Spring Break Recap

So a couple weeks ago was my spring break and my parents, aunt and uncle, and I all went to our condo in Hilton Head, South Carolina. We enjoyed a week of sunshine, laying out by the pool, LOTS of delicious dinners, bike rides, and my favorite: shopping! 🙂 

Below are pictures from our wonderful week at our home away from home…

my wonderful mom & dad

dinner at the harbor 

toasting to my brother and future sister-in-law on their engagement! such exciting news we found out while on vacation! couldn’t be more excited for them 🙂 

the gorgeous harbor

aunt Sandy & uncle Kendal

sunset

momma & me

I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect spring break. It was just what I needed to relax after such a busy semester of student teaching. Now that I am well-rested I can get through these last couple of weeks and enjoy them! I dread the day I have to say good-bye to my cooperating teachers and my students! 😦

Life Update!

Life has been crazy busy lately, as usual! But it has been fantastic. I have absolutely LOVED student teaching this semester and can’t believe my last day is only five weeks away! 😦

My cooperating teachings have been phenomenal and have taught me so much. One of my favorite things that I implemented was this quick and easy version of an “exit slip”:

I put post-its on the students’ desks in the morning and at the end of class I have them write down what stuck with them from that day’s lesson. It is such a cute and easy way to see how much students actually comprehended. 

Aside from student teaching, I have also been on the job hunt! Being a teacher it’s somewhat difficult finding a job because schools don’t post openings until late spring.  I have been fortunate enough to have been in contact with some schools from home that already know open positions for next school year. I even have a job interview next Friday at one of the Catholic schools in Louisville! 🙂 AND we had a career fair today at UD where I interviewed with two school districts from Louisville. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and trying to stay proactive about completing on-line applications and keeping in contact with schools. I can’t believe the real world is quickly approaching but I couldn’t be more excited about it!

A couple of weekends ago my two best friends, Liz and Morgan, came to visit! I can’t wait until we are all living in the same city again!

And of course with senior year coming to a close, the roomies and I are trying to enjoy every second of our last year at Dayton. I have been so blessed living with these 6 amazing girls and know that we will keep in touch long after graduation. 

The wonderful St. Patty’s day was last Sunday and campus was a sea of green as usual! 

Now I’m just trying to get through this last week and a half before SPRING BREAK! I cannot wait for next Friday because my mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and I are all going to Hilton Head!! I am so unbelievably excited for this much-needed vacation and quality time spent with family. 

Happy Belated Valentine’s Day

My life has been a little crazy since the start of this semester. The first weekend back I went on a retreat with 10 other UD students to prepare to lead one of our school’s retreats called Metanoia.  The weekend after that my sorority had our recruitment and added 52 new beautiful ladies to our wonderful chapter.

Last weekend was finally the retreat that the team and I had been preparing for since November. We had an excellent turnout and everyone had a great time. It was a nice opportunity to get away from campus and connect with others on a deeper level. It helped me to put my life in perspective and realize what really is important to me.

With all of these events keeping me busy on the weekends, I have also been extremely busy during the week with student teaching. I started soloing two weeks ago which means that I have fully taken over teaching. I teach both math and language arts to my sixth grade students. It has definitely been an adjustment learning how to plan and stay organized and on top of things but I think I am starting to get the hang of it. Each day has it’s ups and downs but I really am enjoying it and couldn’t be happier with my placement. Even on the days the kids make me want to pull my hair out, I know that they really are a great class. And my cooperating teachers could not be more supportive- they have been so helpful and have really welcomed me as a part of their teaching team.

And as we all know this past week was Valentine’s Day. I was able to celebrate with my adorable little munchkins on Wednesday where we made some crafty cards for their mom and dad and for Scott.

Then on Thursday my lovely boyfriend came to visit and stayed for the weekend. We enjoyed going on a couple of dinner dates and seeing the new Nicholas Sparks movie “Safe Haven” (yep, that’s right- I convinced him to go).  I love all of his books but sometimes his movies don’t always impress me; this one however was really good and even Scott approved. We had a great weekend together and it was another reminder of how blessed I am to have someone so special in my life.

Teacher Crafts

All of break I had been planning on painting canvases for my two cooperating teachers that they could put in their classrooms.  I finally had time to make them this last week and decided I would give them to my teachers as belated Christmas presents. I used the following two pictures as inspiration…

canvas #1

canvas #2

To make the first one I needed:

-white, red, and black paint

-canvas

-paint brushes

-black ribbon

-hot glue gun

I started out by first painting the canvas black…

…then carefully tried to copy all of the letters…

…and finally I created a stencil for the mask, traced it on to the canvas, and painted it red

to finish it off I added a bow in the corner 🙂 

For canvas #2 I needed:

-white, grey, light green, and turquoise paint

-canvas

-paintbrushes

-green ribbon 

-hot glue gun

I first painted the entire canvas turquoise and after it dried I added the white chevron stripes (I was going for the imperfect look so I just painted them freehand, but if you wanted them to be perfectly straight, you could always trace them beforehand with a pencil)

next, I painted the words and decided painting an apple would be a nice little touch!

I also added a bow to this one to give it that finishing touch! 

Whenever I paint a canvas like these I always try and find something to copy it off of. It makes it SO much easier, especially if you have a font to look at when painting words. I am very happy with how they turned out and can’t wait to give them to my teachers on Monday! 

Favorite Christmas Present

One of my favorite presents that I received for Christmas this year is my new monogrammed lunch box!

I know it sounds stupid, but last semester when I was student teaching, I had to bring my lunch in a plastic grocery bag — so this is a big improvement! I absolutely love it and can’t wait to use it everyday!

I came across this lunch box on Etsy at rougeandco.  They have lots of adorable prints, colors, and fonts to choose from! Would make a great gift for students or teachers you might know 🙂

First Post!

I have recently developed a love for blogs, so I decided to start my own! I am currently in my first semester of senior year at the University of Dayton, majoring in middle childhood education.  I couldn’t have picked a better college to attend and I am extremely grateful for the last three years I have spent here. It truly has become my second home and I can’t believe that in six short months I will be graduating from this amazing place.  But let’s not talk about the “g-word”…

After three years of waiting, I have finally started my student teaching.  I am in a sixth grade classroom and could not be happier. My experience so far has definitely confirmed that teaching is the right profession for me.  I have already learned so much and can’t wait to see what the months ahead will bring. I will be sure to keep you posted! 🙂 That is all for now.