Talk about eing ESL

I was really nervous over the summer that I was not going to have a couple of ESL students in my class to complete my practicum for my ESL endorsement. I saw the name Luis on my roll, but her was new this year, so there was no information on him. I met him and his mom during back-to-school night. They brought a neighbor kid to translate, which I didn't think much of because they is pretty common for events that the information is crucial. I learned that they had moved from Mexico this summer and has been picking up vocabulary really fast. That first day, I was shocked to see how little his English really was. When the class walked down to the cafeteria, I had this feeling to walk in with him to make sure that he could go through fine. When the lunch lady asked him what his name was, he looked up to me with his eyes begging for help. At the end of the day, I sent him home with a paper that read "What is your name? My name is Luis. What is your first name? Luis. What is your last name?" The next morning, when I greeted him at the door, I asked him what his name was. He had practiced that night and was able to answer. I more I work with him, the more he surprises me. He has excellent decoding skills, meaning he can read words but he can't comprehend them. On Friday, I met with him mom for a conference. Mike was so kind enough to come and translate. I learned so much from that. His mom was an optometrist in Mexico and is working on getting her license to transfer. Luis has an older sister who speaks English and the family's goal is to learn English by the end of the year. Wow, that is not the typically ESL family that you meet. The funniest thing that his mom shared with me was that he actually understands a lot of what I am saying, except my jokes. One moment, everyone is laughing and he doesn't know why. He told his mom that he is afraid that once he learns English, I will stop telling jokes. What a cute, innocent fear. Anyways, I am trying my best to help him through. If anyone has any suggestions, send this this way.

First Day of School

Kelli told me that I needed to record my wonderful encounters as a first year teacher. You can already infer that since I am writing this post, that I at least survived my first day. The day did go well for the most part. Last night was back to school night and there were a few parents that approached me with information that I would need to know right away (peanut allergy, language ability, etc.) Well today, I started with an activity that would introduce the rules. I had the students pop balloons with situations in there that they had to determine if it was a good situation or bad and what rule would encourage that behavior. As soon I as I pulled out the balloons, a girl came up to me and told me she was allergic to them. By them, the students had already touched them. I just sent her out to the hall while we did the activity. Afterward, I had every student wash their hands while I wiped down all the desk. When she came back in, I just told her to tell me if she feels the reaction at all. She seemed to be good until a half hour later. "Mrs. Matthews, my lip is swelling". Oh my word, I had to send her to the office, where her mom brought benadryl. Her lip was better, but she was dozing off for the rest of the day. Since no one died, I guess I can call it a success.

Wasatch Elementary

This week has been bitter sweet. I finished my last day ever at the Wilk. I was there for three years and I figured it out one time that I spent more time with the girls there than I do with Mike in a weekday. I really didn't like the actually work that I did but I love the people there, especially my boss.
On a lighter note, I started working full time at Wasatch Elementary. I still can't believe that they trust me with 27 students (I know Josh is shaking his head disagreeing). I almost have my classroom set up and I have my lessons planned for the first week. Here are a few picture of what it looks like. I am given money by both the State and the PTA to help me start. However, since this is my first year, I rather spend my money on field trips and science experiments than on decoration. I have been so blessed to receive a lot of decoration and supplies from friends (even though they are not matching) that I feel bad to spend money on things that I already have just because it would look better. Hopefully the parents see that instead of a boring classroom.

Life Update

I am really bad at blogging because I feel like I need to have pictures to post each time, however, my brother assured me that one or two times without pictures is acceptable, as long as we wrote something. Anyways, I thought I would update everyone on our lives (as interesting as it may be). I am getting ready for fifth grade to start. My classroom is almost set up (pictures of it will come soon) and I meet with my mentor teacher today about scheduling and planning. It is so strange to think that I will be holding a back to school night with parents that are old enough to be my parents. Mike is busy with med school applications. He is constantly asking me questions like "If you had to introduce to someone, what would you tell them about me" or "What are some of my good qualities" only to find out that he is sick of writing the essays and needs fresh ideas. His sister Katherine has been such a help with giving him suggestions. She is more tactful at giving him suggestions. Mike has heard back from two schools already and has an interview with TUMB in Galvenston, TX and Ohio State. I am really excited for him, but jealous at the same time because he will be traveling to all these new places.

Summer Camping Trips

With two camping trips already under our belt, this summer is looking like it is going in the right direction. This year, we went on our "Second Anual Memorial Camping Trip" with our friends Sam and Heather Shannon. We went up to Diamond Fork Canyon and camped near the trailhead to the hot pots. Last year, we shared the place with a group of hippies on their way to the Rainbow convention (completely serious). Luckily this year we shared with a nice, normal family.


These are the Shannon's, as Josh like to say "Sammy Shannon".


It was so cold at night and our fire was not up to par. We did everything we could to keep warm.



The trail up to the pots was pretty, at least for Utah. Our ward also had a campout that next weekend up at Payson Lake. It was a lot of fun. There were several highlights about the trip. We discovered "Jumbo" marshmellows. They were so huge. You only needed one of them. We (I mean the boys)cooked one jumbo marshmellow and smashed it between two whole graham crackers and a whole chocolate bar. We called it "the sub" s'more. The second highlight was catching fish. Both Mike and I cuaght fish the traditional way with a pole and power bait. However, we also caught the fish with our hands. I felt like Mulan.



Mike casted the line at and asked me to hole the pole just for a second while he was reorganizing his tactile box. I had to promise to return the pole to him once he was done because I had the tendiency to steal the pole from him. But once I got it, I felt a fish bit. Needless to say, I did not give the pole back and I claim the catch as mine.


Mike was really excited to catch such a big fish. I was excited that the hook just got the fish on the side of the mouth so we could release him.

in the morning, the ranger came by and told us that the stream is going to dry up in a week and so all the fish in it will also dry up. So, our job was to catch all the fish and run them back to the lake. This video is Ryan Flake doing the job with mad skills.


This is me trying to do the same thing.

I am just not as talented. In this catch, the fish was running away. He finally swam until there was no water for him to swim in and he got stuck.

Overall, it was a really fun camping trip. Hail to the Hales for putting it together.

HELP!!!

So I was trying to be up with the times and make my blog look all cool, but now it is out of control. I tried everything to get this picture to fit, but it just won't. I pushed the shrink to fit, but it wouldn't work. I tried not pushing shrink to fit (better) but still nothing. Any suggestions?

Teaching 6th Grade

For those who don't know, last week I started my second practicum at Sprucewood Elementary in a 6th grade class. The practicum is pre-student teaching. I wish I had some funny comments that the students made, but their pretty good this time. It does feel good knowing that I don't have to deal with students crawling underneath desks, tying 10 pairs of shoes a day, or hear tattling reports that so and so called Jennifer a girl (I know, how devastating). Today, may teacher was out for the day, which means that I got to play teacher for the whole day. I came early and sat down at the desk, worked on the computer, and wrote a morning message on the board. Several people came into my class to talk with me before hand and I even got the main office calling me on the overcome. It felt like the real deal. My lesson today was on WWI Trench warfare (which I have become an expert on). It was really rewarding to see the students make connections that these were real people and not just actors. Oh how I love teaching. To bad I have to go back to observing tomorrow.