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.