New Year’s Resolution- Broken as soon as I posted it!

Ok…I’d like to think that I have everything under control and organized most of the time, but I just can’t get myself to keep up with this blogging bit! It must be that I’ve been busy living life and finishing school for the millionth time!!! School is officially done and summer has settled in well…I’ve been enjoying my time at home getting things back in order, clean out and re-organized before the fall comes around the corner and mayhem starts all over again. I’ve been busy these past couple of days jamming up some strawberry & strawberry-banana jam to put in the freezer for the winter. I don’t like to buy jam in the store because I find it tastes stale and processed and I love being in the kitchen so making my own jam isn’t so bad.

Since my last post (ekkk, in January!) I’ve successfully completed 2 student teaching placements in two very different teaching environments. I started with a great split grade class that was in a portable that felt like miles from the school and we existed in our own little world at times. The kids were absolutely fantastic to work with and I really felt like I connected to them in the 8 short weeks I was there. My second placement was right here in my own neighbourhood in two different classrooms, teaching math & English exclusively. These classes were students in the French immersion stream so their academic abilities were higher than my first placement, but they required different needs filled. I certainly had to be on my toes with both these classes and no “winging it” was possible. I had three fabulous mentor teachers that all help form me as a new teacher and I took away so many different ideas, approaches and skills that I will certainly be using in my future.

As I sit back and look at the last year and all that has gone on, a lot has changed and a lot of optimism has returned. I would have never thought that I would quit my job, return to school to earn my BA, and then head south of the border to earn my teaching degree. It has been a whorl wind time and I’ve met some of my closest friends in the past few years. Here’s to many many more years of overcoming challenges, long nights working on assignments and long lasting friendships!

New Year’s Resolution...not to let this blog slide as long as I have!!!

WOW...I’m ashamed to admit it, but the proof is right online!! It has been a REAL long time since I’ve taken the time to post something...anything...for that matter. I guess that just goes to tell you how busy life has really been since September 2009...OH MY! You all missed the last year of my undergrad at Ottawa U...let me tell you that it was better you missed it...it was a long 8 months full of reading, reading and paper writing...I have to say that it was the longest year of my life in school and at times I didn’t know if I was going to be able to finish it. I had some tough courses along with some very time consuming assignments that followed that I didn’t really ‘get’ at the time. Look back at it, I could do it all over again with my eyes closed, but at the time it was a different story. My undergrad was finally over and I didn’t waste any time starting my teaching certification at SUNY Potsdam. I didn’t get into any universities in Ontario for the “lack of life experience” (not sure what constitutes life experience! ;)), so I applied to Potsdam and was accepted right away. In the end it was the best thing that could have happened because I have had the time of my life there. Again, times were trying with the never ending, totally time consuming amounts of homework and assignments, but somehow I made it through! Every waking moment was spent writing lesson plans, unit outlines and studying for tests and so far it has paid off! I have a perfect 4.0 GPA going into my last term which only consists of student teaching (and again endless amounts of lesson plan writing and portfolios). The hard work is hopefully going to pay off come summer when it’s time to apply for jobs. I have learnt so much since starting at Potsdam, even though I’m nervous to start the practicum part. This brings me back to my online revival...seeing I won’t be with my teacher-to-be friends in Potsdam on a daily basis, I’m going to document as frequently as I can my trails, tribulations and achievements of student teaching here so that everyone can keep track of what’s happening. I’m not promising to post every day or every week, but I have made a commitment to myself (and to you!) that I will post as frequently as possible between everything else. Sooooo, welcome back and feel free to leave comments or questions on anything that I post! Chat soon! Stephanie :)