TFA PLACEMENT REGION!

I am so excited! I will find out my Teach For America placement region very soon! I made a countdown to keep track of the time until I find out! =D My placement preferences are 1) Los Angeles, 2)Bay Area, 3)Sacramento (potential expansion region, 4) San Diego (potential expansion region), 5) Seattle-Tacoma, 6)Tulsa! I would really like to stay in California because I will have a California Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential K-6. Which means I will be able to teach in Cali without anymore licensure stuff. Otherwise, I have to transfer my credential to the new state, and it's annoying and requires energy and time I just don't have. Also, I have a support system in Cali, and it won't be as expensive to move in Cali as it would be to move to say Mississippi. Lol. Plus, my hair + humidity = disaster! =D

Food, and Valentine's Day

Yum! Food,, food, food! I received a gift certificate from the salvation army and I went food shopping. I got a lot of staples and I'm excited to eat something other than oatmeal and ham. :/ Valentine's Day was okay, I subbed in a 2nd grade class, and got back to my class just in time for the party. Oh, and my most difficult student was sent home earlier, so my job was easy! =D   And I'm getting better sleep with the earplugs I bought with my birthday money. Soooo quiet! Love it!

Teach For America Placement

Well, I've been accepted into the 2012 Corps, but I don't know where yet! They will let me know on March 6th! I am so excited! My top placement regions are as follows: 1) Los Angeles 2) Bay Area 3) Sacramento 4) San Diego 5) Tulsa Oklahoma!

ONLY 25 MORE DAYS!

Teacher Voice... check!

Okay, so one one of my students is having a hard week. Student has been extremely disrespectful, rude, and has run away from me twice already, and it's only Tuesday. Today I had to pull out the don't-mess-with-me teacher voice TWICE! Next time student feels like being disrespectful to me, I'll just say, " Fine. If you are going to be disrespectful, than I'm not going to help you. You have lost that privilege by being extremely rude. Make no mistake though, I will still make sure you get all your work done." I'm hoping that after a few days of this he will realize the value of having someone to help you out. The good news about today is that I finally rounded a corner in my teacher-development. I have finally accepted the fact that as a teacher, I am allowed to show my annoyance/frustration/concern/anger. Just because I am their teacher doesn't mean I need to give them a bijillion chances, and be nice and sweet to them. No, this is my classroom, you will be respectful and make academic progress. There will be positive and negative consequences to your behavior. I am in charge of enforcing those consequences, it is you (the student) that determines the consequences that I must enforce.

Really good Friday!

One of my fav kids finally got his attitude together today! This Kiddo has been so very disrespectful this week! Yet today was great, kiddo did all the work, and we had some great one-on-one tutoring time, where kiddo really learned, both conceptually and the algorithm! Also, we had our monthly hour of Bravo music time, and the kids really enjoyed it. There was a fire drill after recess that was kind of funny.And finally, choir re-started this afternoon. About 40 kiddos showed up! We started learning "Firework" by Katy Perry and they had a ton of fun! After I picked mom up, we got pizza and celebrated my birthday! =D The best thing about today....I get to sleep in tomorrow! lol!

Trying to put a good spin on it.

Car totaled: no one got seriously hurt. Great Uncle died: he's in heaven.

FFFFFRRRRIDAY!

Yeay! It's Friday! Today I was able to skype with some of my besties! Also, I've been enjoying Teach For America videos on YouTube, reading TFA blogs on Teachforus.org, and updating some of my stuff. I've been contemplating the enormous gift that joining TFA is, and honestly, it's kind of scary. I am using these next two years in Teach For America (TFA) as an extended mission trip. Suddenly, now that I'm in, I feel the weight of my responsibility to God and my students. I know that God is going to use me in an amazing, wonderful way, and knowing that I am going to have a great impact in this world is humbling, intimidating, exciting, scary, nerve-wrecking, terrifying, amazing, and really cool. My respect for God's power has increased too. If God can make this much good happen in my life, how boldly and wonderfully is He going to use me in these next few years. God can do anything.

Isaiah 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”  And so I go...

Acceptance Letter!!!!

Today I was invited to join the 2012 Teach For America corps. No, I don't know where I'll be teaching yet, or in what grade, but I am so super excited and happy!  I can't start blogging on the Teachforus blog (that'll have to wait till March and my contract signing), but for now, this will do! =D  I will be able to fill out my regional  preference form on Feb 1st. There I will list the cities I prefer, the subject (special edu or multiple subjects please!) and other issues like dates I can't miss...aka graduation and Mel's wedding. =D
I return to UC Davis in spring to finish my credential, graduate and then start TFA training. Should be interesting. The summer training institute is intense, and I mean like 4 hours of sleep a night if you are lucky intense. Thankfully, I will already have a credential and two years of student teaching to help me out!
I <3 TFA!

School is Good

Today I received the okay to move choir to Friday afternoons! Yey! No more 7:30 am workdays! Also, I have till the end of the month to advertise. Choir will start in February!

Good Year So Far....

So, it's been a good year so far. I made delicious salmon with garlic/rosemary potatoes with a white wine sauce. Mmmmmmmm! I played fetch with Molly, and am teaching her new tricks! Last night was awesome! My besties and I played Life, wore glow-stick jewelry, drank yummy margaritas, watched movies, =D AND celebrated the  year (finally) ending!

Here's to a better 2012!  <3

Halloween, November, and December smashed in a nut shell!

Halloween: Dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood...it was awesome, and I had a great time with my friends.
November-
Thanksgiving was awesome! Best. Turkey. Ever. thanks to moi! =D YUM YUM YUM!
Brian's Birthday- shout out to my bro!
Starting a job as a para-educator

December-
Getting officially hired at said job
Having the musical go off with out a hitch.... the kids did sooooooo well! I am sooooo proud of them.
Applying to TFA.
Break.

New Costume

Sheep doesn't work. So I'm changing it! You'll have to wait and see on Monday to find out what I'm going to be! =D

Night!

SCHOLARSHIP!!! and TFA Application (expedited)! And school.

"Money, money, money, must be funny, it's a rich man's world!" ~ ABBA

So I found out that I will be receiving a scholarship! My case was presented to the board of scholarships last Friday, and they decided that I perfect for it! Woot!  The scholarship covers $500 bucks per term, which along with the other amount of aid I have, leaves me to pay $8 dollars. Okay!
I also received an email from TFA asking me to reapply through the expedited process since I was on the waitslist last year! Now mind you, I had just submitted a normal application two days prior! Well, the expedited process is a lot better, (it's kinda like priority, although not) so I am going to do that instead. I'll find out January 2nd if I am accepted, and hopefully on January 17th where I will be placed! I really want to do this so badly!!! Especially if it is in special education! *I'll be biting my nails until then*
Oh, and I finished that stupid, stupid, stupid math applications course that I finished 3 weeks ago, (It took me a whopping 1 day to do) but forgot to label the quadrants on one graph, so it got kicked back over and over and over. Good bye and good riddance! Onto the next class! In 2 months, I've completed 19 (soon to be 20) units! Go me, go me! Yeah, it's been hard!

New Shoes: Workout!

I finally went to Payless last night to get a pair of tennis shoes. My old ones hurt because my feet supinate too much. That means my feet roll outwards and I step more on the outside/pinkytoe part of my foot than the normal part of my foot. The shoes suck, because I got them during that recent "fitness shoe" craze where the shoes had rounded bottoms for "slight instability, that will strengthen your muscles and make your ass look great!" yeah, right. I didn't buy that then, and I certainly don't buy it now.  Any way because of the slight instability, the shoes already rolled when I first got them, combine that with my supination, and seriously there is an 1.5 inch height discrepancy between the inside side of my shoes and the outside side. I'm basically walking on the sides of my feet.  Boo.

Anyway.... I got new shoes, and they are very light! I was finally able to get in a workout this morning and I feel great! Yippee! =D

And runnin runnin, and runnin runnin...

Molly Doggy

Today was a slow "good news" day. Really about the only thing notable was being able to brag about my dog this afternoon and how wonderful she is! I love Miss Molly!
 I guess finally being enrolled in my special education course is good too.

Life.

Oy, so things aren't quite going the way I envisioned them, like normal lol. Anyway here is the good in all of this: I had a wonderful Saturday with my ladies in Apple Hill! We did all sort of stuff, I got delicious fudge and I picked my very own apples! And boy were they GOOD! I have never tasted such a fresh, yummy apple! I swear, it had a honey aftertaste! In other news, financial (lack of) aid has turned my life upside down again. I do not even have enough money to pay tuition. We applied for a PLUS Direct Loan, which was denied, so hopefully they will give me a little more to at least cover tuition. Oh and I qualify for a scholarship worth $500. Let's hope the selection committee likes me! Because of this mess, I have applied to Teach For America (again). As you may know, I was admitted last year, but was placed on the waiting list for placement. With the erosion of teacher positions, I was unable to do TFA. (But that might be a good thing, considering my health issue that happened). So, no I've applied at an earlier deadline and I hope to be admitted and teaching special education next year. If not, I'll start looking for teaching jobs. If I get one, I will shift to a Masters in Special Education at WGU. If I don't get one, I will continue with my bachelors in Special Education at WGU.
Oh, and on a side note, I finally decided what I want to be for Halloween. I'm going to be a Counting sheep! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! =D
Oh, and I asked my Principal if she would be one of my references... she said yes!

School, Musical, and More School!

Let's see over the past week I've received our musical music for choir!!! Woot! And the kids have learned 1.5 songs (I'd say two, but honestly that ending needs work!) I've submitted and passed three tasks in my two assessment courses, and hopefully, I will finish those today and be DONE!!! Also, I only have to take the objective assessment (final exam) for my science course and then I'm golden! I should be fine, I passes the pre-assessment with flying colors! =D Well, I best get back to work then! Adios! Oh, and I received my school id card, and I passed my PCE 1 Application which means, I get to apply for PCE 2 and start in-classroom stuff! Yippee!

Mom's home!


Also, today has been a pretty great day!  It was really refreshing to get out of the house, and be able to work and relax! It was nice, the kids were great. =D


I am starting to make changes in my life, I am excited and nervous. 


Choir is going well. The kids have learned the choreo and music for the opening number! They are so excited about the musical and have so many creative ideas! Yey!!! Oh, and the music just shipped! Yippee!

Well, bad news came with a silver lining yesterday. Although my mom is in the hospital, and will be there for a few more days, I did get in some quality time with my family. Not exactly how I had pictured it, but hey, at least we were together. I just hope we don't have to go to the hospital every time we want to have family time!

I was able to do a 25 minute workout!  Which is a lot for me. Since the surgery and stuff, I seem to be unable to control my arms and legs! It's quite odd. I feel like I'm 13 again, when I wasn't in control of my own body. I'm trying different dance routines as workouts, and I'll see my arms flapping around, and I'm like, " How the hell did they get there?" I know that soon I'll be back in control of them. But for now, I'll just dance my heart out! Well, kinda, I have to be careful that I don't hurt myself! I only stopped at 25 mins because my knees started to hurt. I can't wait to not be sick! I can't do Bye Bye Birdie with DMTC, simply because I don't have the gas money to go back and forth to Davis all the time. But as soon as I get my financial aid, I'm moving back to Davis! And I'm looking forward to doing Chicago! with them!

My future character shoes!   =D