Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Warning: This is a long one :)

Wow…like always, time flew!  It seems like we just celebrated a new year, and in just a few days we're doing it all over again.

The past several months I've experienced busy like never before.  My last post was a little over a month ago, when I was counting down to graduation.  Since that post, A LOT has happened.  I completed my Teacher Work Sample, completed my Capstone, presented my Capstone, interviewed a few times, said goodbye to my amazing CT and our sweet 2nd graders, graduated, and was hired on as a 3rd grade teacher!  Talk about whirl-wind, mostly because all of this seemed to happen within days of each other! Oh and between all of that there was Thanksgiving, my mom's birthday and Christmas.

All I can say is that being busy has lead me to great opportunities.  Let's rewind. My Teacher Work Sample:  That was a 7 week unit on habitats that I planned for the second grade team.  I had to complete a write up of our school and classroom demographics, several formal lesson plans, assessments, and data analysis, all while teaching the unit in my classroom.  As mentioned previously, there was always little time for science, but I did enjoy exposing the kids to the topics in a new way!  The completion of this project was my first check on the to-do list before graduation.  What a great feeling to finish that and what a great experience to plan a formal unit with in-depth data analysis.

After completing the TWS I was able to focus on my Capstone.  For those of you that don't know what a Capstone is, it's just another fancy word for a final project that demonstrates application of everything we have learned in our program.  We had the option of four different project types, I chose another formal unit plan because to me that is something I'll reference in the future.  I did a literature review on the use of Backwards Design for unit planning, and used that method while planning a six week weather unit.  I now have 20-something formal lessons having to do with weather, and some cute project examples to go with it.  We had to present our project on a board with our peers, supervisors and family members as our audience.  It was a casual conversation with everyone as they roamed around, so that took away some pressure.  I was proud to showcase all of my hard work and the creative bug that lurks in my bones.  After the Capstone presentation, I was officially DONE with school and just awaited our graduation ceremony.

While all of this was happening, I was putting my feelers out for potential jobs.  Since I graduated mid-school year, I planned on finding a long term sub position, a para/assistant position, or figured I'd simply substitute through spring until I was hired on for the following school year.  I interviewed at a charter school for a para position and was kindly decline for the position, but asked to apply again later in the coming year when they began interviewing for teaching positions.  I think that was the doing of a greater power because even though I would have loved to work with kids in any fashion, teaching is what I REALLY wanted.  

Shortly after getting this news that I wasn't offered a job, the principal where I did my student teaching emailed me letting me know she sent out my contact information to several schools that were on the hunt for teachers.  Almost immediately I received phone calls from secretaries wanting to set up interviews.  I scheduled an interview for a 1st grade position the Friday before my graduation.  About an hour after my interview I got a call from the school saying they loved meeting with me and they thought I'd be a great candidate for a 3rd grade position they had opening up.  So, I scheduled another interview with them the Tuesday after graduation.  I walked out of that interview with some major pep in my step, feeling like it went incredibly.  I was planning on hearing from them by the end of the night, knowing they had other candidates to interview.  About 10 minutes later, while I was still on my drive home, I received a call from the principal saying they loved me and wanted me to come in to do a "read aloud with a purpose" and a Q&A with the students and any parents that wanted to be there.  Talk about nerve racking!  My CT dug through her books for me and helped me pick out a good read aloud, she went over some key ideas she felt I should bring up with the kids, and she allowed me to practice on our second graders.  Let's just say, SHE IS THE BEST.  For more than that, but having her support during such an intimidating time was absolutely needed.  I went in to meet this class on the day before winter break.  This meant I had to leave the second graders in the middle of an emotional day (for me, because I've fallen in love with them), hurry over to the school for this extremely scary moment, and then rush back to be apart of the winter party. Like I said, this was the day before winter break…anyone that knows kids knows that this means excitement is high in anticipation for a break from school, all of the parties and goodies going around, and the holidays nearing.  I wasn't sure what I was in for and my heart was beating out of my chest.  I sat in my car for about 10 minutes before going in and focused on my breathing.  I felt silly and hoped no one was eyeing me from afar, but it calmed me down and I finally jumped out and walked in with as much confidence as I could muster up.  When I got inside, there was no lag time…I was escorted immediately into the classroom and was greeted by about 24 clapping 3rd graders and about six skeptical parents.  I heard a student say, "Is she a teenager?!" and that was my opportunity to show everyone my personality by laughing and making a joke about how young I look.  The assistant principal and one of the other 3rd grade teachers were apart of the audience as well.  I went in with tunnel vision and just focused on the kiddos in front of me and did what I had so much practice doing the past 4 months.  Kids are kids, they just need to feel loved, understood, and they need to be engaged.  With that combination, they're easily wrangled!  I felt like the students were so captivated by this book, and were so eager to learn from me.  Once I finished reading, I took questions. The kids focused on asking about things that would stay the same.  I had to reassure them that I would do all that I can to keep their classroom feeling like home, and that we would work together as a group to form our own "classroom traditions" throughout the remainder of the year.  It seemed as though everything went wonderfully, and as I walked out of the school with the 3rd grade teacher that was observing, she kindly informed me that I "nailed it" and that everyone loved me.  

Finally, I could breath!  

I hurried back to my 2nd graders and Annie (my CT), because I so badly wanted those last few hours with them.  It was hard to focus on everything going on but I did manage to cherish that time and realized how much I had fallen in love with those precious souls.  I was watching the clock, thinking about when they might be making a decision.  About an hour after I left my "teaching interview," I looked at my phone and noticed I missed a call from the principal at the new school by seconds.  I ran up to the teacher lounge and called back.  The principal and assistant principal got on speaker phone and happily announced that everyone loved me and they wanted to offer me the position.  I can't even explain the emotions I was feeling in that moment.  The years of hard work between my undergraduate degree and graduate degree, the hours of unpaid student teaching, and the stress of completing final projects all while job hunting, had come to this…just 4 days after graduation!

Opening presents from the 2nd graders 

How cute is this?!

I am proud to call myself a 3rd grade teacher starting on January 5th.  

Many people roll their eyes at such an underpaid position (some even say we have an easy job because we just play with kids all day….if that's you, you better watch it!! Hah), but then there are those that realize that teachers are absolutely not in it for the money, but rather the little lives they will have the opportunity to contribute to.  I am PROUD to call myself an underpaid teacher, and I will work my butt off so these kids get the love and education they deserve!

Now, this is an interesting situation.  I'm not going in for a long term subbing position, this class is completely MINE for the remainder of the year.  The teacher I am replacing was offered a position in the district doing something she has wanted to do for years.  She had to take the opportunity when it was presented to her, and because of this, I now am a full time teacher!  The excitement and stress right now is HUGE.  I have a classroom to move in to, and lessons to plan!  The walls are bare and though I'm extremely excited to fill them up with collaborative creativity between me and my students, I'm having trouble visualizing how I'm going to get everything organized in time.

This is my classroom, soon it will be revamped with Fanelli style ;-)

I've already received so many welcoming hugs and encouraging words from the teachers and staff at my new school. The teacher that I'm replacing has been incredible with her support, too!  I've decided to do my very best to not go nuts with what needs to be accomplished before the 5th, and I've realized that I truly need to take one day at a time.  Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are beginning to die down, I can devote my time to my classroom starting Monday.  

Rewind again:  Before I found out about my new job, I celebrated my graduation with some of the most important people in my life.  I had a group of about 14 people including my family and a few close friends come cheer me on as I was one of the few masters graduates to walk the stage.  That means that they were gracious enough to sit for another hour or so while a couple thousand other graduates followed.  

**THANK YOU GUYS, I KNOW THAT WAS LONG!!**

Trying not to trip.

My brother, Dominic.

Mom, Dad, Gramma & Nana.

My love Nick, and his mom Carol.

Look, It's JESSICA!!

The Clevelands. 

Wahoo!

Following the ceremony, we all gathered for drinks and later an amazing dinner.  The time spent with them, and the love and support from everyone was unlike anything I've felt before.  Let's just say, there were a lot of tears shed.

Nora

High school and College friends forever!

I love them.

One of the best moments was receiving a gift from my parents that took so much time, effort, and love, to compile.  They contact a number of family members and friends from all chapters of my life and asked them to contribute wise words, words of encouragement, memories, etc. that would later be compiled with pictures and published for me.  This book turned out amazing and the words on those pages were priceless.  Every page made me cry, smile, laugh, and feel so overwhelmingly loved and supported.  

**TO THOSE OF YOU THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THAT BOOK, AND WHO HAVE LOVED AND SUPPORTED ME ALONG MY JOURNEY, THANK YOU!**

There is nothing more valuable than a support system that sticks by and cheers you on through any ups and downs life has to offer.  I have one gosh-darn-incredible support team that I know will be with me through every chapter of life!

 

The Book. Simply AMAZING.

I think I better wind this post down.  There will be many more posts to come, especially as I start my new chapter as a 3rd grade teacher…Let the fun begin!

~Alex~

3 MORE WEEKS!!

Wow, Jessica and I have been MIA lately.  I guess that's a sign of our busy lives.  I've missed blogging about all things life, but I see the blogging routine increasing about mid December!!

THREE WEEKS until I graduate, and about a month until I say "see ya later" to my sweet second graders.  I can't believe how quickly the last several weeks have gone.  It feels like just yesterday I was getting nervous to start my first day teaching.  Now it is routine to teach all day every day with the wonderful guidance of my CT.  

Some highlights and updates from the past few weeks:

Last week I finish teaching my 7 week habitat unit.  I learned so much about planning a unit, and teaching the content.  I found myself having to rearrange on a weekly basis due to our rotating specials schedule and several "weird" days like days off and field trips.  The science and social studies block is scheduled for the last 30 minutes of the school day, but we only get about 15-20 minutes to teach because of transition time and end of the day clean up.  It was a struggle to get too creative with my lessons because there just isn't time.  Luckily the topics are embedded into their reading and writing curriculum, so the kids are able to make content connections all day every day.  

One habitat activity I ended up doing almost ever week was a QR code scavenger hunt.  It's a sign of the times when the kids are able to wonder around the class scanning QR codes with their iPads to learn more about a topic.  They asked often if they could do their scavenger hunt during free time, and it was especially flattering to get complimented by the other second grade teachers.  Though the QR code learning isn't my idea, I came up with all of the rhymes and riddles to guide the class and created questions to go with each code.  It was fun to introduce to the class!

I began job hunting a few weeks ago, starting with a job fair.  I made a few connections that day and had a few meetings since then.  My goal for spring, as I may have mentioned before, is to find a long term sub position or some sort of para or aide position.  This would be ideal to ensure full time work in spring and to give me an opportunity to get to know the school and/or district I'm in before accepting any full time teaching positions next fall.  If I'm unable to find a good fit, I will just substitute teach through the spring.  I had a meeting with one principal about a possible long term 3rd grade sub position.  He seemed very interested and really wants me to start subbing for their school so they can get to know me and I can get to know their community.  

Last week I had my first "real" interview.  Wow, that was intimidating.  With a panel of 6 people, the largest group I've ever interviewed with, it was definitely a test of my nerves and confidence.  Luckily, they were all SO warm and welcoming and after a few minutes I felt like I was just chatting with a group of coworkers.  It is a charter school in our area, and they're looking to hire a few para's for the spring. This will likely lead into a full time teaching position in the fall.  I felt really good about my interview, but as a new candidate to the education field, who knows if a great interview will be enough.  Sometimes years of experience is more important.  I'll hope for the best, at least so I have an option for spring!

The end is near:

It's November 24th and there is so much ahead of me in the next few weeks.  My teacher work sample is due by December 1st so that my advisor has time to review it before we submit it.  That means I'll be finishing that TODAY (that's the goal at least).  It will feel SO wonderful to get that off of my to-do list!!  My Capstone presentation is December 8th so I have about two weeks to finish up my unit plan and create a board for the presentation.  At this point, the only thing against me is time.  I've gotten past the difficulty of deciding what I want to create, and the lit review which was like pulling teeth for me to get through!!  The rest is simple to complete, just very time consuming!  If I can complete everything between today and Wednesday, that would be a miracle!

I am SO excited for this next chapter of my life! I never expected to pursue a masters degree as a bachelors student.  I'm so thankful and proud that I did, and that I found a field that I truly love.  I'm excited to put all that I've learned into practice and to create my own exciting learning environment for my future students!

Until next time!
(Which could be a few weeks, hah!)

4 weeks down 14 to go!

Wow, the past month has zipped by, especially the last two weeks.  Every day in the classroom I feel more and more sure about my decision to become a teacher.  I wake up in the morning excited to see our 22 smiling faces, and look forward to learning from our 2nd grade team.  I love that even though our daily routine doesn't change, each day brings something new and different!

I began leading morning work about two weeks ago.  Every morning when the kids come in, they have their routine "check in" procedures (making lunch choices, handing in HW folders, etc.), and then they sit down for morning work.  This is either a poem to read, questions to answer about the poem or DOL's (daily oral language, this is reading and writing practice).  From a teaching standpoint, this is easy.  I just monitor the students, to be sure they are on task and trying their best.  Then, we all go over the work as a class.  Easy, right?!  WELL, this is where being a teacher REALLY comes to play.  Finding these routine moments to insert extra learning.  I feel like I'm constantly on a game show, trying to come up with good questions to ask the students, and how to relate it to past lessons or connections to the real world.  This part takes some practice, you have to be on your toes and ready to expand the student's learning.  It's fun, sometimes challenging, and I feel like I'm part of an improv show!

Another great milestone was my first full day of teaching!  My CT was gone and so it was me and a substitute.  The sub works at our school, and for my CT on a regular basis so she's pretty familiar with the routine.  She was so kind in letting me take over, and just stepping in where it would be beneficial to have two teachers!  She was great to work with, and complimented my teaching, which meant A LOT!  Since then, I only take over here and there throughout the day.  The students are learning routine a bit still, therefor so am I.  The things that don't change much each day, are the things that I typically lead since I'm familiar with them. In about 2 weeks I will hopefully be doing 75%-100% of the teaching on a daily basis.

My class helped me celebrate my 27th birthday on September 4th!  It was the most exciting birthday song I've ever had!  I passed out cookies, the kids sang to me, and I got 27 "high-fives" from them.  They sure know how to make someone feel special!  In the mornings the kids with birthdays get to announce it on the intercom.  My CT sent 3 kids up to announce my bday.  They each said "Hi my name is ___" then they said "and today is Ms. Fat-nellys, I mean Fanelli's birthday!" hahaha, it was pretty amazing!

A gift from PTO, a candle and Panera gift card!

We went on our first field trip this past Friday.  I never thought a field trip would be more exhausting then a full week of teaching.  Holy cow, manning 3 boys with selective hearing was a lot.  They taught me more about patience and reasoning, and they made me appreciate our school routine that much more.  With that said, it was a FUN day at the Highlands Ranch Mansion.  We learned about our towns history, and got to participate in some cool activities like a hay ride, a petting zoo, and crafts!

Check out the size of this bunny at the petting zoo!

Adding their art to this map

As I've said on Facebook, the teaching is the part that gets me up and going in the morning.  I'm thrilled  that I'm so motivated for an 8 hour day on my feet, watching these munchkins expand their knowledge every day.  What doesn't thrill me as much, is our TWS and Capstone project that have added some stress to the weekly schedule.  TWS stands for teacher work sample, and it's basically a formal unit plan we have to create and teach.  We did a MTWS (mini teacher work sample, right grad friends?! I've forgotten already lol!!) in one of our classes, so the format is familiar.  The difference is the size of this particular project.  I'm doing my TWS focusing on habitats.  This should be interesting because its a science lesson, and we all know how much of a priority science and social studies take in the classroom these days (not!).  My CT said we will make it a point to fit it in when I'm scheduled to teach, though.  Wish me luck!

I've also finally settled on my Capstone project.  Our capstone is a big final project that incorporates pieces of everything we've learned while in our grad program.  We have the option of several different project types, and just before graduation, we present our project to our peers and professors.  I am doing a literature review of Backward Design. Backward Design is a specific way of lesson planning that is HUGE within the district that I'm teaching in.  I figured I should educate myself on the topic, from from to back, so I can go confidently into an interview with this district and show them how much I know!  I have A TON of reading and writing ahead of me, but I am sure I will finish with a very informative piece of work!

Here's to another month of school, and another month closer to accomplishing a huge goal in my life!

Ted, he's cute.