End of Week 4 = hmph.

The week went fairly well. Here are the highlights (Compound Word! Ha.)

- I picked up reading (in addition to Math and Science).
- I had a 45 minute conversation with Jim the custodian while he swept our floor. 7 Mile, the German language, and smoking sausage on rooftops were among the topics discussed.
- The kids have NAILED congruence.
- I decided on a unit theme - Exploration and Discovery. The solar system will be our primary focus so I will have to work that into multiple subjects. My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine Piz...aww no. My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Noodles. I like it.
- My relationships with my Cooperating Teacher, principle, and other core teachers are strengthening. They make me laugh...often :)
- Three words: School House Rock.
- One precious little boy - known for his comprehension and focus issues - completely grasped the weekly story! A huge success that had my CT and I floored, yet so incredibly proud.

I'm excited to see what next week brings - teaching all subjects for 3 out of 4 days!

I slept in today :)

A big shout out to Mr. Lincoln and all our former (and current!) presidents for the two glorious days of rest that have been given to us all!

And so the updates begin...

Cooperating Teacher: I went into the experience knowing close to nothing about her. With this in mind, I tried to have as few expectations as possible. Thankfully, she is phenomenal. Teaching is her second career so she did her own student teaching just three years ago. She's kind, sweet-natured, incredibly caring, and insightful. She treats me like a person, not just a professional (a novice one at that), which I appreciate.

Farnsworth: The school is...interesting. The principle, although a bit elderly, is incredibly structured and firm. She refuses to turn down any student, regardless of ability level; therefore, the school has some solid services for students with special needs. As is expected, the building in a bit run-down, the technology is limited, and teacher morale is a not as high as I've seen in other schools; however, the kids are cared for, visitors are made to feel immensely welcome, and the core group of teachers that I work with are great.

Students: Aaah, the students :) 34 of the little ones in all: 12 English Language Learners (6 Hispanic, 1 Polish, 1 Philippian, 2 Middle Eastern, and 2 Asian). 6 of the students are Caucasian, 1 is African American, and the rest are Hispanic (English-speaking) or Multi-Racial. We also have a little one who is Visually Impaired. Reading levels range from 200 words per minute to 10. They're wonderful :) A wonderful challenge, but wonderful nonetheless.

In General: I'm feeling pretty good. My energy is up (so far!). I actually enjoy my commute (so long as I'm able to catch my first bus). The roommates are great. The students are great. My cooperating teacher is flexible and supportive. My ideas are a'flowin and I'm excited to go to school every day. I'm still nervous, perhaps a bit frightened, terrified maybe...but it's all coming out of my desire to do all I can for those kids.

I miss everyone very, very, very, very, very much. Very much. :)

3:45 and I already want to sleep

So we are currently into our third day of orientation - what? The time has flown by. For the most part, orientation has consisted of a series of meetings to acquaint us with the city, ethnic restaurant excursions, mixer games, and trial and error rides with CTA (public transportation). The student teachers have also met a few times to go over the requirements and expectations for the upcoming days and weeks. The girls are absolutely wonderful, as are the ladies in charge of the student teaching program, and I feel excited that we're all together on the same journey, sharing the same passions.

We signed our lease today on our apartment! Myself along with two other girls are living on the second floor of an apartment building on LaSalle in the Gold Coast. It seems like a pretty great fit. Cat (another student teacher who is placed at Farnsworth with me) and I also ventured to the school this afternoon to familiarize ourselves with our route and travel times. Good Lord. A bus to the blue line, blue line to the bus depot, bus to the corner, walk to the school. It'll take an hour....each way. Good morning, Chicago!

Tomorrow I officially report to Farnsworth for the first time. It definitely doesn't feel real! I've been working for this for so long that it's hard to believe that the time is actually here. Falling asleep will NOT be an easy task.

Oh, oh dear.

Farnsworth Elementary

START TIME: 7:30 AM
END TIME: 1:45 PM

East Detroit started at 7:30 so it really isn't that scary, right? Perhaps if I didn't have an hour commute...

I like the 1:45 idea, though!

Whew!

UPDATE

I have a roommate! The interns are typically encouraged to hold off on the roommate-choosing until arrival into the city; however, being the super-organized, non-procrastinator, early-planner, and oh-so-structured person that I am, I really, really, really wanted to have something secure ahead of time. Naw, I just knew it would take a huge load of stress off of my shoulders :)

So, when Leah [a fellow student teacher] messaged me today with similar concerns and her request, I simply could not refuse! We were able to meet at the student teacher visitation day and we seem to have quite a bit in common, which is absolutely wonderful. I cannot tell you how excited I am :) We do have to be flexible with housing and are anticipating the possibility of adding other roommates to our apartment, but it is just so nice to have something planned ahead of time :) Whew!

Halloween, 2nd Grade, and DayQuil

Many updates!

#1: The ladies in charge of the student teaching program with Chicago Semester invited the Spring 2009 student teachers to Chicago for a day to meet, greet, visit, and get our questions answered. The visit day was on Halloween which in and of itself was amazing! We did three school visits, spoke with a few current student teachers, and became more familiar with our surroundings (the Chicago Semester offices and, of course, the city). It was a great day! The weather was perfect and it was so nice to meet some of the other student teachers ahead of time. I was pretty excited :)

#2: I've been placed! I will be student teaching in a 2nd grade classroom at Farnsworth Elementary on the north side of the city. I requested a K-3rd grade placement but secretly hoped for 2nd :) So far, I'm thinking Farnsworth will be a great fit :)

Big, eh? Here's the killer - I will have about an hour commute. Eeek! Apparently Google has a Public Transportation Directions Generator which, to my surprise, informed me that I will need to:

a) Walk to the bus stop.
b) Take the bus to the Blue Line.
c) Take the Blue Line to the designated stop.
d) Walk to my destination.

Yey? Naw, I'm looking forward to it. I like having time like this to just sit back and relax. I'm a people watcher, too, which should be fun :) My question is this: Exactly what time will I need to be there each morning? This could be an issue.

I've been working on my packing list. I'm organizing it with tables, bold, italicized, and underlined fonts, and, of course, colors. Ha! My mind would be exploding if I didn't do such things. Currently, the bulk of my list is surprisingly not in the food or clothing sections, but rather in the First Aid and Wellness sections. I know, crazy right? Cough Drops, Cold Ease, Tums, Sudafed, Zyrtec, Heating Pads, DayQuil, NyQuil, Vitamin Water, Tissues, GHA! My biggest fear, over everything else, is getting sick. I know that I won't want to miss any school, so I'm dreading the day that I have to teach closed-figured polygons and Homophones with a cold. I'm sure the kids wouldn't mind me teaching with a tissue lodged in my nose, but I'm not too sure I could survive what it would do for my reputation as an effective and professional educator. Maybe I'll keep that remedy for the comfort of my couch and stick to the DayQuil.

It's getting close :)

Call me impulsive.

Today I had quite the change of plans. Initially, I was planning on completing my dual placement of 18 weeks (10 weeks in Elementary, 8 in Early Childhood) in Chicago through the program; however, after a round of phone tag and a chain of e-mails, I came to the decision to only do my elementary placement in Chicago. My stay with the program will be traditional, meaning I wouldn't need to come early and stay later than the other interns, housing will not be an issue, and I wouldn't miss the week-long orientation into the program. On the other hand, I will need to return to Michigan to complete my 8 week early childhood placement. Here's the killer: the placement coordinator at Spring Arbor suggested that I split my placement in two - 3 weeks at a Headstart program in the Detroit area in January before I leave for Chicago, and then the remaining 5 weeks after the program is over at a pre-school or Headstart program in Jackson. Whew! I am almost certain that I would be able to stay in the same apartment I'm in now when I return; however, that is still something I need to check into. If this works that would be great since I could begin my job search right after graduation, not to mention experiencing the pure bliss that comes with knowing that I would be completely done in May! We'll see how it all works out, I guess. I'm just so thankful that both placement coordinators (through Spring Arbor and the Chicago Semester) are so amazingly kind and determined to work things out to my best interest! I feel like I'm finally beginning to see the fruit of my hard work! It's about time.

On another note: I will be traveling to Chicago on Halloween for a visit with the other student teachers for the spring 2009 semester. We'll meet at the program offices downtown and then travel together to 3 different schools where current student teachers are working. I'm pretty sure we'll be ending the visit by going over and completing official applications from the Chicago Public Schools to student teach.

It still feels surreal. Whew!