaching. We'll be doing lots of videos (pbskids.com is a God-send!), coloring, and computer activities. We're having an awards day as well as class party on Thursday, leaving Friday as a clean-up day.

As if the week won't be crazy enough (planning the class party, coming up with little treats for the kids, keeping the house clean, & Steve fed), we've decided to return Ian's (Steve's brother) car to Colorado this weekend. We will be leaving right after I get off school on Friday. So I also have to add in laundry & packing into the crazy week. I got the car cleaned up today so that's one thing off the list. Now to just prioritize the list and figure out what to do next. This week will fly by!

Field Day!!!

Today, I got the privilege of experiencing field day with my kiddos. Field day consists of the kids signing up for events in advance (like 50 yd dash, football throw, class relay, balloon toss, etc) and battling out against all the other first graders. Over the weekend, I made t-shirts for all my kids so that we would match and have team unity (and all the other teachers were doing it, so why not!).

We had good weather while we were outside, even though it was in the mid 80s. I got to sit under a tree and keep track of my kids' scores, so I enjoyed the breeze and the shade. However, the kids were all running around in an open area under the hot sun. I luckily bought some water & juice on a whim, which came in super handy for the kids!

Here are some pictures of my classroom, class, and pictures from the day:

I have a total of 14 students (I started with 13 but got a new kid around Easter). One of my kids did not get to participate in Field Day because he was in In-School Suspension for the day. While in the classroom, the kids sit in tables of 3-4. During the morning we work on reading activities, leaving the afternoon for math, science/spelling/social studies, and an activity (art, library, music, P.E., etc).

Here are a few of my kids entertaining themselves with the grass while they were waiting for their event to be called. In the background, there is some sort of game (I think it was frisbee throw) going on. My students are pretty antsy, so they can only last in an activity so long before they go stir-crazy. I also have some students who have issues with sitting still, so I was pretty tired with keeping my kids in check by the end of the day.

Here are my kiddos in their shirts that I made (well, minus the little girl in front, she got too hot and took her matching shirt off). Also, yes, I am the only whitey in my class. I stick out like a sore thumb when I'm with them. The front of their shirts say "Ackerman's Alligators" with a picture of an alligator on it. Throughout the day, they'd chant "Alligators, Alligators!!" Ha ha, we did have a fun time, but I'm glad it's over!