My last day

Today was my very last day of interning. I have to admit I'm a bit sad. I'm thankful for all (well almost all) of the college work to be done and I am only days away from graduation, BUT I am going to miss my 5th graders. They are such a sweet bunch and the teachers I got to work with were amazing. I am walking away from this experience with so many lessons and memories. :)
Luckily, they are having Career Day Tuesday and I have been invited to attend, so I don't quite have to do the tearful goodbye yet. Although the scrapbook they made me with little goodbye notes from each student almost made me cry...I'm such a girl. haha

Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging this semester with my internship. I appreciate it sincerely. Don't worry...now I am going to get back on top of things I had kind of let go of....so new pen pal groups we will be sent out soon, as will pen pal letters I haven't yet had a chance to respond to. Keep your eyes out!

xoxox
Kel

While the boys are away....

Last night my roommates had plans, so I had the place all to myself. Of course, I tend to have add moments, so without the boys around to keep me company, I took a photo break to keep myself occupied. No dinner break, just photos (shows my priorities right?) Although, the break did include food (cupcakes that my awesome friend Jenn made)!
But don't worry...I did take TONS of time to work on my portfolio. :) Almost there.....
I also have only 5 days left of my internship. It's crazy how wicked fast its flown by. Part of me is stressing trying to get everything done in time and the other part of me is a little bit sad to leave my fifth graders. They have been an amazing group!
Well, off to a seminar!

xoxox
Kellz

Help out my school!! (pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top??)

On April 30th, Barnes and Noble will be helping out my school. What's really awesome abot this is that 20% of what anyone buys (if you mention Sheffield Elementary) will go straight to our school!!

The even better part??? You don't have to come to this specific Barnes and Noble (it's just where we might be.... hehe).
You can purchase books from any Barnes and Noble that day, or even order from them online!

All you have to do is mention my school's name (Sheffield Elementary and/or our school voucher #: 10441897) and we get 20%!

Our school could really use this (couldn't any?)

So pretty, pretty please if you have any books in mind, or just have a love of book shopping, please wait and do it on April 30th at Barnes and Noble!!!!


much love
kel

internship

This week and last turned out to be a lot of fun with my students. While I know we are all thinking about next week (Spring Break!!!!) I've tried to make sure we have some fun in the meantime.
Today we worked on more vocabulary (they made their own words like in bananagrams):



And created wordles:

Ps....try googling wordles...it's a pretty cool idea and my 5th graders loved it!

My kids are also seriously impressive. During social studies we talked about war and religion (brought up by the kids).
They seemed so puzzled as to why wars happen, "Why can't they (meaning leaders) just talk out their problems, or play a game of chess or rock, paper, scissors to find a solution? Why do we have to go to war?"
Then they asked me how people "win" in a war, to which I responded with a not so cheery answer of "until one side gives up because they are losing too many soliders or they run out of resources to keep them going."
They gave me another puzzled look and said..."It seems silly to me to kill so many people like that." I gotta admit...they have a point. When it comes down to it, the idea of war does sound silly....why is it that we can't work out our problems without having to go to such an extreme measure?
Then today we were discussing the 13 colonies and my students had yet another puzzled look on their faces. When I asked them what was bugging them, they responded with a comment like: "I just don't get it....the colonists came to America for religious freedom, but now in the colonies they are punishing people that don't share the same religion as they do."
I of course tried to explain that the early colonists that came for "religious freedom" actually only came for their own religious freedom. They didn't like my answer very much and still couldn't imagine why the colonists would put others through what they went through in England themselves.
It's funny how 10 year olds can see things so clearly sometimes, while we adults seem to have on rose colored glasses. These conversations also have made me love my students that much more. They are so smart and have started discussing topics that I didn't even think about until I was much older.
Maybe there is something to learn from kids.....

-kel

on a short break

This week is already so busy and long. As much as I love being an intern with a 5th grade class and being a youth director, I'm starting to get sooo burned out. Just when I think I've gotten caught up, I get a million more things thrown at me. (Hence the lack of blogging and other things....like pen pal letters). I'm still in love with what I do of course, I'm just getting to that overwhelmed feeling.....
But while I'm taking a short break from it all I decided to go on lookbook. One day I will post outfits on there....one day.
*sigh*
So here are some of my favorite looks from there. Inspiration if you will. :)


Now back to work.....and being sick..... boo

Promise.

xoxoxoxo
Kellie

as of late

This week I am fighting off being sick, still writing tons of lessons (and trying to catch up on them), watching How I Met Your Mother from the very beginning, getting ready for my awesome friend coming into town, and just trying to soak it all in.
One of my students made me this drawing (he tried to copy a painting his mom has) and gave me the bookmark he made for a contest in class. He and I may butt heads a lot, but he's such a sweet kid (when he wants to be). In fact, all my students are great. We have power struggles every once and a while, but for the most part, they are the best and I love spending my weeks with them.

My awesome pal Erica and I also made a stop at Cammie Cakes this week. I love that place and their cupcakes are the best. I ended up settling for just the sweet potato and white chocolate macadamia, although I could've gone for one each!




xoxo
kel

student teaching update

I've been so bad about updating my blog lately....I feel like I just said this. Oh wait, I did.....
My life as of late has consisted of tons of lesson planning, perfecting my poker skills (thanks boyfriend!), catching up on movies, having some mom-daughter time, and trying to plan stuff for my youth group too. Life is hectic, that's for sure. I do enjoy all that's going on, although the lack of sleep and tons of germs has gotten me a bit sick. :( Eww.
Right now I'm starting on my third week of interning. It feels like it's been longer.... I also am now teaching both writing and social studies. I don't even want to count all the hours I've spent planning, haha. But the truth is, I am loving it. My directing teacher is amazing. She is so sweet and helpful and let's me teach how I want. She is a great model for me as well, I've already learned so much from her. The co-teacher (who is in another room and teaches math and science) is an awesome teacher as well, along with being a sweet lady. I feel so blessed. My students are also pretty good. We have 41 total and while there are some behavior issues at times, for the most part, they are a great bunch to work with! I really have been enjoying my time.
I also gotta share that this past weekend was great. I had a rough couple days Thursday and Friday, but things started to really looking up shortly after. I am truly blessed with some great friends and an amazing mom (who took me to lunch, get books at the library for my classes, and got pedis with me....all to celebrate 2 successful weeks of interning!!!)
I am so grateful for a great beginning in this new chapter and for such an amazing support system. And to all of you great blogger pals that read my blog and have sent me some sweet and thoughtful pick-me-ups and inspiring comments, THANK YOU!!! Yall rock. For real!

much love,
kellie

ps. sorry for the lack of pictures.....I will do my best to include more for my interning updates! :)

my first week student teaching

This week has been a whirlwind. A good one though. Very good.
Monday was my first day of interning, followed by a girl's night dinner (with sushi, noodles, and bubble tea).

My first day on the job went awesomely. I came home with tons of books to read so I can catch up on new strategies.

I also got to use my new lunchbox that I got from my former boss for Christmas.

Plus I also got to wear some new clothes my sister helped me pick out (and my mom payed for) from Forever 21!!! *love*

Outfits:

(above) Monday:
top: Forever 21
Skirt: anamoly
Boots: kohls


(above) Tuesday:
plaid shirt: Forever 21
undershirt (red): target
shoes (not pictured): urban outfitters




(above) Wednesday:
gray undershirt: target
white overshirt: old navy
sweater: Forever 21
pants: (don't remember)
shoes (not pictured): urban outfitters

My awesome friend Erica also wrote me a sweet note (on apple paper) and gave me an apple. Toooooo sweet!



This is me working through lunch:


And this is my favorite part of our classroom. It's the reading nook....I love the lights, beanbag chairs, and of course its surrounded by tons of books!


Friday we went on a field trip to the marine center in Mayport Village (founded in 1562).
It was fun, but oh so cold outside!!
Oh and if you're reading this Leigh...... we also got to go to Hannah Park, which is located right next to Finnegan Elementary!!

There, we got to experience the wet lab, where they had tons of different animals....

And the kids got to put their hands in tanks so that they could feel some of the water animals.



The kids also got a kick out of Nemo, Nemo's Dad and Dori (above photo). The best was when "Nemo's Dad" went searching for "Nemo" who was hiding.... "Ms. Stapleton, Nemo's dad is literally trying to find Nemo."
Cute.




Then they got to go on the beach and collect shells. Of course, it was also windy and in the 30's......






All in all, such a good week. My directing teacher (and her co-teacher) are amazing and so great to work with. I'm learning so much and the students are really a great bunch.
Hope all you other interns and new teachers also had a great first week. Can't wait to hear more about it!!!!!

xoxox
kel

pretty things

It feels so odd not to have blogged in several days, almost as if my schedule is off. This week has been a crazy one though. My first week of interning and it's been awesome (so far). There have been tons of meetings, grading, and even some teaching moments. My directing teacher is great and I look forward to this semester! I hope the rest of you that have also started interning have had great beginnings as well. In fact, fill me in on how it's been going!!! I would LOVE to hear!

Well, I am off to look at standards and students grades.... oy I hate you FCAT! But before I go, here are some pretty things that have caught my eye.
(oh and I plan on a BIG post later this week with everything about my new internship placement...stay tuned!)












xoxo
kel