I am soooooooooo glad Saturday is over with. I had a test that morning and was cramming like you wouldn't believe for it two days prior. Tried planning my study time better so it'd spread out through the week but things kept coming up and throwing me off track. I took the test and I think it went well (crossing fingers) will wait for the results next week.

We're learning how to write lesson plans, objectives, satisfying Colorado Standards....it's all very interesting to me. I work everyday creating lesson plans for my one on one so creating isn't such a shock. I just never realized how much more goes into it and if there's enough prep time I'll start incorporating all I've learned. I'd really like to for the practice and to develop the skills neccessary for becoming a teacher. I am just so thrilled to be taking classes towards my Bachelor finally and not wading through the general requirements anymore. Gosh that feels great!

My new philosophy as of last week is "Sleep is for the weak!" haha more like that will be the philosophy when there's deadline pressures looming. A little crawfish told me to make sure it's only for four hours since the five to seven hour range tends to throw people out of whack and the tiredness stays on and on with them. I'll take that to heart and I think she's absolutely right. I am able to function better when I've had only three to four hours compared to the 6 to 7 I'm used to (when there isn't any academic pressures breathing down my neck).

It's been interesting to learn the politics going on at RMDS. I stay on as a silent trooper for the most part. I'll make things ten times worse if I go in there charging into something and I'm not aware of all the aspects at play. I did however suggest we develop a fundraising/grant writing committee and that was met with entusiastic responses. Just need to learn now, of what the best way to go about it is. I wrote one letter a while back asking one company if they'd be willing to hold a fundraiser for us and at the moment I know they are putting together a donation to make to RMDS so that was pretty cool to see my efforts paid off.

I recently put together a Guided Reading Lesson plan for my Foundations of Literacy class. They asked us to make modifications of the worksheets for the special-needs child. I kinda went overboard on that one I think. I chose the book, "The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig" by Eugene Trivizas. Then made a poster board of a sequence activity. For those who aren't familiar with the story, the three little wolves make houses out of , bricks, concrete, wires-metal padlocks-pexiglass-nails, and finally out of flowers. It's a really cute and silly book I'd like to go out and buy it at some point. Anyway I drew four houses on the top of the board lined up next to each other. Used red sandpaper with white crayon drawn lines for the brick house, used broken bits of concrete slab for the next house, nails-broken pieces of pexiglass- wires-picture metal hangers, and finally some fake flowers and hot glued the materials down on each of the four houses. Only I didn't put them in sequential order I mixed them up so the special-challenged kids can take the laminated 1 through 4 houses with velcro on the back and decide which house came first, second, third and fourth.

It was alot of fun making it and I didn't even remember until the last minute that we were supposed to make modifications for Special Education. I guess I know I'm in the right major if I'm willing to go the extra mile despite all the pressures of everything else I had looming above me! I walked into class and um I was the only one to bring a poster board like that into the classroom so I kinda felt a little silly. Hey you know what an overambitious teacher-to-be is better than an unmotivated teacher-to-be, right? PFFTTHH!



I realize this blog entry is about work and school and not much else....well that is pretty much what my life is consumed by right now. No real dating life, the occassional one now and then but no one I'd consider investing serious energy into, friends and a social life seem to escape me lately but I'll catch up to them when I'm on my winter break, I do see family now and then. Mom helped instruct me how to make quiche for RMDS staff lunch when my turn was nearing. Very easy to make! I had no idea it was that easy! Something so delicious seemed to me like it'd be alot of work but nope. Mom also helped me to make a nest. Oh yeah, we had "Spirit Week" at RMDS and one of the days was "Wild Hair Day" so I had this idea to go to Hobby Lobby and get some things to make a nest to put in my hair. Went to moms house and we constructed a really cool one! Baby birds attached to bobby pins so they'd be able to cling in the center of the nest in my hair. A mama bird sitting on the edge of the nest which we hot glued. Fake bits of moss glued all around the edges along with random feathers and even fake mushrooms we glued on pins and I put them randomly in the back of my hair so it'd look like a forest. The kids reallllllllly loved it and the staff laughed.

Alrighty I need to sign up for Spring classes online so catch y'all later!