Week 8 Completed!

Well, one more week left of the first quarter! Time is passing so quickly! We don't have any pictures to display of the last two weeks as we haven't done anything too special or unique, though I do want to take some pictures of the farm across from my school. This past week, we've noticed lots and lots of pumpkins there, and in the middle of the school day, tractors and wagons full of pumpkins have been passing by the campus. I have found this particularly enjoyable because I am not used to such things, and so, if I remember, I will take a picture of it this coming week. In Visalia (the bigger town near Porterville), we saw another Pumpkin patch last weekend, and hayrides were being offered to kids. This was very interesting to see, as I'm not sure you'd find something like that in southern California!

The weather has gotten much cooler lately. It was 49 degrees a couple of mornings ago! I don't know if I like the cooler weather or not...it's hard to get out of bed! And my classroom is cold! BUT, Jeremiah and I both picked up wool peacoats that will definitely keep us warm and snuggly as the cool weather comes in. We've heard that Porterville gets really foggy throughout the winter season, so I'm glad our schools are located only 5 minutes from our home. Our peacoats are both long and black and are of similar style, so we look like twins in them...again, we need to get a photograph. My parents are coming to town next weekend, so we'll be sure to get that photo taken. I call the coats "teacher coats" - I always said I would get one when I became a teacher....

Other exciting news... this week, on Saturday October 17th, Jeremiah and I celebrate five years together (from the day he first came into Rite Aid to say hello). How we are celebrating: Jeremiah is going to the Fresno State Football game with my coworker Mike, and I am going to the town's Apple Festival with my mom and dad... :) BUT, I'm sure we'll at least find time to say "Happy Anniversary!" to one another! Perhaps the craziest part is that, in just 6 weeks, we'll be celebrating our first year wedding anniversary. It's on a Monday, so we'll be working, but we've booked a hotel in Santa Barbara to celebrate that one (and our five years too...why not combine it all?!) We decided that winter break would be a great time to celebrate (it will be here before we know it) and so we'll spend one night at the Hotel Mar Monte right on the beach before heading toward Southern California for the holidays! We've booked a room with an ocean view balcony, and the hotel says they'll have a bottle of wine and a gift certificate for dinner ready for us! That's our way to celebrate!

Tonight, we're off to dinner with my coworker, his sister and his friend who have come up from southern California. As a fund raiser at his school, Jeremiah bought tickets that we bring into the Porter Street BBQ in town - and in turn they'll give us dinner. Sounds good to me... I wonder how Porterville's BBQ will be?

Back to work...lesson planning of course! (yes, even though it's Saturday!)

ByeBye SoCal, Hello Porterville!

Two days ago, we found out wonderful news! Jeremiah has been officially hired to work for Burton School District in Porterville, the same district that I have been hired to work for! A little over two weeks ago, all we knew was that neither one of us had a job lined up for the 2009-2010 school year. Now, in God's amazing faithfulness, we both have jobs, and our schools are located only 4 minutes away from one another!

The Pictures here are: Top - Burton Middle School (Jeremiah's new school), Summit Charter Academy Redwood Campus (Melissa's new
school), and Whaley Middle School (Jeremiah's school for the 2008-2009 school year).

Silk Road Days

In continuation with the last entry, I also wanted to post a few pictures of an event the sixth graders took part in called Silk Road Days. During the Ancient China unit, the students got to participate in this outdoor event to help them have a more hands-on experience of the Silk Road. I show the classroom here to also showcase the collaborative effort in general that was used in the sixth grade classroom. But while tables seem like they would be a wonderful way to get students to collaborate with one another, they really turn into a way to keep students in constant chit-chat with one another! The usual daily conversation in class: "I need to see all students who have their backs toward me turn their chairs completely around and face me...That means I need to see your eyes looking at me...Class, I know you don't have eyes in your backs, Ok, do I need to show you how to turn your chairs around? Elyse, this includes you, and Jose, Connor, Jorge, that direction was meant for you as well.... Oh, and I didn't just mean turn them around for a moment, class... they must be turned around until I tell you that you can face your classmates again. Ok, let me show you one more time what I mean when I say to turn your chairs COMPLETELY around and face me.... Let me find just ONE student who is following directions completely... um... one student??? :) :)

Silk Road Days involved students going to different stations. At each station, they had a poster on it that showed them a map of where they were in their Silk Road journey, and also included a little information about what was so special in this area. Students had to keep a journal of each place they visited, and they also had to describe the task that they were given there. At this Beijing station, for example, students were making "glass" beaded rings... and they learned how beading was an intricate form of decorating clothing, and was only done for the great emperors... so, in turn, each student got to be emperors and empresses at this station. It was very fun, and for the most part, the students enjoyed these activities a lot.

Here, the students got to learn how to put on a sari, which was probably their favorite station (they boys especially loved this one)
And of course, students got to take part in a tea party, and eat some yummy rice! The students showcased here, Aylin, Sokbrani, Victoria, Daisy, and Noemi (facing backward) were my absolute favorites... I will miss them dearly.

Last Day Student Teaching

Now that Monday has come and neither Jeremiah or I are at school, I wanted to take the time and reflect on this past year and our teaching experiences. Jeremiah completed his first full teaching year in Compton, and I just completed my student teaching semester, a semester I dreaded since I began the credential program almost five years ago! Turns out I had such a great experience, and I learned a lot. But of course, I am sooooooooooo happy that it's all finished now! I took some pictures on the very last day, and a few of them are posted here. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my 7th graders, but since I had two sixth grade classes, I generally felt more connected with them, and so I guess it makes sense that they're the ones pictured here. This first one is of me with my wonderful master teacher, Heather Valdespino. I was so blessed to have her to work with, and she gave me the confidence I needed to want to continue teaching! (Since many student teachers have horror stories attached to their master teachers, I consider myself extraordinarily blesses)


This next picture is some of my students from Period 2...just my way of capturing the cute personalities of my
11- year old 6th graders. While many had yearbooks to sign, many others, as pictured here, brought around shirts to have their freinds sign.
This is my entire period 8 class - the 6th grade class that kept me definitely energized. There were only 6 boys in the class, and the girls were all best friends with one another (as you can catch a glimpse of with some of the hugging in the picture) Girls were hugging each other daily in this classroom before they decided they should probably take their seats to see if I had any kind of interesting thing for them to do that day :) I think I'm going to miss these guys the most.
And this is my entire 2nd period class. Unfortunately the pictures are a little blurry, but I think anyone can see the monstrous size of this class...There were a total of 37 kids in this one! (not so certain if they're all in the picture or not). Notice how in both pictures, some students weren't looking at the camera....even with multiple invitations to do so.... now try and multiply that by 10, and you can begin to imagine that challenge of keeping all 37 of these kids on task all the time! :)

Porterville Visit

God is so good! On June 5th, my BIRTHDAY, the principal of Summit Charter Academy Redwood Campus in Porterville, CA called me and offered me a history teaching position for the fall 2009 school year! Even though the economy is rough right now, and even though so many people told me over and over again that Social Science teaching jobs were few and far between, God proved faithful yet again! And this was not the end of the Lord's plan in this area.... the principal helped Jeremiah get an interview for an English teaching position within the same district! These pictures were taken on Tuesday June 9th on our way back to Porterville (Jeremiah's first time there), and before the camera broke down on us, we were able to get a few pictures in of the drive up (Pyramid Lake on the 5 freeway and of my school and the grounds surrounding it) Porterville is an agricultural rural area and the school is literally on the edge of town. The town is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Central California, about 3 1/2 hours North of LA.

So here is my handsome husband ready for an interview that we never had planned on! When he arrived, he was told that the principal was unable to be there, but the vice principal and superintendent were there tape recording his session instead. Two hours following this interview, HR called us and said that the principal had been on jury duty and was back. Out of all the applicants, she wanted to meet with only Jeremiah. So back he went for a private interview with her, and was hired on the spot! Now we are waiting for his reference/background check to be finalized, and for the position to be fully and legitimately offered to him. God is AMAZING!
Here is my beautiful campus. It is almost brand new. I will be teaching high school. The school has grades 7-12, and next year will be the high school portion's 2nd year. I am sooooooooo excited!