Oh that child...

Well, the past 2 1/2 weeks of student teaching have been very fast-paced and full of entertainment. First graders will not let you down on entertainment value, that's for sure. This week's statement of the goes to, one very adorable little boy. Standing in the hallway after lunch, a little boy looks at me and says, "Mrs. Dilbeck, you look like you still got yo baby teef." He turns and taps the shoulder of his friend standing next to him and says, "Hey (insert child's name) don't Mrs. Dilbeck look like she still got her baby teef." It was a rather entertaining dialogue that followed reasoning why my teeth don't look huge inside my mouth.

Second runner up is a little girl with a big attitude. (Although, I'm sure my cooperating teacher thinks she should receive first place seeing as she doesn't seem to tire of telling people this story. ;) The stage was something like this, I was making my rounds to make sure that all of the students were on task doing their work. I stopped and sat down at the "Listening Center" station with Group 2. I made a comment to one of the students about the quality of work she was completing, and made a suggestion or maybe told her something needed to be corrected. She turns her head, flops her wrist in my direction, and says, "I got this, girlfrand." Just like that, I had to turn my head to hide my smirk.

Now, I just want to share that I am well aware of several misspellings in the student quotations. I just feel like the enunciation of the students was an important contributing factor in making these stories much more hilarious.

I must get back to my busy life of writing lesson plans. Maybe I will see the light of day soon (as well as that of the one at the end of the tunnel that is student teaching) and post again sometime soon. Until next time...

It's a Doggie Birthday Party and You're Invited

I love my first placement for internship. My cooperating teacher is the greatest person and is doing so much to help me. I have been there for three days now, and feel right at home. This is a very small school, and thus very charming. The people are so genuine. I'm absolutely amazed at the staff who learned my name after meeting me just one time!

So many funny things happen in the 1st grade, and for this reason I would like to share some of the funny things that I hear throughout my internship. Today I was talking to "Fred". Fred was daydreaming when he was supposed to be working on his spelling words. I told Fred that he needed to focus on what he was doing instead of looking around the room. His response was, "I am focusing! I'm thinking of a word to write!" Well, the words just had to be copied straight from the board or his Spelling Schedule, but you just had to be there. His tone and his seriousness about the whole thing was enough to make me just have to walk away as not to laugh right then and there.

The next day, "Fred" came up to me and said, "Mrs. Dilbeck, how do you spell your name?" I told him how. He came back over with a piece of paper that was his daily assignment for the station he was at. The assignment was to write a letter to a friend. He wanted to write down my name by looking on my portfolio. He says, "Mrs. Dilbeck, how do you spell your name? I want to invite you to my dog's birthday party." He wrote my name on his paper. As he walked away he says, "The party is at 9 p.m. on "Main Street". I said, that was past my bedtime and I would not be able to attend. He said, "Well, we'll make it at 8. See you there."

Interning: Day 1

Today was my first day of interning. I actually only went to meet my second placement teacher. I start my first placement tomorrow. I was really excited and a little nervous to meet my first cooperating teacher. I had so many questions about her. Would we have the same ideas and values? Would we have chemistry and get along? Will everyone like me? There are so many worries, but as soon as I walked in all of my worries were erased. Everyone was so nice and supportive. I got a lot of encouragement from my cooperating teacher and the school's counselor.

I couldn't have asked for things to go better. It helped that the teacher used to live next door to my husband's grandparents. I couldn't believe that because I know absolutely no one in the education system. It is the thing that scares me most about looking for a job. Seems like it is all about who you know, and I know no one. I guess that I will just have to let them get to know me and hopefully see that I am a good teacher.

I hope that I can make a good impression at both of my placements. It's time for bed to be rested and ready to go to my first placement in the morning. I have to leave early for my 4o minute drive!