Ms. Crane's Black Board

Reading Fluency Lesson Plan #1

2009-11-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

Learning Standard:

1.B.2d Read age-appropriate material aloud with fluency and accuracy.

Indicate Present level of Performance:

Rhonda is in fourth grade and at a second-grade reading level. Her median score for the winter benchmark period on the AIMSWeb Reading Curriculum-Based Measurement was 52 wcpm on a fourth-grade text.

Behavioral Objective:

Given an independent level passage (second-grade), Rhonda will read aloud the passage and increase wcpm by 40% from cold to hot read.

Assessment of Behavior Objective:

Rhonda will be given one minute to read an independent level passage (cold read) and teacher will track her wcpm. After the teacher and Rhonda have read the passage a few more times, Rhonda will do another, hot read of the passage. She will be given one minute again and the wcpm will be recorded with the cold read’s wcpm.

Materials:

Second-grade independent level reading passage for student

Highlighters

Timer

“Always Sprinkle Pepper”

Accommodations/modifications for students with language needs (ELL/ESL) when appropriate:

Provide with copy of passage in both English and the student’s first language so that they can refer to the copy in their first language if they need clarification

Accommodations/modifications for students with physical, cognitive, behavioral, and sensory needs when appropriate:

Behavioral: Use time-out sessions to cool off disruptive behavior and as a break if the student needs one

Bolded words= read aloud

Lesson Introduction:

1) Attention grabber:

a. pass out “Always Sprinkle Pepper”

b. I am going to read this passage aloud, but I need your help.

c. Do you see where it says, “Always sprinkle pepper in your hair”?

d. I want you to take a highlighter and highlight every time in the passage that it says that.

e. When I read, I want you to say that line with me.

f. Read the passage

g. We are going to read it again, but I want you to read some of the lines that I read, so tell me which lines you want to read and then highlight them if I tell you that’s OK.

h. Allow the student to choose the lines that they want to read and read the lines aloud as they tell you which they have chosen

i. I’ll read the left over lines

j. Read the passage

2) Academic and Behavioral Expectations: Now we are going to work on our reading fluency by reading and reading some passages.

3) Rationale: If we read and reread passages we will get better at reading them, we’ll be able to read faster, and reading will be more fun.

4) Review: We have worked on our reading fluency before today too.

5) I will give you one minute and I want you to read as much of this passage as you can.

6) Ready, go.

7) After one minute stop the student and record how many wcpm

Modeling:

1. Now, I am going to read the same passage back to you.

2. Read the whole passage

Guided Practice:

1. Now, we will read the passage together. I will read first, then you read and make your reading sound like mine.

2. Read passage together by echoing

Independent Practice (same as assessment):

1. Now, it is your turn to read the passage again, but all on your own this time. I will give one minute again to see how much you can read in one minute after having read it a few times.

2. Ready, go

3. After one minute mark where the student is and let her finish the passage.

Closure:

Great Job, we just learned to read and reread passages to help us improve our reading fluency Specific feedback: You read _ wcpm the first time and _ wcpm the last time. Review: Remember that you should read and reread passages so that you will get better at reading, be able to read faster, and so reading will be more fun.

Reflection:

Student was only asked to pick 3 lines from "Spaghetti! Spaghetti!" and she asked to pick more and wanted to read it again. On the last "hot" read she was too focused on speed and forgot to read and sound like me.

Number Sight Words Direct Instruction Lesson Plan

2009-11-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

(Not bassed on a real student and was only taught to my boyfriend and professor.)

Learning Standard:

1.A.1b Comprehend unfamiliar words using context clues and prior knowledge; verify meanings with resource materials

Indicate Present level of Performance:

DIBELS indicates Precious knows all letter and their sounds. She can read most regular CVC words and she is just learning the rules for CVVC words and CVCe words. She has a strong oral vocabulary. Precious often skips words as she reads quite quickly and uses pictures to support comprehension.

Behavioral Objective:

Given numeral-number word puzzles for the numbers one through six, Precious will match the correct number word to each numeral and read aloud the number words with 100% accuracy for three consecutive attempts.

Assessment of Behavior Objective:

The teacher will assess Precious while after she matched the numerals and number words and when she is reading aloud the number words. Two separate piles of puzzles will be made, one for words matched and read correctly and one for words matched and read incorrectly. 100% accuracy will be met when there are no puzzles in the incorrectly read pile. After each time Precious is assessed the amount number correct will be marked and dated on the graph attached.

Materials:

White board and dry erase marker

Numeral-Number Word Puzzles for numbers one through six

“Ten Apples Up On Top!” By Dr. Seuss

Apple Image Representations for the numbers one through six

Cards with the word numbers one through six written on them

Accommodations/modifications for students with language needs (ELL/ESL) when appropriate:

Add image representations of the numbers to each activity to aid the student in word recognition and understanding.

Accommodations/modifications for students with physical, cognitive, behavioral, and sensory needs when appropriate:

For students with attention and behavioral issues, give frequent breaks and shorten lessons if needed.

Bolded words= read aloud

Lesson Introduction:

1. Attention grabber--Read aloud “Ten Apples Up On Top!” By Dr. Seuss

2) Academic and Behavioral Expectations: Now we are going to learn some number words. I want you to be able to read these number words the fast way at the end of the lesson. Be sure to wait for my signal before you answer.

3) Rationale: If we learn to sight read words, reading will be easier, faster, and more fun.

4) Review: Number words one through six used in modeling.

Modeling:

1. Today we are going to learn to read the number words one through six the fast way.

2. The word (point to each letter)

o-n-e is one

3. Watch while I read the word the fast way(point to each letter), one.

4. Now let’s spell the word together, say the letter as I point. (point to each letter)

o-n-e, good, now read the word the fast way, one.

5. Now your turn, say the letter as I point.

o-n-e, Now read the word the fast way. one. Great, one.

6. Repeat steps 2-5 with the words two, three, four, five, and six.

Guided Practice:

Sight Number Words Sentence Completing

1. Student is shown one image representation at a time of the numbers one through six.

2. Teacher and student count the image representation. Now we’re going to play a fill in the blank game, so let’s count these apples together. (Point to apples while you count) One. How many apples? one

3. Now I’m going to write a sentence and I want you to fill in the blank. (Read each word as you write the sentence) There is (blank) apple. (Point to each word as you read) There is (blank) apple. How many apples did we count? One Right, one, can you find the word one and place it in the blank?

4. Good, let’s read the sentence together, There is one apple.

5. If the incorrect number word is chosen, How many images did we count? One (point to the one card) This is the word one, let’s spell one together, o-n-e (jumble cards and place back in front of student) Now find the word one and place it in the blank. Great Job, let’s read the sentence together, There is one apple.

6. Repeat steps 3-4 with the other words two, three, four, five, and six

Independent Practice:

Use numeral-number words matching puzzles for the numbers one through six.

1. Mix the puzzle peices up. Place the puzzle pieces in front of student.

2. Now, you are going to put together a puzzle. Some of these pieces have numerals on them and some have number words. The pieces with matching numerals and number words fit together. Your job is to put those matching puzzle pieces together.

3. If pieced together correctly,(cover numeral puzzle peice) What word?

4. If read correctly, place in one pile and if read incorrectly place in different pile.

5. If pieced together incorrectly, place in pile with incorrectly read words.

6. Record the number correct on graph attached.

7. Have student reread any missed or incorrectly read words.

Closure:

Great Job, we just learned to read the number words one, two, three, four, five, and six the fast way. Specific feedback: You read 5/6 words correctly. Review: Remember that you should read the number words one through six the fast way and not try to sound them out. Now let’s get ready for (whatever lesson is next.)

Touch Math Addition Story Problems Lesson Plan

2009-11-23T15:10:00.002-08:00

Learning Standard:

6.B.1 Solve one- and two-step problems with whole numbers using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

6.C.1a Select and perform computational procedures to solve problems with whole numbers.

Indicate Present level of Performance:

Students can do addition story problems with two sums to add together, using the strategy of underlining the numbers they need to add together and drawing pictures as they read the problem.

Behavioral Objective:

Given 7 written story problems with three things to be added together, the students will write a number sentence to show the problem in the story with at least 6/7 correct.

Assessment of Behavior Objective:

Each problem will be marked wrong or right on the paper and the number correct will be recorded above the total number, 7, on the top of the page.

Materials:

Sheets with touch math story problems (attached)

Touch Math Strips

Pencils

Accommodations/modifications for students with language needs (ELL):

Have story problems in English and their native language

Accommodations/modifications for students with physical, cognitive, behavioral, and sensory needs when appropriate:

Physical: Use a pencil grip that is molded to fit their hand

Cognitive: Do fewer story problems and allow more time per story problem

Behavioral: Use time-out sessions to cool off disruptive behavior and as a break if the student needs one

Sensory: Use oral and visual prompts and directions

Bolded words= read aloud

Lesson Introduction:

Attention Grabber: My Dog, Addition

I got a new dog, I named him Addition,
Here I am now, In this awkward position...
The problem he has, Without definition,
My dog and his brain, Have an eating condition!
Each day, Addition, Doubles his weight,
He thinks all food, Tastes pretty great...
4 pounds he weighed, But added 4 more,
8 pounds, so fat, Couldn’t squeeze out the door...
But 8 pounds was light, So he added 8 more,
The sum was 16, His teeth were quite sore...
16 not enough? You want to get fatter?
16 more pounds, What in the world is the matter?

The sum was real big, The sum made me mad,
16 + 16 But addition was glad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
32 pounds, He looked like a hog,
Couldn't get him to run, To swim, or to jog!!
He kept adding, and adding, and adding, More pounds,
Until his stomach made gurgling, Loud groaning-type sounds!!!
Now Addition's so big, It's just a sad fact,
I'll need my dog, Addition, To learn to subtract...

1. Academic and Behavioral Expectations: We are going to work on solving addition story problems using touch math. I want you to be able to write a number sentence and solve it for story problems.

2. Rationale: If we practice solving story problems, they will be easier and more fun to do.

3. Review: We have used touch math for math facts and we have do a story problem every day.

Modeling:

1. I am going to read this story problem, and then I will write the key word. Read story problem

2. The key word here is bugs because I am counting how many bugs there are in all, so I will write bugs here.

3. I start with 3 bugs, so I write 3 at the top of my number sentence.

4. I am adding 5 bugs, so I write 5 on the bottom of my number sentence.

5. Using touch math, I start with the highest number and count on, five, six, seven, eight

6. So, 3+5=8

7. Repeat with story problem for 5+2 coins

Guided Practice:

1. Can someone please read the next story problem?

2. What is the key word in the story? Books

3. How many books do we start with? 4

4. OK, we’ll each write a four at the top of your number sentence.

5. How many books are we adding? 3

6. OK, we’ll each write a three at the bottom of our number sentence.

7. Now, using touch math we will start at the highest number and count on together, four, five, six, seven

8. So, 4+3= 7

9. Repeat with story problems for 4+3 birds, 2+4 cats, 5+3 rats, 5+4 apes, 5+4+5 bears, 6+5+4 caps, 5+4+6 tools, and 3+5+6 hours

Independent Practice:

1. Now, we are going to try it on our own.

2. I will give you 7 story problems, the last one is a little different so pay close attention and don’t let it trick you.

3. Give them the 7 story problems

4. Go ahead when you’re ready

Closure:

What did you learn today? Great Job, we just learned how to do touch math addition story problems by finding key words. Specific feedback: You answered _/7 story problems correctly. Review: Remember that you should practice doing story problems so that they will get easier for you and be more fun. Transition: Now get ready to go back to your class.

Reflection:

It was pretty easy for her. On the last assessment problem she wasn’t asked to write down the key word, but she did anyway. She got the key word wrong but the number sentence and answer right. She commented at the end that she thought it was fun!

Thankfulness Essay Writing Lesson Plan

2009-11-23T15:10:00.001-08:00

Learning Standard:

3.A.2 Write paragraphs that include a variety of sentence types; appropriate use of the eight parts of speech; and accurate spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

3.B.2a Generate and organize ideas using a variety of planning strategies (e.g., mapping, outlining, drafting).

Indicate Present level of Performance:

Students have done this before and can organize their ideas by mapping before they write. They know to indent, capitalize, punctuate, and use good grammar, but sometimes need a reminder.

Behavioral Objective:

Given paper and pencil and a topic, the students will write a three point essay using correct capitalization, punctuation, and indentation with 6/8 sentences correct with each.

Assessment of Behavior Objective:

The students will write essays that the teacher will then grade by sentence and paragraph looking for correct capitalization, punctuation, and indentation using assessment form attached

Materials:

Paper and pencil for each student

Over head projector, sheets, marker, and eraser

Accommodations/modifications for students with language needs (ELL):

Provide word bank, provide picture dictionary

Accommodations/modifications for students with physical, cognitive, behavioral, and sensory needs when appropriate:

Physical: Use a computer word program rather than a pencil and paper

Cognitive: As they tell the teacher what they want to say, the teacher will write down, word for word, what they want to write on the overhead for them to copy, only use one subtopic

Behavioral: Use time-out sessions to cool off disruptive behavior and as a break if the student needs one

Sensory: Use oral and visual prompts and directions

Bolded words= read aloud

Lesson Introduction:

1. Attention Grabber: Thanksgiving Riddle: What always comes at the end of Thanksgiving? The letter "g"!

2. Academic and Behavioral Expectations: Thanksgiving is coming soon, so now we are going to write a three point essay about what we are thankful for. I want you to be able to indent, use end marks, and capitalize correctly in your essays at the end of the lesson.

3. Rationale: If we learn to indent, use end marks, and capitalize correctly in our essays, writing will be easier for us and easier for others to read so that we can share our writing.

4. Review: We did something similar to this last week when we wrote about our halloween costumes.

Modeling:

1. I am going to write Thankful at the top of my sheet and underline it because that is the topic of my essay.

2. Then I’ll draw three lines coming down from Thankful and write the three things that I am thankful for, my health, my teachers, and my family

3. Under each subtopic I am going to write details about why I am thankful for those things.

4. I am thankful for my health because otherwise I couldn’t be here with you all right now.

5. I am thankful for my teachers because I have been learning a lot about becoming a teacher.

6. I am thankful for my family because they are very supportive of me.

Guided Practice:

1. Now you all write Thankful at the tops of your papers.

2. What are you thankful for? Write one of their subtopics on the overhead

3. Why are you thankful for those things? Write details down

4. Now, when I start my essay what am I going to do first? Indent

5. Right, indent, and at the beginnings of my sentences what am I going to do? (capitalize)

6. Right, capitalize, and what about at the ends of my sentences? (use end marks)

Modeling:

1. I need to start my essay out with a sentence that will grab my reader’s attention. What is a good grabber?

2. A good grabber would be something like ‘Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, and I have a lot to be thankful for.”

3. When I write my sentence down I remember to indent, start with a capital, and end with the right end mark.

Guided Practice:

1. Now, while I write my grabber on the overhead, you write yours on your paper.

Independent Practice:

1. Once you have your grabbers written, let me know and I’ll check it, then you can start your essays.

2. After they have written acceptable grabbers, What is the first thing you are thankful for? Write that and then tell why you are thankful for that. (continue for all three subtopics)

Closure:

What did you learn today? Good job, you all are doing great at writing and indenting, capitalizing, and using end marks. Specific feedback: You did all of these things correctly. Review: Remember that you should always indent at the beginning of a paragraph, and capitalize at the beginning and use end marks at end of a sentences. Now, you can turn those in and start on your next activity.

Reflection:

For the accommodation it was better to have the student choose three subtopics, but only write about one. With the reminder at the beginning they did really well to remember to punctuate, capitalize, and use end marks. Maybe they should have a check list that they look at themselves before writing, rather than a verbal prompt.

Addition Fact Memorization Lesson Plan

2009-11-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

Learning Standard:

6.B.1 Solve one- and two-step problems with whole numbers using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

6.C.1a Select and perform computational procedures to solve problems with whole numbers.

Indicate Present level of Performance:

Student understands the concept of addition, subtraction, and multiplication. She has trouble recalling the math facts and resorts to using her fingers, when she can; otherwise she has to count on within her head. She has most doubles memorized, as well as +0’s and +1’s.

Behavioral Objective:

Shown 15 flashcards for +9’s math addition facts, excluding +0 and +1, and given three seconds, Katrina will orally answer each problem with at least 13/15 correct.

Assessment of Behavior Objective:

As the student answers the problems the flashcards will be laid in “wrong” and “right” piles. The teacher will then record the problems answered correct on the assessment form attached.

Materials:

Paper and pencil

Manipulatives

Whiteboard with marker and eraser

addition +9 flashcards

Accommodations/modifications for students with language needs (ELL):

Give directions in their native language

Accommodations/modifications for students with physical, cognitive, behavioral, and sensory needs when appropriate:

Physical: Use a pencil grip that is molded to fit their hand and big, easy to grab manipulatives

Cognitive: Work on memorizing fewer math facts in each lesson

Behavioral: Use time-out sessions to cool off disruptive behavior and as a break if the student needs one

Sensory: Use oral and visual prompts and directions

Bolded words= read aloud

Lesson Introduction:

Attention Grabber: My Dog, Addition

1. Academic and Behavioral Expectations: We are going to work on memorizing +9 addition facts. I want you to be able to answer +9 addition facts from memory rather than using your fingers or counting in your head.

2. Rationale: If we memorize these math facts, math will be easier, faster, and more fun.

3. Review: We have used touch math and our fingers to figure out these math facts before and now we are just going to try to memorize them so that we don’t need to use those strategies anymore.

Modeling:

1. Write 9+6 on the white board

2. First, I am going to figure out 9+6 using loops.

3. I count out 9 loops here and 6 bellow those. Place 9 loops with five in top row and 4 on bottom and 6 others bellow all in one row.

4. If I move on from the row of 6 to the group of 9, that makes 10.

5. Now, I can do this problem the fast way, because now there are 10 here and 5 here, so I know that that is 15

6. So 9+6=15.

7. Second, I will figure out 9+6 again using tallies.

8. I will draw 9 tallies and then six tallies. Draw the tallies in the same way you placed the loops.

9. If I X out one tally from the row of 6 and put one in the row of 9, that makes t10 and 5 again.

10. Now, I can do this problem the fast way again, and sicne there are now 10 here and 5 here, I know that is 15.

11. So, 9+6=15

12. I’ve solved this problem, 9+6 using loops and tallies, now I’m going to write it on the white board and solve it. Write 9+6=

13. We know from using the loops and tallies that 9+6=15. Write 15.

Guided Practice:

1. Let’s read this problem together. 9+2

2. You count out 9 loops while I do the same up here, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine

3. Now let’s count out another 2, one, two

4. Now let’s move one from the row of 2 up to the row of 9, so there are 10 and 1 now

5. So, 9+2= 11

6. Next, we’ll do the problem with tallies

7. Let’s all draw nine tallies, count together, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine

8. Our problem says 9+2, so we want to add two more, count together, one, two

9. Now, let’s X out one from the row of 2 and put another tally in the row of 9, so there are 10 and 1 now

10. So, 9+2= 11

11. We’ve solved this problem by using loops and tallies, this time we are going to solve the problem 9+2, without using loops or tallies.

12. Let’s all write the problem on our papers and solve it

13. Now, look at your answer and on your paper you wrote 9+2= 11

14. Repeat with 9+7, 9+4, 9+8, 9+9, 9+3, and 9+5

15. I’ll show you 3 cards with problems on them that we worked on today and I want you to tell me the answer from memory. If you can’t it’s fine just say so.

16. Pick 3 problems at a time and put the flashcards on the table in front of them (also include +0 and +1)

17. If wrong, flip over to show answer, repeat steps 1-5, and keep reviewing

18. If right, mix and do again

Independent Practice:

1. Now, we are going to play a flash cards game

2. I will show you a flashcard with one of the addition facts we learned today and you will have three seconds to tell me the answer out loud

3. If you get it right it will go in a pile right in front of you, if you get it wrong it will go in a pile right in front of me

4. Ready?

5. Show one flash card at a time and only for three seconds then place it in either the right or wrong pile depending on the students answer

Closure:

What did you learn today? Great Job, we just memorized the +9 addition facts. Specific feedback: You answered _/15 flashcards correctly. Review: Remember that you should memorize your math facts so that you won’t have to use your fingers and math will be faster. Now get ready to go back to your class.

Reflection:

Katrina caught on pretty quickly to the pattern of just subtracting one and did really well from there on. However, a reassessment should be done later.

All Caught Up!

2009-11-23T14:29:00.001-08:00

Monday, Nov. 16th

Weston was really wiggly today during a lesson and Beth had him go get a drink of water. The catch, however, was that he had to hop there on one leg and hop back on the other. If he did that he would get 6 fruit loops. He only made it to the water fountain but not back, so he only got 3 fruit loops. It was basically just a way of getting some of his energy out since he was being so restless.

Beth told me to go garage saleing in May and June because a lot of retiring teachers have their garage sales then and sell all their teaching supplies and it made me realize how many things I've sold in garage sales or let my friends sell without realizing they are valuable to me! Well, I won't make that mistake ever again. Also, when we all graduate I am taking every one's storage units they use in their apartments and dorms that they aren't taking with them!!

Christine, the middle school band director was saying that some of her girls want to drop out of band so they can be in study hall and talk to boys. I was in awe.... the only good boys out there are all in music anyway!

So, i don't know if nay of you watch Glee, but we have a Rachel and a Quinn in our school. Quinn, who's real name is Brianna, is this blonde 4th grader that from what I've seen is pretty popular and kind of mean to some of the other girls. Rachel, who's real name is Cassidy, is the one that was crying in class the other day because she didn't get the lead in the Christmas musical. Well, she has a really good voice, but also a really big head. The two of them were arguing in class and it reminded me SO much of Glee.

Wednesday, Nov. 18th

In my classes, my professors always say when you use manipulatives in class you have to give the students time to play with them first or else they can't concentrate on the lesson. Well, I noticed that Weston always tries to write and erase things on the dry erase board when Beth is doing one-on-one instruction with him and he always plays with manipulatives, so when I taught Math to Weston today I made sure I gave him the dry erase board, marker, and eraser and about 5 minutes to just draw and erase all over the board to his little heart's extent. He was actually really good about not fidgeting with it later in the lesson. I guess professors are right occasionally.

Katrina used the phrase "blossom of fun" today to describe her class to sub.

Weston doesn't like reading a whole lot, but he didn't have anything to do after a lesson and we told him he could read or practice his handwriting. He was just sitting at his desk with a book on it, but not open. I went over and told him I would read with him. He would read a page then I would read a page. I told him I needed to know he was following along when i read, so he was going to point to the words as I read them. Well we went that way for a few pages, but after a while he started reading all the pages and I just let him. I was so touched that he was that into the book that he didn't even notice that he had been reading for a long time and we weren't trading off anymore. When he got the end of the book he finally realized and said "Hey, you tricked me!" then made me finish the last page.

I also taught Izzy and Katrina math today and we didn't get finish the lesson. They had a crafts thing to go to so they had to leave earlier than normal, plus they were struggling pretty bad with the lesson. It was on telling time and they kept getting the minute and hour hands mixed up. Also when i would say "The time is 4:05 what is 4? Minutes or hours? What is five? Minutes or hours?" They would almost always get those mixed up. I explained that when you say time like "4 oh 5" the first number you say is always the hours and the last number you say is always the minutes and they got better at that after a while. However, after they got a hold of that the lesson was to teach them how to say time like "25 minutes after 4." Then they got really confused because they had just been told to say hours first and now they were being told the opposite, so they kept saying "5 past 25." It was really kind of frustrating, but something I realized was that I wasn't frustrated with Izzy and Katrina, i was frustrated with myself. I realized how much more patient I am than I used to be. I was frustrated with myself for not being able to communicate to them how to tell time in a way they could understand, whereas a year ago i probably would have been frustrated with them for not understanding what i was trying to teach them.

The sub today was really nice. She has a degree in Elementary ed. but didn't get a job out of college so she's subbing for the time being. Anyway, when she was in her student teaching her teacher;s husband got cancer and was gone a lot, so she had to work with 50 subs during her student teaching. She was saying how sometimes they would make her do everything and sometimes they wouldn't let her do anything, so she wanted to be very clear with me that if I was uncomfortable doing something she wasn't going to make me do it, but if I really wanted to do something just to tell her and I could. I was already teaching 1st grade and 4th grade math so that was really enough for me, but she offered for me to teach 3rd grade reading, so i decided to go for it. Well, it went okay, except for Jase and Justin need to work on their comprehension. Also, Jase was just SO full of stories. We were reading a story from the text book about simple machines and every time we would turn the page he would be "Miss Crane, there's a picture of a skateboard on this page, did you know i was at the skate park yesterday, there are wheels on a skateboard and wheels are a simple machine, but there was this guy and he was on his skateboard on a ramp, ramps are simple machines too..." It was too funny. He did it for almost every page, but he would always be sure to relate it to the text so he wouldn't get in trouble for talking, but so he could also tell me his story.

Monday, Nov. 23rd

Today I taught my own math lessons. i was supposed to teach reading too, but Beth had forgotten that they had mini lessons during that time, so I'm doing reading on Wednesday. Math went really well though. The story problem lesson plan I did was a little to easy for them, but it was good review and they thought it was fun. I was really happy with Katrina during the +9 math facts memorization lesson pan because she caught on really quickly that all you do is subtract 1 and add 10, so like with 9+3=12 you subtract 1 from 3 to get 2 then it's 12 because you add 10. She got 100% on the assessment at the end. I was so proud of her.

Not in Beth's class, but in a lot of the others they were doing "Dear Santa" letters today. The 1st grade teacher brought Weston's over to show us because for one thing, he has horrible handwriting and she wasn't 100% sure what it said, but also because on one side he had written "Dear Santa, I want Ben 10 toys", but on the other side he had written "Dear Santa, I want my family to not hate me and I want to be respected." It was the saddest thing to hear, because I know he doesn't have the best home life, but at the same time it was so sweet and insightful because it was so deep and he used such big words for a first grader.

Kindergarten!

2009-11-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday, I spent the day in the Kindergarten room. There's this little girl, Kelly, who is low tone. She is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair.

The biggest thing that the school struggles with with her, is teaching her how to read. It's really hard to teach someone who can't speak how to read.

All of the assessments they have done with her have shown that she is typical cognitively, she only has the physical disability.

One thing that they are trying with her is sign language. She can spell her name in sign language and do quite a few other signs, but her teacher and parafrofessional don't know sign language either, so the teacher, para, and all of the kindergartners are learning sign language together!

It's the cutest thing I've ever seen! She has so many friends in her class and the way that they include her in everything is remarkable. Some of the ways that they have found to include her I would have never thought of. It's just so creative.

The para is with her so much it's like they have their own little language. The para just knows what she wants to say all the time. I was helping Kelly with something and she kept looking at my name tag. The para just knew that she wanted to see if it had a picture of me on it. Don't ask me how she would have known that, but she did. So I showed Kelly my name tag and told her "Sorry, no picture" and the rest of the time she kept grabbing at it trying to find a picture.

Kindergartners, on their own are adorable, but kindergartners that do sign language is amazing! They also really like to hug. They all hug each other and hug Kelly all the time. When one of the boys moms came to pick him to leave early all of the other kids went and gave him a hug and a bunch of them were telling him how much they would miss him!

There was one little girl who kept sitting near me and talking to me. She told me she liked my hair and my shoes because I remind her of her aunt Heather. Then there was this little boy who would give me high fives randomly and would always start his sentences with "Did you know...?"

"Did you know I watched UP yesterday?"
"Did you know I can see through that paper?"

They had an assembly for Veteran's Day and he came up and gave me a high five afterward so I asked him if he liked the assembly and he said to me "Yea!! It was awesome!" He like screamed it with such enthusiasm, it was hilarious. The assembly really wasn't all that great...

There was a girl in the class who was having a hard time gripping her pencil and the teacher put a binder clip on it. Then, she just had to put her finger through the metal parts that move. The teacher called it a "butterfly grip" because when she moved her finger the flaps moved like butterfly wings. I thought it was such a neat idea.

They also play a rhyming game where the teacher draws a man on the board then says something and the students have to figure out what body part rhymes with what she said and erase that. It was a neat game for a time filler, but I thought it was funny because when she was drawing the man someone said how she was good at drawing. Then, the whole class kept talking about how good she was at drawing men and what a great artist she was, and how she was so much better than them at art. They were just full of compliments!

Still kind of catching up

2009-11-15T16:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I got my computer back, but for a while the internet wasn't working on it. I just fixed it myself today! Yay!

It's midterm evaluation time, so I've been kind of freaking out thinking I'm super behind and doing a horrible job, but one of my professors decided to change some of her requirements and it made my life so much easier! Also, Beth told me she gave me very high remarks on my midterm eval she had to turn in to my department. She assured me that all of the kids love me and that I;m doing a great job. Between her reassurances and how well things went last Wednesday, I'm feeling pretty good!

On Monday I observed Katrina in her Gen Ed class. I shadowed her in reading workshop and social studies. She was a lot better in that room than she is in Beth's room. At least, that day she was.

Something I saw that her Gen Ed teacher does that I thought was a neat idea is she has this little foam pointing hand that says Mrs. Lemat wants you." When she is doing one on one work with the students and is done with on student and needs another, the first goes to the second and gives them the hand. It's a cute way to switch centers among the students quietly.

When I first went into Katrina's Gen Ed class, some girls were making this little girl Cassidy cry and Katrina was trying to talk her down. It was really quite sweet to see her being such a good friend, because I know that in the past Katrina has had a hard time making and keeping friends.

Last week were parent teacher conferences so in the teachers lounge everyone was complaining. I'm really not looking forward to them after some ofthe stories I heard. Although some of the teachers had some funny stories too. One dad calls his daugher cupcake a i it was her birth name and she has been having trouble reading. Of course the dad blames the school, but apparently he said to the teacher "Well, frickin' cupcake can't read!"

Catching up still

2009-11-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

Monday Nov 2nd

Well, I've been trying to build rapport with more people and the next staff member I wanted to focus on was Mrs. Ross, the special ed aide. I've been sure to greet her and talk to her whenever I can. Beth calls her grandma, because she's an older lady and she takes care of everyone as if she's their grandma. She's really a nice lady. She's rarely in our class though so I'm not sure what she actually does int he school.

Jacob has been saying hi and bye to me every time he sees me and it's adorable. He works on a puzzle everyday and I usually sit at the table with the puzzle, so he always shows me how far he's gotten. It's a 500 piece puzzle and he's a fourth grader and he's doing better at it than I would!

I've also been trying to build rapport with Katrina. I've been sure greet her every time I see her and to talk to her whenever I get a chance. Her biggest problem in class is talk outs and I've noticed that when I engage her in a conversation before class starts she has less talk outs during class. I really think that she just needs some socializing time before she has to work sot hat she can get whatever is on her mind out and then she doesn't feel the need to talk during work time.

I've also been trying to talk to Izzie a lot more. I'm doing a lot of assessments with her, so I've been trying to talk to her in between assessments and such, like while I'm writing I'll ask her about her dogs or something. She's really a good girl. She's really cooperative and eager to learn. She never complains about anything and she just has such a positive attitude.

In class, Beth read 'The Mysterious Pumpkin Patch' to them and I thought it was a really cute book for Halloween, so I wanted to note it so I can remember.

Weston's math lesson has been using apples as examples for things a lot, so Beth brought an apple into class so he could snack and use the seeds for manipulative's. Well, apparently he doesn't like apples much, but I just thought it was so funny when he bit into it and asked Beth, "Where did you get a soakin' wet apple?" It was juicy and he was appalled by it!

I talked to my teacher about Katrina's finger counting and she said that the next step should be manipulative's, but i don't think she understands. Katrina is in fourth grade, in her gen ed class she is learning multiplication. She understands the concept of addition and subtraction, she just doesn't have them memorized, so it's easiest to count fingers for her. She doesn't need just another way of wasting time to figure it out, she needs to memorize them so that math will be easier for her. I talked to Beth and she agrees with me, but I don't know how to tell my professor that she's wrong and that I'm not going to work with her on manipulative's.

Wednesday Nov 4th

Beth was gone today so we had a sub. Beth had warned me that the sub was the old retired gym teacher from Paw Paw and that at the end of her time being the gym teacher, she had burnt a lot of bridges. She had been rude the students and always made it very obvious that she didn't want to be there. In the morning, we both read over Beth's instructions for us and the first thing we do, which I knew from being in Beth's class so long was go into the students' gen ed classes and get their take home folders. Well the sub was engaged in a conversation and forgot so i went on over and got them from the fourth graders, but the third grade teacher brought them to us herself and gave me a look when the sub said something to her, so I was expecting not to have a very good day with the sub. Well, she wasn't all that bad. She was, however, on her cell phone all day. She was texting and even calling people during class. When i was teaching my writing lesson, she was over in the corner gabbing away. Also, I thought some of the times that she yelled at the kids were inappropriate. The sub and I were talking and Izzie walked up and asked a question and the sub snapped on her for interrupting. I felt so bad for Izzie and I just keep thinking that if you're going to teach manners, you should model them yourself.

Well, when the students finished one of their lessons I told them they could play games. The way we play games in their class is that they have to read a sight word correctly before they are allowed to roll the dice and move. Some of the students were playing candy land and some were playing trouble. Jacob was one of the ones playing trouble and at one point I heard him say to Katrina "at least you didn't get minus 6" after she rolled the dice, then she asked "there's a minus 6?" and he says "yea, I only saw it once though...it hides!" I was cracking up!

I gave Izzie a comprehension assessment and I accidentally gave her the master copy, so all of the answers were bolded. I don't think she noticed though because she still got a couple wrong.

One of the women int he clinicals office at NIU came into my class to do my check up. I knew they would come one of the days Beth would be gone too. I was literally driving to school in the morning thinking how they were going to show up today of all days. Well, she did and she came in the middle of my writing lesson plan. Which, by the way, went really well and it's a good thing since she came into the class in the middle of it. Well, she just came and introduced herself and waited for me to finish then just said how it looked like I was having a good time and doing a good job and then left.

While she was there though, I had finished up my lesson plan and read each of the students writing and if it was good I told them to staple it, turn it in, and go read their books. Well, just last week we had written a similar essay about Halloween costumes instead of being thankful on thanksgiving and those we had stapled on the bulletin board, so when i said staple this, Weston thought I meant to the bulletin board. While I was talking to the woman from NIU, they all came to me freaking out because they didn't know where to put their essays. It was OK though, I acknowledged that I should have explained batter and the sub finally took some incentive and went out and took Weston's off the bulletin board and told them all where to out their essays.

It did make me feel good that they were all treating me like the teacher and not as much the sub. The would all ask me what was next or if they could have a treat or whatever. I got to do a lot since the sub kept getting distracted. It also helped me figure out a lot about the classroom, like how things run and where things are. It helped to have to figure it out on my own rather than just being told, now I'll be able to remember more.

Beth is friends with the middle school band director, Christine, and I've been sitting with them in the teacher lounge at lunch everyday. Christine has been talking about her boyfriend, Kyle, for the past 3 weeks and it took me this long to realize that I know him. He's the graduate student assistant for the marching band, which I was in last year and which Ahren is still in now.

I also thought of a good idea in my class for the job charts for the kids. It's like a spinner and on the middle circle you have each students name and on the outer circle all of the jobs. This way you can just spin the inner circle to line them up with a different job each day.

Comment on my blog!!

2009-11-05T12:14:00.001-08:00

I made it so that anyone can comment on my blog, whether they have an account or not! Yay! I look forward to your comments!

Catching up

2009-10-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

My computer has not been working for a while, so I apologize for my lack of blog updates. I've actually been slowly writing this for a week and just haven't published it yet, but I'm going to publish it this time whether it's completely up to date or not

MONDAY OCT 26th

Well, Monday went smooth. I taught math and it went really well. Katrina tried to stall the whole time. She would ask me random questions, like "how old are you?" and "how long have you been teaching?" and she would tell me I'm such a good teacher. It would have meant a lot more to me if I hadn't known she was only trying to stall from the lesson.

If I had written this immediately after school I would have had a lot to say, but since it's almost a week later, I don't really remember what I was going to say. I did write down some of the things that happened though.

The students were reading something about treasure, so Beth asked where some good places to hide treasure would be and one of the boys yelled out, really excited, "In a book!" Beth was a little surprised by this answer, but then she thought of a dollar bill and asked him what kind of treasure would be small enough to fit in a book. He looked at her confused for a minute and then yelled "Oh, a marble!" I had to laugh.

Also, Beth has a really good idea that I noted that I want to remember. When she does little quizzes and reads them out loud, she gives each student a cookie sheet with the magnetic letters a, b, c, and d on them and the students hold their cookie sheets so no one else can see then put their answer on it and show it to her. Cute idea!

Beth asked Justina and Jase what their favorite games were. Jase answered Candy Land and Justin said he couldn't think of one. Jase then said that Justin's favorite was beating up his brother. Beth said that that wasn't a game and Justin told her "no, it's an activity!"

Also, I don't know if I already mentioned, but I made a big turkey out of construction paper for Beth's bulletin board, but none of the students ever know what it is. They always call it a chicken. This is not a reflection of my work, however, because it really does look like a turkey. Justin caleld it a chicken though and Beth looked at him funny, so he knew he called it the wrong thing, but then he called it a roster. Again, not a reflection on my craft abilities.

Paw Paw has this program called Bulldog Buddies and high school students come to the elem school to help students who need tutoring. One boy comes to out class because his brothers are in it. While he was there Monday, Justin hit his finger on the guy's elbow and said "I cracked my finger on his tricep." Then Jase, whose brother is a marine, asked the guy if he could move his "these" and put his hands on his pecs. Beth told him they're called pecs, because you could tell Justin and Jase only knew to call them boobs or something like that and didn't want to say it in front of us. But then when the guy said no, he couldn't move his pecs on their own, Jase said "My brother can! He's a marine, he's got skills!"

WEDNESDAY OCT 28th

On Wednesday, we were writing essays about what we were going to be for Halloween. Jacob is a fourth grader, who has been in Beth's class for four years. Apparently, e has been a ninja every year. He wanted to write his essay about Ninja's and at first Beth was saying no, but then he almost cried so she just went ahead and let him.

Jacob is pretty adorable. He says Hi to me everytime he sees me, like literally, we'll have been in the same room already for an hour but he'll turn and see me or walk past me and say "hi" again. He's too cute.

When they were writing about their halloween costumes, Beth was doing her example and hers was a bumblebee. She did this lesson in two different classes and everytime the boys would all say "from transformers?" when she said she was going to be a bumblebee. Oh, boys.... The way she was doing the writing lesson was by having the topic on the top, Bumblebee, then lines coming off of it for the 3 subtopics. Beth had decided to help Weston, the only 1st grader with four 4th graders, by writing his subtopics on the board as an example for him. Well, Weston was going to be a zombie, so Beth's example ended up looking like this :

Bumblebee- Scary, Bloody, Eat People

Also, during our talk about Weston being a zombie, one of the students, i can't remember which one said, "Weston eats people, he's a carnival." Hahaha

Justin was going to Optimus Prime and their 3 subtopics had to be reasons why they want to be that for halloween. One of Justin's reasons was because Optimus can fly. Then for each subtopic they had to have 3 sentence topics. Justin couldn't think of anything so we asked him where he would fly to. It took him a while, but then he decided on Michigan. Michigan? Of all the places...

I saw this good idea for skip counting. When I was doing the math lesson plan I realized that Izzie and Katrina can skip count from 0 to 20 by 2's but they can't go past 20 and they can't start at any random number and go from there. The idea I saw was a maze with numbers in it and if you skip count by 2's or whatever number you want to make the maze with, then you can get tot he end. so there's a fork in the maze and you're on 2 and you can choose 3 or 4, you would choose 4 then 6 then 8 and so on. I might make one for them and have it start at 20 and count by 2's.

Another idea that I saw, this one in Beth's class is she has this big box that she cut two sides out of and everytime they take a test a new student gets to take it witht he box around them. It prevents from cheating and the kids think it's really cool.

So, Katrina is the one I've been talking about that gets frustrated so easily and tries to stall from everything. Well, today I was working with Izzie and Beth was working with Katrina. Katrina was working with time. She had a big manipulative clock in front of her and Beth would put it on a time and ask her what time then would ask what time half an hour ago. Well Katrina was getting frustrated so she just started giving the wrong answers on purpose and would give Beth this little smirk. Beth got ffrustrated with her and asked me to switch. What Katrina was doing was saying it was 9:60 instead of 9 o'clock. The big clock she was looking at had 1-12 written big and then 5-60 counting by fives smaller above the 1-12. Well, Katrina knew to say 6 o'clock, but she was being a smart alick and just reading the numbers because the back a half hour part was frustrating her. After a while she started just not being cooperative at all. It was really frustrating, but it made me realize how much I am going to have to work on my patience. Really, I think all she needed was a break. She had been working on clocks for a long time and although she does need the practice because shes not getting the hang of it, she's not going to get it if she gets in a mood like that. I think a break would have been the best for everyone.

Also, I met the Speech Language Pathologist and she was really nice. Beth introduced me to her though as Shelley and Jase heard her and then he gave us this little smirk and calle dme Shelley. We laughed, but then Beth told him I'm still his teacher and he needs to call me Ms. Crane.

We're not Cavemen!

2009-10-21T15:49:00.001-07:00

Well, I didn't do the math lesson today, that was a relief! I'm doing it Monday and we went over everything so I'll be ready. I feel much more confident now!
I realized that I may not have made the best impression on some of the people in the school because I didn't actually introduce myself to anyone that I worked with other than Beth on the first day. Beth did introduce me to the Principle, but I didn't really talk to him or thank him for letting me come into his school or anything. I decided I should probably try to make a better impression, so I started with the front office. The first day I had gone in and said I was Mrs. Foose's student teacher and someone walked me over to her room, but I didn't introduce myself to anyone or really talk to anyone, so Wednesday morning I went back in and talked to them a bit and introduced myself. I asked them if I need to sign in with them every morning and they said no, but still just come check in with them, so I'll make a point every morning to walk in and ask how they're doing. Next time, I think I'll work on teacher's lounge socializing. haha
The teacher's lounge is actually an interesting place. Apparently, the elementary teacher's lunch is the best to attend. I may have to start having a special "teacher's lounge edition" each time.
This time, my student, Izzie, whom I'm doing my reading and writing assessments with, wasn't there so I didn't get anything done for that. Katrina, who I am doing my math assessment and classroom management project with was there so I observed her and got a lot figured out.
Other than that, as far as work for my classes goes, I didn't do a whole lot, but I worked with some students on reading and writing things. That was fun. We pushed into a third grade classroom to help one of our students who had been absent a few days, and one of the kids in that class had a little crush on me. It was cute. He was looking for something in the classroom and couldn't find it and I saw it so I pointed it out to him. After that he kept looking over at me and I when I would look back he would blush and smile. :) It was too cute.
I have a few quotes of the day from my kids because they made me laugh:
Katrina is an avoider. She doesn't like to do work and gets frustrated easily with hard work. She tends to drag things out to waste time and will always take forever to answer a question whether she knows the answer or not. There were ten pennies in front of her and we asked her how many there were. We had been working on ten pennies going into a dime so she knew there were ten pennies in front of her, but she made a big show of waving her finger over them and counting out loud really fast to twelve before she finally said "ten." It was obvious she knew the answer and she could have just said "ten" but she had to waste time making a big show of counting them. Anyway, my actual quote of the day was when she had a bunch of random numbers in front of her and she had to put them in order from lowest to highest. She took her sweet time and kept getting them wrong on purpose then correcting herself. But when she got to the last number she said "And then, of course, the great, the only.......88." She said it so dramatically I laughed out loud, which I shouldn't have done. Oh well, it was funny.
My second quote of the day was from Jon. We were reading about the American flag and how it's changed over the years and Beth asked the students how we know what the flag looked like before now and Jon says "because we have internet." Now, this quote is funny enough in itself, because I can just imagine him thinking that before we had internet we didn't know anything and then all of a sudden internet was invented and we had all this knowledge that just came from the internet. It was even funnier, however, when Beth turned and asked what he said and he says to her "We're not cavemen! We have technology!" He sounded to triumphant and proud!
Also, the two boys we have at the end of the day are Jase and Justin, who I think are hilarious together, so you'll probably be hearing stories about them eventually.

Day 1!

2009-10-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well, my first day is officially over....
I got a little confused driving to the school since it's in the middle of nowhere! You would think that after 8 years in Illinois I would be used to driving through corn fields, but I don't think it will ever happen.
The real shock, however, was how truly tiny the school was. I shouldn't have been surprised. I was expecting it after all, but my cooperating teacher, Beth, had told me to park in the paved lot, because the high schoolers park in the gravel lot. Well, when I got there the gravel lot looked like it could fit maybe 10 cars and then there was the paved lot right in the front of the school. I saw another paved lot around the back and was convinced that was where I had to park. The paved lot in front was the same size as the paved lot in front of the high school I graduated from, and only principals and important people parked there. Well, come to find out, that paved lot is where all the teachers and faculty park. Wow...
Despite the school being tiny, I got lost on my way to the office. In my defense, it's not right in front of your face when you walk in like it is in normal schools.
Anyway, basically as soon as I got there another teacher came over and started checking out my butt...
Yea, she thought I had a rip in my pants, but it turned out just to be my scarf lying on a strange spot.... scared the crap out of me though. As I walked away, a group of about 5 teachers stayed behind to laugh about what a field day the students would have had with that one.... I didn't find it so funny, but I was very relieved.
In Beth's classroom she only has 4 students in the morning and 2 in the afternoon at a time. The students were adorable. They are in 4th and 3rd grades. Mostly they have LD.
I did find out that Beth went to NIU and was in Alpha Phi Omega, which was cool. We had a lot to talk about and even knew some common people. That was nice and helped me to feel more comfortable.
I got a lot done in my first day. I did my writing and math assessments to start my projects for a few classes, I identified the students that I'll be working with for all of my projects, and I figured out which student and what problem behavior to use for my class management project.
Beth also let me do some of the assessments she does every day with her students so that I could get some practice.
The best part: I made a huge construction paper turkey! haha Apparently, Beth is not artsy, but I love doing crafts so she asked me to make her thanksgiving bulletin board. It was cute!
Seriously, the best part was that she gave me her lesson plan for math on Wednesday and told me to look over it because I'm going to be teaching it! I'm really excited and I'm sure Ahren is too! He's always my pretend student when I need one....what a good boyfriend!
The only thing that didn't go so well today was that I'm afraid one of the students hates me.
She's the girl I'm doing my math assessment with and I don't think she likes math very much. I did some addition flash cards with her. She just had to answer the problem within 3 seconds. It was supposed to be a way of assessing her math memorization. Well, she doesn't have her math memorized at all. She was counting on her fingers for the simplest problems and when they were small numbers she could count fast enough but for the bigger numbers she would just give up because counting would take too long and she didn't have any of them memorized. She got really frustrated and then had to go straight into other math work without much of a break so she was just upset, slouching, and putting her head down the rest of the period and I felt so bad. I just hated that my first day in the classroom I couldn't get to know them better and I had to go straight to assessing them.
Other than that my day was fantastic! Although, I did forget my lunch box in her fridge....

Count Down: 1 Day!

2009-10-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! Soon I will be going grocery shopping with my step mom to get my lunch box food and then I will be picking out my clothes for my first day!!

Count Down:2 Days

2009-10-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

In 2 Days I will be a student teacher!

I wanted to start this blog for multiple reasons:

My roommate, Bria, who has been my best friend since seventh grade, and I had blogs our junior year of high school. We forgot about them until very recently and when we remembered them we laughed and laughed and laughed at ourselves for hours. So, my first reason for writing this blog: so that four years from now I can laugh at myself.

I have a lot of family who are or were teachers, so my second reason: so that they can laugh at me too! No, actually I would really appreciate feedback, stories, constructive criticism, advice, or whatever you have for me!

My last reason for writing this blog is just so that I can always look back, remember, and learn.

So, two more days until I am officially a student teacher! I'm pretty sure I'm ready. I've got my placement, I've talked to my cooperating teacher, I have all of my tools ready for the assignments I have to do in the school, and I've bought my lunch box.

My placement is at Paw Paw Elementary School in Paw Paw, Illinois. It's about a 35 minute drive from DeKalb so it's not too bad. My cooperating teacher, Beth Foose, has told me that I couldn't have been placed in her class during a better year because she only has four students in the morning and two in the afternoon. I forgot to ask what grades and disabilities....oops.... I have three classes at NIU that I have assignments from to do while I am in the school. It makes me nervous how much work we have to do in the short time that we are in the school, but my professors this semester have been really understanding and flexible. Now, as far as my lunch box goes, being a poor college student and soon-to-be poor special ed teacher, although I could afford the lunch box, my parents are the ones paying for the food that goes in it, which I find kind of sad since I don't even live with them at the moment. I took a special trip home to get this lunch box food!

Over the summer, I was having a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. For a while, I was so afraid of going into an elementary school and being a teacher that I considered changing my major.

Changing my major at this point would have meant not graduating in four years, so I was willing to put my life on hold just to avoid going into a school and finding out I'm a horrible teacher. I wanted to change my major to psychology, so I enrolled in a psychology class to see how I would like it....I HATE it! I have never been more sure of the fact that I am meant to be a teacher than I am right now. The closer I get to my first day, the more my excitement outweighs my nervousness.