13 Things from 2013

13 Things from 2013

 

So I am still really bad at formatting this whole thing, but I figured since I made ZERO posts in 2013, that I would make a cliche "13 things" post about 2013. 

1. I started my senior year at MSU.  Is that even allowed to be reality?  I'm still coming to grips with it and I have to graduate in May, not okay.
2. I celebrated my 21st birthday and at midnight I was at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was quite the fun night.
3. Steven and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary.  He's pretty great. :)

   

   Back when we first started dating.  How adorable, right?

4. According to Facebook it was back on March 4th that Mary nominated me for a liebster blog.  I was super excited about it and had written out a long post that continually deleted itself when I attempted to post it. 
5. While we are somewhat on the topic of Facebook, can I just say how proud I am of myself that I only had 2 profile pictures during the entire year?  I'm pretty proud. 
6.  My love for Jim Parsons and the Big Bang Theory has only grown.  I have two shirts, three games, a poster, and all available seasons on DVD.  Jim Parsons and that show just make me so happy.  I am also considering making my own monopoly of it à la Camp Able-opoly.  It'll be good times, don't worry.
7.  One of my happier moments happened when I was at a professors office hours.  I was really struggling with a problem and how to understand the concept surrounding it.  The professor used the word "brilliant" to describe me.  
8. I found out that I had a new allergy.  Here is the inside of my arm.

    

    

   SO RED...and it got worse.

9. I decided that when I get my masters I want to become certified in ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders).  I met with someone who gave me some good information on it and I am really looking forward to it.
10.  I begun quite the obsession with Nicolas Cage pictures.  I think that they can be rather hysterical.  Ever since this obsession started people will randomly send me images that they find and it just brightens my day so much.

    

    The picture that began it all.

11. I met Tom Izzo at the cafeteria.  Pretty snazzy. 
    
12. I found this beautiful piece of poetry in a memory box.  From the date on it you can figure out that I was only eight-years-old when it was written.
    
13.  I had zero posts in 2013.  (Unless you count the one that kept deleting itself.

Purposefully Going to School for the Rest of My Life

Most people that know me know that I am going to school to become a teacher.  Not everyone knows exactly what kind of teacher I am hoping to become though so I will go over that quickly before I get into the purpose of this post. 

After graduating from Michigan State I will be certified to teach grades K-12 in a special education classroom and grades K-8 in a general education classroom.   My teaching certifications would be in mathematics and learning disabilities.  I hope that after graduating with my bachelor's and obtaining my first teaching position that I will be able to go onto graduate school and get my certification in teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  My dream classroom would be an early elementary class working with children with ASD. 

NOW, the meat and meaning of me making this post.

A few weeks ago in one of my classes we talked about what we were seeing in some of our placements within schools.  My classmates were seeing both positive and negative things, however, there were many negative things that seemed overwhelming.  I am very lucky to be experiencing a wonderful teacher in my practicum placement.  Hearing what everyone was saying around me coupled with the incredibly positive experiences that I had been having made me realize how lucky I have been to be put with the people that I have been around to learn from.  This lucky feeling has made me want to get around to thanking these people (I am working on talking to all of them so they know how much I appreciate them), and to sharing why each of them has made me want to be a teacher someday.  I am not sharing their names because I have not been able to talk to all of them yet and not everyone would want it shared.

The first person was a teacher of mine in middle school.  I had two courses with them (math and team time)  and I can always remember the joy in their classroom.  Whenever you would go in their room they always seemed happy to see each of their students and always made them smile.  I can remember having bad days and going into their room and they would tell me the goofiest joke and get me to smile.  In my junior or senior year of high school we had to write about teachers that had inspired us along the way and he was one of the two teachers that I wrote about.  I hope that one day I can have as positive of a classroom as he did and make all of my students feel happy to be in my class too.

The second person was not a teacher of mine but still someone that I respect A TON.  This person was always there to talk and help me sort through things when I could not figure out what I was doing.  What I found even more remarkable about this person was that they had this just absolute sense about them that you could trust them.   I know that teachers aren't supposed to be counselors and that is a different job, but I hope that I can be a teacher that students feel comfortable coming to me when they have questions or are concerned about something.  I also hope that I am a teacher that is good at making my students feel good about themselves like this person did for me.  I also hope to be a teacher that not only my students trust, but that their parents trust me with their student.

The third person was a teacher of mine in high school as well as the second teacher that I wrote about in the paper later on in high school.  This teacher wasn't afraid to be different than others.  They would not let their students just go on with low expectations and made us figure out now how to just solve a specific problem, but how to problem solve and work through different ideas.  They made their students realize that it is okay to be wrong sometimes but if you keep trying you will succeed and figure it out.  They were always incredibly understanding and caring and someone that I enjoy meeting with just to say hi when I have time at home.  I hope that I am a teacher that understands my students like this teacher did and how to push them to be their absolute best.  I hope that I can understand that different students work differently and find a way to help all of the different styles of learning my students will have.

The fourth person was the first person to say to me that I would make a good teacher one day.  She was helping out with an activity that I was leading and as I was giving instructions to everyone else throughout the activity she out of the blue, with me never mentioning to her about wanting to become a teacher myself, said "Wow! You would make a great teacher one day".  That is still the exact line and moment that I picture in my head when I have moments of thinking the road to becoming a teacher is too tough and I should just do something different.  It is AMAZING to have someone believe in a dream that you have that they do not even know of.  This person was a teacher themselves (not a teacher of mine) and I got to go watch them teach a few classes one day.  It was awesome to see how they ran their classroom and how happy their students were to be in their class.  A couple of times I have been called a mini version of this person and I do not think that I could ever explain in words how high of a compliment that is to me.  I hope that one day I can be half the teacher that I saw this person was and that I can let students know how much I believe in them too.

The fifth person was a teacher that I worked with in a placement through MSU.  This teacher was actually the teacher that made me want to switch from being a high school teacher (what I was originally going for when I entered college) to wanting to be an elementary school teacher.  She was the teacher that I had the first experience volunteering in her classroom and she made it an absolute joy to do.  When a situation that could have spiraled out of control with someone else would arise, she always handled it confidently and with a level of grace that I could not understand.  She spoke kindly and positively to all of her students even if they were misbehaving.  I hope that one day I can have her classroom problem solving skills and level of calm-ness when working with my students.

The sixth person was a teacher that I worked with in a placement through MSU as well.  This teacher let be very involved in her classroom.  She really taught me a lot about the field of special education and different things that go along with it.  When students would come to her classroom you could tell that they valued her opinion and enjoyed being with her for lessons.  Other school staff would also stop by her room just to say hi and you could see how much they respected and wanted her opinion as well.  I hope that one day my students and colleagues see my opinion as valuable and that I can be as helpful of a person as this teacher was.

There are other people as well that have taught me more about the teacher that I want to become but these are just some of the main ones.  I hope that this has explained just a few of the qualities that I hope to have as a teacher someday.

Feelings are Allowed

Wow!  My first two posts in two days, this will probably be the exception and not the rule but since everyone is posting about the results of the election.  I figured that I could give my two cents about it.  Not in the "share my vote" way, but in the "share how I am feeling about peoples reactions" way.

It is shocking me that people are not exercising very much patience, tolerance, and respect for each others opinions.  Those who voted for Obama are excited that he won his re-election, and they should be for that was their vote. Those who voted for Romney have many emotions as well, because Obama was not their vote.  Those who did not vote still are likely to have an opinion and they have their feelings as well.

I do not agree with everyone.  I personally find that some peoples reactions are incorrect.  How in the world could they feel that way?  Don't they see this issue/that issue?  What is going through their minds???  But then I remember the comparison to babysitting that I will now make...

Sometimes when the parents leave after I, the babysitter, arrive, the kids have an upsetting moment or meltdown.  While I have the perspective of, "Mom and Dad are leaving but they obviously aren't going for good. I mean seriously, did you see that itty-bitty purse Mom was carrying, she can't go anywhere for more than a few hours with just that small amount of stuff.  And Dad only had his wallet in his back pocket, no bags at all.  They cannot get anywhere for a long time with just that!"  That is something that an adult may see.  However a, let us say 12-month-old, will probably be seeing things much differently.  Perhaps they see the two people that mean the most to them are leaving them alone with a stranger.  Perhaps they see that Mom and Dad are laughing and going to have fun without them and they feel left out.  Perhaps this babysitter has been with them before but always makes their lunch in a strange way, and they cannot imagine having to eat that mess again and wish Mom and Dad would just stay and make it the correct way.  There are many things that could be going through a small child's head, and you have to admit, those are all pretty scary things when they are put into perspective.  We as people who are different must realize that those feelings are completely and totally VALID.  Now I am not saying in the instance of the child that it goes on and on.  You could do something along the lines of saying "I know it's sad that Mom and Dad are going out, but we can have lots of fun while they are gone and they will be here later/when you wake up in the morning."  Then you continue on to do a game, read a story, or something else fun.  Validate, alternative, fun. 

Now apply that type of thinking to those with opposing political views.  With the opposing political views you may not understand why the other person thinks the way they do.  Ask...politely.  After that, talk to them about why you think differently than they do in a respectful way and out of a place of love and not hate.  I promise that although it may not work all of the time, it is more likely to work than an attack of words.

Rant...and second blog post...COMPLETE.

7 Quick Takes: Why I am Starting a Blog

1. I love reading blogs.  And let's be honest, I'm a creep.  I'm almost positive that creating a blog will allow me to follow blogs that I read easily.
2. I think it would be fun!  A place to say my thoughts on different things, maybe share updates on my own life...like today I voted for the first time.  Pretty exciting stuff right there.
3. I like to try and keep up with social media things.  Social media is an excellent way to stay in touch with others and find funny things...like this picture here.  

4.  One thing that I am quickly discovering is that this whole "format your own blog" business is going to be rough.  It took me a few minutes to get the picture centered in the correct spot.  It'll all come in time though.  

 

5.  I am sure at times I may use this blog to ask for suggestions, I have seen that be rather successful for others and I figure that it would be a nice outlet to have to do that.

 

6.  I will be linking some of this blog, maybe not all, but some, to Facebook.  I figure that I don't post there very often because I worry that if I post too much it could become frustrating to others.  Therefore, if there is just a blog update here and there, the Facebook friends can choose for themselves whether or not they want to read it.  Now I am not saying I will update here often, but I will do what I can.  Taking classes and working does keep me rather busy.

 

7.  Lastly,  I have thought about creating a blog many times before and have just never gotten around to it.  More recently I have found myself coming up with  ideas for blogs and kicking myself over not having one.  Now I do!  Ta-da.