Three Weeks Down

Three full weeks of school are in the books and as to be expected a lot has happened and been learned by myself and my students. A lot of adjusting has happened. A lot of getting used to a schedule that rotates every day. A lot of organization. A lot of e-mails. A lot of lesson planning. A lot of names.

With all of these adjustments I have made some mistakes and successes. A list has already started to grow of what I want and will change for the next year. Seating arrangements, how to start the first day, what do I really want the kids to learn and understand first. How to learn names quickly and efficiently.

That being said it has not been a “bad” three weeks. I have started to build rapport in my classroom with my students; even those classes that I’ve had a bumpy time with in the past few weeks are starting to even out and become focused and successful. I have learned and assessed my students. My pacing of a lesson has improved which has been all important for those kindergarten classes that need that little wiggle break in the midst of everything and those older classes who have showed me they can handle a lot of curriculum.

So am I happy with the last three weeks? Very much so as an educator. Have I set up a basic and stable launch pad for my students to leap of off and spiral into new curriculum? Most definitely. So here’s to the next three weeks.

Sleep Deprived

“Sleep, those little slices of death–how I loathe them.”

-Edgar Allan Poe 

I’ve been reflecting on the funny things I do when I am tired. Mainly because I messed up three times last week due to lack of sleep and being distracted (Not a good combo for me. It’s how cats escape the house and straighteners don’t get turned off).  I was late to work even though I had written the time in my phone calendar but I got cocky in my head and was tired so I didn’t check the time. Five minutes before I was supposed to show up to work I thought, “Hmmmmm maybe I should check the time. JUST in case.” And sure enough I had five minutes before I was supposed to show up to work. Well it worked out I was able to call them and explain the situation and get to work at a reasonable time. The second occurrence of being tired getting the best of me arose when I had a doctor’s appointment. Again this time was written correctly in my phone and I had checked it many times but my brain didn’t reason with the time written down. And again I got cocky in my head and assumed I knew it I didn’t need to check. So I skipped in the doctor’s office, ten minutes to 11am jazzed I had gotten a good parking spot and had enough time to even take a bathroom break before checking it and I brightly sauntered up to the desk and said, “Hi! I’m here to check in.” The secretary checked me in then before replying, “Uhhhhh your appointment was at 10am.” Then I’m pretty sure I responded with this face.

 

Wait, what?

Luckily once again everything worked out and my doctor didn’t have anyone else after me so I was able to sneak in to an 11am appointment. And finally one evening I was readjusting my alarm to get me up in order to work out and I didn’t pay enough attention and woke up 30 minutes later than I desired. And if you’re working out in Phoenix in the middle of summer thirty minutes can make or break you. Trust me on this one.

 

 

It’s been little things like this that cause me to scarf down my breakfast in the morning over the sink screaming, “What is wrong with me?! Why can’t I get it together?” To which my roommate calmly replies, “I think you’re tired.” My favorite tired mess up that occurred this semester was showing up at someone’s house I was supposed to house sit for a week early. That was a fun back and forth conversation of:

“What are you doing here?!”

“Wait, what are you doing here?!”

“You’re supposed to be gone!”

“That’s next weekend.” 

 

This year, especially this past spring semester, has been a whirlwind of stress and lack of sleep, which has caused more stress and lack of sleep. I’ve done some pretty goofball things because I haven’t been quite with it at times. Such as write down the wrong spring break and not showing up for a clinic I was supposed to teach. Or not turning my alarm on my phone to wake me up in the morning. I’ve discovered this whole new side of myself this past year and how I deal with stress. Now I was stressed in undergrad but it was nothing compared to this past year. Nothing. Working three jobs, two in completely different school districts, taking classes, doing an internship at another school has challenged me a bit. But I can now say I know and understand my limits and how far I can go. And I can go far when pushed. I just might write something down wrong in my planner. Will I always be this tired? Hopefully not, but we know if I don’t show up to something it’s probably because I’m just passed out somewhere from exhaustion. Not because I don’t have a desire to be there. 

 

Lauren Walker is currently pursuing her master’s in Elementary Education (MAC) at Arizona State University. When not passed out, face down somewhere desperately trying to catch up on sleep she can be found house sitting, exercising, completing homework assignments and rewatching Sherlock on Netflix. You can follow her on twitter @lw236. 

Summer Projects

I believe in projects. Well if we’re on the topic I believe in a lot of things, but that’s a post for another day. Today I believe in projects: specifically summer projects. I usually need something to keep me motivated during summer or I tend to become bored and listless. So I usually create small projects for me to complete throughout the summer to stay motivated and mentally engaged. Last summer it was rearranging my music library, which quite frankly took all summer and was very rewarding. And with this summer approaching I’m of course starting to think about what I want to accomplish this summer to keep me busy and happy.

1. Learn Guitar

I really want to have excellent guitar skills before I enter the classroom. I feel that is another aspect I can engage my students in and create music with them. However, to accomplish this I first need a guitar (anyone want to lend me one? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?). I just want another musical outlet to utilize in the classroom and an outlet to express myself.

 Plus I think it is important to try and learn new things all the time. Because how can we grow if we do not try and learn new things? We only improve the more we try and the more we learn. You never know what your new obsession will be if you don’t do something new and out of your comfort zone.

 

2. Ear Training and Studying Theory

I did this last summer as well, and I want to continue again to refresh myself. As important as it is to stretch ourselves and do something new, it’s also vital to refresh on what we already know. I’ll lose my ear and forget theory concepts if I don’t turn around and study them once in a while. I view this idea as scale on my instrument. Yes I know them and can play them in my sleep, but if I don’t refer back to them I will lose that ability and focus I’ve worked on for so long. There’s a great website I like to use called Ricci Adam’s http://www.musictheory.net/that allows you to work on intervals, scales, chords, keyboard, and fret board identification and can be customized to your preference. So you can create an exercise that is only using five intervals, or is played on the bassoon, or starts on the top note and then is played down. Great ways to keep up the ear and hear things differently as a musician.

3. Write More

Now I will digress for a moment and write, Lololololololololololololololol, because this is a given. With summer classes and blogging I will be writing just as much, perhaps more, as I have done throughout the school year. In regards to what I want to write, maybe I simply want to write for me. Create more pieces for a book I want to publish, write about what I see, hear, do and simply develop my style more as a writer. The only way to get better is to practice more.

 

4. Read More

The only other way to get better at writing is to read. I have established blogs in my weekly reading concepts to understand style and improve my ideas. There is also a significantly long list in my notes on my iPhone of books I have heard about or noticed in passing that I am eager to dive into this summer. I have set the goal to read completely new material this year. That’s not to say that rereading books is awful, it’s actually something I love, but I want to challenge myself to read completely new books all year and this summer is a perfect time to move towards that goal. Plus I have a large chunk of borrowed books I really should get through and return. But’s that’s neither here nor there.  

 

5. Have Fun

With working and classes this summer I’m booked till August 16th, when I will receive a small break for a week. Then I head right back into fall classes August 22nd. Looking forward last summer I knew this summer would be challenging and possibly not the most exciting summer I’ve ever had. Nevertheless I plan on making the most of what I can and enjoying myself. Two weddings to attend, possible trip to Disneyland and a few stops in Flagstaff are all in the books, along with trips to the Salt River, numerous movies coming into theaters, and a quick trip to Vegas. With having a few small breaks I will enjoy what I can with the time I have. And having two best friends move back to the Valley is a plus sign as well because this gives me an excuse to make the most of my time with them and of course have two more people join my ranks to hang out with this summer. Fun will be had because I will make sure of it.

 

Credit for this week’s cover photo goes to Samantha Carlstrom and was taken in Downtown Flagstaff, AZ. When not begging friends to use their photograpy in her blog or planning extra projects to do Lauren Walker is pursuing her Masters of Education Elementary & Arizona Certification (MAC) at Arizona State University. You can follow her on twitter @lw236.