a bit of this and a bit of that

I really don't have anything to write about. I just think I should probably get in the habit of writing so that maybe it will stick. So here's what's going on. I'm taking three classes this summer; two right now and one in July. Right now I'm taking Teaching Content Literacy and Internet Research in Education. IRE is kicking my butt. I'm kicking TCL's butt. IRE isn't really hard, it's just confusing. It's difficult to tell what the professor wants you to do. I wrote a nine page research paper today that I'm not sure is right at all. </whine> I'm really enjoying TCL though. English is my second favorite subject, behind art. It's second nature for me to include reading and writing in my teaching practice. Dr. J is being really cool too. The class is actually for 6-12th grades but she's letting me turn in K-4 lesson plans since that's what I'll be teaching next year. I'm really glad to have had her as a professor. She's really down to earth and practical which I appreciate.

While I'm on the subject of my classes, I'll tell you about some of the other ones I've taken. Last semester I had curriculum design which should have been fun but was torture, due to the professor. It was a bummer. I also had Foundation of Special Education which was fantastic, also due to the professor. In fact, he was the one who suggested I check out the school district where I got hired. He was really a great professor and just an overall great guy. The class was a lot of fun and I learned SO much. And finally, I had Educational Assessment. I know a lot of people in my class thought it was boring and didn't care for the professor, but I liked the class and the professor a lot. It was a little drier than SPED but I happen to love rubrics so I really enjoyed the class.

The semester before that, I had Teaching Diverse Adolescents which was okay. It taught me a lot of the learning theories I needed to know (speaking of which, I should probably start studying for my PLT Praxis soon...). I also had Curriculum and Instruction in Art Education which was a joke. Dr. M didn't care about that class at all. She's already accepted a position somewhere else and mentally checked out the first month. Luckily there were a lot of people at different stages in that class, some of us just starting out, some in their first year of teaching, some who had been teaching for 10 years or more. We formed a little community and learned from each other which was nice. I also had Instructional Skills and Classroom Management with Dr. J. She was as great then as she has been this summer. She's a great teacher.

With that class, I also had to do 30 hours of observation in a classroom and teach two lessons while being observed by someone from UALR. It was pretty intense to be thrown out there like that my first semester, but it was good for me. I met Lauren then; she was my cooperating teacher. She taught me a lot. I observed her every Tuesday and Thursday morning for a couple of months. She let me sit and watch and get comfortable first and then really let me start helping out when I was ready. She let me teach way more than the two lessons I had to teach. She helped me get prepared to teach my observed lessons. I learned a lot of things from her. I'm very glad I got placed in a middle school and not a high school. It really opened me up to the possibility of teaching younger kids.

Okay, this has been extremely boring for anyone who has made it this far and I apologize. Here's a picture of a teapot I made in my undergrad to thank you for reading. :P

Again, connect with me. Comment on this post. Tweet me on twitter. Follow me on Pinterest. Whatever. I'm interested to hear your experiences with classes you didn't like or did like. Or how you handled your first year of teaching. Or a picture of a teapot you made in undergrad. Whatever. :)

Kelsey

PS I'm thinking my next post will either be about my personal artwork or my process of creating a supply list for my first year. If you're reading this and would prefer one or the other, comment and let me know.