oh, the ten day.

I taught the first five days of my ten day unit this week.
What a week.


Sunday night, after church, I went by McAlister's to pick-up some neglected paychecks I forgot about in the craziness of this semester. I had been feeling different that night, but I figured it was from all of the late nights over Spring Break I spent working on my projects. While I was at McAlister's, I sorta, kinda, maybe had a seizure. It wasn't a seizure-seizure where you foam and shake like a crazy person. It was stress/blood sugar-related, and I basically passed out and when I came to, was in fear of everyone around me. I was admitted to the ER from 7:45 until 2 am Monday morning. I spent the night with the Pikes (my sweet neighbors), and I woke up for school at 5 am. It was not an ideal way to begin my week.

This week's unit was on the Food Guide Pyramid.

Monday, the students sorted and classified TONS of pictures of foods from magazines and coupons and worked in small groups to create food groups. None used the food groups in the food pyramid surprisingly, which made my lesson so relevant.

Tuesday, the students created a still-life work of art in small groups. Each small group had a set: different foods within the food groups. The students tore tissure paper and glued them in the shapes of the set. Their art turned out so well.. we talked a lot about perspective and how the same objects look different depending on where you view them.

Wednesday, the students researched healthy snacks recipes from the countries of their ancestral origin. The students asked their parents/grandparents where their ancestors came from, wrote the countries down, and returned to school. I divided the students into several countries: Germany, Ireland, Scotland, England, South Africa (I know.. not a country, BUT these students did not know where in Africa they were from), Costa Rica, Mexico, France, India, and Italy. Some students were the only ones in their group, some had six in their country's group. We went to the media center, and they searched websites (predetermined by me because I don't trust Google or... my students...) finding recipes. They wrote them down on notecards, and when we returned to class, they rewrote the recipes neatly on a recipe handout sheet. They colored these sheets, and we voted on a cookbook title for our class' cookbook. The students voted on "Over the Borders" and they worked together to create a glossary, defining the words like "tsp," "tbsp," and "a pinch." We're binding the class copy and having copies made for the students to take home with them next week.

Thursday, the students worked in cooperative groups to study and prepare a presentation on the muscular system. The students were given roles: artists & personal trainers. The artists outlined a human body (traced a student) and decorated their person. They labeled two muscle groups. While they worked on the diagram, the personal trainers used information in folder on two muscle groups and created an exercise program to stretch & strengthen these two muscle groups. They presented their programs and diagrams to the class after lunch. We had all of the desks pushed to the sides of the room, and they stayed like this the rest of the day. I had those fifth graders sitting on the floor all afternoon. It was best though because during the presentations, they had to listen to the steps of each exercise and stretch, watch the demonstrations, and practice them with their "Personal Trainers." :)

Today, we had a guest speaker come in to demonstrate how the students can exercise at home without equipment or a membership to the gym. She had handouts and everything. She explained how muscles tear when you weight train and require a day to heal, and students who lift weights grow stronger when they only lift weights three times a week. The students were really excited about the presentation. After her presentation, we went to the gym where I had fitness stations set up. One of the coaches and I had the students in groups (the same as Thursday's) and they rotated, assessing each other's physical fitness. Before we went, I had a serious discussion about how everyone is at a different fitness level. "If I were doing push-ups, the number I'd be able to do in a minute would be completely different than yours, and yours, and yours." "You will not laugh at anyone. That will not be an issue. No one will laugh at anyone. Does everyone understand?" No one made fun of anyone. The students worked really well with each other. We returned to the classroom, they read over their notes taken by their partners during the assessment, and we discussed how we should all improve in physical fitness while we are young. After our discussion, we spent the remaining hour before lunch finishing the still-life art projects from Tuesday (that were put on the back burner due to having so much planned this week). After lunch, the students took a few tests, and parents arrived at 2:30 for a "Healthy Snacks" presentation. (AKA: Party) :)
The parents brought fruits, apple cartwheels (Google it, the kids LOVED them), banana puddding, strawberry shortcake, gatorades, & lemonade. For the remaining thirty minutes, the students listened to how the parents prepared the snacks, and they enjoyed their healthy foods. We concluded the day discussing how healthy foods taste just as great (if not greater) as junk foods. We decided we would replace one junk food a day this week with something healthy, like a piece of fruit.

It was quite a week. Next week, the students will study starving countries in the world, and they will be "social workers" for the week. They will be in charge of a hungry country, and they will create a PowerPoint presentation about that hungry country. They will include info about the country, why people/children are starving, and what they could do to help. Their parents are coming Friday morning to the Media Center to watch their children present their plans to save the starving people of the world. The students are excited about dressing professionally. Several boys are wearing suits. :)

and that is my ten day lesson plan. After these two weeks, I'll be able to focus on finding a J-O-B! :)

ST thus far

I have gotten e-mails from two students since yesterday afternoon, after school. Spring break just started... come on sweetie-pies, Miss Hurst needs a break.

AND, it's very weird signing a reply e-mail with "Miss Hurst," rather than Julie Hurst. It's going to take some time.

I love teaching fifth grade. Love it, Love it, Love it. I love what they learn in fifth grade. I love teaching math, science, reading, AND social studies. I love it all. I love the age group. They're old enough to appreciate engaging, hands-on lessons and will really get involved in them. I love that they think I'm sort-of cool, but they also know I'm teacher.. not friend. That's been well-established since day one. The only time during the day when I will talk to them as a "21-year-old" is recess, when they need advice for dealing with friendships. After recess, I'm teacher again. I love that the boys all have dreams of playing professional football, and the girls all want to be teachers. I love that those students who are receiving accomodations for Special Ed. don't know they're different and their classmates don't either. I love lunchtime when it doesn't matter who is sitting at the tables.. the kids just love each other. It makes me sad to think that as they grow older, their lunch table friends will change, based on who is involved in which activities and what classes they're in each day.

I screamed at the students one day. They were not listening to me, my teacher was having surgery, the sub was not helping at all, and I was at my breaking point. It scared them... three started crying because they all try to "impress" me with their good behavior and good work so much, and they knew they disappointed me. I haven't screamed since.. I haven't had to. They've been incredible every since. Two have asked to be placed in "my sixth grade class at Milam" next year. :) (Their hope is for me to be teaching 6th grade at Milam... I haven't even begun distributing resumes & applications so no job yet.)

It's been such an amazing experience. My favorite part of the experience is math.. I am a case study for one of my professors from last semester. She's observing me and keeping up with how I teach math this semester and next year (during my first year of teaching), and she and another professor are co-writing a publication based on first year teachers and how they teach math. I am so excited because math is my favorite, and it's fun working with those two professors.

Student teaching has def. been a positive experience. It's been stressful beyond belief -- everything is due at the very same time -- but I have learned so much about classroom management and being professional. I know I'm much more prepared for next year than I was before the experience.

When Spring Break ends, I will teach a ten-day lesson unit on the food pyramid and the effects of starvation in the poverty-stricken countries of the world. The students are really excited. I interviewed them last week to find out what they already know about the lessons. One said his favorite vegetable was "banana," and another said the countries that are poverty-stricken and starving are, "Asia, New Orleans, and Africa." I have a lot to teach them, but it's going to be fun! I'll post pictures when all is said and done.
After those ten days, I'll begin sending out resumes & applications to district offices and school principals, beginning with Tupelo schools and working my way throughout north Mississippi. I'm thinking I'll probably go as far south as Rankin County and as far north as Marshall County. I'll have three BIG projects due that week for my Ole Miss classroom management class, my portfolio will be due, and... I'll just ride out the remainder of the semester with student teaching. I think my last week, I'm supposed to observe other classrooms at Lawndale and check out other grade-levels. I'm planning to observe a Challenge class, a fourth grade, sixth grade math, sixth grade English, and a fifth grade class across the hall from my class.

I have so much to do, but I know it's so good for me. :) Spring Break will be good prep time for all that is to come.

so tired.

I am so tired at the end of each day. It's indescribable.
I do not see how I'm going to be able to withstand exhaustion as a teacher if I'm this tired as a student teacher!

Today, I was alone with my students. My teacher broke her hand in three places (spiral break -- looks horribly painful) helping her daughter do a back hand spring. There was a sub.. but my first sentence stands. I didn't want to waste the day just doing worksheets to keep the kids busy. So, I had a day's worth of lesson plans ready to go. I had math mini-lessons, English, writing, and science. Today is National Fairy Tale Day, and the kids wrote a fairy tale, which they loved.
One wrote, "The Three Little Pigs in the Hood." Oh yeh, it's as hilarious as it sounds. Most took the word FAIRY seriously in fairy tale and wrote about Tinkerbelle. One of the requirements was to include a moral of the story. Those were the funniest parts. A little boy in the class said his moral of the story was, "Don't go into the cave with this particular monster." I'm not sure that it's a moral, but I let it go since he wrote a good story.

Science was what left me so tired. I had laser discs (which I had never ever seen or used before) that described in short clips each biome. The students had to list the animals, plants, & climate of each biome and draw/color a picture of the biome on the other side of the paper. It was supposed to be more exciting than filling out a worksheet. The kids, I don't think, have ever watched a video in class before. They were talking, walking around, sharpening pencils, and I could not get them to settle down. I even paused the video, taught procedures of watching a video, they said, "Yes ma'am," and when I restarted the video, continued with what they were doing. I ended up having to stop the video, talk to several in the hallway, and assigning them a final assignment for the day: a friendly letter to the teacher describing their day with Miss Hurst & the sub. The kids were VERY honest. "I misbehaved all day. I wouldn't listen to Miss Hurst at all." "Mrs (haha). Hurst tried to do fun things to teach us, but we wouldn't listen." "Other teachers had to tell us to be quiet in the cafeteria." So-and-so "backtalked Miss Hurst at lunch. We didn't get recess because of it." (not quite true... they didn't get recess because they played all morning and chose to talk during my math minilesson, so I told them they had their recess for the day during that time. :)

I feel like I'm so mean to them, but at the end of the day, I don't know what else I could have done. One of the most precious teachers I've ever met (Mrs. Wilemon) told me it wouldn't have mattered if I had stood on my head and danced a jig, they wouldn't have done anything for me because my teacher was gone, plain and simple. Fifth graders always react that way when the teacher is away. I'm just ready for it to be my class... no matter what grade I end up teaching... it's so hard doing all of this planning and teaching and the kids just misbehaving right through it.

so, I'm tired at the end of the day...

student teaching.

Teaching makes me so tired. It doesn't matter how much sleep I get each night, I am worn slap out at the end of the day.

Speaking of, these are the...

Things I've learned thus far in the student teaching experience:

1. ADHD children who do not take their pill in the morning can spontaneously burst into tears... don't take that personally.
2. Some teachers love to teach the way they always have and have no intention of changing.
3. Ten-year-old girls are hormonal.
4. Ten-year-old boys love student teachers.
5. I'm there to teach and inspire, not to be their best friend.
6. Glasses make me look ten-years older, according to my students.
7. Wearing a purity ring makes the students think I'm married.
8. Caffeine really isn't enough.
9. Don't eat the nachos. Really...
10. You can't let some students go to the bathroom because they will literally never come back.
11. The quiet students can feel left out because so much attention (although negative) is placed on those who talk and misbehave.
12. Teachers cherish specials, planning periods, and lunch. I see why now.
13. Just say no to ten-year-old girls who want to jump you.
14. "I know you're not my math teacher, but..." gets told to me everyday. They don't realize my minor is math. :) I can handle math... no sweat!
15. No shoes are comfortable enough. Orthopedic shoes, here I come!
16. My hair is getting messier and messier each day.
17. I'm waking up later and later each day (hence number 16).
18. I thank my heavenly father every day for placing me at a school four minutes from my home.
19. Kids are way too interested in what's in my lunch box every day. They haven't figured out I bring the exact same thing every day. It's what I've eaten since 7th grade: pb&j, water, quaker snack thingies, & a granola bar.
20. Fifth graders love flamin' hot cheetos and shipley's donuts. I think I inspired several of my students to write for Gumtree because of my offer to bring donuts to the class if everyone submits a GOOD entry.

and this, my dears, is the story of the life of an Ole Miss student teacher.

I find out this Tuesday how I did on my Praxis 2. Pray for me, please? :)

My first bulletin board of the semester :)




(My favorite patch on our dream quilt. :) )

and.. My math centers :)



UPDATE: I passed my Praxis 2 tests... God really did wonders, because I scored far above "passing," so my success in the classroom these past few years hasn't been in vain. :)

student teaching, spring semester craziness.

I LOVE my 5th grade class!! I have twenty-three of the most unique students ever. There is a huge gap academically. We have a group of very intelligent students who are in the gifted program and love reading gigantic books (that I probably wouldn't even read, but I won't admit that to them haha), and there's a group of students who struggle and struggle.. many who are reading "Junie B. Jones" books. My first graders & second graders in the past enjoyed her books, so that leaves me concerned; however...

our teacher is amazing with them! They are excited about learning.. she has amazing classroom management, and we have BIG plans for our semester as far as me teaching math, science, & language. :) and of course, my ten-day lesson plan on who knows what? haha. I have two months to plan it so I'm sure I'll come up with something.

so.. I've been really debating with myself over where to live and work next semester. Jackson? Tupelo? Saltillo? Amory? and I really have no idea at this point. God is such a great God, and His plan for me will be revealed in proper timing, His timing, which is so much greater than my timing. I'm learning a lot about trust this semester. I started panicing myself out the week before student teaching began and met with my absolute fave professor at Ole Miss.. she taught my math strategies class last semester. She really encouraged me and made me realize that while others may disagree with some of the things I believe about teaching, I should always remember that the children come first. However I teach may not be the same as the teachers around me, but as long as I'm considering my students' needs and how they learn best as I plan lessons, we will all excel. That really makes a lot of sense to me because I know I was able to learn from teachers who taught a variety of different ways. She also encouraged me about where to teach. She helped me realize that it really seems like God is doing His work through me now, and I need to be patient because today, this day, I don't have to make a decision.

... and in a lot of ways, I think this is the first time I've ever had to really rely on trusting God with His plan. I really think every decision I've made in the past has been hasty and self-centered. This time, I'm really trying to seek Him and let life fall into place as He has planned.

I am so thankful for Calvary. My church is going through a lot of changes; we have new staff in nearly every area of the ministries, and our church as a whole is going through seasons of renewel. Everything seems so fresh & positive now, and I feel like this year, as Bro. David leads us biblically and with his focus on Christ, we are going to all be renewed in Him. Sunday, I just could not get over how exciting this is for my church. While I feel like Christ is and has been growing in me, I know that there are areas of my life that do need polishing ... or possibly need to be completely killed away and renewed, but how amazing is it that we all get opportunities to experience Christ in our lives, see Christ in those we worship and fellowship with, and teach others about Him through all of the different areas of our lives that are displayed to others. Oh, I'm excited, that's for sure! :)

too many choices and decisions to be made now.

I thought it would be easy.. this spring semester. Oh, I had a plan. I would take the Praxis II (check). I would student teach at Lawndale Elementary and decide whether I want to teach older grades or younger grades (about to begin). I would apply for jobs in and around Tupelo, create a beautiful portfolio, interview for jobs, get a job, find a place to live, AND.. at the end of July, begin getting my classroom ready. I would lean against the church family I've grown to love these past ten years, utilize the retired teachers who go to my church, and teach Sunday School & Awana for children throughout the week.

phew. That was the plan until my sweet Oxford friends forced me to think this past Saturday.

All of my Oxford friends, whom I ran away from last May when I made the decision to live in Tupelo and go to the Ole Miss Tupelo campus, are moving to Jackson this summer. They're going to pharmacy school, nursing school, medical school, or they're just getting jobs, like me. One is going to be an elementary school teacher also, and she's excited about applying in towns like Madison, Clinton, & Brandon, and well... they want me to join them on this "adventure:" being twenty-two, living away from "home," and getting jobs where you don't know everyone on the school board and all of the district's principals.

This now leaves me... uncertain of 2009.

which totally goes to show that you should never rely on your own plans.. they can completely change in one simple conversation over salads at Newk's. God has a plan for me, which I know He will reveal to me in His timing.. I think He really wants me to trust Him & this plan, and that's why I'm left uncertain now... which is BEST. I can take one day at a time this semester, doing what can be done now: student teaching & portfolio making.... and when the time comes to make a decision, I will be able to do so with confidence.

Pray for me. Please? I do love Tupelo so... I love the idea of staying on as my family moves, finding a fun apartment to live in, and teaching sweet students who come from all different backgrounds and cultures, but at the same time, I know that if I stay, I probably won't ever leave... I have to get over this trust issue I have with God and know that He will come through this semester.

Tonight, my best friends from high school & I got together for our annual Christmas party. It was absolutely amazing... we talked, took pictures, watched our sweet friend Grace's sonogram MOVIE, and ate. Our gifts this year (instead of dirty santa gifts) were baby GIRL gifts for Grace. She's due in April... so next Christmas, we will have our first baby included in our party.
I learned tonight that despite all of us going our separate ways after graduation (think... art history, law, theatre, business, hospitality, nutrition, spanish, & elementary ed), we can still get together and talk as if no time has passed at all.

and we plan to continue this tradition for as long as possible, because we want to celebrate everyone's engagements, children, etc. (Brittany is engaged, Grace is married, & Grace is expecting)... and that's just this year! :)