the tale of the un-molding bread

What is this a picture of? This is a paper bag full of un-moldy bread. It’s a very sad thing, too. Here is the whole story.

A few weeks ago we were doing a germ unit in the second grade classroom I was working with. We wanted to do something with petri dishes so that the students could see that there really are germs on the things that we touch every day. However, petri dishes are expensive! I found lesson plans that had the students use slices of bread and plastic baggies instead, and it supposedly worked. So that is what my students got to do.

I was very careful with my choice of bread. I picked one that had no preservatives. Each student was given a slice of bread and a plastic baggie. On the baggie they wrote their name, and where they rubbed their bread. Then we spritzed each slice with water and sealed them in plastic baggies.

The students LOVED the project and couldn’t wait to see what would grow on the bread. Some of the students had rubbed their bread on desks, carpet, door handles, drinking fountains, etc. Since they weren’t allowed to get germs from the bathroom for this project, both their teacher and I rubbed pieces of bread on toilets to see what sorts of nasty things would grow.

The lesson plan said that the bread needed to be kept in a warm, dark place. We put them all in a brown paper sack and left it in the warmest part of the classroom. I even took the bag home over the weekends since the school’s heater is turned off and it is cold!

We anxiously awaited the growth of anything on the bread. We checked daily. 3 days passed. Nothing. 5 days. Nothing. 7 days. NOTHING!

At this point their teacher and I were talking about how anything that grew would thrill the students. Even if it was just mold they would love it. It couldn’t be long until they went moldy, right?

10 days. Still nothing. 14 days. Nothing. It has now been almost three weeks, and NOTHING has grown on the bread. Not even mold. The bread looks like you could take it right out of the bag and eat it (ick!) and it feels as soft as ever. So disappointing.

So the moral of the story is: If you don’t want your bread to mold, just rub it on the floor, the wall, or even the toilet. It seems to do the trick.

enlightenment

As an assignment for student teaching I had to record myself teaching a lesson, then watch the recording, and critique myself. We were told that this would be an enlightening assignment. I was NOT excited to do this. Watching myself always seems kind of weird. But it was an assignment, so I recorded myself teaching a phonics lesson, and then settled in with a big bar of chocolate to analyze the video.

For the most part nothing really jumped out at me. I did have a moment of, “That didn’t make much sense?” and, “Does my hair really look like that?” Then I began to notice something. I focused in on a student that sits close to the front (because he is one that you need to keep your eye on). I noticed that each time I turned around to write on the board – which happened frequently during that lesson – this student would stick a post-it note to his forehead, turn around, and make faces at all of the kids sitting behind him. Then he would turn back around until the next time I went to write on the board!

I have to say that my professor was right. I did find this assignment to be enlightening.

In case you were wondering

Today at school my students had to write a sentence using the word “Identical”. After they had written their sentence they would bring it to me so I could read it and make sure that it made sense. One student handed me her paper, which said:

“My Dad and Aunt are identical.”

I think the look on my face told her she needed to explain, which she did.

“My dad and aunt are identical twins. But they are nocturnal.”

So if you have ever wondered what nocturnal twins are, apparently it is when the twins are identical, but different genders.

:)

Have a happy day!

bunny camo

The last few weeks my second graders have been learning about how animals survive in winter. We learned about animals that hibernate, migrate, and stay active during the winter. We did lots of fun activities, but the one that was the students’ favorite was when we learned about how some animals change colors during the winter so they can blend in with the snow (cool, huh?) After learning about why animals camouflage for safety reasons, each student was given a rabbit that they were suppose to color so that it could “hide” in the classroom. After all the students had left for the day we hid them all over. The next morning the students had a blast trying to find every rabbit. I think there are still some that haven’t been found yet! Can you find the rabbits ;-)

Currently Unemployed

Yep, it is true. I have no job. And it is a good thing! I had hoped to save enough money to not work through my senior year, but that didn’t happen. However, I was able to save enough during last semester to make it through student teaching without working. This will be greatly appreciated as I can now focus wholly on lesson plans and activities.

I have worked at the same place for two years – one year before my mission, and a year since returning. It has been the ideal student job. A wonderful boss, fun coworkers, and the ability to study or read during the slow times. I am so grateful to have had such a good job through my college years!

My last day was on Wednesday, and I went out with a bang! I worked 37 hours during the 3 days I worked this week (very unusual circumstances, not usually so demanding). However, I got to work with one of my best friends, and actually got to do a lot of things that needed to be done so it wasn’t bad at all.

It feels so strange not having a job. No more weekly schedule. No more nights or weekends. Craziness. I feel like I have so much time! That will all end soon enough when I start my student teaching next week. I am so excited!

Here are some pictures of my last week at work:

Bethany showing of her “Ballet Shoes” poster and working on her cross stitch (she has been working on this for years! Very pretty though!)

I spent my time reading, and getting my blog ready to print

Through the Eyes of a 1st Grader

I mentioned in an earlier post that I frequently get love letters from my cute little first graders. Often I am given freshly cut snowflakes, or uniquely folded up pieces of paper. And very often I am given pictures drawn of me by my adorable first graders. Generally, the pictures look something like this:

Apparently, the flippy hairstyle is the rage, my hair looks like this in almost every picture. The students are even pretty good about coloring my clothes the right color. However, last week I was given a this picture, it made me laugh:

Notice the pink hair and orange tube top. I promise I don't wear a tube top to school! Or anywhere! But I laughed and laughed. I really do love first graders!

Yesterday one of my students told me that I was still a kid. Another student indignantly said "She is not, she is 18!" To which he replied "She is not! She is, like, 45!" He was totally serious. I can see how teaching can age you prematurely! But they always do leave me smiling!

I'm in love!

HA! Did I catch you with the title? Don't go getting your hopes up. However, I really am in love - with first grade! This semester has been interesting because all of my classes were scrunched into the first 1/2 of the semester, with the second 1/2 being spent all day in an elementary school classroom. I was assigned to a first grade classroom, and I was pretty nervous. I have never worked with kids younger than 3rd grade, and I always thought I preferred the older grades. This week was my first week with my first graders. I knew it would be a good experience, but I did not know what to expect. I most definitely did not expect to love it as much as I do! The only bad thing I can say about them is that they wear me out completely. By three o'clock I am ready to collapse. Here are a few reasons why I am loving 1st grade so much:

-They get so excited over the smallest and most simple things! Like a pencil on their birthday, or a dum-dum for Halloween.

-They are completely honest.

-They are hillarious! Example: (a conversation I had with my student yesterday)

Student: (Pointing to a pimple on my face) What's That?

Me: A sore.

Student: Is it gonna get bigger?

I was giggling so hard I barely managed to say "I sure hope not!"

- I get love notes daily

- Have I mentioned how utterly adorable they are?

- They love to give hugs and do so frequently.

- They try so hard! Yesterday I was helping a student with his math. He is struggling with addition. He is still using his fingers to do very simple problems. I was helping him with 7 + 2. He counted each finger on a hand to get to five, then looked up at me with big, worried eyes and asked "How do I get to seven?" So, so cute!

- They are full of energy, smiles, and giggles!

I still love the older grades, but I am finding myself very happy in the 1st grade as well!

IT'S ALIVE!

When the semester started, all I had as far as school supplies was a small stack of books. It all fit quite nicely on top of my desk. And then it began to grow. And it grew. And it grew. It got to the point that my school stuff was taking over my desk, and I no longer had anywhere to sit. So I moved it to my corner. Where it has continued to grow, and grow, and grow. It has gone from taking over one corner, to now taking over a wall in my room. There are files, books, and projects in varying states of completion. I keep getting all this stuff that is for my future classroom. My only problem is, where do I put it until I have a classroom? And so it keeps on growing. If I go to bed one night, and don't come out the next morning, you will know it has eaten me.

My happy news for the day is that I think I took my last test as a college student today! I don't have any for the rest of the semester (just lots of projects and such) and I don't think I will take any as a student teacher, so I AM DONE with tests! And I even aced it! Life is good!

Project one, Check!

My first project in Math was to create a math centered bulletin board with another girl in my class. We struggled with ideas, but finally decided to do this multiplication maze. I was in charge of the maze itself, and she did the letters. I was thrilled with how it turned out (we ran out of staples when we were putting it up, so we used thumb tacks)! It was simple to put together, and is interactive for grade school students (too bad it is in a university classroom!) I was so excited with it I had to show you all how it turned out. What do you think? If you click on the picture it will get bigger and you can try out your multiplication skills!

Back to School

It's official, summer vacation is over. It is a happy/sad thing. Probably more of a sad/happy thing. As sad as it is to see the freedom of the summer months gone, it is nice to get into a routine once again. Plus, this is my last year! Woohooo! This semester I have five classes - Teaching Math, Teaching Science, Teaching Language Arts, Teaching Social Studies, and Teaching Reading - and then this spring I will do my student teaching and I am done! The down side is that this semester is really intense. It all started Monday morning when I went to school at 5:30 am to get in line to hand in my student teaching application (they don't open till eight, but to get a placement close to here you have to be there super early) . Crazy, yes. But my application is in and I feel so much better! After going to all of my classes and looking at all of the assignments and projects to be done I am freaking out just a little bit. It is definitely going to keep me on my toes! Oh well, it will all be worth it in the end!

Oh Happy Day!

Since all of my classes are basically finished (with the exception of my Portuguese final on Monday), I decided that I would get my books sold back before they wouldn’t take them anymore. I only had to buy 5 books this semester, but they were super expensive (like always!). There was one that I actually really liked, so I am keeping it. I sold back three others today and will sell back the last on Monday (there was NO more space in my backpack!) I was way surprised when the lady told they would give me over $100 dollars for my books. Woohooo! I was so, so happy! I wish I could do something fun with the money, but sadly, the majority of that money will be used to pay the lovely ticket that I got earlier this month. At least now I can afford to pay it! And, my backpack is nice and light. Life is good!

Have a great weekend!

I’m Not Dead Yet!

Do you remember the movie ‘Monte Python and the Holy Grail’? Honestly, it was never one of my favorites. I actually kind of dreaded the last day of each trimester when almost every teacher would have us watch it. However there is one scene that I have always found amusing. Remember when they are collecting all of the people who died from the plague, and throwing them onto a cart? Then they pick up a frail old man, clinging to life, who claims “I’m not dead yet!” Yet he is thrown on the cart anyways. Poor old man. Kind of morbid, I know.

That is kind of how I feel. I am not built for all-nighters and last minute cramming. The stress of the end of the school year plus a lot of extra hours at work is taking its toll. I feel like yelling “I’m not dead yet!” And still, what am I doing? I am here, blogging, rather than working on my Second Language Acquisition project that is due tomorrow. Hmmmmm. Only five more days . . .

I’m Not Dead Yet!

Finals Week

I’m almost there! Just 11 more days of school, and I am free until the end of August! Hooray! I had forgotten how stressful the last few weeks of school are. It’s probably because I haven’t been here for a while, but I am ready for it to be over! I try not to procrastinate, and yet I have so much to do over the next 7 days, I wonder how I am going to be able to pull it all off! I have a couple of tests, and presentations, but the great thing is that I only have ONE final! Well, I really have three, but the other two teachers are giving them before finals week, meaning that during finals week, I only have to take one. And even better is that one final is on the first day of finals at 9:30, so by 10:30 on April 28^th, I am home free! I have never finished spring semester before May even got here, and I am way excited! YAY!

(do you like my creation I made on paintbrush? Its a way old edition, but I had a lot of fun!)