Clemson or Carolina???

For those of you who were so concerned about whether or not I would find activities for tomorrow that you just couldn't sleep, no worries I now have plans for the whole week.  :)

I knew that something would come to me eventually, and right after it did I wished I had stayed downtown longer today because once I had the idea the plans did not take long at all.  I just hope they go as well as I think they will.

There are more important things on my mind right now, now that I am well prepared for the school week of course.  If I end up getting a job and moving down here, how will I know which side to be on.  I have no ties to either Clemson or Carolina, but if I live here people will ask me who I am for and I will need to have an answer.  Clemson has prettier colors and a name that just sounds a lot cooler than Carolina Gamecocks, but.....I can't think of any buts so I guess it'll be Clemson. Problem solved :p

And I found these really cool program covers from back in the day, so that makes me want to stick with my decision even more.

Moving down here is a really big decision and I think that fact just now hit me.  I love it here.  There are so many places to explore and it's near the ocean.  It is beautiful.  I found a church that I really like going to.  It would not be the end of the world to have to live here.  I am sure that I would enjoy it....

But, I also need to consider the sacrifices.  Life at home will go on without me.  My grandpa doesn't travel and he would be devastated.  He is always telling me how much he misses me and that he can't wait for me to come home in December.  I don't know if I'll even be able to tell him that I want to move here.  Also, I will barely ever see my friends. And I will be doing a lot of things alone, which I usually don't mind but I'm pretty sure it would get old after a year or so.  

The bottom line is, I need to be where the jobs are.  I am happy here.  There is no reason why I shouldn't move here.  Ugh there is just so much to think about for the future.  Becoming a real adult is so conflicting.  

Right now I need to go grade some projects and relax a little bit before the stressful week begins.  Bring it on 7th graders, bring it on. 

American History > World History

The sun sets at approximately 5:30 pm now.  I guess that means I should wake up earlier next Saturday.  But, even in those short daylight hours I did a lot. I am exhausted.

I drove to Mt. Pleasant and ended up at a park by the water.  Since I was there and I accidentally paid for 10 hours of parking (the machine needed exact change and I didn't read that until after I lost my 5 dollar bill)  I decided to walk across the Arthur Ravenel Bridge.  The view was fantastic and I felt really good afterwards except for the fact that my legs were like Jell-O.  It was such a perfect day for it.  The sun was shining and I was warm in just a long sleeve shirt and sweater in November!

Then I drove to Fort Moultrie, which was free this weekend because of Veterans Day.  I was pretty excited about that.  It was really cool to walk through it and learn about it's rich history.  It served our country for 171 years starting in the Revolutionary War.  They had a cool demonstration with people dressed as soldiers from every major American war.  Some of them fired their weapons. It was pretty awesome.

The truth is I was just thrilled because I was experiencing American history instead of reading about world history.  I am stuck with world history all week long and it was such a relief to learn about things I actually find interesting.  I know people say that there is a lot more to world history and it covers a much longer period of time and that American history is really short compared to it, but I would rather learn about something that happened right here in my own backyard.  I'm not saying world history isn't important, because it is, but if I had the choice between Latin American independence movements and the Civil War, I would choose the Civil War every time....

...Which is kind of unfortunate considering I need to think of a good way to teach Latin American independence for Monday.

Oh well.  I'll figure it out.

After I walked around the fort I went to the beach.  I sat on my blanket and read my book while the sun was setting.  I could hear the waves crashing and feel my face burning from being out in the sun all day.  It was perfect and relaxing.  I am not used to having access to the ocean in November.  But it is something I could get used to. :)

Veteran's Day Adventures

After my first week of solo teaching at College Park I can sum my feelings up into one word: frustrated. I am doing the best I can but it doesn't seem to be cutting it.  7th graders frustrate me.  Most of them are sweet kids and I really like them, but some of them are awful to have in class.  My classroom management skills have evolved to where I am no longer a pushover, but even being really mean has absolutely no effect on these students.  All it does is make me feel terrible.  


I think the reason Thursday was so rough was because it was the last day of school for the week and we had a substitute teacher in for Mrs. Pulaski.  The kids were so crazy all day and would not listen when I told them to be quiet.  I will never understand that.  Whenever a teacher told me to be quiet in school, I listened.  I was so angry by the end of the day that one of the students told me that my veins were popping out.  I couldn't see myself, but I believe it.  


I have to start teaching Latin American independence movements on Monday.  I have the big activity for Wednesday and Thursday already planned, but I have no idea what to do for Monday and Tuesday.  I have racked my brain over and over again and I just can't think of something fun and engaging for them to do.  I never had this problem with 5th grade language arts.  This is another reason why I am so frustrated. I know that everything can't be easy, but it should not be this hard. 



Maybe God is trying to make me realize that as much as I love history, I shouldn't teach it to 7th graders.  If I get a social studies job, I would love for American history to be in the standards.  I just can't make myself get excited about the unification of Germany and Italy or the Haitian revolution so how am I supposed to make them excited.


I keep telling myself that no one can be good at everything, but I still feel like I am failing at my job if I can't figure out how to teach them the information they need to pass the PACT test (kind of like the OAA except for South Carolina).  


Perhaps I should just acknowledge the fact that I had a bad day on Thursday and then move on.  Nobody has told me that I am doing a bad job.  I have received good feedback from Mrs. Pulaski.  I have no reason to be this hard on myself.  I need to relax and then retackle the problem tomorrow.  


On a lighter note, I took this much needed day off and relaxed.  


I went to lunch with a few girls I met at church, which may not sound like much, but it was such a blessing to hang out with people and talk since I am alone here most of the time.  

Then I decided to just drive towards downtown Charleston and see what happened.  I ended up at Patriot's Point where the battleship the USS Yorktown has been turned into a museum.  It was really cool to see, but kind of creepy to walk through alone.  I had to fit through small spaces and the path of the tour consisted of plenty of twists and turns.  I think the main reason it was so creepy because it was so empty and quiet.  There were all those beds the men slept in and all the sinks where they washed at and the tables they ate at and all the dental chairs and medical rooms.  It was just sort of eerie to be there alone.  Whenever I came across another person I jumped.  

I ended up talker to an older man who was a veteran.  He said being on the ship brought back a lot of memories.  He said they were good ones.  He told me a few stories, I said thank you for serving and then we parted ways.  A few minutes later he came back to me and said thank you for saying that.  I hope that I made his day by letting him know that he is appreciated.  After that whole situation I started getting emotional.  The Medal of Honor part of the museum made me even more emotional.


I don't even want to think about what my life would be like if there weren't men and women who chose to go above and beyond in serving our country.  I don't think I could ever have the guts to do some of the things veterans have done.  I watched a video about a man who threw himself on top of a grenade to absorb the impact so that the rest of his comrades could defeat the enemy.  I cannot even fathom that kind of sacrifice.  I would do a lot for the people that I love, but knowingly throwing myself on a grenade that's about to explode!? Would you do that? I was seriously about to cry while hearing about all the heroes who risked their lives for our freedom.

*As an afterthought, I would like to say that I do not condone going to these types of places alone.  It is not safe, I repeat, not safe for a young women to be wandering around by herself.  However, if you can tell me the last time I complied to a rule like that I will give you a million bucks.  I am not going to sit around miserable just because I have no one to walk around Charleston with.  

Anyways, I was terrified towards the end of the day and I will explain why.  I got off the Yorktown and decided to check out the submarine next to it.  Submarine=even smaller, cramped, couldn't escape from a kidnapper if you tried, space.

Long story short, a man with a 10 year old son gave me the creeps.  First he said something about me being 12.  When he finally believed I was 21 he said oh good because I thought I was creepy for thinking a 12 year old was cute but now its okay.  

What!!!??? No, Mister.  It is NOT okay.  Leave me alone.  I am no longer going to be nice and start chats with strangers.  I thought a man with a kid was safe! What is this world coming to??? 

Alright, so that's my horror story.  

The lesson here is: If you're smart you'll always take a buddy to a battleship. 

It's Already Week 3???

It is Tuesday of Week 3.  I started solo teaching yesterday.  I had this whole week planned and lessons fully typed into the Ashland form by Sunday afternoon.  In other words, I have been working hard.  One of the reasons that I have been working so incredibly hard, besides the fact that I always do my best, is because I have been so stressed about doing a good job.


Of course, I shouldn't have worried so much, but what else is new? Monday went much better than I thought it would.  I don't know why I let me psyche myself out about social studies and 7th grade.  Don't get me wrong, it is not all easy and there are definitely things I need to work on in my teaching, but I did not do a bad job by any means.


I am slowly finding out that these students are really sweet in their own way.  There are a girl and a boy that stand outside by the front door of the school each morning and when they see me coming they each hold a door open for me and compete to see whose door I go in.  I try and go back and forth each day and I always say thanks to both of them.


There are a few students who have started to call me Miss Sandy.  Now, I am not going to lie and say that I love the nickname.  I actually kind of hate it.  But, at least these 7th graders are showing me that they like me  and are listening to me when I teach so I'm just going to let them have this one. I am never letting another group of students give me that nickname though.  It might drive me insane.




Example 1 of Me Being A Huge Dork

I got a little upset after 1st block on Monday because the students were laughing and I could not figure out why.  They wouldn't tell me which made me think they were laughing at me.  Now is the time you'll want to call me paranoid and say I'm just being silly.  But, they were laughing at me! Today one of the girls said that I started dancing when I was telling them to "Back it up" I can't remember why I was saying that but it must have been relevant because I wouldn't say that for no reason.  Anyways, I do not remember dancing, but I am sure I must have looked ridiculous so I'm just going to tell myself it was more of a "laughing with me" incident rather than saying that they were laughing at me...Please just let me think that, it will help me sleep at night.
I am sure there will be more examples later. 


The great thing about this week is that we only have two more days!!! We have Friday off for Veteran's Day and I am headed off to Disney with some other AU students. :)