Summer

Well, I feel like today is my last real day of summer vacation. Next week I have a teaching methods class and then the following week I'm going back to work.

This summer has gone by way too fast. I think it felt especially short for me this year because I've been taking teaching classes to get my teaching license. My brain is automatically in work mode when I'm in those classes and I can't help that. So, needless to say, I've tried to soak up as much of the sun and relaxation of summer in the few weeks of break that I've had. I am quite aware that most professions don't get summers off, so I should be grateful for any time I have, but my job is exhausting 9 months of the year. I don't even want to think about it.... Don't get me wrong, I love teaching and I'm excited to continue to learn how to be a better teacher. I've learned so much from the classes I've taken this summer.

This coming year I'll be teaching 4th grade!! I'll be inside the school rather than in a relocatable, which will be so nice. I will be busy taking a few more classes during the school year, but my goal is to have my level 1 license by next summer! That means next summer I might actually have a summer! I'm already planning a good trip somewhere. I've got a passport now, so the I could go anywhere! I'll keep dreaming for now....

In other news, I've been dating a guy for 6 months now. Things are going well and I'm happy. :) My sister also lives in the SLC area now, so I've also been hanging out with her and that's always awesome. My family went to Hogwarts in Hollywood a couple of weeks ago. If you want to see the video, check it out on YouTube. It was a lot of fun. Butter beer is my new favorite drink. :)

Lately, I've taken up exploring some of the canyons nearby and I found a new one today. Enjoy the video!

Kelly's Take Vegas...Again

My brother Steven goes to car shows all the time and one he really likes is in Vegas. So, we decided to join him and make it a family adventure! It was great to see my family again and play with my nephews and niece. Only downside is that we all got bad colds, and one even got the flu, when we got back. :(

I Feel Alive

It's Memorial Day weekend! It feels so good to be out hiking again. I
need to shed some of that first-year teacher weight I've gained....
This school year was probably the hardest, longest school year of my
career. Actually, now that I think about it, my first year as a
preschool teacher might have actually been worse, but still. It's been a
rough year and I'm so ready for the summer. As hard as this year has been, I've learned so much and have made some great memories and friends.

Most people already know that next year I'm moving to 4th grade. That means
I'll have some of the same kids (which I'm already having nightmares
about). Besides that, it will be a much needed fresh start in a new room
with a new team of teachers to get to know and work with.

This summer I'll be taking 4 classes that I need in order to get my teaching
license. It will be crazy this next year, but I'm hoping to get my
level 1 license by next summer. Besides that, I'm planning a couple road
trips and to be outside as much as I can.

Choose Your Own Adventure Moab 2016

This weekend I took a much needed break by going to Moab with my ward. It was awesome! It was structured as a choose your own adventure so there was so many possibilities for fun. I went horseback riding for the first time (for longer than a few minutes) and loved it. I feel good and ready to face these last couple weeks of school. The song I used in the video is one that the student choir sang at school last week and it was stuck in head all weekend, so now it's going to be stuck in yours. haha

SAGE Testing

Today I've seen and heard several ads about a report KSL is doing tonight on whether or not parents should opt their children out of taking the SAGE test (standardized test). I feel that as a teacher I should share some of my thoughts about this, so here it goes:

First of all, the SAGE test does not accurately show children's knowledge of the the core standards. I reviewed the grades my students received on assessments and compared them to their SAGE score and they don't match or even look similar except in the case of my VERY high level kids.

I think the main reason for that is because the SAGE test questions are difficult to figure out. It's not a typical ABCD answer choice like tests used to be. You have to manipulate things within the questions in a certain way to get the answer. Yeah, that sounds like fun, but in reality it's not. Basically what I'm trying to say is that the questions themselves prevent the kids from doing well on the tests. They have training tests teachers can do with the kids to help them know how to manipulate things to answer the questions, but most of the question types, especially for math, are complicated and not even on the training tests. As a teacher it's frustrating to see these kids basically give up on the tests because it is hard to figure out how to answer the questions. Besides that, correct me if I'm wrong, but the tests they will have the take in the future to go to college are still ABCD tests. If we want our kids to go to college, shouldn't we be giving them tests that are similar to the ACT and SAT? They don't have questions you have to manipulate stuff for do they? I really wonder if they do now.

The other problem with the SAGE test is that the questions get harder or easier based on how the student answers the questions. That seems great, but the problem is that when questions get harder and harder, it is discouraging and makes the kids feel dumb even though it wasn't because they didn't know the material.

Now, before you think I'm saying parents should opt their children out of taking the tests, hear me out. I would much rather them change the test than for parents to opt out. No school is doing very well on these tests, which ought to tell us something. Most people would probably think it's because the education system is failing and teachers are terrible, but that's not entirely true (although it probably is partly true). If you're going to test everyone, don't make it impossible to do well on it!!

Part of the problem with parents opting their kids out is that the parents who do that are the ones with the kids who actually would do well on the tests, which messes with the whole average score and the and such. There are some parents who I wish would opt their kids out because their kids have special needs and these tests are not designed for them. 

Another thing about testing is that there are people trying to pass laws that would require teachers' pay, evaluations, and other things to be based on the SAGE test results. I pray they don't ever do that. Seriously. We don't get paid enough as it is. Anything being based on the SAGE scores would be WRONG. 

Lastly, SAGE testing is all over for this year, so it's kind of pointless to be doing a debate about it now. I guess it could affect parents next year though.

The only thing I'd also want to change is when testing is done. We're done with testing and we still have 3 weeks left of school. We rushed through our curriculum for testing so now what do we do?? We are literally killing time until school ends. The kids are done and so are teachers. Only 13 more days.

Snow Snow Good

I love four day weekends! It's been pretty stressful lately, so this break was definitely needed. Work at my new job teaching 3rd grade is going well. I had my final observation by the principal and she gave me a yes for next year! I also took the dreaded PRAXIS test that all teachers have to take to get certified. I passed all four sections! I barely got a passing score on the math, which is a miracle considering I was running out of time and had to guess on a lot of the problems.

As far as dating goes, my ward has about a 4-1 ratio of girls to guys, so I've resorted to online dating again. I've decided to give it an honest chance this time and so far it's going better than in the past. Fortunately, this time I haven't had all the creepers wanting to chat with me and I've had an easier time talking to guys on there. I've talked to many guys and have gone on a few dates, so I'm not complaining. :)

This weekend I went snowshoeing a couple of times and just relaxed and it felt amazing.

3rd Grade

Well, I've survived my first few weeks of teaching third grade! I have been so blessed. I received a fire-hose of information and had to get right into teaching. My co-workers are very supportive and so many people have come in to help me with whatever I need.

This past week was my first week of really teaching on my own. I literally spent all day the previous Saturday preparing and still didn't have it all done. Overall, it all went well. It was nice to not have so many people coming in asking if I needed help. I had my first observation this week and it was good. The principal is understanding that I won't get it all right now and is just glad that I'm there.

It's been nice this week to go home and have a life outside of work. I don't have nearly as much I have to prepare to teach and the school closes around 6 pm, so I can't stay late even if I needed to. My classroom is still not the way I want it to be, but it's not as important as teaching and doing the other things I need to. It will come, though.

I'm basically teaching out of only two books- a language arts book and a math book. The language arts book took me a long time to really figure out how to use it, but I'm getting more comfortable with it. Math, on the other hand, is harder for me. It always has been. It's actually a really simple and straightforward book, but I find it difficult to know how to teach it because I struggle understanding it myself. Fortunately, the other nice part about this job is that I can figure out how to teach things the way that works for me. They call it the "art of teaching." I've seen so many different styles of teachers that actually comforts me as I try to figure out what my style is. It's nice that there is no "wrong way" to teach here.

The kids are really good. I do have a few kids that drive me nuts some days, but there are always those kids. The difference between 5th graders and 3rd graders is that 5th graders are much more self-conscious and like to question rules a little. Third graders still want to please the teacher and want friends, but they don't care so much about how they are seen by them. With 3rd graders I also have to give everything literally step by step- breaking everything down for them to understand and do. I learn very quickly when I haven't simplified instructions enough.

The greatest challenge I have is teaching the kids how to read and write. A lot of these kids struggle with both of those and it shows on the scores. They want to learn though and they have so much to share, so it's exciting to think I can help them learn how to do those things.