Friday, January 16, 2009

Student teaching and other things

Student teaching has been great so far.  The 8th graders are really hyper and the 9th graders think they're hot stuff. That's fine though, I am glad to student each in Rexburg where most of them are really good kids... except for that one school bus that chanted "assassinate obama" but that MUST have been the middle schoolers, not MY kids?! haha... ah...

Anyway, this is the classroom that I teach in.  I can't get over the carpet, it looks like it has wrinkles of a hundred year old man.
So the University told us that we were supposed to take over one class per week until we were teaching the whole day.  Well, it's the end of my second week and I have already taken all of my cooperating teacher's classes.  It's difficult because I don't have any lesson plans, powerpoints, tests, quizzes, or worksheets already made so I am doing them all pretty much the day before but that's ok. You gotta start somewhere. 

So sometimes these kids do hilarious things that I probably shouldn't laugh at but I do anyway.  The 8th grade art class had been working on making imaginary cities in either one or two point perspective.  I looked at one girl's drawing and she had drawn a train shaped building and labeled it Jimmy Choo Choo.  The boy next to her asked "What does Jimmy Choo Choo mean?"  and she responded matter-of-factly "Don't you know anything?  Jimmy Choo Choo is the biggest shoe store in the world!"  Uhh.. ok.  I just laughed to myself and decided I wouldn't tell her that it was called Jimmy Choo Ltd.  Jimmy Choo Choo sounds better anyway.... HA HA!

One of the projects I had ninth graders do this week was to marble paper to create the cover of their sketchbooks and then put them together.  They finished making these today and I think they look awesome! 
 

So this doesn't involve student teaching at all but I need to talk about this.  I love rexburg but the doughnut selection is not very good.  I have been searching for cream/jelly filled doughnuts for quite a while and I've come to the conclusion that they don't exist in idaho.  This is what Broulims and Albertsons call their "filled doughnuts."  Last time I checked these are "topped doughnuts."  It's kinda irritating.

They don't have eclairs either, which stinks.  All they have are "chocolate bars" which are just like an eclair but without the filling.  But I am after filled doughnuts because that is what I love.  So why do I refuse to eat "topped" doughnuts?  Well first off the jelly/cream on the "topped" ones get crusty and gross.  Who wants to eat crusty jelly?  Not me.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Where I wouldn't mind living

While we were out east McKay and I took a day trip down to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.  I love that place it is really beautiful and has lots of character.

Harpers ferry is surrounded by water (one of the many reasons why I love this place) with the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers practically encompassing it.
Oh yeah and don't forget about John Brown and his radical raid on this rebuilt federal arsenal


inside one of the old antebellum buildings
McKay and I hiked up to the top of Harpers ferry to the graveyard.  If I couldn't ever live here I wouldn't mind being buried here, it's so unique!


This picture was taken at Jefferson point where Thomas Jefferson said this exact view was worth the trip across the Atlantic and I agree 100% (not that I ever crossed the Atlantic)
Gorgeous!! My dream town!!!!

When we got back to ID...

it was snowy and cold.

Cutting trees

Luckily Braiden and Sharon brought their camera when we went Christmas tree chopping.  Here are a couple pictures I stole from them.  It was really really cold that day (but still not as cold as Rexburg)


Saturday, January 3, 2009

Chocolate World

Oh yes, I took McKay to Hershey Pennsylvania just so he could go to Chocolate World and ride the "rollercoaster."  If anyone else has been I am sure you know the "scary" ride I am talking about.   While we were driving there we happened to get lost in downtown Hershey. I think I got distracted by the 5'x5' Kisses on the sidewalk and stopped paying attention to where I was going.  We kept turning onto streets called Chocolate Ave and Cocoa Ave but eventually found our destination.  As you can see from the picture below even the lightpoles are a distracting.



Christmas

For Christmas Mckay and I went to Maryland.  It was nice there, nice and warm with no snow.  We left Idaho at the beginning of a giant snow storm and we were glad to escape.  

During our stay we shopped, visited Braiden, Sharon, and Ethan (and dumb me I didn't take any pictures), went to Chocolate World, went to Harpers Ferry, hunted for christmas trees, saw Bedtime Stories, had Christmas and Christmas eve, went out to eat with Dad and other Boretos relatives, cooked a lot of food, played games with family, and tried to find a day to relax. Unfortunately time flies while having fun and we had many more things that we wanted to do but couldn't get to it.

Christmas eve dinner

Christmas morning