#yolo

George: Did the bell ring?
Me: No.
George: How many minutes till the bell rings?
Me: I don't know.
George: .......yolo.

One Day More!

MT: I have to hurdle over Boy's cord. But not his umbilical cord.

In other news, ONE DAY MORE *cue Les Miserables* and I'm skipping half of it to be counseled about my career.

..................My mentor teacher just taught the quadratic formula without singing a song. My heart hurts.

Last Week of Student Teaching

I am SO ready to be done! I'm not quite ready for the decisions that come after graduation, but I am ready to be done!

As a side note, I just got goose bumps because two students were intently working on a math problem together. The student writing had his face 4 inches from the paper as he wrote and had an intense look on his face. The other student's head was only a few more inches away from the paper and watched the students work. *cue Buddy the Elf reaction* Also, I think my mentor teacher noticed that the students work well in groups because of my teaching. I like to think that I have helped him become a better teacher, but who knows if that is true!

Goodbye student teaching! 4 more days.................. And I'm thinking about taking Wednesday off... #YOLO

#BecauseHeLives

I cannot get enough of this video.
Whenever and wherever, He is there to help you. He is our master and friend. He is in the details of our lives: the good, the bad, and the in-between. No matter who you were and who you are, no matter what you are feeling, turn to Him. He is here.
He rose on the third day and He still lives.
Find him.

Matthew 28:6

He is not here; for he is risen.....

Cue the Fireworks

In one month, I will be a college graduate. What the freak? When did that happen?

DEUCES, I'm a full-fledged  adult now. Just kidding. I'm working on it. 

Updates

Well, it's been a while. This week has been straight up cray. Next week will be cray too. And half of the next one. But it's all good!

Updates:
I applied for Teach For America. I had a phone interview with them that went well enough. Not awful, not amazing. We talked entirely too much about my leadership experience at Jamba Juice. I'm not worried about it. I don't feel strongly about it anymore. Update to the update: I just found out I have been invited to the final in-person interview. What is life?!
I'm a bit addicted to Dr. Pepper with peach and vanilla (affectionately called a Southern Gentleman). I don't even crave Cranberry Limeade with vanilla at Sonic anymore. I went to Sonic and got Dr. Pepper with peach and vanilla! I'm surprised, to say the least.

Niece Update:
She gets her own section. She is too cute! And she is just over a month away from having an equally adorable little brother!
Tary, Brad, and I babysat her a few weeks ago. The first hour I was there she was taking a nap. I wanted to wake her up to play, but that is not nice and I knew she would be grumpy when she woke up anyways. Finallllly, I hear her waking up so I go in her room and ask if she wants to play. Her response? "Of course!" I DIED.
Kate, Brandon, Avi, Tary, Brad, and I went to Outback a couple weeks ago. Brandon told Avi he was gonna get her chicken. Her response: Oh boy, oh boy! Later, Kate looks at Avi and says, "What's that on your nose?" Because Avi had been sick for a while, she says, "I have boogers" (it wasn't). As we were leaving, she starts running without looking where she's going (naturally), drops her Lamby, stops right in front of a lady, screams "Lamby!", lady goes "Oh no! Not Lamby!", and........... Moral of the story: My niece has the CUTEST little legs.

Funny/cool things:
This one isn't funny, but it meant a lot to me. I had a student seek me out for advice. She opened up to me. I dunno if I was able to help her, but I'm glad she feels comfortable coming to me. I think that kind of relationship is so important.

MT: This will help you make beaucoup dinero some day.

MT: Bueno. BUENOOOO!

MT: Yeah, dude. Look at the little man.

Boy: My mom said, "I'll drop kick you if you don't go."
MT: Haha. That's a good story dude.

A student has recently taken up the habit of squeezing or poking my head. I'm not sure how I feel about it..... Should I be worried?

Students saying to MT *mostly jokingly*:
Girl: You haven't talked to us in 3 weeks.
Dude: Who are you?
Bro: Yeah, are you a sub?

MT: Are you gonna go on a mission?
Girl: I dunno if my mom will let me.
MT shines red laser pointer at the ground in front of her.
MT: That's a sign that you're going to India.

The nickname in one of our classes. I'm called Press-the Switch. MT is Josie. Other names include Hashbrown, Cheese, Doug Fresh, Jobani, Jake the Snake, Chazersize, and Beak.

Kid (super randomly): TGIF.

Kid in class: It takes a fool to fool a fool.

Boy puts a koozie on top of MT's head and says, "Abraham Lincoln!"

Boy: Are you gothic?
Kid: No.
Boy: You're wearing all black.
Kid: So?
Boy: You look gothic.
Me (in my head): You look like a d-bag.

MT gets up and lectures for 15 minutes and tells the students it's because they were wining that they didn't finish their assignment.

Me (expecting him to be weird out or not care): I've got your back, Student.
Him: *head nod. Think of She's the Man when Olivia finds out she is Sebastian's lab partner.*

My personal favorite: Imagine me, MT, co-teaching partner, and 4 other teachers sitting at a table at a conference smelling all the smell-able markers. Note to self: Cinnamon is very strong. Mint too.  Peach is the best.

The. Teacher. Fair. and the rest of that crazy day.

Guys, I was freaking out. I had been trying to research districts I was interested in so I could chat with them about something, but I couldn't find much. Turns out, if you're a special education major, they'll start talking to you and trying to sell you on coming to their district. The districts close by just say, "here's our information." The districts in rural areas chat you up, tell you everything amazing about their schools, and conveniently forget to tell you IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.

I did a screening interview with a guy from the district in Colorado Kara works in! And he liked me a lot! I felt so comfortable with him and we had a nice conversation. He strongly encouraged me to apply and email him afterwards so he can keep track of me. He also said the girl before me and I made his whole trip worth it. Maybe he was just buttering me up, but, hey, it worked!

I got to see my old peeps, the Testing Department at Independent Study, and it was sooooooo good! They slipped a note (on the back of a cut out of a bear) in my bag that says "We miss you beary much!" I loved seeing all of them and hearing just a bit about their lives! I ended up talking mostly and couldn't stay long, but it was so good to know that I'm missed there. And I was reminded how much I miss them.

I got to see Jared and get the update on his life. His love life in particular ;) I also got to see Tomo! He's such a fun kid. I can totally be myself with him. Then I met with my university supervisor for my student teaching and got to become a bit more comfortable with her. Then I saw an old professor and had a quick conversation with him. He seemed kinda freaked out haha. Thennnnn I saw Megan Popperz! It was so good to catch up with her and see how married life is going.
It was a good day (:

We're finally going to Bryn's play tonight!!!
Finally, I think I'm going up to Layton tomorrow. Never been there before so that'll be fun.

Beauty School Drop Outs

I had my first experience with a student dropping out of school. Then I watched this video.

A Lesson of Cause and Effect

Cause: Looking at graduation information.
Effect: Hyperventilation

I FEEL ALL THE FEELS.

Smile.

I made a kid smile the other day. It was a big deal. He hides in the corner and tries to blend in. And it was at a joke of failing out of high school of all things! 

When I got to the temple yesterday, it was an hour and a half long wait and I didn't have time do that. But I walked out of the temple in a much better mood. Turns out it was bring peace to your life if you spend just a few minutes there. I sat out front for a few minutes but it was super windy so I took a power nap in the car. I felt weird, but it was so great.

I made a difference in an IEP meeting today! I see now that listening to the parent and validating what they’re saying is SO important. I just sat there for a lot of it because I’m “just a student teacher” but I saw the mom looking for help- I saw that look in her eyes- and I just couldn't take it anymore. So I spoke up. And I know I helped the mom feel better.

Because of this experience, I’m think I'll look into taking a conflict resolution class as some point. Maybe I can be a mediator for a school/district. A good friend once told me he really values that I am able to look at both sides of a stressful situation and give level-headed advice. He wasn't even surprised when I told him about it. My mom said, "You always were an empathetic type person." I think that is worded weirdly, but, hey, I'll take it!

My mentor teacher taught today because he had to be evaluated to renew his teaching license. He implemented using a task analysis. The importance of steps was drilled into my head at BYU so I brought it into student teaching and suggested it. A girl the other day said, "That really helps me," as I was pulling up the steps. YESSSSS. *Cue happy dance*

Anyway, I didn't have to teach at all today! Well, that's not entirely true. I LED a center in one of our co-taught classes. Granted, it was the easiest thing and the kids basically already knew had to do it, but the gen ed teacher finally trusted me enough to do that! 

I think the kids in our resource class today were a bit sad I’m not teaching, which is AWESOME. But I also may be imagining that. But a kid did say “Where are your Starbursts??” MT: "My Starburst are Cool to Care cards." Student: "Awwww." A little later, Girl asked if she could have a Starburst for catching his mistake and MT said, “Yes…......... or a Cool to Care card. Which would you rather?” She chose a Cool to Care and he was pretty pumped about that!

Girl: Let me help him get started. Maybe you should try a different browser.

Girl figures out math problem.
Boy: You are so smart. Your intelligence is amazing. You have really nice eyebrows, by the way.
Dude: Yeah............... Best eyebrows ever.

FUNNIEST THING: Boy just tripped over Kid's laptop cord and Kid said “Wow” in a super mellow voice and I LOST it because I’ve been saying “wowwww” in a sarcastic tone recently and a friend pointed it out to me. So now I catch myself doing it. Boy thought I was laughing at him and I just laughed harder. I had to hide my face.

Unprepared. And Plans.

Today was the first day I have ever been unprepared to teach. I knew the concept but forgot to find good example problems. My bad. I got distracted by looking at the 50 highest-paid districts for first-year teachers. A worthy alternative in my opinion.

Lesson learned: The kids can totally tell when you are having an off day. 

New plans:

• Teach in Utah. Close to Provo. Maybe in secondary, maybe not. Still debating.
• Or maybe do Teach for America?
• Live in (or near) Provo and have a private room.
• Buy a car.
• Buy a desktop computer. With a BIG, FAT screen.

A new PR.

So Jack and Ronda, the couple who own the house I live in, are visiting until Sunday for some dentist, doctor, and hair appointments. They are a very nice couple and are, not surprisingly, very fond of their house. Jayna and I were a bit nervous to have them come because.... it's their house. And we're living in it. And I've never met them. And they didn't know my name. Anywaysssss, they seem to be happy with how we have kept the house clean (thank goodness!) and haven't damaged anything.

This morning, I had my first student teaching panic attack that wasn't related to snow: I woke up 50 minutes late! After my roommate's alarms stopped going off, and I fell back into a nice slumber. I was in the middle of a very real-feeling dream. Interesting dream. We drove away from a fancy wedding reception, drove over railroad tracks, and ended up in a cabin by Lake Allatoona in Georgia. A few of us started going down the big hill to the lake when we realized we would have to hike back up in our nice clothes and heels. Then we started playing piano? But it was more like Tap Tap Revolution in a book. Needless to say, it was weird.

When I woke up, I panicked. It was 6:56 and I needed to leave before 7:15.

So I rushed; I brushed my teeth, turned on my flat iron, did my makeup in 90 seconds, straightened half my hair, jumped a foot in the air when Ronda popped up out of nowhere, applied deodorant, got dressed, straightened the other half, grabbed my "lunch," and was out the door at 7:13. Boom! Then I got to school 3 minutes before contract time started, and sat in my car for a couple minutes. I needed a little time to calm down.

Morals of the story: Don't rely on your roommate's alarms. Set a later alarm justttt in case. Showering at night is a really good thing even if you get crazy bed head. Make your lunch the night before. Always have a shirt you can wear a sports bra with and still look professional.

Good Ol' George

There is a certain student that has been making student teaching way more fun. I do not understand where he comes up with some of these things or how or why he says them out loud at school, but I am grateful for him. And I pray for him based off of some of the things he says. For this post, we'll call him George.

George: Can I fall asleep at the end of class?

George: I never knew your car would get towed if you parked in a handicapped spot....... That's what I did.

MT: It looks like you're sweet talking Student.
Boy: It's called talking.
Dude across the room: Talking. Ha! I see your googly eyes!

George: Is gambling illegal?
MT: Yes.
George: Dang it.
MT: Well, it depends how old you are and where.
George: I'm addicted to gambling.

MT: I have to get Boy caught up too.
George: He got suspended.
Student: Why?
George: I ran over him.

LOL

These three things made me LOL!

Boy keeps asking us if he'll get arrested if he gets caught in a casino. Then he added, "Down the road, at KFC, they close at 11 and play poker till 2 in the morning," matter-of-factly.

The boys are all huddled around one boy's phone.
Teacher: You guys can't look at naked pictures at school!

A couple minutes later....
Teacher: I hear you guys have a picture of Girl in a bikini.
*Girl's eyes get wide and mouth hangs open. Not gonna lie, she looked guilty.*
All other girls in the class: Ohhhhhhh. What?! Shoot, Girl! I didn't know you were like that! Why you gotta do that? Whatchu thinkin??

Still the Little Things

You know, I have seen several times in my life that I am happier when I look for the little things to be grateful for. Soooo he's round two of things that have made me chuckle!

Boy stays in our room during intervention to play a dinosaur game. The way to get to this came is to disconnect to the internet and try to load a website in Google Chrome. Tricky people. Anyway, he goes "Ouch!" everytime he is killed. Then he starts talking about his brother and how he just kinda has to deal with him especially since they are going to be together forever. That's when this happened: "You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."

I bribed one of my classes with Starburst candies. It worked like a charm! Everyone wanted to answer.

Girl: What's your name?
Me: Ms. Prestwich.
Girl: Do you have a first name?
Me: Yes.
Girl: What is it?
Me *mischievously*: Ms. Prestwich.
Girl: That's kind hard.
Me: You can call me Ms. P-wich if you want.
Girl: P-witch?
Me: It's just kind of a nick name I've gotten used to.
Girl: Why? You're not mean.....

Girl came in to class and said, "I saw you yesterday and meant to tell you you looked really good!"

I went to borrow an eraser for the white board from another random bald teacher. Since I am a Southern Belle, I asked very nicely with a warm smile and kind eyes. In essence he said, "I don't care," and rolled his eyes. I held in my Southern sass, smiled, probably curtsied, thanked him, grabbed the eraser, and got the heck out of there. After class was over, I took the eraser back, announced so as if I were telling an old friend I finally brought their knitting needles back, put the eraser back, and walked out. I think he thought I was a student. JOKE'S ON YOU PAL. I don't know why I thought that was funny....

Girl walks into class and immediately starts telling me about Friend's boyfriend and how he isn't nice when Friend isn't around, doesn't respect Friend, and is starting to like the cheerleaders. I had noooo idea what to tell her; that's a hard situation for a friend to be in. So Girl went on for while and I just nodded my head and verbally agreed at the correct times. I'm getting prettyyyy good at doing that. MT's stories can get pretty long.

A few days ago, the whole school watched a suicide prevention video. It gave a few different situations of teenagers who were having suicidal thoughts. One of the situations was about a girl who was depressed because her boyfriend broke up with her. As I was walking a packet up to the office right after I ran into one of the other Special Education teachers. She told me that during the example about the girl, a girl burst into tears and said she needed to talk to someone about her boyfriend. Why is this funny you might ask? This girl has Down Syndrome. Can you imagine that? How cute, but sad, that is!

It's a Student Teaching Miracle!

My internet randomly started working at school today. After having 3 techy people try to get it to connect. Turns out Ronald (my computer) just needed a few days to figure out whether he wanted to persue a relationship with the strong and mysterious internet.

Cue "There Can be Miracles" from The Prince of Egypt. And hearts. Lots of hearts.

It's the Small Things

Student teaching is out of my comfort zone. And I moved away from all my friends (who's idea was that?!?!). So I've been trying to focus on the little things that make it a little bit better or remind me why I chose to help these punks.

Boy was sitting by Girl (AKA not in his assigned seat) so Mrs. Teacher told him to move back. Boy put up a bit of a fight and Class Clown goes, "It's just young love, Mrs. Teacher." It made me chuckle.

While Mrs. Teacher was up taking about functions, domain, and ranges, she asked the question "Where does the domain go?" Some of the students were struggling (or "thinking") and all of a sudden, Boy confidently yells, "It's always on the left!" Us teachers were so surprised. This kid is pretty smart but goofs off a lot.
Moral of the story: More gets through to them than you think!

Boy was playing with one of those foam soda can holder things all through class. You know what I'm talking about? I think it's called a koozie. As Boy was leaving class, he chucked the koozie back towards Mentor Teacher and ended up hitting him smack dab in the middle of MT's shiny forehead. I immediately had to turn around to hide my laughter. It was probably pretty obvious because my shoulders were shaking up and down. MT just looked at Boy, said "Boy..." disapprovingly, and went on with what he was doing.

That Just Happened.

Below is a conversation that took place during class today. MT stands for "Mentor Teacher."

MT: I like your US Marshall shirt, Girl.

Girl: I'm not allowed to wear it in federal buildings.

MT: I thought you were here to arrest me when you walked in. You had me and Boy ready to run for the hills.

Boy: Why would I run for the hills?

MT: .......Cause I brought you into this country.

Boy: Is that some sort of race joke?

MT: I'm a [something. I'm not entirely sure what he said]. That's my night job. 

Adulthood

I thought I was an adult.

I'm not.

Well, I am.

But only partially.

Why I thought I was an adult:

• I moved out of my parents' house 3 ½ years ago.
• I even moved away from Provo- the place which constitutes my comfort zone and contains all my friends.
• I'm graduating in THREE MONTHS.
• I yelled, “I'M AN ADULT!” on my way to school a couple weeks ago because I didn't need my mom. 
• I made two comments in Relief Society the other day. Two!

How I know I'm not an adult:

• I do not know how to talk to adults. I really only know how to talk to college students...
• I sound like a child when I talk to my roommate (bless her heart, she is so kind).
• I cried about having to drive in snow. That's the hardest I have cried since a girl bit my boob in third grade.
• I curl up and watch a movie when I get home from school, forgetting about the earlier events of the day.
• I don't know what I want to do after I graduate.
• My love life is nonexistent and will be forever more.

So I should have realized this sooner, but nonetheless, I was still disheartened when I figured it out. Turns out that adulthood requires a hike that is a lot longer than I expected. The view is blocked by some tall trees currently, but the path isn't too steep right now. I'll take it. I have the rest of my life to learn and grow.

Put Me in, Coach!

Week 2 is done! Time seems to be flying by. Only 13 weeks left! I have a lot to do before then, but I am confident I can get it done. Today I do not love student teaching. MT and I are comfortable with silence and I wonder if I should be looking over his shoulder more. I'm just not curious enough..... and MT knows what he is doing. I wonder a bit if he is hesitant to let me take some control of the classroom. I think he is comfortable in his routine.

I miss Provo like crazy! It's a good place with wonderful people. I spent the weekend there and it was like I didn't move away. I really didn't want to come back to my real life. My roommates are seriously the best and I am so blessed to have them in my life! I also miss my ward down there. I have more friends there than I realized. For a little bit, I was wondering if moving to Heber was the right decision, but I am confident that I was led by the Spirit to make this decision. Now I just have to figure out why.

It's funny that I thought I was so grown up by moving out of Provo. My roommate makes me feel like a child. She is an adult, and I am distantly down the path to adulthood. Jayna is super nice and I like her a lot. She listens to me ramble about my non-existent love life and how I do not understand teaching in a school yet.

My plan for today is to watch a movie and/or take a nap. In the evening, I will go with Jayna to meet some people in the ward. Yikes. I need to be friendly and not clingy. But I don't have my main wing woman!

I think I need to get married.....

I think I need to get married- but for a different reason than I have ever thought before. In the past 4 days, I have 3 stories.

#1: A girl found out my last name was Prestwich.

Girl: That's a cool last name! Is that your maiden or married name?

Me: Maiden, I guess..... I'm not married.

Girl: I'm surprised. You're so pretty.

#2: The first thing a teacher asked me besides my name: "So are you married or single?"

#3: A student's mom thought I was MT's wife. He's in his 50's... 

Week 1

I've decided to start blogging again- hopefully more consistently this time. I personally feel like I am at an interesting phase of my life and would like to record it. Until April, I will be student teaching in a special education math class in a high school. I have moved away from Provo to be closer to the school, therefore leaving my friends and my comfort zone. In this post, I want to cover three topics: school, my new house, and my future (bum bum bum!!!).

School is good so far. I have mostly been observing and helping students with assignments. And MAN am I surprised by this school. It's a strange enigma I have yet to figure out.
Let me tell you just a bit about the school that I find interesting. Each student has a laptop and a good chunk of the curriculum is digital. They have so many programs it's hard to keep up! Math XL, Geogebra, Canvas, etc. They are allowed to use their phones in the hallway and at teachers' descretion. They are allowed to leave class early if the teacher lets them. They have early release every Monday, and they get next Friday off of school so teachers can take that day to finish grading things. The students seem to get away with a lot..... but my experience in high school is very different than the students' I interact with.
Anyways, my mentor teacher is a very nice man named Chris originally from Wisconsin who loves to tell stories. I like him a lot, and I think he likes me so that makes me feel better! We are on a block schedule so there are 4 classes each day. On even days, we have 2 pull-out classes and 1 co-taught class (AKA 2 teachers and 1 student teacher in the class!). On odd days, we actually only have 1 pull-out class and 1 co-taught class (so nice) so I sit around possibly typing out blog posts while he works on stuff for aproximately 3 hours. I know I will be grateful for this time later in the semester when I have tons of assignments. Half of that time is set aside in case he wants to have in IEP meeting in the morning. I may also need to use that time for my TESOL student teaching hours once I get that figured out.
Also, I am going to a co-teaching conference next week I think! That will be interesting.

My new house! I love it! There view is amazing. I have so much room and I love my roommate! She is fun and inviting. And also clean haha. I appreciate that. It is weird only living with one person but it has it's perks. I pretty much have the whole basement to myself and I love the kitchen. I have adopted the kitchen island and sit there often. It's too cold and dark in the basement.

My future. As of right now, I do not want to teach in a high school. I don't even want to teach in the public school system. (WHAAATTT????) I would love to help at-risk kids even though most of those seem to lead to the woods. I don't know if I'm hardcore enough to live in the woods. And I think a Recreation Management degree would have gone better with that career path, but I am confident in my choice to major in special education and know that I will find a job that I love someday.
What am I going to do after graduation, you might ask? No idea. I am thinking about being an EFY counselor for the summer because I think that would be a great experience in many ways. I am thinking about applying for a year-round position at a camp in New York for kids with emotional, social, and learning disabilities. Maybe I will teach in a school for a few years and then get a masters. Maybe I will find something completely random. All I know is I want to get a real job so I can support myself. Who knows! I'm not sressing. Yet.

"You are stronger than you realize. You are more capable than you can imagine." 

—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Week 1 is Complete!

Week 1 is complete! It was a lot better than I expected honestly. I am able to help kids while they are working on their assignments so at least I feel a little productive. Apparently most student teachers observe for a really long time before they do anything. I am so glad that I am in a math class so I can actually do something instead of just sitting around! My mentor teacher told me I could definitely teach high school math, and he even told the principal he was impressed with my math skills!

I've taken to playing Majong Titans a lot. That is what I do with my down time. Or mess with my lanyard. Did I mention I have a lot of down time right now? AHHH. I should just start getting way ahead on assignments while I am not stressed out of my mind about lessons plans and teaching.
I am working on knowing when to walk around and randomly pick students to help and when to wait for them to raise their hands.

Emily's party yesterday was awesome! She was stressed about getting back in time to finish getting stuff ready for the party. Dinner with the roommates was SO great though. I am so blessed to have them in my life! My favorite thing is that Bryn actually seems super excited to see me, which I did not expect. I got to see so many of my favorite people last night for dinner and the party! And Emily was really happy. Someone brought her a pineapple and someone brought her an orange hahaha. I got a watermelon for my 21st birthday so I guess random fruit is not an uncommon birthday gift.

Tonight I am heading down to Provo for a ward activity and to see my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and other sister and my awesome old co-worker.
Tomorrow, I am making my old roommates and some friends come up to Heber to see my new house! We're gonna make pizza nad hang out, and they're all gonna be jealous (: