Open House, Orientation, and no Budweiser tees...

This past Thursday was open house at my high school, and the response was pretty overwhelming. For one, a lot of parents were excited that there was a student teacher working alongside their child's teacher. The fact that the parents were just as excited as I was for me to be there was extremely comforting.

Despite the fact most students came with their parents, personalities and work ethic clearly came through. The sass in some of my girls was evident, but the sweetness and willingness to cooperate was there too. Some students were open enough to express their disgust for math as well as their unwillingness to do homework. This will be a fun semester for sure...

Now the boys were.... boys. I think many of them assumed I was a student and flashed that awkward teenage boy smile--you know, the one where they try to hide the fact that they're really smiling? It wasn't until I took the intiative to shake mom and dad's hands first and introduced myself as Ms. B that I put the nail in the proverbial coffin. But they'll deal I'm sure... or I'll call mom (LOL).

Friday was my yearlong internship orientation at my school. The emphasis from my dean was open, honest and detailed communication between me, my CT, and my school's college of education. Many an intership has failed due to lack of communication between two of these three parties.

Once we got to the professionalism portion, things got a little intersting. When it came to dress, we were told of a yearlong intern teaching kindergarten who came to school in a Bud tee shirt. When asked by the principal to change their shirt, the lovely intern responded "What difference does it make? They can't read anyway!" Wow, how nice.

Teachers and parents of the world please rest assured--this is only a small (and dumb) segment of the student teaching population. I would assume 99.999999% of us really take our pending careers very seriously.

But it's always that one bad (amusingly foolish) apple...
First day's Tuesday--I'll fill you in soon!

Cooperating Teacher spotlight--Mrs. O

Before getting into how hectic last week was, just thought I'd share a bit about my cooperating teaching, or CT, whom I will affectionately refer to as Mrs. O. Mrs. O has been teaching twenty-seven years, thirteen of which at the high school level. First impressions are everything for me, and after the inital meeting I just knew we would hit it off. She is the mother of three: one foster child, who's a bit older than me, and two stepdaughters. She, like myself, also believes in making an impact in a large way, not just in our subject area. One of the first things I said to her was "I teach KIDS, not Math," and her response was the same. We've already begun talking about all the activites we want to do with our students this school year. She (and I for that matter) is teaching Algebra I, which is a year long course, so the students I have this semester I will have in the Spring as well.

Overall, the cooperation is so strong and we think the same in so many ways. Although I was slightly intimated being in a large school district than where I went to high school, she has completely put me at ease. My university has done something right!

August 2009--First Entry (Bear with me folks...)

I don't really know where to begin. Should I sell myself? Tell my life story? Smh, that would be far too boring and predictable. So, I guess I'll start where I need to...

I'm in my last year of undergrad getting ready to start the student teaching process. It is quite exciting to think about, although somewhat bittersweet. Why? I guess because my rolling out of bed in PJ's to class, pulling all nighters, bartering for my textbooks, and cramming for final days are numbered. The growing up part doesn't scare me so much (I'm getting married in the fall **happy sigh**). It's the idea of having a whole new network of people--parents, fellow teachers, administration, and students--depending upon me that's a little overwhelming. Especially the students. But I'm sure I'm not the only who has (or still is) coping with the feelings of inadequacy when it comes to teaching, especially math. Math teachers just about always get a bad rap.

So I started this to partly vent my pending frustrations, but more importantly to share ideas. I've got tons of ideas on lessons, classroom management, the whole nine. But I'm not really sure what will work until kid tested. I'm always thinking of things that are currently relevant to kids, and wondering how to implement them in the classroom.

Which brings me to my blog title. Everyone remembers the FOIL method for multiplying two binomials, right? First, outer, inner, last--ok forget it if you don't... that can be a later post. Well, anyway, I brainstormed and came up with a rather corny approach to my teaching. I want to be Fun, Overreaching, Interesting, and Love what I do. Now, I do realize that this cannot be done everyday, but I think it's more of a state of mind. If I'm fun and energetic, extend myself to reach all my students, present things in an intersting manner, and really show people that I enjoy what I do--then my kids who really WANT to excel will, right?

On second thought, I don't think that's corny at all...