Live the Difference

"I want to live to love, I want to live to fight....."
"I'm gonna live the difference.  I'm gonna pay the price.  'Cause it's all or nothing, no compromise.  I'm gonna live the difference- put my life on the line, 'cause this is my generation, and I'm gonna fight, it's time."

Merry ALMOST Christmas!!  That's certainly something to jump up and down about!!  It's been a long, exciting, draining, motivating, moving time for me, and all things aside I do love it!  This month, and just these last two weeks in particular have probably been my most difficult.  I think mostly because a much needed (and deserved!) break is right around the corner, and there are so many things I'm learning down here that as mad as they make me, make me glad I'm here too. 

Of course, you all have most certainly heard what happened in Connecticut, and I'm sure you have even heard and seen more about it than I have... But from what I have heard, it's horrible to think such things can and are happening.  I know I thought about it as I am a kindergarten teacher and thought about what that would have felt like if that had happened at my school or to any of my kids... And it's not like the situation is unlikely to happen at all.

Obviously that's a sad topic and one no one wants to think of ever happening to anyone they know.  I think daily about what my little ones go through at home, and the things I already know they are going through... Soo I felt like it was a good time to share some funny stories!

It's the end of the second nine weeks! Yippee! Also the end of my first semester teaching in a very intense place, super horrah!! (Yeah... Not sure if I spelled that right!) We're winding down and have done our nine weeks tests.. Social Studies- my all-time favorite test to give because the answers I get are always entertaining! Apparently, according to a 5 year old little girl in my room- the stars on the flag stand for Obama... Another little boy understands his personal needs and wants in life, so long as they involve food- he NEEDS apples and bananas and grapes, but when asked what he wants, he responded- "I won't me sum steak an' sum rice an' some potatoes Mi' Muhkay!" (at least he understand healthy eating habits? Haha.  I have started getting self portraits of myself... In one I have black hair, and I asked the little girl why I did.  In her most sincere voice she says "well we all have black hair, so now you do too." (not sure how to take that, but I'm gonna assume they love me the same! Haha). 

It's also pertinent for you to know that when wearing purple nail polish, "you be lookin' fly". That the Pledge of Allegiance most certainly goes " I pledge legiance to merca, and to the public it stands under god, visible with liberty for all." and that no matter what you may not be a "pencil hog or ms Kay finna mooove yo clip down two times!" And to always always always "tuck yo shirt in (insert any kid's name being yelled by another when coming out of the bathroom) 'cause ms muh-Kay can't see your purdy belt!!" and of course anyyyyy time a student gets their computer screen changed accidentally or not to something besides the activity they should be working on... That EVERYONE KNOWS  "_________be own Facebook mi kay!"

(yes, I am constantly called Ms. Mackay, Ms. Kay, Mi' Kay, Mi' Muhkay.) (I answer to them all)

We are also having our Christmas play Monday morning at 9:30am... Should be entertaining.  I will have it videoed!

Anddd I have 14 fake guitar to make for that as well as a million cookies and truffles and fudge to make for two different work parties.

In other news I ate deer chili for the first time this week, and it was good! 

Now, I must leave to go shower for work! 

Those of you I do see that read this, thanks for being around =). Those of you I don't see, I'll be seeing you next weekend and can't wait!!!!! Love you from the Delta and back!!

Also- 2,100 views? 

I'm feeling a little special =)

Especially since I don't have much time to frequently update anymore. 

Thanks for reading =)

Yes, I'm goin' to (North) Carolina in my mind-

"In my mind I’m goin’ to carolina
Can’t you see the sunshine
Can’t you just feel the moonshine
Maybe just like a friend of mine
It hit me from behind
Yes I’m goin’ to carolina in my mind"

-James Taylor, Carolina In My Mind

Hello!  North Carolina, I'm missing you this week. =)  The song is appropriate.  However, I am definitely enjoying my break regardless.  Between working over the weekend, and having a smaller check due to meetings one weekend, it just wasn't realistically feasible for me to make it home...  HOWEVER, look out Christmas Break because I AM coming home.  I can't wait =)  It's a little hard to believe this is the first holiday I won't be with all of you, but I'll be thinking about you for sure!  Mom, I will certainly be missing ALLLLLLL of your food. 

I did work this past weekend, and was able to sleep in yesterday and today, and plan on doing just that the rest of this week!!!  I know a few people that are here through Wednesday so I haven't been completely alone, and I met another new person this weekend, so he and I have had dinner a couple of nights as well.  (He comes into the country club sometimes, and I have met him previously, serving tables obviously.) 

Yesterday I drove out to South Haven, Mississippi to walk through Target, even though I bought nothing, andddd I may have stopped at Bruster's since I finally found it and got a brownie sundae with chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream.  I have been CRAVING some Bruster's ice cream for quite some time, so it hit the spot, and was a nice little mini-reward to finally making it to Thanksgiving break!

I also had the joy of being taken to dinner in downtown Clarksdale last night at a place called Oxbow, and trying fish tacos... I have heard about fish tacos before, buttttt have never tried them.  Everyone knows I will try most anything, and don't really dislike anything... but I definitely give them two thumbs up.  I now know why they are so popular.  I should have taken a picture.  Oops. Oh well.

Today I went to my school and my classroom is SOOOOOO much cleaner now.  It's still not organized the way I would like it, but it is certainly clean now!  I have been dying to have time to clean it and we really don't have time after school or before school, nor is the school ever open on any weekends.  I never did post a picture of my Thanksgiving door. I'm pretty pleased with it, even though my kids like to make fun of my turkey because he has no feet.  They always make fun of my drawings.  I don't blame them... I know you always enjoyed my "artwork" too, Mom... hahhaha   Anyhow, here it is:

I really wish I could put some pictures of my kids up here because they really have won my heart, even though they also make me want to rip my hair out sometimes....

Alright, I guess that's all for now.  Happy Thanksgiving, I miss you, and I love you all! =)

State of Grace, State of Grades, State of Mississippi

"This is a state of grace

This is a worth while fight"

-Taylor Swift, State of Grace

Hellllllo!   It has been quite some time since I have had a chance to write.  Yes, I am alive.  Yes, I am still sane.  Yes, I'm still glad I'm here.  No, I still don't know what the heck I'm doing some times.  No, I still don't understand why a kid cries every two minutes over the silly things like not having a purple crayon or the extra clothespin in his/her center bag.  No, I still don't know why the chicken crossed the road.  (hahaha.. get it-- because the joke always has a different answer!  Okay, so maybe me and my corny jokes have just never liked that particular joke.)  Either way, I'm back to update quickly, as usual.

I'm four days shy of having a week-long break.  Let me just say for a minute that it is absolutley superkalafragilistic expealidocious!  I absolutley can not WAIT.  I know several of you are waiting to know if I am coming home.  I know it is short notice, but until I know what is on my country club check Friday- I don't know whether or not I'll be home.  Unfortunately this is my last month, hopefully, of playing catch-up on moving expenses before starting an actual savings account again, along with Christmas and the traveling that will come with that as well.

On another note-I'm getting the kindergarten lifestyle down a little more each day.  I've discovered the wonderful world of the white lies...like secret spy cameras, and the spectacular sticker craze that every child posseses.  ESPECIALLY when it comes to the "special stickers."  hahaha... they work wonders. 

I should have a million things to say, but I am honestly just keeping one thing in my mind-and that is my break coming up in four days... ha.  We haven't had a day off of school since Labor Day and started school much earlier than schools in North Carolina.. August 6th. Soooo this break is all that I'm thinking of until it gets here.

I'm still in between about the decision to apply to work at Institute this summer or to be off for the summer, while keeping my job at the Country Club.  Both have wonderful things about the them, so we will see.

The above lyrics are of course coming from my favorite person ever- Taylor Swift.  They are from one of her new songs on her new album.  "This is a state of grace, this is a worth while fight."  I absolutely couldn't put what I'm doing into words any better.  Anyone can look at where I'm teaching, what I'm teaching, or who I am teaching and say good and bad things, but all it really comes down to is the fact that it's a "fight" every day.  Yet, in each of these kids is the need to be loved, cared about, and taught something.  So many of them carry a burden of things some of us have never had to deal with and cover themselves up with a hard cover.  Uncovering that, even in my little kids is my goal.  They need to know they are worth it, that they too can be anything they want, and can go anywhere and do anything.  I spend a good chunk of my mornings giving out hugs and asking the same questions every day. "How are you?" "Did you have a good night?" "You ready to learn today?" "What are your grades like?" "How about that attitude?"  So many times they aren't even my students, and so many times there are a million and two other things I could be doing with that time in the morning.  Then, I remember that, hey, Amy, take a minute and give it away, that question may be the one thing they need.  Maybe not, but for some reason they keep coming back to hear it.  So long story short- this is a worth while fight.

I think it helps that I have come from a background of different things too.  I worked through college, and even after college didn't do what I went to school for.  I think having that to look back on helps me realize that I am where I need to be.  As much as I hated some of those long days of school followed by a long night of work, I think it has given me the drive and experience to share with the people I'm meeting down here.  I can relate, and show that things are possible, so long as you want what you are after. 

I'm in the right place for now, struggles or not.  I hope to talk to you all soon! 

Oh and I think I mentioned it on Facebook- but a continual thank you goes out to everyone.  Your thoughts, prayers, letters, postcards, packages, and support continue to make me smile and make my days better.  THANK YOU =)

 

Incredibly Everything

So I actually have a long post to put on here saved on my school laptop, but honestly I am so tired and exhausted that I'm not gonna switch over and get it up today.


Quick Version Update (Until I can get the other one up)

This weekend- I worked Friday night, and then Saturday and Sunday morning until 3, butttttt also had some good times spent with good people.  The King Biscuit Blues Festival is apparently the biggest Blues Festival in these parts so I had to check it out for a little bit.   It was interesting!  It would have been better had there not been any rain or cold weather!  I thought moving down here would mean the only thing I wouldn't be deprived of is warm weather!  (Since I have no easy access to stores, theaters, food, etc.)  Apparently it gets cold here too!  BOO!

Sunday we had a huge workday...which turned into finding another house for someone else and eating dinner---thennnnn we worked.

It's the end of the nine weeks for me, testing is done and my grades are due.  (They were due today-and they were turned in after a long night of averaging.)

As many of you have seen on facebook-  I am incredibly tired right now, but even more incredibly proud of my kids!  They have successfully made an 80% class average or better in every subject!!!  Here's to hoping the next nine weeks are just as successful if not more successful and that sleep is more easy to come by!

Also- I had a Dad tearing up after school today and it was one of the best moments.  He came by to ask how his daughter was doing, and I told him that he should be very proud because she made all As and Bs.  He was so happy and turned around so I wouldn't see him tear up.  Such a fulfilling moment for me too.

Anyhow, goodbye for now!  A better update later along with some more pictures! =)

M Is A Consonant, A Letter In The Alphabet!

Hello, hello!  It has been a while... once again.  I'm on my school laptop so I can't get any new pictures up at the moment, however I am going to try to email you all some videos/pictures soon that you should enjoy.   (Also- Eric- I finally found comments you left me!  Hahahah thanks so much! Maybe now it will work when you leave them?!)

Anyhow, since I am about to wrap up the FIRST NINE WEEKS with my kiddos, I figured I would post a video of one of the many letter songs we watch on a daily basis!  We have learned the letters Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Ss, Tt, Vv, Ww, and Yy. Believe me, there is a song for every letter.  Then there are songs for double letters or blends, like Sh.  They really enjoy them though so we use them!  Hope you enjoy that one! (Feel free to go to schooltube.com and search "The Letter ___ Song"  you can have more fun singing along, just like we do!  Wfe've also learned our site words- we, see, me, to, the, and, I, is, a, like, cat, dog.  We're learned our left from our right, what periods, question marks, exclamation marks are, uppercase and lowercase letters, beginning, middle and end of a book, the author and illustrator, parts of a book, and using pictures to help us figure out what a story is about!

In math we are also doing lots of fun and exciting songs as well.  The one above happens to be their favorite! I've gotten them were the literally freeze completely until it says Dance!  Shake Your Grove Thang!  They enjoy that most!  We've also learned to count to 50 with a song, count by tens, and we're starting to count by fives.  This nine weeks we have learned....or are still perfecting I should say--how to write our numbers 1-25, how to sort by color, shape, size, (and texture in science), we've learned our shapes- rectangles, squares, circles, triangles, cubes, cylinders, cones, and spheres, as well as our colors!

We've been perfecting writing, and use "spacemen" (a plastice spoon that has a smily face on the part where you put your hand that they can use to space, and a star in the part you would put in your mouth, they know that is where their finger goes.  They place the end of the spoon after a word they have written or a number to make a space before their next word or number.  If they happen to put the part you would eat off as the space-there is a sad face because they arent using the spaceman correctly and he is upset!)  It's amazing how much they love a plastic spoon when it has a special name, and how much they WANT to use it.  Several of them opted to write during recess instead of play games inside one day when it was raining.

We're learning how to be good citizens, what voting is (which by the way- between pizza, cookies, and chicken-kindergarteners still vote for pizza!) and figures of authority like firefighters and police officers!  In science we've learned the seasons and sorting!

It's been a whirlwind of an adventure these first 8 weeks!  Next week is week 9 and they have all of their testing to do!  Behavior this week has made a turn for the best!  My students have gotten compliments in the hall for their lines, and today I made them sit on a piece of paper.  If the paper fell off their chair, it's because their bottom was up and not staying where it was supposed to.  If it fell- they didn't get to choose if they wanted a sticker or to get their clip moved up.  Only three lost their papers, and STILL tried to keep their bottoms in their chairs.

I'm nervous about the testing, but we'll make it.  I stayed up most of the night last night getting individual papers wrote up for each student to take home this weekend with review work before their tests. Hopefully that will help some! 

Many of you know I'm in the midst of one of the bigger decisions I've had to make in a while.  If you don't know, I'll put it in the email.  If I don't have your email, and you want emailed updates once in a blue moon-leave a comment with your email and I'll add you! 

As far as life goes- it's pretty good.  I'm still working to catch up from the move and am still working most weekend days to get back to where I need to be.  I still am loving my parttime job at the country club and still feel like I couldn't have made a better decision there.  I'll definitely be home for Christmas, if not Thanksgiving-if I can make it work.  If not, save some days during the holiday-I have a lot of you to see, and expect some exciting adventures and meals, or just time to talk and catch up!  I miss you all dearly.  I'm pretty much going to bed super early, and getting up super early.  This week I have left my house every day by 6am to get to school by 6:30am...craziness! 

All right....I've rambled enough- Love ya, love ya, love ya~

"These Are The Things That Have Molded Us"

"I can feel your pain,
I can feel your struggle
You just want to live
But everything's so low,
That you can drown in the puddle
That's why I gotta hold us up
Yeah hold us up
For all the times no one ever spoke for us
So every single time that they play this song
You can say that, "that's what Bobby Ray wrote for us"
When his eyes get too high
And the sea up underneath get so deep
And you feel like you're just another person
Getting lost in the crowd?
Way up high in the nosebleeds (Uh)
Because we've both been there
Yeah both of us
But we still stand tall
With our shoulders up
And even though we always against the odds
These are the things that have molded us
And if life hadn't chosen us
Sometimes I wonder
Where I would have wound upCuz if it was up to me
I would make a new blueprint
Then build it from the ground up
Hey, but if its all for one
And One for all
Then maybe one day
We all could ball
Do it one time for the underdogs
From Bobby Ray to all of y'all

[Taylor Swift - Chorus]
I wish I was strong enough to lift not one but both us
Someday I will be strong enough to lift not one but both of us"

Both Of Us, B.O.B and Taylor Swift

Alright! I'm back for an official update, six weeks later.  Better late than never-right?!  Let's talk about the song lyrics above first!  Yes, my favorite person ever-Taylor Swift sings the chorus, and a rapper does the rest.  I chose the song because I feel like as a teacher down here, I'm fighting to teach the underdogs in the education system.  I'm fighting to give them a chance to be competitive when it comes to school and college one day when they go up against some of their counterparts that come from more highly ranked schools.  The lyrics I highlighted are most important to me because I feel like so many of these students are lost in the crowds among other students or even in the area sometimes.  As a teacher I want to be strong enough to lift them all up and help them, and as the year goes on, I'll get better and better at it!

Okay- onward!  Six weeks done with the school year!  Can we say "whew, good golly, wow!"  Six weeks of crazy, six weeks of good, six weeks of challenges, six weeks of fun, six weeks of bad, six weeks of stress, and six weeks of students learning from me.  Wow.  How do I feel, you may want to know?  I feel honored.  I feel tired.  I feel good.  I feel overwhelmed.  I feel frustrated.  I feel excited.  I feel like I'm making a difference some days.  I feel like I'm making no difference at all others.  I feel like I holler a lot.  I feel like I praise a lot.  I feel like I have no idea what I am doing some days.   But most importantly, I feel like I made the right choice, and that's what matters most.

Kindergarten is a whole new world for me, on top of how the school system is period down here.  I feel like I came into teaching with a pretty good educational background thanks to my well-deserved degree in elementary education, and thanks to the support from TFA, however-some days I feel like I have no clue what is going on.

Behavior is where I struggle the most, as does every other teacher at my school.  It is a learning process and a constant, revolving change of what works and what doesn't.  I'm learning and I have to say that I'm finally starting to see some better behavior with my students.  Because of this, we're really starting to be able to dive more into the actual content that should be taught to kindergarteners.  I now have them moving their own clips on their behavior chart and that really gets them frustrated.  It resonates a little more with them when they see that clip go down to a "bad" color.  I am really starting to be proud of them in the hallway- Friday they did better than a second grade class walking in the hall.  They saw the second grade class have to start standing in "kindergarten pose" just like my students do because they couldn't walk properly.  That made them feel good too, because I constantly tell them- "Let's look so good that we trick people into thinking we are first graders!"  That day they did AWESOME.

As far as learning content goes- I have a couple of students I'm really going to have to figure out what I need to do with them.  They are really struggling with even writing letters and that is just not helping them to get ahead in my class.  We are getting better at centers and students are learning that if they can't handle working in centers they are going to be removed and have to do worksheets. (They HATE that)

Today I had my Professional Saturday at Delta State with Teach For America.  It actually was ten times more beneficial than the last one.  I got several ideas to use for centers and to teach writing in the coming weeks which are two things I desperately needed to work on.  Centers are a huge thing at my school, so I know it should really benefit my students, myself, and my principal will probably really like it.  Several of the centers are easy to differentiate with different learning levels which is huge at my school too.

Last big thing!  I waqs observed by my MTLD for the first official time.  Originally he was going to come in the morning and observe, and then it got changed to the afternoon, after recess, lunch and PE.  (if you know anything about working with little kids, or any kids for that matter- they are soooooo much more productive and well-behaved in the mornings) soooooo I was a little nervous for the observation to take place that late in the day, but also knew it would probably be more beneficial for me as a teacher in getting feedback.  Guess what?  My students did AWESOME.  Everyone participated and raised hands, and TRIED.  I did have to have a few students move clips and one child in particular got really upset about having to move his clip down.  My MTLD happened to overhear another student tell him, "It's okay, you can get your clip back up if you try!"  I tell me students daily that if they make bad choices their clips will go down.  If they made good choices, their clips will go up, or can move back up if they have previously gone down.  To have him tell me he heard a student say that to another classmate just rings in the fact that they are beginning to understand that choices, whether they are right or wrong effect how well you as an individual can do in life.  It made me so happy to hear that!

Afterwards I did have a meeting with my MTLD, as we review how observations went and things to improve upon, and just how we are feeling.  It was also my first official meet with him so I was asked a lot of questions about myself.  I expressed that becoming a principal one day was something I have often thought about.  He said that he would like to talk to me later on about possible positions with TFA because I already have the passion for what I want to do!  (that also was something that made me feel really good!)

So, aside from all the craziness and bad going on, there is a lot of good to compensate for it!

Oh, and we all thought I was done-guess what, I'm not.  (Once I get started, it just doesn't stop!)  On a side note- I LOVE working at the Country Club as well.  The people who come in are wonderful and the people I work with are wonderful!  It was definitely the right decision to make as far as a part-time job is concerned. 

I also am having a great time with the friends I have made down here and I'm really starting to become more familiar with the area which is also a huge upper when being in a new place =)  Jackie also came to visit the other week, which was great seeing a friendly face from home!  I also still really appreciate all the cards, calls, texts, everything that I am getting from you all.  Please know that I really am still more busy than I would have thought I would be once school started.  Last week alone, I had some form of meeting every day after school and didn't get home until somewhere between 7-8pm my time.  I am trying to get back to each of you, but if I don't, I GREATLY apologize.  Please know I love you all, and miss you greatly.  Without your support and constant understanding of what I'm going through, this sure would be much more of a challenge.

Okay, I think I have said MORE THAN ENOUGH.  Next time, I'll try to add some pictures.  I love you all =)

Yay!   Below is the post that WOULD NOT go through last time!!!!!   

And I still need to update on my most recent life changes!

End of Institute! (Some of the classroom I taught in this summer, the summer floods at the school, which required us to ride in a bus from one room to the other to get to the cafeteria the water was so deep, we had a closing ceremony and the videos are my group doing our cheers/chants against the other school sites from this summer, I found fake snow at the dollar store and bought it, and the last printing and copying days in they copy cave, a lot of the stuff was gone when I took the pictures but still had to document it, and of course all the buses the last day we rode to our school sites, 5:55am!)

The next pictures are: Videos on the last bus ride, part of the area on the way to my school, the gifts that our FA (faculty advisor, an actual teacher from the school) gave us, as well as the last day, all of the FAs and people from the actual area in Belzoni made us lunch in appreciation of us teaching the kids.  They made us Catfish, salad, beans, dessert, and lots more and served us and clean up for us.  The picture of me with the girls, is me and the three other girls I taught the same kindergartners with this summer and our FA (Tamy, Monika-our FA, Claire, and Heather), pictures of the school as well as the painted catfish.  Painted catfish are all over Belzoni.  The last few pictures are us out to dinner at Hey Joe's after Institute!  (Jake, Kristen, Patrick, Ian, and me!)  The other picture is me and my CMA Brittany!

Next Pictures:  Last breakfast in the cafeteria at Delta State (Jake, Ian, Tee, Patrick), Our dorm-Lawler-Harkins, James' and my HUGE breakfast/lunch at some random gas station-sit down restaurant on the way back to Greensboro, NC, and of course all the mountains in North Carolina- a NICE, beautiful change from the flat lands of Mississippi!

Next Pictures:  Toby!  My long-lost, loved baby dog!!!! (and a super comfy bed to sleep in!)  The first car I rented from Budget being towed.... I ended up leaving at like 1:00pm instead of 8:00am like the original plan.  Of course only I would have a RENTAL car break down and have to be towed-so of course there is a picture to document it.  The next pictures are of my room before I did anything in it!  Room 101!  Then starting with the fish door, you see the progression of it changing.  I've added a lot more too, but don't have any updated pictures yet!

Next Pictures: Class Norms- Stolen from my CMA's classroom, lots of di-cut letters, more classroom changes,  next two pictures are the view from my front yard.  The next three pictures are of the beautiful sky taken at the Shack-Up Inn in Clarksdale, Mississippi.  One of the teachers I've met at my school worked there, and now lives there.  The place is actually really neat, and looks like it should be in a movie!  The sky is obviously beautiful though!!  And, of course- my baby outside!!!

All of my pictures are now caught up!!!  As for my life- my stuff has arrived!  So nice to have a bed to sleep in!!!  I have also completed two weeks of teaching as of tomorrow afternoon!  It's going pretty good- however is also crazy!  I also started training for bartender/waitress at the Country Club here in Helena, which has been great!  I'm working again tomorrow night and Saturday!  Anyhow, I have some lesson plans to work on- I'll catch up more soon hopefully!!

Bye!!!