Crazy Hat Day

This week at school is Red Ribbon Week. Today's dress-up theme was "put a cap on drugs" and students were invited to wear a hat. I, of course, ended up wearing a giant frog hat for part of the day because I don't have any hats. If I get a picture I'll post it. It was pretty neat. The best part of the day was when we were at the kick-off assembly. I looked down at my students to see if everyone was minding their p's and q's and lo and behold a student had underwear on his head. He wasn't wearing those 2 minutes before that! I asked him to take them off then he had a nice little chat with the principal at the end of the assembly but he seriously thought it would be okay to wear underwear as a hat, so he just had to put them in his backpack and wear the hat he wore to school. Seriously though, underwear on your head at school? In fourth grade?! He sure is creative, I'll give him that.

My Exciting Life in Fourth Grade

I want to be a bit better about documenting some of the things that go on in my classroom. I really love teaching and I feel at home when I am in the classroom. It is such a wonderful blessing to have found a profession that doesn't feel like a job, despite all the 12+ hour work days I have put in thus far and will continue to put in the rest of my career.

This week has been eventful. I had a student who decided to act like a dog, which led to him biting another student. Well, one thing led to another and he ended up being wheeled to the office in a ball bin. He's fine, he just threw a fit and decided that would be a good place to go.

I also have a student who likes to cry to try and get his way. It doesn't work. I even make him stop crying (I'm so mean!) and do his work. He's in fourth grade. The kid needs to stop crying. Today my drama with this student was that he has been drawing graphic pictures involving guns.

Amidst the dogs and crying, there are many little rays of sunshine however. Today I was giving my class a firm talking to because they are struggling with raising their hands before they speak. One student raised his hand and said in a voice of admiration, "I love you." This student likes it to be quiet when he works so I am sure the few students who can't keep their comments in have been bothering him. It was so cute.

Yet another student wrote me a note on the back of her assignment saying, "Miss Winn, thank you for all your support." She's cute.

My class has a really good sense of humor, which I appreciate. Today a boy was sitting on top of a desk (he was allowed to do this) and he kept having a hard time balancing for some reason. Somehow he fell off and it was so fun to be able to laugh with my students. They were quite surprised that I actually laughed as well, which added to the fun.

Fourth grade is a blast. It's keeping me plenty busy but I love it! Yay teaching!

I'm Alive!

I am indeed still alive, despite what my blog may lead you to believe. I am also a full-time 4th grade teacher!!! Because of this, I feel I will maybe blog again at Christmas time. Don't expect anything before then and you won't be disappointed. :)

Here are some pictures of my classroom. It isn't too exciting but it's my home for at least the next 9 months. Speaking of home, I moved to Salt Lake. It's great here.

In other news, Jess and his family moved to Utah last month and we were able to have most of the family all together! It was so much fun and here are some of the gems from our family time:

Rhett decided wearing Afton's dress-ups was a good idea

Afton has such a sweet smile and Rhett is such a charmer!

Melodie decided to put a Pirates of the Caribbean tattoo on Max's stomach. All the boys and Afton got tattoos as well. Jess' was on the back of his head. It was hilarious.

To check out more fun pictures of the family go to Jess and Cari's blog at: Max's Blessing Day or Family Fun in Wyoming with the Winn Clan. I sure like my family. They are cool.

Things I'm Excited for in Teaching

Kids are funny. It's weird to me the way their brains work. However, here are a few examples of why I absolutely love attempting to figure out how their brains work:

Jobs

It's that time again, the time where #1 I have a teaching job, and #2 I am looking for a summer job. I don't so much enjoy looking for jobs but having a teaching one to look forward to in the fall is super exciting!

The deal is: I'm teaching 4th grade in Tooele, UT. I'll be moving to Salt Lake and commuting. Exciting!

That is about all my life is right now, looking for jobs and planning for my teaching job but I felt obligated to post about my teaching job. Also to say that I have a college diploma and a valid teaching certificate BOTH in my room. I'm pretty happy about that.


Also, I really enjoyed this article: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=20445630&nid=1011&title=5-board-games-that-should-be-movies&s_cid=featured-4

Farewell BYU!

I wanted to title this post with something super lame like, "Rise and Shout this Cougar is outta here," but that was WAY too lame, even for me so I just put in in the text of this post instead.

I'm done with my undergraduate career. The only thing left is for me to walk around in a weird-looking gown with hundreds of other people in order to be handed a fancy piece of paper that says I'm finished. Weird concept.

Looking back on my life as an undergrad student here at BYU has been nice, but I'm excited enough about my future that I am excited to move forward. I feel it is important to recognize some big events that have happened over the past 6 years. Twenty-five events or people to be specific.

25.

Freshman year my roommates and I put seasonal t-shirts on these ladies. It was so freshman-y.

24.

I was in BYU's Women's Chorus for 1 year. I got to be on TV.

23.

John Beck to Johnny Harline touchdown pass in the BYU-UTAH game. One of the best moments of my life.

22. I had my first boyfriend, Ben Pettit. It was fun. (Sorry, I don't have old boyfriend pictures).

21.

My roommates and our friends filled the front of my car with popcorn. It was the funniest prank I've ever heard of. Luckily the popcorn wasn't buttered!

20.

I met these two lovely ladies. Carolyn (Jackson) Hirz and Deidra (Kofoed) Law. We had an awesome time being roommates, and we're still friends.

19.

Cinco de Mustache party. One of the coolest parties I threw during my college career.

18.

My first summer in Provo. It really is so much more fun living in Provo during the summer! My ward did all sorts of fun activities all the time.

17.

I went on a mission. The best influence on my life yet.

16.

I came home from my mission.

15.

Lived at home for the summer.

14. Boyfriend #2, Andrew Baham.

13.

The Dream Palace. I love these girls! I was the awkward RM in the bunch if you can't tell.

12.

I started my program in the McKay School of Education.

11.

Harry Potter 7: Part 1 Premier. I was Bellatrix Lestrange.

10.

I moved to Banbridge Square. I don't have any pictures of Sarie and Dani and Lene together, but they're all awesome and I loved living with them!

9.

Jimmer.

8.

Second summer in Provo. Again, no pictures of Sarie but she was there too. This summer was way fun, lots of parties and pillow talk.

7.

Hiked Timp and the Y for the first time!

6.

I moved to Baywood with these lovely ladies (minus Sara, even though she is lovely as well).

5.

I got to spend time at two schools for a month each. The first school was a 2nd grade Riverside Elementary in West Jordan and the second one was a 6th grade Southland Elementary in Riverton.

4.

Harry Potter 7: Part 2 Premier. I was Sybil Trelawney.

3.

I student taught in 5th grade at Hobble Creek Elementary and 2nd grade at Art City Elementary and it was magical!

2.

Began looking for real-life teaching jobs.

1.

FINISHED COLLEGE!!!

Dr. Seuss Day Is TOMORROW!!!!!

So I had this wonderful thing called a Teacher Work Sample to do this semester. I turned in a 72-page document all about magnetism. I had to plan the unit, make lesson plans, teach the lessons, give the pre- and post- tests, and evaluate EVERYTHING. It was a beast. I turned it in February 27. Hooray!!!

Also on February 27 I changed schools and grades for student teaching. I absolutely LOVED my last school and grade and class and everything. I'm learning to love this one. Here's why:

The good:
* Amazing mentor teacher. She has 27 years of teaching experience and is so thorough in everything she does it is incredible to watch.
* Super cute kids. Second graders are always cute no matter what. Especially when you get to send them home at 2:45.
* Did I mention that Dr. Seuss Day is tomorrow? Oh, AND I get to go on a field trip to a FARM with these kids.

The other stuff:
* The school itself has been going through some changes because there is a new principal. She is really fun but is new so going from a wonderful principal to someone who is still learning the ropes has been interesting.
* There has been quite a bit of drama between teachers the past few weeks. Lame.
* My mentor teacher kind of talks to me like I'm one of her students. She calls me "honey" and "sweetie" all the time. It makes me feel a little awkward.

BYU has wisely had us split up our student teaching into two blocks. They also have you student teach in both a lower and an upper grade. This is wise because we are basically the full-time teacher by the end of our first placement. Then we have to come to another school and start again where you were two months ago. It is humbling, which I think we all need. In talking to all the other student teachers in my school they feel the same way I do about learning to love our classrooms.

I'm starting to look for teaching jobs too so if you have ANY pointers for me I would be grateful for them because I'm a tiny bit terrified and don't really know how to do this. I'm SUPER excited though because it means I'm going to have a real job someday!!! Hopefully in a few months!

Lastly, I ordered my cap and gown last night. I'm going to graduate from COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!