Dear "Family" Photographs

So, this Dear Photograph project I started has been a really great distraction from doing my homework...who really needs homework in grad school anyways.

This particular post is going to be entirely dedicated to my grandparents (at least on my mom's side...I don't really have any pictures of my dad's parents I could use for this). Grandma and Grandpa Mac...where to begin.

 Let's start with Grandma: I don't think I've ever met a more selfless, kind and loving person...ever. And I'm not just saying that because she's my grandma. She's your typical small town woman. A retired Postmaster that everyone in town knows, does volunteer work for her local Baptist church, and bakes lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies. She has 8 grandchildren (I'm the only girl) and 4 great-grandchildren. If you ask her, she'll say she's the luckiest person in the world. And I love her laugh.

Dear Photograph,

My mom has that exact same beady-eyed smile.

Maybe some day I'll be lucky enough to have it too.

Amanda

Alrighty...on to Grandpa. Two words: Self-proclaimed Grouch (and yes, it's two words because of the hyphen). When I say self-proclaimed I mean it. He even had a sign outside the house that said "Beware, Grouch Lives Here." We all loved him regardless. He died almost 5 years ago. If I have one regret in life, it's that I didn't give him more hugs. I used to be afraid of him when I was younger because he was so loud. And I mean loud! His stories usually involved yelling (at no one in particular) and cursing (never the F-word though). He was a lot more caring than I think most people realized. One time, he and my uncle found a calf stuck in the mud during a rainstorm. They pulled the calf out and Grandpa actually brought the calf inside the house so it would stay warm. A farm animal inside the house...seriously?! And we always had to be extra careful when we played on the hay bales in the yard, because Grandpa was convinced us kids were going to fall between 2 bales and suffocate...which never, ever happened. But you bet your behind that every time we hear the door open we hid!

Dear Photograph,

My mom tells the same type of long, drawn out stories he did.

Secretly, I love listening to them.

Amanda

Dear Photograph...

So if you haven't had the chance to visit the website Dear Photograph...do it!

The whole purpose of this post is to distract myself from being incredibly stressed about classes and nervous about my screening interview in DeSoto on Tuesday...eek!

Anyways..if you visited the website, you get the general idea. So the other day I started looking through my family's old photo albums. I've decided to start my own Dear Photograph art project with family photos. I think of it as Post Secret...but better! I also decided I'd use it to change the tone of this blog for the time being...while I'm on break from student teaching until January.

So here's the first one!

Dear Photograph,

The swing set might gone and the hammock stored

in the basement. The deck has new stain on it, and

the scattered toys are gone...but that backyard still

has some great memories!

Amanda

There will be many more more to come throughout the holidays!

Now on to that cover letter : /

Rainy Day Field Trip

Aren't you so excited? Two posts in a week?! Crazy!

Alright, so as you already know, today was field trip day! The rain kindly held off until I had to walk from Allen Fieldhouse to my car at the Union...thanks Mother Nature (that's supposed to sound sarcastic, BTW)

I hoping that my kids had a good time...they seemed to enjoy it, but I'm not sure if that's because they got a day out of school or because they genuinely enjoyed learning about KU's Athletic Training program. I really enjoyed it...even if they didn't. We had the opportunity to go inside the new Anderson Family Football Complex...one word...INCREDIBLE. We got to take a peek inside the weight room...HOLY COW you could get lost in there it's so big! They also have this really awesome underwater treadmill they use in their therapy pool. State of the art indeed! Overall it was a good time...I even had one student tell me she was thinking about going KU after the visit...I'd call that success! (P.S. sorry for all the triple periods...I don't know what's gotten into me) I got some good pictures, so I'll share one of the group ones with you.

The traditional group photo in front of the Jayhawk at the Union

All in all, we all had a good time and I was happy I got to see my students again. Needless to say, I'll be making a few more trips to Wyandotte before the semester is over. 

Until then...time to celebrate! It's BIRTHDAY WEEK! Friday cannot come soon enough : )

Double Takes and a Field Trip

So I waited to do my final post about Wyandotte until I had the chance to go back and visit my students.

Last Day.
My last day was emotional to say the least. I didn't cry at school, but let me tell you, the car got some waterworks on the way home. I was the most strict with my third block...and I got the most hugs from them. Students I thought hated me because I was strict with them told me I was a great teacher and that they'll miss. I guess all they needed was a little tough love. By the end of at all, I realized that teaching is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I fell in love with teaching in those 9 weeks and wouldn't trade the experience for one in the Blue Valley School District any day.

4th Block threw me a little party and my cooperating teacher put together a gift basket with all sorts of awesome teaching supplies. I can't wait until I get my own classroom so I can start putting it all to good use.

Oh PS, the principal made get my picture taken, since picture day was my last day there, so my picture will featured in the Wyandotte year book...I tried my hardest to get out of it...but couldn't dodge it.

Visit.
So today, my day off from classes and work, I decided I'd go visit "my kids" at the Dotte. I'm so glad I did. I walked out of the building today with a huge smile on my face. I didn't realize how much I missed those kids until I walked in the door. I got there during 2nd Block so I was already in the room for 3rd Block (my hardest, biggest, and craziest class I had). The kids were SO funny when they saw me. They did this double take and when they realized it was me they got this huge smile on their face and they ran over saying, "Miss Riss!!!" and gave me a huge hug. I told them a long time before I left that I would come back and visit. A lot of them said, "That's what they all say" and I know they didn't expect to come back and see them...so my guess is that was where most of the surprise and excitement came from.

It was really good to see the other community teachers too. It's crazy how you can build relationships with these people over such a short period and you don't realize how much you miss seeing them until it's been three weeks and you finally get to see them again.

On Monday I'm taking the 4th Block kids on a field trip I set up with the athletics department at KU. I'm so beyond excited and I'll share more on that experience and hopefully I'll have some pictures too.

Until then...Wyandotte Forever.

I See The Light...

At the end of the tunnel, that is. Next Friday will be my last day at Wyandotte High School. I'm relieved and sad. Relieved that the stress and exhaustion will subside (at least until January)...sad because it's really started to feel like home. I let all of the teacher's in my community know how much I appreciated their kindness and support. I feel like I've become part of a family...even if I am just a student teacher. I told them that if there was an opening for a teaching position at Wyandotte High School in the Health Community, I would take it...no question. That says a lot of the type of teachers they are.

On a less serious note...I had some of the typical crazy teacher moments last week. Last Monday, during third block, not only did I have wasp flying around the room (imagine screaming 14 and 15 year old girls) but someone decided to drop a stink bomb in the sink. My mentor and I affectionately call the ninth graders "little stinkers" when they give me hard time...that name has so much more meaning after this incident : )
The very next day...I walk out of the house with two different shoes on...and I had no idea until I got out of my car and walked into the building. Two TOTALLY different shoes...and all I could do was laugh. Every time I look at the picture I can't help but smile.

I also had my second evaluation on earlier this week. Much better than last time. I changed everything she told me to and I put on the bells whistles...she had nothing bad to report. Needless to say I'll have an A for student teaching...YAY!

Now I just have to get through Mitosis and Meiosis by next Friday and I'm golden!

Just A Reminder...

This is a reminder to myself...with every job, there are good days and bad days. For me, the good days are becoming more common and bad days are becoming a rare occurrence. I hate the fact that my students are actually starting to see me as a real person and not just their teacher and in three weeks I have to say goodbye. I got to meet some of their parents on Wednesday night (it was a combination of an open house and parent teacher conferences...neither of which really exist in KCK). I was genuinely happy to meet their parents and talk to them about their kids. The parents that showed up were beyond supportive of their kids and all they want is for their children to be successful in life...same as any other parent. I've gotten so used to the idea as long as a student passes my class (not necessarily with an A) that it's good enough. How wrong was I! I told one student's mom, "Well she's got a 73% so she's passing, so that's good" and the mom responded with "Well in our house, a C is not passing." Inside I was cheering! This is what these kids need...a supportive parent, or someone....anyone, at home. At 2:20 I don't have any more control over what those kids do. When they're at home they need someone pushing them to do their homework and study. It doesn't matter if I tell them to study when they get...let's be real, they're 14 and 15 years old...they won't study. In a nutshell...it was nice to see supportive parents.

Let's get even happier and talk about last Friday. I got to go to my first Wyandotte football game! The best part was getting to see students I knew play in the game. One of my students, that I've made a really nice connection with, had an amazing game! It was the greatest feeling to walk into school on Monday, give him a high five and tell him he was awesome in the game. Every time I think about how amazing some of these kids are it kills me to know that I'm going to have to leave them in less than a month.

In the meantime...I'm going to enjoy the time I have left...and be thankful when all of the stress is over!

Well...We'll Call it Halfway

So at the end of this week I will officially be halfway through with my first semester of student teaching...time has FLOWN! I feel like I'm just starting to build meaningful relationships with these kids and pretty soon I'm going to have to leave...but I'll worry about that later.

I had my evaluation by my university supervisor on Monday...let's just say I don't think she quite gets my situation. She wants me to put on all of these bells and whistles with the kids and teach the way educational books tell you how to teach. NEWSFLASH: That WILL NOT work with these kids! I know my students, and what she's telling me to do WILL NOT work for them. But...I learned from the experts when it comes to dealing with bureaucratic crap (my parents) and I just sat there, nodded my head and said okay. When she comes in for her second visit I'll make sure those bells and whistles are there...since her recommendation is 35% of my final grade for student teaching, but what I do when she's not around frankly isn't her concern.

On a different, and better, note...my kids are finally figuring it out! They are finally realizing what it takes to do well in school and that they are going to have put some effort in to pass the class. I'm getting some really good quality work from my students and I can tell they are really, really trying. The content is not easy...but they're doing their best. I'm giving them my test tomorrow and I'm really anxious and excited to see how they do! In the meantime...here's some pictures (finally)!

Here's a 3D model of an animal cell that one of my students made...so creative!

A couple views of my classroom and the view of the garden outside my windows. Also, there's another 3D model of an animal cell that a student made using food...love it!

The Teaching Begins: Rough Starts and Rough Stories

So I started teaching Monday...it was rough. I didn't realize how much classroom management I would have to utilize to keep control of the class. I came home defeated and asked my parents for advice (by the way...I don't think I could get through this without my parents...they literally saved me). So, per my dad's advice, I made a compromise with them on Tuesday. There are two bells...one that starts class and one that ends class. The compromise is that I get one bell and the students get one bell. The chose the one that ends class (obviously the one I wanted them to choose) so I got the first bell. That means that they get to leave when the bell rings to end class, regardless of what we're doing, but when the bell rings to start class, they're in their seats, doing their bell work quietly. So far so good! I set the tone for the entire week and I'm finally starting to get the hang of this teaching thing (especially the classroom management part).

I'm still struggling with the fact that most of the kids don't have some of their basic needs met. They may go without a meal, or clean clothes. Today, during fourth block (this is the one class my mentor teaches that I'm not going to teach...a Care of Athletes class) and there's this young man in the class who is incredibly talented at baseball. I was sitting next to my mentor when he started talking about his family's money problems because his dad is out of work and his mom went from working two jobs to working one job. He has a baseball tryout this weekend and he told me his parents are dropping him off at the tryout and then they're going to a barbecue with their friends...they're leaving their son at an important tryout to spend time with their friends. He went on to tell me more things that I'm not going to share...but just listening to him completely broke my heart. Here's a kid that is beyond talented...has a chance to play in the pros and he's not getting the support from his parents that he should be. I keep going back and forth on my opinion of teaching in an urban district. On the negative...budget cuts, bureaucracy, and test scores. On the positive...I have the chance to impact a kid's life in a unique way. I'm torn. Maybe by October I'll be more opinionated...but for now I guess all I can do is give my students as much support I can.

First Week: Surprises and Realizations

So I survived my first week at Wyandotte...except, there wasn't much to survive. Now, it wasn't all unicorns and rainbows either. There were a fair share of fights in the building...none on our floor though. I think it will be an anomaly if I ever see a fight during my time at Wyandotte. We had all of our students start on Monday, and by Tuesday I had realized something: these students are exactly the same as any other students in any other school district. I had started this experience thinking these students would be different than others I had encountered because they were "KCK Public School Kids." I had done exactly what I shouldn't have done...I judged my students before I even met them. And I think a lot of that judgement came from my own fears. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to build any sort of meaningful relationship with my students because of our different backgrounds. I couldn't have been more wrong. We've had students for five days and I'm already bragging about the students in my class. I love watching them learn...they're like sponges just soaking up all of this information (when they want to of course). And I know it seems silly, but every time I hear a kid say "Miss Riss" my heart sort of jumps a bit. I've waited four years to be in a classroom teaching students, and now that I am it seems sort of surreal. My fears have started to subside, and as I'm starting to plan lessons my excitement is growing. Next week will most likely be last week of observing and then I'll start to take over the classroom full time. All the doubts I had about being able to be a successful teacher are gone...I'm ready!

First Day: Gang Bangers and Vera Bradley

Yesterday was our first day with students...freshman only, so not too intimidating...or so I thought. At 7:00, the students started filing in through the metal detectors and headed downstairs to the cafeteria. I was watching the students as they passed by me I was thinking about how young they all looked...and then I looked at one of the students, looked down at his feet, and saw an ankle monitor. All I could think about was Martha Stewart on house arrest...not quite the same as a fourteen year old high school student, but whatevs! Next comes the real fun....I'm going over the roster (quick note: my class sizes are huge! Thirty-three, thirty-one and twenty-eight) with my cooperating teacher (who by the way is awesome...so supportive and positive) and we come to this one name. He stops, sighs, and says, "Now this kid just got out of juvy. He's one of your gang bangers." I was just like....okaaay. And then he proceeds to teach me about gang graffiti to look  for on students' papers and the type of gang clothing students will wear. All in all it was a pretty informational first day.

Regardless of the culture shock of the school, the first day really was great! The teachers in my small learning community are amazing! They are beyond nice and I managed to make a connection with a few of them on the first day. One of them happened to be a fellow Olathian and graduated from the same high school I did. Another shares the same unhealthy obsession with Vera Bradley that I do. We were eating lunch in the teacher's lounge and she saw my Vera lunch bag and made a comment about it. I noticed she had a Vera lanyard with her ID badge on it and told we'd have a good  working relationship. And in that moment I came to the conclusion that I found a good home for the next two months. Oh...and in two weeks I'll be teaching full time and the classroom will be in my full control...no biggie right?

The Story of Lurch and Killer

I thought I'd share a story from the halls of Wyandotte High School...

A young English teacher in his first year at Wyandotte was in the middle of teaching when a man walked into his classroom. (I say "man" not "student" because this guy was 6 feet 5 inches tall, full beard, and a black trench coat that hung to the floor.) The young teacher asked apprehensively, "Sir, can I help you?" And the man responded in the lowest, gruffest voice you can imagine, "Yeah, I'm in your class." The young teacher responded with a look of surprise and asked the student his name. The student responded, "You can call me Lurch." (Don't forget the rough, low voice coming out of this student as well as his appearance.) The young teacher responded to this by saying, "Well I don't have a Lurch on my list. What's your name?" The student responded by saying his name is Jordan Sands (name change!) and then asked what he should call the young teacher. The young teacher responded, "Well my name is Mr. Riss." And what comes next is probably the best part of the story. The student responded to that by saying, "Well I'll call you Killer. Where should I sit?" And the young teacher responded with, "Anywhere you want!" At this point the rest of the class has heard this exchange and can't contain their laughter anymore. And for the rest of the year, without fail, Lurch called my dad Killer.

I heard this story for the first time a few days ago. Turns out Lurch was 20 years old and was trying to get his high school diploma. He needed half of a credit of English. Lurch only lasted 6 weeks in my dad's class...not enough for his diploma. It was after Lurch dropped out that my dad found out he was a known drug dealer. Not incredibly suprising considering the area. So while I enjoyed hearing about the exchange between my dad and Lurch, it still brought home the fact that the students I'll be teaching are coming from a completely different world than myself. It'll be hard in the beginning...I'm a white girl from the suburbs...I don't know anything about their lives...but I'm willing to learn.

We All Deserve...

Happiness. Two days ago, I watched two of my friends get married. I don't know if I've ever seen two people happier than they were. I watched them smile the entire night. It's human nature to look at two people like that and believe that you deserve the same thing. Last week, I was having a conversation with my mom about friendships and relationships. She was telling me about when she and my dad first started dating...he asked her what she wanted and she said, "I want it all." And he gave her everything. And by everything, I don't mean material things. He was always (and has always) been there for her and given her his time and his love. She told me that in any relationship I have and in any friendships I have (because I think the same things that are required in a relationship are required in a friendship) that I deserve to have the other person give me everything. That I deserve to be happy. And she's right...but who am I kidding, my mom is always right. I deserve to have what my two friends have, what my parents have...happiness. That's what it all boils down to...being happy. I know that when I find myself in situations where I'm not happy (whether it be an unequal friendship or even a crappy job) that I have to get out...I have to realize it's not good for me and it's not what I deserve.
I wanted to put these thoughts into words because I know I'll be more likely to believe them. Everyone deserves happiness...so if you're not getting it...step back, figure out why, and change it.

Just a short list of things that I turn to when I need a little happiness:

Family (they double as comedians...my dad especially...best impersonator...EVER)

Music (my go to songs right now...Andy Grammar "Keep Your Head Up" and Jessie J "Price Tag")

Exercise (I know what you're thinking...UGH! But as someone who is finally getting back into the swing of running, a good run is the best way for me to get a clear head...and a clear head, is a happy head!) 

Russell Brand (his British accent and crazy hair get me every time)

Pictures (takes me back to truly happy moments)

Friends (it's amazing what an hour of talking and few a drinks can do)

The First of Many

So here it goes....
I decided to finally join the blogging world. I'm starting my student teaching in the fall and I wanted to take the time to document the moments I have with my students so I'll remember them. I'm going to be teaching Biology to freshman at Wyandotte High School in August....go ahead, laugh, or say "Oh...honey" For those of you that don't know Wyandotte is an urban high school in Kansas City, Kansas. Me and the word urban don't go together, but I requested an urban district for my first semester of student teaching, so I got what I wanted.

On Thursday, I went to visit my teacher and see the school and classroom I'll be teaching in. When I left I had a this huge mix of emotions. At first I was excited...my mentor teacher is great and he'll be an awesome resource and a great role model. Then I thought about the classroom layout....what have I gotten myself into? I want to teach science, and this is not a science classroom. Maybe it was by Wyandotte standards, but by Amanda standards it was definitely not a science classroom. I must have been spoiled after seeing my mom's classroom (she's also a science teacher) but boy oh boy what did I get myself into? But I try to always look at the positive.....so here it is



The building is beautiful! Don't tell me you wouldn't love teaching in a building that looks like that! There are fireplaces in the main entrance by the office (my dad tells me they actually light them in the winter...he used to teach English at Wyandotte) and all of the bathrooms have original marble....pretty legit. I know this next semester will be totally different than what I'm used to, but I'm going into it with the expectation that I'm going to learn something from the experience EVERY single day.

Alright, now I want to make it known, this isn't just going to be about my student teaching, it's going to be about my other life experiences as well. It's summertime right now and I plan on making the most of it. Postings will probably be pretty sparse during the summer, but expect the ride to get very bumpy starting in August!