Bekka Takes a Tumble, Among Other Things

Ok, so, an update is necessary. It’s been too long! I’ve had lots of good days and a couple of crummy ones, but here’s an overview…

So, last week, I took a major tumble in the classroom. Luckily, it was during the passing period between 3^rd and 4^th hour, so there weren’t a ton of students in the classroom. I had a student ask me where her new seat was since she was absent when I gave the new seating chart. I was walking over to my desk to find the new chart, when the pesky overhead cord tripped me. This is just another reason why I hate the overhead. The number one reason is that my fingers are green and blue when I leave school everyday. I left school last Wednesday with blue and green fingers and a black and blue knee. Ok, so it wasn’t really black and blue, but I thought that was a nice use of imagery, it was however a lovely shade of red. It was also fortunate that it happened 4^th hour and not 6^th. My 4^th hour students are much… well, more caring, that’s a good way to put it, than my 6^th hour students. All of the kids that were already in the classroom gasped and asked if I was ok, it was actually very sweet. When I told my 6^th hour students about it, they all laughed and said they would have been rolling on the floor laughing at me. Charming little rascals aren’t they? After it happened I got sent to the nurse, and now it’s finally starting to get all better, yay!

That same day, I also wrote my very first referral. This student has been a serious behavior problem and that day, he basically refused to do any work in class and was incredibly rude to me about how when he asks me questions I never know what to say and that I don’t really know anything since I’m a student teacher. I gave him the option to either do his work, or go to in-school detention (they call it Sweep at Mesa High School). He chose to go to Sweep, and afterschool I wrote him up for being disrespectful. It was a really weird thing to do but it was oddly satisfying because he had been so rude to me.

Those were the two big things from last week. This week, I had my first formal observation; it was, in fact, today during 4^th hour! I felt like it went really well! Sister Cottle told me that it was a job well done and that there were a few things I needed to work on, but that it was really good! Basically, I need to be more vocal about how much time they have left to finish an assignment, especially when they are working in groups. She also said I need to make sure to include how the lesson relates to their future or their lives. I was teaching “Of Plymouth Plantation,” a narrative about Pilgrims, so she realizes there isn’t a whole lot I could do to relate it to their lives, but she just wants me to have that idea in mind for when I am teaching about Romanticism and Transcendentalism. I’m excited to teach those because it will be a lot easier for them to relate to the material.

She told me that it was obvious that my background in theatre really helps me to have the necessary confidence to be in front of a class. She also told me I have smooth transitions and that I am good at thinking on my feet. She also mentioned that I did a good job of monitoring students and moving around the classroom. My questions were clear and I checked for understanding throughout the lesson, which were all really good. She told me overall my lesson plan was very organized and that I did a good job and there were no major problems! I feel really good about it! When she first walked in I got a little nervous, but I just took a deep breath and went on as if she wasn’t even there.

On the whole, I feel pretty great about my student teaching experience so far. I have had good days (when students understand what I’m teaching and actually participate) and bad days (when students call me a jerk and just sit there staring at me), but so far, I haven’t had any experiences that have made me want to quit teaching and flip burgers for the rest of my life, so I’ll call the first month a success.

Til next time,

Carry on!

Terrifying Thursday and Casual Friday

      Thursday, we went over course expectations and I started getting to know the students a little better. Again, I taught fourth and sixth hours, and observed second, third, and fifth. Mrs. S again told me that sixth hour was much better than fourth. Not that I didn't do well the first time, but after successfully (and a bit nervously) teaching fourth hour, I had my footing, and I wasn't as worried about what I was doing, which made it possible for me to focus more on what the students were doing. Something I definitely have to work on is being more observant in the classroom, which Mrs. S has assured me comes with time, so I know I'll eventually get better at it.
      I was also give the assignment that I'll be teaching Unit 2 on Puritan Literature on Thursday, which COMPLETELY terrifies me. I guess I should mention that I'm teaching Junior English classes and that all of the literature I teach will be American, which is exciting to me, because, in general, I prefer British, so it will be a challenge. I'll be teaching The Crucible, so, any and all suggestions are welcome to all of my Theatre and English buddies out there :) My unit begins the week of September 10th so I have just about a month to prepare. I've only ever created one other complete unit and I had an entire semester to do it, so I feel like I may be pulling out my hair in a couple of weeks, but I'm just keeping a positive attitude, because The Crucible is an awesome way to start out my teaching career, I get to conjoin my two loves English and Theatre, and I get to take my students out of their comfort zones a little, which will be fun!
      The most important thing about Thursday, though, is that during sixth hour, Mrs. S left me alone in the classroom to take roll and get the class started without her. She told me she trusted that I could do it and that I'd be fine. She was right! I had the attention of all of my students and they were incredibly quiet when I was giving instructions, scary quiet actually, but that's not the point. I had really good control of my classroom, Mrs. S was impressed and very proud of me :)

      Friday, I got to wear jeans to school! I felt a little bit like an EFY counselor again because they gave me a lovely Mesa High polo to wear when I first arrived, which I donned for casual Friday. I taught third, fourth, sixth, and half of fifth hours, only sitting out second, and it was the first day of "real" instruction. We did introductions for the first little bit so that I can start learning their names faster. Fingers crossed on that one! Then, we read an article finding the claim, important organizations, and quotes within it. Third hour was pretty rough, I had a hard time explaining to the class what a claim is, and they had a really hard time understanding when I was struggling, eventually we all came to an understanding about it, but that was something I knew I seriously had to fix before fourth hour, so Mrs. S gave me some good solid advice, and fourth and sixth hours were both much better. She left me alone in sixth hour again, which was good, but a little more nerve wracking than the first time because I had a couple of students that were trying to give me a hard time, but I handled everything as best as I could, and felt ok about it all at the end of the day.

     So, that was my first week of teaching! I didn't really mention anything about living in Mesa in my last post, so I'll do it here. I'm pretty much loving it! I was pretty skeptical at first because it is hotter than Ryan Lochte and Bradley Cooper combined here. Most days when I'm on my way to school it's between 95 and 100 degrees out and it's 7:45 in the morning. By the time I get out of school in the afternoon it's around 120. Basically, I stay inside. I've been asked a lot why it's so bad to me because I've lived in Florida and South Carolina, which both can get into the 100's at times, but the difference is that the East coast is like being in a closed oven with the humidity and out here it's like a frying pan, just hot and the sun just beats down on you. Well that and it's 20 degrees hotter most of the time, actually 30 right now.
       Other than the weather, I really am enjoying it. I got to go to the Mesa Temple this week, and I actually saw my old Disney roommate, Holly, or I should say, Hermana Larson, at the Visitor's Center, where she is serving. She was so surprised to see me! I knew that she was here, but obviously she had no way of knowing I was! It was really neat!
      Also, I have seen Holly, my sister, not my missionary friend, more here when we are living 10 minutes from each other than I'm pretty sure we saw each other in Rexburg when we lived right next door to each other. It's been so great! I don't have a roommate in my room with me, so she's able to stay over whenever she wants which is pretty awesome.
     Life in AZ is going really well so far and I'm excited to be able to be here and experience a completely different part of the country that I've really never seen before. My ward is humongous, honestly the biggest ward I've ever seen let alone been in, which is good and bad. There are a lot of people to meet and become friends with, but since there are so many people, I'm hoping it won't be hard to actually meet a group of people to hang out with on a regular basis, but I'm staying positive about it! I'm going to join the ward choir tomorrow, so hopefully I'll make some friends there! More updates are to come about my adventures in teaching and life in generally but until then,

Carry On.

My Jackrabbit Beginnings

First of all, I haven't blogged in a long time, so I'm going to being putting up several posts to explain my first week of student teaching so that there isn't just one huge post. Having said that...week one of my student teaching is done! I have already learned SO much. I have done a lot more teaching than I initially thought I'd do the first week, which is great, but it was totally exhausting! My mentor teacher (whom I will refer to as Mrs. S from now on) is so amazing. She is an awesome teacher, incredibly supportive of me, pushes me to work hard, gives me honest feedback (which is so important!) and she loves Disney. I mean, how is it not fate that she is my mentor?? It's positively providential!

Days one and two were full of very long meetings and don't really warrant their own posts. They were days full of important information, but with the exhaustion from our cross-country trek and the time change that came along with it, I was trying VERY hard not to fall asleep during those oh so informative meetings.

      Day three was Wednesday, the first day of school with students. I was nervous...but excited. I guess if I was Troy Bolton I might have tried singing a song about it, but I refrained. If you don't understand that reference, please watch this, because it is HILARIOUS! You should know that on Tuesday as I was leaving Mrs. S told me to plan on teaching at least 6th hour the next day. I was in a total panic, I figured my first week would be observing and taking notes, not being thrown in front of a class right away!
      So, I arrived the next morning at 7:45, luckily my first hour is planning, so I had a little bit of time to be in the classroom preparing myself mentally for this, my first day of school as a semi-real teacher. I observed second and third hour and then Mrs. S said, "Are you ready? I want you to take fourth if you think you are." Honestly, I was terrified, but I had just watched her for two class periods, so I threw myself in the ring. At least, that's what it kind of felt like, I was a boxer, one against 34 opponents, with no boxing gloves.
      I started out cowering in the corner, metaphorically speaking of course, constantly looking back at my coach to make sure I was doing alright. She nodded in an incredibly supportive manner and I started to feel more comfortable. By the end of the hour, I felt pretty good, like I wasn't cowering in the corner so much as just inching toward my opponent. Maybe boxing isn't really the right metaphor to use in this situation because obviously my students aren't my opponents nor would I ever actually throw punches, but I'm already this far into the blog post and I don't feel like having to put more energy into thinking of another clever way to describe my day. It will just have to suffice for today.
      I sat out fifth hour to take a breather and recoup for sixth hour, which went much better. Not that fourth hour was horrible, but I had a confidence in myself that I didn't really know was even possible! I was authoritative, but not in a way that made the students hate me, I knew things were going to be fine, I had it under control and it was the most amazing feeling in the world. I had on my boxing gloves and I was ready for that scantily clad woman to come out and ring the bell and start the match. I honestly don't think I could have chosen a worse metaphor, but again, I apologize.

      So, the first day of school made me realize that all of those times that I questioned whether or not I really wanted to be a teacher, all of the times I feared I had chosen the wrong major yet again, all of my doubts were COMPLETELY unwarranted. I love teaching. Once I stood in front of those students and realized I was going to be able to change their lives, every one of the questions, doubts, and fears were so far away that I couldn't even see them anymore. I know this is where I'm supposed to be, and Heavenly Father put me here for a specific reason. The Mesa High motto is Carry On. I'm going to face a lot of challenges this semester, but all I have to remember is that I'm a Jackrabbit and that I just have to Carry On. I've been working 6 years to get here and I'm ready. So, from now on all of my blog posts will end with...

Carry On.

Best Imitation of Myself

I'm feeling so much better about work this week. I mean it's still not the ideal situation, but I decided to just give myself a kick in the pants and deal with it. I had a great day today and I'm just gonna keep a smile on my face and remember that my job is to give guests the most magical vacation they can possibly have. So, until July 27th, I'll be singing the following song in my head all day at work to pretend the day away...enjoy!

26 days...

Well, I can't stand my job. I never thought I'd say that about working at Disney World, but there really isn't any other way of putting it. I just have to make it through this next month and then I'll be home free, well technically Arizona free, but the point is that I won't ever have to give another tour of that ruddy house again. (To pass the time, I listen to Harry Potter books, ruddy has now become part of my vocabulary.) This week I only have 32 hours and that is like paradise! Next week I have close to 50, so I'll have to try and get rid of some of those, although it probably won't happen.

I AM excited that either tomorrow or Tuesday I'm going to Universal so I can send Elder Fogle a letter from Hogsmede! I can't wait!

School is still blah. What's new?

I just have to remember I'll be outta here in 26 days.

 I've been listening to this song over and over recently. I love it. You should love it, too.

Gotta Get Safety Smart...Oh Yeah!

I've done a lot in the past month, blogging is not one of those things. I rarely find time to do it, but I really love to do it!

Here's an update on a few things

At work:
I got trained at another venue at Innoventions, I now give tours at the Vision House as well as do a show for kids at the UL Safety Smart Lab with Timon and Pumbaa from the Lion King. It's a really cute little show, it's about 9 minutes long and I only have 6 lines, which is like heaven for my vocal chords after giving tour after tour at the Vision House.

Sadly, there is only one presenter position at that venue, so I rarely get to be there, and even more sadly, that's probably the only other venue I'll learn before leaving, so it'll be non stop tours of the house until I get bumped maybe once a shift over to the Safety Smart Lab. Oh, well I'm still gonna try and make the most of it.

AND, I have a billion hours a week at work. I exaggerate, but this week and next week I was scheduled over 50 hours, leaving me very little time for...

School stuff:
BLAHHH! I hate online classes. Especially because I'm taking 2 of them right now and the bulk of the work that is due for both classes is due on Tuesday. So, the work isn't even spread out! Pretty sucky if you ask me. But I just keep having to tell myself that it's almost over and then in just under 2 months, I'll be...

Student teaching:

I registered for student teaching last week and I sent in my housing contract this morning. All of this is getting me seriously amped about moving to Arizona. I seriously can't wait. It's going to be so amazing and the experience I'm going to have there will be like nothing I've ever done before, so I'm just chomping at the bit to be there!

But going to Arizona means I have to leave...

My exciting life here in Florida:

I've really gotten to bond with the girls I work with at Innoventions and it has been so much fun. That sounds so lame and hokey, but it's true! Actually, it's really weird because I've never had a work location where almost all of the CPs are girls. I mean we seriously have one guy. So, it's been really fun to have girls night's out with them. Here is a couple of pictures of us at Hollywood Studios one night when we went to eat at 50's Prime Time Cafe and watch Fantasmic.

These are my cute co-workers and I at 50's Prime Time Cafe
 (Carly, Katylin, Me, Alii, Sawyer, and Ashley)

Here we are right before Fantasmic started!

Tomorrow we're doing a Tacky Tourist Tuesday, we all got awful matching Florida shirts and we plan on taking Disney World by storm as Tacky Tourists, we're painting our cars, getting our faces painted and taking a million and one pictures at locations in Disney that are totally unimportant. It's going to be a blast!

Another part of my amazing life here is that I've moved into a new apartment with the girls that I made an instant connection with here in Florida. I'm so glad to be here with them!

Here we all are before work, so adorable, right? Diana works at Magic Kingdom in the shop at the Transportation and Ticket Center, Page works at the Pangani (and soon Maharajah) Trails in Animal Kingdom, and of course we have my awesome bowling outfit, haha.

So, there's an update, sorry it was kind of long, but that's pretty much what's up. I can't believe the summer is going by this fast!

My New "House" Away From Home

This is incredibly delayed because I've been all kinds of busy working and playing, plus I still haven't found the time to just sit and figure out how to install this wireless router thing. BUT... today is my Friday (finally.) and I'll be able to relax for the next two days and hopefully use all of my tech savvy to figure it out.

I LOVE my new role!! It is so different from the other two places I've worked here at WDW, not that I didn't love working those attractions, because I definitely did, but I get to talk to a lot more guests here. I've already posted that I'm working at Innoventions as a presenter, but I haven't had the chance to talk about the venue where I was trained first. Last week, I finished my training at the Vision House, which is really new, it opened on Earth Day and it has a bunch of products, like appliances and building materials, that can help you live in an eco-friendly home without sacrificing comfort and beauty. So, I basically spend all day giving a scripted tour of the house to guests interested in learning more about how they can greenify (thank you Gregory Maguire) their own homes. I'm starting to get the hang of it more and more as I continue to do tours, it was A LOT to memorize, and for a little while I was afraid I wouldn't memorize it all in time, but I did it! I really like it there, and I have a fun group of people that I work with, too.

Since I've been back, I have been to Magic Kingdom once, Hollywood Studios and Epcot twice, and I still haven't been to Animal Kingdom! However...I did go to Universal one morning for just 3 hours before work. I got to ride the Forbidden Journey (still amazing), the revamped The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman (equally amazing now that it has been re-digitized), and Revenge of the Mummy (which never gets old no matter how many times I ride it.) To top it all off I got a refill in my popcorn bucket for .89 cents, which is the best ever. Popcorn is seriously my favorite food, and nothing can top theme park popcorn.  I can't wait to go back soon so I can spend a whole day there.

Here's a picture of me and my friends Diana, Page, and Annabelle who came to see one of my tours yesterday. Plus Tyler came! I felt like a celebrity with all of the people who wanted to take my tour :) Today I've got an 8 hour day, but I'll still be able to make it to evening sacrament meeting, so that's good, but I've gotta go get on my bowling outfit and get ready to give those tours all day!