First Day!

Yes! I am doing better. Today was my first day in my new classroom. Just as a refresher, I'm now working in Mrs. Henry's second grade classroom. The new class is going to take some getting used to, the three second grade teachers team teach together, so the studnets are always changing for the core content areas of reading, math, science, and social studies. Also, Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Brynman classrooms are open to one another. So there are lots of studnets names to learn and figuring out the class schedule. But other than the differences from my old classroom. I had a wonderful first day! I got to read with students, corrected A LOT of papers, and just observed Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Brynman teach! I am really excited because I got my first lesson assignment, which I will be teaching very soon! Its going to be on penguins and humans affect on their ecosystem. Its going to be a fun quarter!!!

KelliJean

WOW! It has been a long time since my last blog post! Well I guess I will have to fill you all in! Let's start with the end to my fall quarter, I am proud to say that I got some pretty good grades in all my classes and I made Dean's List. So I was pretty happy, I ended up with two 4.0's and three 3.8's. Also, at the end of fall quarter I got to spend two full weeks in my Kindergarten classroom which was a blast. Although, sadly, I got a call from the Education department at EWU during winter break informing me that because I am not a Children's Studies or Early Childhood Education major I could not stay in my Kindergarten class. I was very upset about this and having to start the hunt for a new classroom to work in. But thankfully the Kindergarten teacher that I had been working with set me up with one of her friends that also taught at Opportunity Elementary. So starting this quarter I will be teaching nine hours a week in a second grade classroom. I am very excited!
OK now on to the beginning of winter quarter! I am back in Cheney, I got back on Sunday afternoon and happily there is NO SNOW!!! which is the first time I came back from winter break to no snow! This quarter I am taking an heavy course load this quarter at 21 credit hours! This quarter I am taking the block which is two classes that are some what connected. The first is Social Studies and Science Methods, Managment and assesments for Elementary and it is at 8:00 in the morning so that should be interesting! The second class in the block is, Language Arts Methods, Managment, and Assesment for Elementary. Then I am taking Art in the Elementary School, which should be a blast; Reading Instruction and literature for Young Adults; and Introduction to Reading Assessment and Remidiation. Then on top of this, I will be spending 9 hours in my elementary school classroom and working 19 hours a week! It will definently be a challenge but I figure if I can handle all that then being a full-time teacher will be cake, right????

Anyways, that is all for now! I will try and stay up on this blogging thing, but I can't promise anything.

KelliJean

Cookie Decorating

In the days leading up to Christmas every year our family has a cookie decorating party, in which we invite two family friends to participate. In years past we have invited others to participate but Riley & Ryan are a constant.

Its quite fun, we drink hot chocolate, listen to carols, and eat large amounts of sugar, all while dectorating cookies for Santa. What could be more fun than getting children all hyped up on sugar and then returning them to their parents?

The kids have fun too, we provide sugar cookies, 3-5 different frosting colors, sprinkles, and candy to decorate with. We don't limit the amount to frosting or candy placed on their cookies - basicly their are no decorating rules.

After all the cookies are decorated for Santa, there is usually a rousing game of soccer in the backyard until parents show up.

Its a great tradition that helps us get in the mood for Christmas!

Happy Holiday's

Tiah

my awesome knitting skills

I just had to share with everyone, my awesome knitting skills. This is a picture of Mayson, my best friends 6 month old. I just finished knitting him a complete outfit. Hat, sweater, and pants. The hat was a little small and the pants are a little long, but overall a successful project.

Tiah

Christmas Fun

Today I went to Clunes Forest School and made christmas decorations from all natural materials. I had the opportunity to learn how to make wreaths but thought that it would be hard to get through customs but it was fun learning how to make them. I did make a little christmas tree and a star out of weaving tree branches. My fingers are a bit sore from this activity but it was lots of fun. I went with the physio and OT that I have been working with. They made wreaths and they were very cool. It was a great day although very cold. The fog never lifted today which meant the day did not warm at all and the thick frost is still covering everything, including the sheep.
~Meagan

Winter Tulips?

It was 24 degrees this morning in Portland. Yes, it has been unseasonably dry weather of late, but at no time has it resembled spring in any way. However, someone has forgotten to tell my tulips this. They are very seriously starting to come up. I re-covered them with dirt and piled leaves on them, which I am hoping to stop this early arrival. Tulips in December, I guess they forgot to read the directions.

Tiah

Hiking Fun

This past weekend David, Lauren and Rod came over to Fort William and by some miracle it stopped raining and the sun came out. We had a brilliant time hiking around Glenfinnan and taking some great photos on saturday afternoon. Sunday we hiked up part of the Ben Nevis path and then down and along some of the Glen River path. It was a great weekend for weather and fun with friends. We had our dinner at the Ben Nevis Inn, which looks out at Glen Nevis. We all drooled over the specials on the board and then I had a hamburger and everyone else had fish and chips.
~Meagan