That's a wrap!!

     This is our last blog!! I cannot believe it's almost over. It's definitely a bittersweet feeling. I do not want to leave my group of friends but I am ready to make new friends! I am definitely not excited to leave my buddy Bailey. Today we had a great day despite his wild behavior. I do not know what was going on with him today but he was extra wild. Despite his behavior we he was  really nice to me. Almost too nice, during our brain break he sat on my lap and made me wrap my hands around him which was mildly awkward but I know that he did not see it that way. When I said bye to him he said that he loved me!! I have no idea how I am going to say bye to that kid :( I might have another break down in class. UGHH I am not made for this. Maybe I will have one last blog just so all of you know how it went haha. Well today in class we got geared up for our seed projects which I am really excited about. I cannot wait to share. Also, we made our first movie which was a little bit chaotic but yet SOOO much fun!! I hope everyone has a great break and a great end of the semester!!

Do You Have a Mom?

I would first like to start out by saying that I had a great day :) I feel like this are much easier to come by lately. Bailey and I worked together all day long and it was terrific. We started a new book in our reading class, Helen Keller, but this time we read as a class which surprisingly did not bother Bailey. He even answered a question. It's funny how the little things he does excite me. After we read with the class we worked on our spelling words. Together we made flash cards and put them in alphabetical order. I'll have you know Bailey has the advanced spelling list and he didn't have to look up to spell not even one of the words while I read them. I had to ask him for a writing piece today and although he was a little hesitant he had no problem handing it over when I told him that I would be sharing how smart he was with my class. While he was getting his paper we had a little conversation:

B: Do you have a mom?

Me: Yes Bailey I do.

B: What's her name?

Me: her name is Velma.

(He pauses and looks up at me with his big brown eyes)

B: Wow what a beautiful name!

Of course I called my mother after class and let her about the compliment she received from my buddy. Gheeze that kid can really make my week. I cannot believe that we only have a few more classes together. Breaks my heart. Speaking of only a few classes, today in class we analyzed our student's artwork and our pictures. I thought this was a lot of fun. The best picture was definitely the picture of Jordan's cat story. It caused a lot of controversy, but we all seemed to agree that what her neighbor was doing was just plain cruel. I am still hopping we can take a field trip to protest outside of her house :)

The Little Joys in Life

    I've been longing for a moment in the classroom that reminded me of why I chose to pursue education. Today I got that moment! My teacher told Carmen that she is very impressed by the work I've been doing AND Bailey and I had the best day we've had all year. He read aloud to me, he got me my own personal book to follow along to, he got me my own personal book mark which he wrote my name on, and he allowed me to interview him for the Kidwatching assignment. Things are really looking up for us. As far as class is concerned, I enjoyed looking at people's Multi Genre Research Projects. We had such a large rang of topics, Chanel, Single Moms, Australia, Friends, Aspergers, Peyton Manning, and Divorce. Everyone did such a nice job. I really enjoyed doing the project because it was something I was interested in, it was something I actually wanted to learn about. Not only did I learn about Lindsay, but I also learned that choice in my future classroom is going to be a definite aspect. Good work everyone!

It's like I need a translator!

Welp, another week is over! This week Bailey and I cleared a few things up, we do not degrade people because they cannot speak English, we will no longer put off our interview, and he does appreciate my company. Some combination huh? This week at University was not too bad. I was a little frightened when we went into code red but it was definitely another learning experience that would just seem silly to read about in a textbook. I am finally beginning to understand what an invitation which is a good thing because before I know it I will have to make one of my own. During E339 I loved the reading activity we did with the book "Voices in the Park." Working with other people exposed me to their creativity and view points. Reading in front of the class was exciting, coming up with an extension to the book was fun, and sharing them was entertaining. If I do this with my class I would like to have the class collaborate as a whole group before they break off into small groups. Doing this would keep a flow to the story. Mehhh I guess that's all I have for now. Have a great Halloween Weekend :)

3 the Hardway

The last class at University was a bit rough for me. Megan and I were working with Bailey most of the day, we walked through the Invention Convention and did class work. Bailey read his book most of the class as an outlet. An outlet from the distractions. I learned this weekend through Ms. Thomson that Bailey has many of the characteristics that a child with Asperger's would have which would  explain the weighted vest. I guess that is used to help keep him feeling "grounded." This doesn't make me feel any better but it does help me understand Bailey a little better. Next week Bailey and I have arranged to have our Kidwatching interview.

As far as class is concerned, I really enjoyed it. The projects were motivating. I even made a poem that I will be able to use in for my project. I was so excited that we got a week extension on our projects but I probably could have finished it this week. The different stations were something I would like to do in my classroom. It gives students the opportunity to pick something that would fit their topic the most, instead of doing a bunch of projects that are irrelevant. I am ready for what next week has in store!

La Loca Lohan

My MGRP is about Lindsay Lohan! I know it is not the most appropriate topic but I wanted to enjoy the assignment and I knew I would if I covered something entertaining. Making my genre pieces will a bit tricky but after the practice we had today I feel pretty confident. I did enjoy doing the research and I feel as though my paper is an accurate representation of an biographical genre.

Today at University Elementary Bailey and I went on an adventure to Ms. Scott's class for reading. Bailey did not do so well with the transition and neither did I. I realized her classroom had the worst library! I wish I could go in there and help her out. She had all her books on one book case and some of the shelves were too high for the students to reach. Also, the books were really outdated which probably is not the most motivating tactic. I really liked how she had hamsters and fish. I also liked how she had conferences with her students as they were reading. She looked over their writing pieces and gave them feedback. Overall, it was a mellow day. When we went to our group project I really enjoyed myself. Watching the students write in their journals was so motivating. I was tired of reading about writers notebooks, I was ready to see actual students writing in theirs and providing feedback. Good day :)

2+5= 9

Grading, grading, grading, and some more grading. Today we spent well over and hour grading papers. It wasn't the worst task but c'mon Ms. Thomson I want to hang out with Bailey!! I thought I was going to go cross eyes after we went through all those papers. I cannot imagine what Ms. Thomson feels like when she has to sit down to grade a ton of papers. I guess I better get used to it right? After we graded papers we walked around the class and interacted with the students. The students were putting their spelling words in alphabetical order. Some of the kids got to use the wireless keyboard to type the word on the overhead which was pretty neat. Bailey and I sat next to one another in our reading circle which was interesting as always. He hid in the body of his coat for awhile. I am not sure if he was listening or just hanging out in there hahah. Class today was alright. I really liked how we got to use class time to think of questions for our research paper. I never thought I'd say this but I am pretty excited for our research paper. I didn't pick any serious topics like the brain ;) I went more down the entertainment route. I want to have fun with my writing so I picked something that I will really enjoy research...some of you know what that is and some of you will have to wait to find out :)