Time Flies When You're Busy!

I just got on here and realized I haven't posted anything in a few months...  Not good!  I'm really sorry about that!  Let's just suffice it to say that I have been VERY busy!  But that is definitely not a bad thing!

First and foremost, working as a full-time teacher really takes a lot of time and energy!  This school year has been full of figuring out what it means to be a first year teacher and what it means to teach well.  I am still working on it (both parts of it), but it has been a great experience so far!

Some of the challenges I have found is balancing a good lesson plan when class sizes are so vastly different!  I teach Spanish III & IV with classes ranging from 10-22 in the same level!  Some days I do better with that balancing act than others.  If you have any ideas of how to make a good plan to help balance them let me know, I am always open for suggestions!

Overall though it has been a very good experience.  My students work hard are a really good kids (which I remind myself of on days when their energy level is higher than their concentration level) which makes them fun to work with.

Other than that I have not had time to do much of anything else!  Last weekend Ben and I brought a group of youth to visit Concordia University Wisconsin.  That was especially fun for me because it is my alma mater and it was Homecoming!  It is amazing to see all the things they have done to campus since I was a student there and it is hard to believe that it has already been 4 years (this December) since I was a student there!

Watching the end of the football game was fun.  We finished the college visit with the kids, got them settled with the college students they were staying with, and headed out to catch some of the games that were being played.  We made it to the football game just in time for the 4th quarter and it wasn't looking good.  They were down, 20 to NOTHING.  Well, we watched them score one touchdown.  Then we watched them score another touchdown.  So finally they were kicking the ball to the other team with seconds left on the clock.  They did a short kick, recovered it and went to run it down the field....  when they were stopped and lost the game after all.  So even though they still lost, we personally believe we made it for the most exciting quarter of the game!

Well, I need to get some things done yet tonight, but watch for future posts.  I am cooking one up right now to write later!

End of the Semester

So now I am finally coming to the end of the semester, at least the end of the classes I am taking. I am a substitute teacher and high schools are still in session for about another month.

The best way to sum up the end my schooling, especially my second Bachelors, is relief, I am ecstatic to be finished. I took one semester off between my degrees and it was glorious, I worked full time and got to know a lot of people and I got to know the city I was living in much better, which was great. I knew going back to school would be rough, but I would get through it and I practically have. Monday I take my finals (which are not finals that can be studied for) and I am finished! Ok, so I have to student teach in the fall, but that is much different than taking classes. It will be a very busy time, but I am very excited for it.

Sometimes you enjoy what you are doing while you are doing it, other times you enjoy the end result more than the process. Taking classes for my teacher's license is an example of enjoying the end result more than the process. This semester I have learned a lot of valuable things however.

For example, my last thing to finish is my final IPA (Integrate Performance Assessment), this is something used in a foreign language classrooms. A framework that ACTFL promotes. Basically it consists of three steps (which happen to be the three modes of communication). First you do an interpretive activity, then you move onto an interpersonal activity and finally and prepare a presentational project. For my class we have to write three IPAs. The first two I did with a partner and the final one I am doing on my own. We did one on nutrition in Spain vs. nutrition in the United States, looking at the food pyramid and la rueda de los alimentos. Then we did one on telling bedtime stories. Now I am working one one about immigration. This one I am doing for a German class, so I am focusing on Turkish immigration to Germany and comparing that to Hispanic immigration to the United States. Both countries encounter similar problems such as disdain towards the newcomers, finding ways to integrate them into society and the education of the immigrant children (amongst other issues as well).

Well, I better get back to finishing up that project, especially since I have a fun filled weekend of visiting with family and friends. :-)

Till next time...