Quote of the Day

Sometimes I wish I could crawl inside the heads of my students. Today we were talking to a boy that does not like school much. He likes hands on learning but nothing where writing is involved. He told us, "If I could get paid to go to school , I would LOVE it!"

Wouldn't we all!!!!!

Pass

I found out this week I passed my Michigan Teaching Certification for elementary education and social studies. I thought it was funny reading my results that I scored the lowest on social studies section of my elementary exam. Then on my social studies exam I scored the highest on the geography section. Matt makes fun of me because I am horrible at geography. I guess last semester's geography class at LCC really worked wonders!

I am very happy I passed these tests. I knew I did well on the education one but I thought I bombed the social studies test. At least they are done and I can just concentrate on finding a job.

I am loved!

Today we were sharing our plans in class for the weekend. I told my students I am excited to go to the MSU hockey game. One of them said they were going to make Rice Krispy Treats tonight with chocolate on top. I was just joking with her and asked, "Are you going to bring some over to me? I live really close to you!" I actually do live really close to her. I was just joking with her. I didn't expect her to bring me any.

I got home from school at 4:50. I layed down for a few minutes then heard the door bell ring. I opened it to a smiley third grader holding a plate of rice krispy treats for me. I gave her a huge hug. I guess some students do like me!

Were you born that way?

A student of mine love to speak his mind. Last week he went up to my aide and said, "I hate to tell you this, but your hair does not fit you." I gave him a speech to keep his thoughts to himself.

Not two hours later he came up to me, "My mom would like to know if you were born with your nose that way or if it is from some kind of disease." I blew up at him. The kids stared at me since they had never seen me mad before.

What is up with kids these days?

Another Funny Conversation

This is the conversation I had with a third grader on Friday.

Student: Do you have a daughter?
Me: No.
Student: Do you have a son?
Me: No.
Student: Are you husband?
Me: No.
Student: You should really get married. Aren't you lonely?

Back to the Funny Kiddos

Last week I was teaching a science lesson. We were comparing the ability of solids to freeze. I showed the kids all the liquids we were using (corn syrup, vegetable oil, water, salt water, and rubbing alcohol) When we got to the rubbing alcohol, hands flew into the air. I knew some kid was going to ask a stupid question but I called on them anyway. The boy asked, "Is that what you used to make beer?"

No, you are in third grade. You shouldn't care how to make beer!!!

What?

This is a grade I received in my CORE 300 class...
Academic Manners 250/400

Do you think that is because I read a really good book during his lectures every Wednesday night?

How do I get to Paris from New York?

Notice line 24!
1.
Head southeast on Chambers St toward Broadway
0.2 mi
1 min
2.
Turn right at Centre St
0.1 mi
3.
Slight left at Park Row
210 ft
4.
Sharp left at Frankfort St
0.3 mi
1 min
5.
Turn left at Pearl St
56 ft
6.
Turn right onto the F.D.R. Dr N ramp
0.4 mi
1 min
7.
Merge onto FDR Dr N
7.7 mi
12 mins
8.
Take exit 17 on the left for Triboro Bridge/Grand Central Pkwy toward I-278/Bruckner Expy
0.4 mi
2 mins
9.
Merge onto Triborough Bridge
Partial toll road
0.4 mi
1 min
10.
Merge onto I-278 E via the ramp to I-87 N/Bronx/Upstate N Y/New England
0.6 mi
1 min
11.
Take exit 47 to merge onto Bruckner Expy/I-278 E toward New Haven
1.9 mi
2 mins
12.
Take the I-278 E exit toward New Haven
0.3 mi
13.
Merge onto Bruckner Expy
5.0 mi
6 mins
14.
Continue on I-95 N
Partial toll road
Entering Connecticut
62.1 mi
1 hour 12 mins
15.
Take exit 48 on the left to merge onto I-91 N toward Hartford
36.8 mi
37 mins
16.
Take exit 29 for US-5 N/CT-15 toward I-84/E Hartford/Boston
0.4 mi
17.
Merge onto CT-15 N
1.7 mi
2 mins
18.
Merge onto I-84 E
Partial toll road
Entering Massachusetts
40.7 mi
38 mins
19.
Take the exit onto I-90 E/Mass Pike/Massachusetts Turnpike toward N.H.-Maine/Boston
Partial toll road
56.0 mi
56 mins
20.
Take exit 24 A-B-C on the left toward I-93 N/Concord NH/S Station/I-93 S/Quincy
0.4 mi
1 min
21.
Merge onto Atlantic Ave
0.8 mi
3 mins
22.
Turn right at Central St
0.1 mi
23.
Turn right at Long Wharf
0.1 mi
24.
Swim across the Atlantic Ocean
3,462 mi
29 days 0 hours
25.
Slight right at E05
0.5 mi
2 mins
26.
At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto E05/Pont Vauban
0.1 mi
27.
Turn right at E05
Partial toll road
17.3 mi
22 mins
28.
At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto A131/E05 heading to A131/Rouen/Paris/Evreux
Partial toll road
9.1 mi
8 mins
29.
Take the exit onto A13/E05/L'Autoroute de Normandie
Partial toll road
20.3 mi
17 mins
30.
Take the exit onto A13/E05/L'Autoroute de Normandie
Partial toll road
56.5 mi
47 mins
31.
Take the exit on the left onto A14 toward Nanterre/La Défense
Partial toll road
12.5 mi
16 mins
32.
Slight right at N13
1.4 mi
3 mins
33.
Turn right at Avenue de Neuilly/N13
269 ft
34.
At the traffic circle, take the 4th exit onto Avenue de la Grande Armée
0.7 mi
3 mins
35.
At Place Charles de Gaulle, take the 5th exit onto Avenue des Champs-Elysées
1.3 mi
3 mins
36.
Slight right at Voie Georges Pompidou
1.4 mi
3 mins
37.
Slight left to stay on Voie Georges Pompidou
440 ft
38.
Slight right at Quai de la Mégisserie
377 ft
39.
Continue on Quai de Gesvres
0.2 mi
1 min
40.
Turn left at Place de l'Hôtel de Ville

Finals!!!

I do not have any finals during finals week...the joy of being an upperclass-men.
Here is an education digital portfolio I have been working on. It is in the process, however it has been my life the past few weeks.
http://myweb.arbor.edu/ac229426/portfolio/

What I Learned Tonight

Don't mess with old people's way of playing dominoes.

1. Don't switch the direction of the playing order. If you do, a certain lady will yell at you everytime it is her time. "Don't you know you are going the wrong way?" (Ima)
"Ima, it doesn't matter, we are going this way now." (Dorothy)

2. Don't help teammates if they can't reach the place to put the dominoe. Because, Ima will say, "What are you doing Mega, playing for everyone else?" After that we decided to only play the ones we could reach.

3. Whoever starts the game, wins the game. Ima kept winning and the other ladies could not figure out why she always won. Well, she was always the first to play. I caught on, so I tried to play first so I could win. They still didn't let me win. One of them cheated!

For a class assignment we are spending time at one of the many nursing homes in Spring Arbor. They are funny to watch and even funnier to play dominoes with!

Me & Abbs

Happy Easter

Puerto Rico

Here are some belated pictures from my spring break missions trip to Puerto Rico.







The group drove to Ohio to catch a Jet Blue flight. Once we got there, we realized the flight was canceled due to maintenance issues. Instead, they chartered two smaller jets to fly us to JFK. Those planes ended up being two hours late.

Then from JFK to Puerto Rico I was watching the in flight map. I could see we were headed the wrong direction in PR. When we finally landed the pilot said, "Unfortunately we are in San Juan instead of Juana Diaz. There is a volcanic ash cloud over Juana Diaz. We cannot fly over that area." It took two hours for a bus to come get us and then two hours to drive to where we needed to go. It was a long day of traveling.

Again, the camp is right on the Caribbean. It was a beautiful week. (What week isn't beautiful when you are in Puerto Rico?)



















Lydia and I had some fun while we were painting. We got the job of painting all the rocks around the parking lot and the palm trees.

The camp director said we were painting the trees because Americans come to Puerto Rico looking for white palm trees, so he doesn' t want to disappoint them. The real reason we painted the trees was so the ants don't ruin the trees.



Some of the girls looked beautiful after a 12 hour day of work. We painted in the morning then poured a cement wall in the afternoon. We did 80 bags of cement in 6 hours.









We went to Gilligan's Island for the free day. It was a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico. We went snorkeling and swimming in the pretty blue water.

Lady Vols...Number 7

Do bad days always get worse?

YES!

Grey's Anatomy has got to be the best show EVER!!!

Guatemala

Girls Night

Jeanette, Liz, Me


I don't normally stay at school on the weekend, but I had my weekend packed with school stuff. Liz, Jeanette, and I decided a girls night would be fun. We had dinner at our favorite, Los Tres and then made strawberry slushes and watched Mean Girls at Jeanette's apartment. Her husband is a volunteer fire fighter, so he let us try on his gear.

Back to P.R.

-Last week the leader of the trip last year, Ben, asked me to be the student leader of the Puerto Rico Spring Break Missions Trip this year. I was surprised to get the call, but very excited. I am looking forward to this trip because it is a chance to be a leader for my peers.
-This weekend, Ben, Jeanette, and I picked the team for the trip. It was hard to do, but I am excited about the group.
- Last year I was able to go to Puerto Rico with Liz. This year I can't wait to go with my other roommate, Lydia. She applied to go on the trip and was accepted.

Teacher Time

I feel like all I do is lesson planning. Last week I spent over 12 hours working
on unit plans, bulletin boards, and learning centers. That must be the feeling of
a teacher.