Saturday, September 22, 2012
Days 35-39: Letdowns, but Trying to Stay Positive: A Video Blog
Monday, September 17, 2012
Days 31-34: Goldfish, Grading Papers, and Squashing Rumors About My Love Life (I think we have a book title here...)
Hi, everyone!
The past few days have been relatively uneventful. That was until today...
Friday:
Friday was a half day in which we did not get to finish our math lesson, but we did have lots of fun. It was great because my cooperating teacher was exhausted (she ended up being sick for part of the weekend). After school, though, we had this three hour training session with someone from the company who made our math series. It was nice, because we noticed we could utilize more things with the series, but it could've been done in about an hour.
Saturday:
Saturday was a relaxing day. I woke up when I wanted (like 8:30), worked on my CC report for a bit, then went hiking with Nick at the Betatakin. All the pictures are on Facebook. :) Here are the ones I stole from Nick... My camera (read: phone) was charging in the car.
Sunday:
On Sunday, I was invited to go to the church of my cooperating teacher's daughter. We had a little misunderstanding, and she thought I wasn't going, so she didn't go, but all was well. The people were very nice, and it felt so much like home. I really enjoyed it. There was a potluck afterwards for a couple in the church who was celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary. It was really nice to hang out with everyone from the church after and get to know them a little better. Also, I learned that part of the movie Forrest Gump was filmed about 30 miles from here. You know when he just decides to stop running? He's in Monument Valley. There's apparently a wooden sign and everything to commemorate this event. I really want to go see it. After I got home, I just hung out a bit, then scheduled a video chat date with two of my best friends. That video chat ended up being between 5 of us altogether on Google+. It was hectic, but totally worth it. I also ended up exercising a lot between church and video chat. My abs hurt today, but it's also worth it. :)
And.... today:
Today was supposed to be my first day as a "full-time" teacher in my classroom. Little did I know (or my teacher know), there was a training for the teachers on the leadership team in the school. My teacher is one of them. I guess all of the other teachers who have student teachers are also on the leadership team. I ended up being without my teacher pretty much the entire day. At lunchtime, the aide never came to pick the kids up (she was probably subbing or something...), so one of the other aides and I took the kids to lunch. I ate with them, then was told after lunch that we would be getting a new student. Awesome. I was excited to see him, but he came on the worst first day ever. lol. My kids were a little rowdier than normal today, but that just won't happen tomorrow. I can't handle another day like today, and I refuse to yell at them. In my experience, yelling just makes things worse. I'm just going to use the discipline system my teacher has in place. It seemed to work pretty well today until one of the kids just stopped caring. He doesn't get his full recess tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a better day, just wait and see. :)
Today was also a home volleyball game, which was very exciting! The girls lost, but it was still a good game. I was proud of the way the Varsity girls played today. I only got to watch their game since the JV was right after school and the Pee Wees didn't play. I'm excited to get back to practicing tomorrow. I could use some running around the gym with the girls.
After supper and the game, I did the normal study hour routine. Of course, the girls always ask me questions about my personal life. One of their new favorites is asking about my boyfriend. When I tell them I don't have a boyfriend, they ask if "Bigfoot" is my boyfriend. Bigfoot is what the girls decided Nick's name should be. It started with one of the first graders calling him Bigfoot, and it just stuck. I, of course, tell them the truth, and say we're just friends. Tonight, though, one girl just kept bothering me about it. She kept saying he'd be my boyfriend "a few months later" and "one month later." It was frustrating, but I just kept telling her, "it's not going to happen." She finally gave up, but this was by far the longest time any of the girls has tried to keep pestering me about my nonexistent boyfriend.
I ended the night boyfriend-less, eating a couple handfuls of Goldfish, and procrastinating grading those papers...
Have a great week!!
Sara
The past few days have been relatively uneventful. That was until today...
Friday:
Friday was a half day in which we did not get to finish our math lesson, but we did have lots of fun. It was great because my cooperating teacher was exhausted (she ended up being sick for part of the weekend). After school, though, we had this three hour training session with someone from the company who made our math series. It was nice, because we noticed we could utilize more things with the series, but it could've been done in about an hour.
Saturday:
Saturday was a relaxing day. I woke up when I wanted (like 8:30), worked on my CC report for a bit, then went hiking with Nick at the Betatakin. All the pictures are on Facebook. :) Here are the ones I stole from Nick... My camera (read: phone) was charging in the car.
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| Me in front of the Betatakin ruins. We were on the outlook. |
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| The Betatakin... Anasazi (Hopi) and Navajo people used to live there. |
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| Awesome picture of the canyon walls. |
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| View of the canyon from the end of the Aspen trail. It was a semi-challenging trail, so we were both pretty pooped after hiking. |
On Sunday, I was invited to go to the church of my cooperating teacher's daughter. We had a little misunderstanding, and she thought I wasn't going, so she didn't go, but all was well. The people were very nice, and it felt so much like home. I really enjoyed it. There was a potluck afterwards for a couple in the church who was celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary. It was really nice to hang out with everyone from the church after and get to know them a little better. Also, I learned that part of the movie Forrest Gump was filmed about 30 miles from here. You know when he just decides to stop running? He's in Monument Valley. There's apparently a wooden sign and everything to commemorate this event. I really want to go see it. After I got home, I just hung out a bit, then scheduled a video chat date with two of my best friends. That video chat ended up being between 5 of us altogether on Google+. It was hectic, but totally worth it. I also ended up exercising a lot between church and video chat. My abs hurt today, but it's also worth it. :)
And.... today:
Today was supposed to be my first day as a "full-time" teacher in my classroom. Little did I know (or my teacher know), there was a training for the teachers on the leadership team in the school. My teacher is one of them. I guess all of the other teachers who have student teachers are also on the leadership team. I ended up being without my teacher pretty much the entire day. At lunchtime, the aide never came to pick the kids up (she was probably subbing or something...), so one of the other aides and I took the kids to lunch. I ate with them, then was told after lunch that we would be getting a new student. Awesome. I was excited to see him, but he came on the worst first day ever. lol. My kids were a little rowdier than normal today, but that just won't happen tomorrow. I can't handle another day like today, and I refuse to yell at them. In my experience, yelling just makes things worse. I'm just going to use the discipline system my teacher has in place. It seemed to work pretty well today until one of the kids just stopped caring. He doesn't get his full recess tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a better day, just wait and see. :)
Today was also a home volleyball game, which was very exciting! The girls lost, but it was still a good game. I was proud of the way the Varsity girls played today. I only got to watch their game since the JV was right after school and the Pee Wees didn't play. I'm excited to get back to practicing tomorrow. I could use some running around the gym with the girls.
After supper and the game, I did the normal study hour routine. Of course, the girls always ask me questions about my personal life. One of their new favorites is asking about my boyfriend. When I tell them I don't have a boyfriend, they ask if "Bigfoot" is my boyfriend. Bigfoot is what the girls decided Nick's name should be. It started with one of the first graders calling him Bigfoot, and it just stuck. I, of course, tell them the truth, and say we're just friends. Tonight, though, one girl just kept bothering me about it. She kept saying he'd be my boyfriend "a few months later" and "one month later." It was frustrating, but I just kept telling her, "it's not going to happen." She finally gave up, but this was by far the longest time any of the girls has tried to keep pestering me about my nonexistent boyfriend.
I ended the night boyfriend-less, eating a couple handfuls of Goldfish, and procrastinating grading those papers...
Have a great week!!
Sara
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Day 29-30 Work Hard, Play Harder
Hi!
I started a post last night, but never finished it... oops. So I finished it and combined it with today's post.
9/12/12 Today was a really great day. It rained in Kayenta yesterday, and if it rains enough, the public school will close. Today was one of those days. I am at the community school, though, and we were still open. However, when the public school closes, some students from the community school end up taking a day off as well. Two of the kids from my class were not here today, and I hate to say this, but it was actually nice to not have them there. They like to stir up trouble sometimes, so it was quiet for the first part of the day. After a convocation and lunch, though, the kids decided it was too quiet and went a little bonkers. It really wasn't that bad, but we had some students be a little louder than usual.
After school today, I went to volleyball practice (as usual) and had a blast with my little Pee Wees. They're precious, but at that age where they can really be little snots. They're in fifth and sixth grade, but they're pretty good as long as it isn't hot while they're outside. Then they feel like they will die. Drama queens. :)
Then, we had hamburgers for dinner. It was pretty tasty, and I was happy to be able to eat with one of my volleyball girls who had a rough week. She actually gave me a hug today before she went to bed, which was a first.
9/13/12
Today was a little rough. My students were SUPER talkative, and it seemed like everyone had an attitude today. I tried all day to be nice, and succeeded most of the time. My two "troublemaker" boys were back in class today, which was good, but it seemed they made it a bit more difficult to keep the class under control. I think the biggest issue here is that there haven't been expectations put into place. I hardly know what's expected of me here, so why would I expect my students to feel differently? I'm hoping tomorrow will be a better day. It's test day and a half day, with training after school, so it should be okay. :)
Keeping my head up and learning a lot,
Sara
I started a post last night, but never finished it... oops. So I finished it and combined it with today's post.
9/12/12 Today was a really great day. It rained in Kayenta yesterday, and if it rains enough, the public school will close. Today was one of those days. I am at the community school, though, and we were still open. However, when the public school closes, some students from the community school end up taking a day off as well. Two of the kids from my class were not here today, and I hate to say this, but it was actually nice to not have them there. They like to stir up trouble sometimes, so it was quiet for the first part of the day. After a convocation and lunch, though, the kids decided it was too quiet and went a little bonkers. It really wasn't that bad, but we had some students be a little louder than usual.
After school today, I went to volleyball practice (as usual) and had a blast with my little Pee Wees. They're precious, but at that age where they can really be little snots. They're in fifth and sixth grade, but they're pretty good as long as it isn't hot while they're outside. Then they feel like they will die. Drama queens. :)
Then, we had hamburgers for dinner. It was pretty tasty, and I was happy to be able to eat with one of my volleyball girls who had a rough week. She actually gave me a hug today before she went to bed, which was a first.
9/13/12
Today was a little rough. My students were SUPER talkative, and it seemed like everyone had an attitude today. I tried all day to be nice, and succeeded most of the time. My two "troublemaker" boys were back in class today, which was good, but it seemed they made it a bit more difficult to keep the class under control. I think the biggest issue here is that there haven't been expectations put into place. I hardly know what's expected of me here, so why would I expect my students to feel differently? I'm hoping tomorrow will be a better day. It's test day and a half day, with training after school, so it should be okay. :)
Keeping my head up and learning a lot,
Sara
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Days 23-28: On and Off The Rez
Hello, again!
I know it's been about a week since I've written a post, but I promise it's because I haven't had time or energy to do it until I decided to drink coffee tonight. Since I've been in Arizona, my "during the week" beverage choices are milk, chocolate milk, water, or Gatorade. On the weekends, I'll occasionally have a Coca-Cola or something else caffeinated just because I can. Tonight, I was really in the mood for a coffee. I didn't know what kind I wanted, I just knew I wanted something. Nick and I attempted to go to the Blue Coffee Pot (a local place here in Kayenta with pretty awesome reviews), but it looked like it closed around 9 PM. We went to McDonald's instead, which was actually a pretty good choice. I had a vanilla iced coffee, and I was pretty happy with it. However, I'm just now feeling it, about two hours after I drank it.
Here's an idea of how my week has been:
Thursday: I felt so excited in the morning, but quickly realized my brain did not catch up with my body. My brain was exhausted for some reason.
Friday: I started feeling a little sick... This was not good. I was also very excited because I knew that night I would be driving with Nick to Pinon to meet up with the girls there so we could go to the Navajo Nation Fair the following morning.
Saturday: Navajo Nation Fair in Window Rock, AZ!!! We got there after the parade had started, but got to see many floats and groups of people walking in the parade. Nick even had a popcorn ball thrown his way while at the parade. This was an interesting experience because I was just one of a few white people at this particular event. One thing that was funny about this was that when we saw other white people, we realized we were staring at them, too, like other people had stared at us. After watching some of the Pow Wow and Song and Dance contests, we stood by and watched part of the Fry Bread Contest and then ate some of the food and enjoyed a ride. It was much like the Sparkler at Holiday World, which is just a swing ride that is much higher in the air than the regular carnival swings. Since we felt like we saw it all, we decided to go find Window Rock, which is the landform after which the town is named. It's beautiful. I also climbed to the top. It was definitely the high point of my weekend (pun intended). After we were finished at Window Rock, we went to Gallup, NM to spend the night and relax off the reservation for a night. It was nice to be back in civilization (AKA: a place with Walmart) for a night. I got a pretty awesome sunburn on this day, so I made sure to buy my Hawaiian Tropics after sun lotion. It definitely helped, but this was probably the worst sunburn I've had all summer.
Sunday: Drove back from Gallup, NM, then went to Flagstaff with Janace and Linda to get Linda a new phone and hit up the Walmart.
Monday: I took over a lot more responsibilities as a student teacher. I have all of the math portion of class now, and about 1/3 of the reading/language arts portion. As the week progresses, I'll take more and more responsibilities. I'm so excited to become the primary teacher in the classroom, but it's sometimes hard to read my classroom teacher. We definitely get along, but there are times where I'm unsure of how she feels about certain things. We talk about it a lot, which makes me happy, but I think I'm also nervous that I'm taking over her class while she gets to watch on and think about how I'm doing as a teacher. I know for sure that my classroom management (at least with this group of kids) needs some improvement. After school, I helped with the Pee Wee Volleyball team. We ended up practicing outside and most of the girls just wanted to lay on the concrete and do nothing, which made me want to make them run a lap to get energized. I felt like it was fair because I participated in running the lap with them until I noticed two girls who hadn't even started after I was about halfway around. The girls didn't seem to mind it, and it got them back on task. The thing that bothered me most was that they were complaining about it being too hot outside, yet no one was sweating. It was maybe 82 degrees outside, and looking like it was going to rain. Hopefully Wednesday's practice will be much smoother. I really want the girls to have fun.
Today: Today was relatively uneventful compared to Saturday. I went to school, taught some lessons, then came back here during what would have been volleyball practice. The older girls had an away game, so I didn't go, but the younger girls didn't have practice. I got an afternoon off, which was very nice! I went back to school for supper and then served the kids and helped clean up, as usual. Then we had out study hour with the girls, and they ended up getting ready for bed a little bit earlier than usual. I was exhausted and ready to hit the hay around 7:45, but I obviously didn't go to bed. This brings me back to the beginning of my post about the coffee... it definitely worked, but now it's wearing off. Good night, all!
Hope you have an excellent week!
I know it's been about a week since I've written a post, but I promise it's because I haven't had time or energy to do it until I decided to drink coffee tonight. Since I've been in Arizona, my "during the week" beverage choices are milk, chocolate milk, water, or Gatorade. On the weekends, I'll occasionally have a Coca-Cola or something else caffeinated just because I can. Tonight, I was really in the mood for a coffee. I didn't know what kind I wanted, I just knew I wanted something. Nick and I attempted to go to the Blue Coffee Pot (a local place here in Kayenta with pretty awesome reviews), but it looked like it closed around 9 PM. We went to McDonald's instead, which was actually a pretty good choice. I had a vanilla iced coffee, and I was pretty happy with it. However, I'm just now feeling it, about two hours after I drank it.
Here's an idea of how my week has been:
Thursday: I felt so excited in the morning, but quickly realized my brain did not catch up with my body. My brain was exhausted for some reason.
Friday: I started feeling a little sick... This was not good. I was also very excited because I knew that night I would be driving with Nick to Pinon to meet up with the girls there so we could go to the Navajo Nation Fair the following morning.
Saturday: Navajo Nation Fair in Window Rock, AZ!!! We got there after the parade had started, but got to see many floats and groups of people walking in the parade. Nick even had a popcorn ball thrown his way while at the parade. This was an interesting experience because I was just one of a few white people at this particular event. One thing that was funny about this was that when we saw other white people, we realized we were staring at them, too, like other people had stared at us. After watching some of the Pow Wow and Song and Dance contests, we stood by and watched part of the Fry Bread Contest and then ate some of the food and enjoyed a ride. It was much like the Sparkler at Holiday World, which is just a swing ride that is much higher in the air than the regular carnival swings. Since we felt like we saw it all, we decided to go find Window Rock, which is the landform after which the town is named. It's beautiful. I also climbed to the top. It was definitely the high point of my weekend (pun intended). After we were finished at Window Rock, we went to Gallup, NM to spend the night and relax off the reservation for a night. It was nice to be back in civilization (AKA: a place with Walmart) for a night. I got a pretty awesome sunburn on this day, so I made sure to buy my Hawaiian Tropics after sun lotion. It definitely helped, but this was probably the worst sunburn I've had all summer.
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| Some dancers in the parade... and some people just taking their ATV for a spin on the parade route... nbd. |
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| Largest Produce at the Fair... Most of it was unimpressive, but the zucchini looked AMAZING. |
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| Pow Wow in the morning. |
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| Fry Bread Competition. You can't really see her, but the lady in the pink on the right looked like a shoe-in. Her fry bread looked pretty good, but then again, I'm no expert. |
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| Song and Dance Contest. Groups would sing three songs while the dance competitors walked around the circle and danced. It was really neat to watch. |
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| Window Rock, AZ. The soldier is a monument to the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII. There are so many different monuments and dedications to these soldiers on the Reservation. |
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| In front of Window Rock, before the climb up. |
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| Nick at the top! |
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| View of what is behind Window Rock, from the top. |
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| View of the park and the town from the top of Window Rock. |
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| Nick was pretty stoked to be there! |
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| Me at the top of Window Rock. You can't really tell, but it's pretty far up there. This picture doesn't really give it justice. |
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| Looking through the window from the back side (I think). |
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| Just a pretty great photo of it... You can see some people at the top right. |
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| Black Mesa |
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| One of the homes on Black Mesa, near the coal mines. |
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| Beautiful... and green! |
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| View from top(ish) of Black Mesa. It was breathtaking. |
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| Another view from Black Mesa. We were driving back to Kayenta from Pinon. |
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| I really love the sky and vegetation in this photo. |
Sunday: Drove back from Gallup, NM, then went to Flagstaff with Janace and Linda to get Linda a new phone and hit up the Walmart.
Monday: I took over a lot more responsibilities as a student teacher. I have all of the math portion of class now, and about 1/3 of the reading/language arts portion. As the week progresses, I'll take more and more responsibilities. I'm so excited to become the primary teacher in the classroom, but it's sometimes hard to read my classroom teacher. We definitely get along, but there are times where I'm unsure of how she feels about certain things. We talk about it a lot, which makes me happy, but I think I'm also nervous that I'm taking over her class while she gets to watch on and think about how I'm doing as a teacher. I know for sure that my classroom management (at least with this group of kids) needs some improvement. After school, I helped with the Pee Wee Volleyball team. We ended up practicing outside and most of the girls just wanted to lay on the concrete and do nothing, which made me want to make them run a lap to get energized. I felt like it was fair because I participated in running the lap with them until I noticed two girls who hadn't even started after I was about halfway around. The girls didn't seem to mind it, and it got them back on task. The thing that bothered me most was that they were complaining about it being too hot outside, yet no one was sweating. It was maybe 82 degrees outside, and looking like it was going to rain. Hopefully Wednesday's practice will be much smoother. I really want the girls to have fun.
Today: Today was relatively uneventful compared to Saturday. I went to school, taught some lessons, then came back here during what would have been volleyball practice. The older girls had an away game, so I didn't go, but the younger girls didn't have practice. I got an afternoon off, which was very nice! I went back to school for supper and then served the kids and helped clean up, as usual. Then we had out study hour with the girls, and they ended up getting ready for bed a little bit earlier than usual. I was exhausted and ready to hit the hay around 7:45, but I obviously didn't go to bed. This brings me back to the beginning of my post about the coffee... it definitely worked, but now it's wearing off. Good night, all!
Hope you have an excellent week!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Day 22: Turning 5K Into 6.5K Like A Champ
Good evening! (or morning, or afternoon, I really don't know when people read this...)
Today was a day that was very busy. I already used my busy title for the past 5 days, so I guess I'll just go with "Turning 5K Into 6.5K Like A Champ." (I'll explain later.)
It started out as a normal day at school, with me gradually taking over the math portion of class (basically the entire afternoon). It was a nice day, but the kids were so tired in the morning. Any day we end up reading the weekly story aloud in class, they all just shut down. We let the kids read the story, but the time just goes by so slowly. They're decent readers, but sometimes it just takes forever for them to think about what they're reading. It's somewhat frustrating, but once they're awake, they do a fine job of reading.
While at school today, I realized there was a Suicide Awareness Walk in town this evening. I knew some of the kids were participating, but I had no idea that all the dorm kids were going. Once I found this out and realized I could register for it last minute, I went with the kids to do the walk. It was originally intended to be a 5K walk/run, but since we were walking from the school, it added on a K. And a half. It was 2.1 miles to the Junction (town, basically) and 2.1 miles back. It wouldn't have been too bad, except it was with 110 kids between the ages of 5 and 15. I had two little girls whose feet and legs kept getting tired, so I probably spent about 1/4 mile of the walk carrying a first grader. It wasn't so bad, except my back started hurting. Toward the end of the walk, right before the school entrance, one of the dorm workers had pulled up her SUV to take the little girls back, since most of them were struggling. We crammed a lot of the girls into the SUV and drove nice and slowly from the entrance to the dorms. It was nice, but I could've made it back just fine. Maybe not with a first grader on my hip, but I would've been fine. I just wanted to stick with my Wing D girls.
Since the walk took up much of our time tonight, the study hour/activity time were pretty much removed from the schedule. I went to the study room with the girls who had homework and helped them as usual. It was just later than usual, so by the time the girls were done, it was time for bed. I was just so happy to relax for once. It was pretty much non-stop from 6:30 this morning and 8:30 this evening, and I taught math, played volleyball, and walked 4 miles during that time. I'm pretty exhausted, but it was still such an awesome day. I'm looking forward to spending more time with my students in my class and the girls in the dorm and helping them all succeed at whatever it is in life they want to do. :)
Hope everyone has a great week!!
Today was a day that was very busy. I already used my busy title for the past 5 days, so I guess I'll just go with "Turning 5K Into 6.5K Like A Champ." (I'll explain later.)
It started out as a normal day at school, with me gradually taking over the math portion of class (basically the entire afternoon). It was a nice day, but the kids were so tired in the morning. Any day we end up reading the weekly story aloud in class, they all just shut down. We let the kids read the story, but the time just goes by so slowly. They're decent readers, but sometimes it just takes forever for them to think about what they're reading. It's somewhat frustrating, but once they're awake, they do a fine job of reading.
While at school today, I realized there was a Suicide Awareness Walk in town this evening. I knew some of the kids were participating, but I had no idea that all the dorm kids were going. Once I found this out and realized I could register for it last minute, I went with the kids to do the walk. It was originally intended to be a 5K walk/run, but since we were walking from the school, it added on a K. And a half. It was 2.1 miles to the Junction (town, basically) and 2.1 miles back. It wouldn't have been too bad, except it was with 110 kids between the ages of 5 and 15. I had two little girls whose feet and legs kept getting tired, so I probably spent about 1/4 mile of the walk carrying a first grader. It wasn't so bad, except my back started hurting. Toward the end of the walk, right before the school entrance, one of the dorm workers had pulled up her SUV to take the little girls back, since most of them were struggling. We crammed a lot of the girls into the SUV and drove nice and slowly from the entrance to the dorms. It was nice, but I could've made it back just fine. Maybe not with a first grader on my hip, but I would've been fine. I just wanted to stick with my Wing D girls.
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| Walking to the 5K staging area... |
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| The sign says, "Don't suicide." The walk was to raise suicide awareness and educate people about how to look for signs of suicide and to help people overcome a struggle they may have thinking about suicide. |
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| The sign on this van said "Shuttle." Looks legit. (not) |
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| Carrying more signs along the road. |
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| How many girls can we fit in an SUV? |
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| My shirt and number. |
Hope everyone has a great week!!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Days 16-21: Busy, Busy, Busy
Hello, all!
It's been quite awhile, hasn't it?
Well, I've been crazy busy the past few days, and traveled to Phoenix over the long weekend. I guess we can start with Thursday...
On Wednesday during the day, Laura (the director of the program in which I am doing my student teaching) came for a visit. It was so nice to see a familiar face and talk to her. She had suggested at one point that we should try to see if we could get involved with athletics in our school. I said that I would love to help out the volleyball team, mainly because I've seen them practice and thought it would be a lot of fun. Good news: it's SO MUCH FUN. Thursday was the first day I helped. I just watched them practice for a bit, then talked to the coach and asked her if she wanted any help with practices and such. She said she would be happy for me to be there when they practice, and to start helping out with the "pee wee" girls, who are all not yet middle school age. I started by working with one girl on bumping and setting, and then I worked with another couple of girls as we switched around. It was a fun day.
Friday was an interesting (and long) day. I woke up at 5:15 to finish my CC Report before heading out to Phoenix that night. School was released at 11:30, but the teachers had to stay for a training session that was about the system the whole Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) uses. I, being a person raised around some technology, had no issues whatsoever. This session, though, was somewhat painful to sit through. It was from 1:15-4:00, and there was a little break in the middle. At this point in time as well, there was a cross country meet across the street, and my mom's friend Judi was rolling through town in her RV. We wanted to see each other, though, so she braved the dirt road to the school (it's really not too bad) and came on back to see me for like ten minutes. I was so happy to see her! We talked for a few minutes, but before we knew it, the visit had to be cut short because of the training. Don't get me wrong, there was some good information in the presentation, but it is something I could've figured out by getting the handouts she supplied and sitting at the computer for a few minutes to play around with it. Oh well, it was nice to spend some time with my teacher, too. After training was over, I got in the car and headed to the CC meet to see our varsity guys run. They did a pretty decent job, but you could tell a few weren't very motivated to win. They aren't the best runners, but they still need to try their hardest. The girls in volleyball seem to be the same way. After the CC meet, it was time to pack and get ready to leave. I packed my things, Nick packed his, and we loaded up in the car and headed toward Tuba City... or so we thought. We were actually headed toward Monument Valley, but realized it about ten minutes into the drive. Oops. We turned around and were soon on our way to TC. Tuba City is about an hour from Kayenta, so the last 2-3 hours to Phoenix were on my own. It really wasn't too bad, but we didn't leave Kayenta until 6-ish, which meant I didn't get to Phoenix until 10-ish their time (11 our time). As soon as I rolled into Tempe (where my cousin lives), I felt exhausted. I was excited to see him and his friends who were over, though, so I stayed up pretty late. We put together a futon that I never slept on (his couch was so comfy), and then went swimming with his friends. It was a good, relaxing night. After swimming and the guys leaving, Kyle and I realized we were pretty hungry, so we ordered a pizza. It was quite possibly the best $5 pizza I've had the pleasure of eating. We got it from Hungry Howie's, and just did the classic pepperoni with a Cajun crust. It was so good! (I would post a picture, but I'm having import issues right now, and I really don't want to deal with it.) We finally went to bed around 2:30, which was 3:30 Kayenta time, which meant I was up for 23 hours. Not cool, but I was glad I was in Phoenix.
Saturday, we went to see all the sights. I went up one of the mountains that overlooks the cities, and even took a couple of pictures (again, import issues). I'll post them another day. The other cool experience that day was going to IKEA. I had never been before, so it was a new and exciting experience. I bought a rug for our bathroom, a trash can, popsicle molds, and a bag of Swedish Fish. (yum) It was a great little trip to go on. We also hit up the mall that day. It was just a very busy day. It was also the day I felt like I was getting sick. I ended up having a stuffy nose (still do), and a sore throat. It's no big deal, but I didn't want it to escalate into something worse.
Sunday morning, I went to church with my cousin Kyle. It's completely different than any church I've attended, but it had its pros and cons. The preaching was very current without watering down the Word of God, which I loved. It was a wonderful experience. After church, we went for brunch, where I had a fantastic veggie omelet. The rest of the day was just more chill and relaxed, for which I was happy. Sunday night, we went to dinner at Organ Stop Pizza, where they have this huge organ in the main eating area. It was so cool! I have a video, but it probably won't be uploaded until later.
Finally, Monday rolled around, and it was time to get back to Kayenta so I could do laundry and get ready for Tuesday. The drive back was fine, and when I picked up Nick in TC, he offered to drive, so I got to ride the rest of the way back. It was a great way to end the weekend, just relaxing and doing laundry.
Today was also a great day. I still feel tired, but I'm sleeping in a bit tomorrow. My kids were hilarious in class today, but they were also a little bonkers in the hallway. There's something about these hallways that makes kids want to go crazy. I have no idea what it is, but they just aren't very good at standing in line.Today was also picture day! It was so cute to see some of the kids dressed in super nice outfits. There were even several girls I saw who were wearing traditional Navajo clothing, which was cool. I got done with school this afternoon, then headed to my second volleyball practice. I had a good time, but the girls weren't taking anything seriously. Luckily, it was just a small group of girls I was helping, so talking to them was easy. Tonight was filled with study hour, Barbie Rapunzel movie, helping girls make beds, and then taking a walk with Nick to talk about our classes. It was a great way to end the day, but I'm beat. I'm sure the quality of my writing right now is pretty low, but I will add some pictures and descriptions later.
Hope you all had a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!
It's been quite awhile, hasn't it?
Well, I've been crazy busy the past few days, and traveled to Phoenix over the long weekend. I guess we can start with Thursday...
On Wednesday during the day, Laura (the director of the program in which I am doing my student teaching) came for a visit. It was so nice to see a familiar face and talk to her. She had suggested at one point that we should try to see if we could get involved with athletics in our school. I said that I would love to help out the volleyball team, mainly because I've seen them practice and thought it would be a lot of fun. Good news: it's SO MUCH FUN. Thursday was the first day I helped. I just watched them practice for a bit, then talked to the coach and asked her if she wanted any help with practices and such. She said she would be happy for me to be there when they practice, and to start helping out with the "pee wee" girls, who are all not yet middle school age. I started by working with one girl on bumping and setting, and then I worked with another couple of girls as we switched around. It was a fun day.
Friday was an interesting (and long) day. I woke up at 5:15 to finish my CC Report before heading out to Phoenix that night. School was released at 11:30, but the teachers had to stay for a training session that was about the system the whole Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) uses. I, being a person raised around some technology, had no issues whatsoever. This session, though, was somewhat painful to sit through. It was from 1:15-4:00, and there was a little break in the middle. At this point in time as well, there was a cross country meet across the street, and my mom's friend Judi was rolling through town in her RV. We wanted to see each other, though, so she braved the dirt road to the school (it's really not too bad) and came on back to see me for like ten minutes. I was so happy to see her! We talked for a few minutes, but before we knew it, the visit had to be cut short because of the training. Don't get me wrong, there was some good information in the presentation, but it is something I could've figured out by getting the handouts she supplied and sitting at the computer for a few minutes to play around with it. Oh well, it was nice to spend some time with my teacher, too. After training was over, I got in the car and headed to the CC meet to see our varsity guys run. They did a pretty decent job, but you could tell a few weren't very motivated to win. They aren't the best runners, but they still need to try their hardest. The girls in volleyball seem to be the same way. After the CC meet, it was time to pack and get ready to leave. I packed my things, Nick packed his, and we loaded up in the car and headed toward Tuba City... or so we thought. We were actually headed toward Monument Valley, but realized it about ten minutes into the drive. Oops. We turned around and were soon on our way to TC. Tuba City is about an hour from Kayenta, so the last 2-3 hours to Phoenix were on my own. It really wasn't too bad, but we didn't leave Kayenta until 6-ish, which meant I didn't get to Phoenix until 10-ish their time (11 our time). As soon as I rolled into Tempe (where my cousin lives), I felt exhausted. I was excited to see him and his friends who were over, though, so I stayed up pretty late. We put together a futon that I never slept on (his couch was so comfy), and then went swimming with his friends. It was a good, relaxing night. After swimming and the guys leaving, Kyle and I realized we were pretty hungry, so we ordered a pizza. It was quite possibly the best $5 pizza I've had the pleasure of eating. We got it from Hungry Howie's, and just did the classic pepperoni with a Cajun crust. It was so good! (I would post a picture, but I'm having import issues right now, and I really don't want to deal with it.) We finally went to bed around 2:30, which was 3:30 Kayenta time, which meant I was up for 23 hours. Not cool, but I was glad I was in Phoenix.
Saturday, we went to see all the sights. I went up one of the mountains that overlooks the cities, and even took a couple of pictures (again, import issues). I'll post them another day. The other cool experience that day was going to IKEA. I had never been before, so it was a new and exciting experience. I bought a rug for our bathroom, a trash can, popsicle molds, and a bag of Swedish Fish. (yum) It was a great little trip to go on. We also hit up the mall that day. It was just a very busy day. It was also the day I felt like I was getting sick. I ended up having a stuffy nose (still do), and a sore throat. It's no big deal, but I didn't want it to escalate into something worse.
Sunday morning, I went to church with my cousin Kyle. It's completely different than any church I've attended, but it had its pros and cons. The preaching was very current without watering down the Word of God, which I loved. It was a wonderful experience. After church, we went for brunch, where I had a fantastic veggie omelet. The rest of the day was just more chill and relaxed, for which I was happy. Sunday night, we went to dinner at Organ Stop Pizza, where they have this huge organ in the main eating area. It was so cool! I have a video, but it probably won't be uploaded until later.
Finally, Monday rolled around, and it was time to get back to Kayenta so I could do laundry and get ready for Tuesday. The drive back was fine, and when I picked up Nick in TC, he offered to drive, so I got to ride the rest of the way back. It was a great way to end the weekend, just relaxing and doing laundry.
Today was also a great day. I still feel tired, but I'm sleeping in a bit tomorrow. My kids were hilarious in class today, but they were also a little bonkers in the hallway. There's something about these hallways that makes kids want to go crazy. I have no idea what it is, but they just aren't very good at standing in line.Today was also picture day! It was so cute to see some of the kids dressed in super nice outfits. There were even several girls I saw who were wearing traditional Navajo clothing, which was cool. I got done with school this afternoon, then headed to my second volleyball practice. I had a good time, but the girls weren't taking anything seriously. Luckily, it was just a small group of girls I was helping, so talking to them was easy. Tonight was filled with study hour, Barbie Rapunzel movie, helping girls make beds, and then taking a walk with Nick to talk about our classes. It was a great way to end the day, but I'm beat. I'm sure the quality of my writing right now is pretty low, but I will add some pictures and descriptions later.
Hope you all had a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!
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