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Happy Saturday! 

I had planned on making a trip to St. Louis this weekend, but a few things changed at the last minute, and so it's in Springfield that I sit. In other news, it's so surreal that I just wrapped up Week 4 of student teaching. It's just flying by, as I knew it would! Especially with all of these ridiculous snow days. So what have I been up to, you ask? Slowly adding more subjects to my schedule, until I am eventually teaching the whole day! MSU student teacher are required to complete a Teacher Work Sample, which consists of pre-/post-test data, and a unit (made of 5 lesson plans). My TWS will be over food chains, and I can't wait! I love science.

I had my first observation of the semester this week (after some scrambling/rescheduling due to those pesky snow days), and it went very well! During the lesson, I noticed the VAST difference between this observation and the last one (back in November, when I was still an intern). I was much more relaxed and calm, as opposed to my typical freak-outs/nerves. I would say that has been one of my biggest hurdles: overcoming my anxiety and trusting myself! I've had to really remind myself since October (when I first entered the classroom) that every teacher has started the same place I did: no one is perfect to begin with. After I started thinking about this as a learning process, all (ok, MOST) of the self-doubt vanished.

The other day, my mom and I started making plans to begin building my future classroom library. Anyone who knows us knows that this is like, SUPER EXCITING and that we have been just waiting for an excuse to binge on books. Lori, you are my soul sister. Anyway, I've been thinking about some of my favorite books from my childhood, and I just wanted to share! :)

Imogene's Antlers by David Small
This is an early childhood favorite!



I Like Me! by Nancy Carlson
Another early childhood favorite, that has a wonderful message!



Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park
I have always loved these books! My favorite aspect is how Park writes in such relatable language for young kids!

ANYTHING BY ROALD DAHL. 

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
My third grade teacher let me sit on a stool in the front of the room and read poems to my class. It is one of my favorite reading memories. "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too" will always be my favorite.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Another third grade fave! We watched the movie, too. I don't know if I would ever let 8- and 9-year-olds watch/read this. SO SAD.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
The movie is NOTHING LIKE THE BOOK. Anne Hathaway, I love you, but you kind of ruined this. I first read this book in Mrs. Taylor's fifth grade class, and I will always remember it as the first love story I read. This book is still one of my favorites, and is probably 100,000x better than Twilight or 50 Shades (which I haven't read, because ew).



Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
An eighth-grade read. I actually remember reading this (and the next book) with Jeremy!

Holes by Louis Sachar
Loved this. Loved the movie.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (specifically The Magician's Nephew)
I didn't read these until high school, but I still consider that part of my childhood, whatever. This is one of the more powerful.beautiful book series that I have read. The Magician's Nephew has the most beautiful imagery of any book I have read.

I'm not even going to get into Harry Potter right now. I might write so much that it would break the internet.

This is obviously only a small portion of all of the book recommendations I have in mind, but I would love to make a habit out of sharing my favorite books with you!

one week down...

...and fifteen to go. Last night, I was already thinking about how sad I will be when I move to my 5-week placement after spring break. I have been with my third graders since mid-October, and while I know it's necessary to experience other classrooms...I'm so sad to think of leaving my "homeroom"! They are one of the funniest groups of kiddos I have ever met. Last week, the class was exploring fiction during Writing, and came up with some "what if..." questions. These two were my favorites:

"What if there was a volcano made of chili?"
"What if a mouse gave me a cookie?"

If you follow me on Instagram, I hope you saw the "wanted" poster one of my students made for me, including my new alias, Shawtato. Seriously, I don't know where kids get this stuff! They just keep me in stitches, every day!

Back to the 5-week placement. Apparently, we get to choose where we go; although, we're advised to choose a grade level that we haven't experienced yet. Immediately, I thought "6th grade! It would be good for me to observe a middle school setting!" Now, I'm having second thoughts. Honestly, middle school intimidates me. Like, a lot. It intimidated me as a STUDENT. Bah. I have some time to decide, at least! If anyone has any advice or tips for middle school, send them my way!

My first week as a student teacher went by SO fast, and it's been a blast so far! One of my goals for student teaching is to be more assertive/firm; anyone who knows me knows that I am VERY shy. I'm sure my family members/those who know me best would ALL disagree, since I was always the loudest kid in the house. I always tell them that I was completely silent all day at school, and then I would just come home and explode :) I've been working on coming out of my shell and have a more authoritative "teacher voice", but it's definitely still a work in progress!

I have the best CT (cooperating teacher) ever! She had all of this sweet stuff waiting for me on my first day. Cuteness OVERLOAD! My freshman year of college consisted of me dreaming about being "Mrs. Shaw" one day, and this just made this "season" in my life so much more real.

Our GIANT multiplication array chart! The kids colored their own arrays on graph paper, cut them out, and taped them in the appropriate spot on the chart! I'll post a picture of the finished product next week! Can my CT draw the straightest lines, or what? 

hello there!

One of my New Years Resolutions was to get back into the blogging world. So, uh, hi. I was just perusing my old blog (*shudder*), and realized my last post was from JULY, people. Wow.

I have a little more direction and inspiration for this little bloggie-poo, more than random posts about Chick-fil-a and people making me mad. I know, you're welcome. If you can actually believe this...I start my very last semester of college next week. Which means...student. TEACHING. Hard to believe, yeah? Even more exciting, I already know the kiddos. I am such a lucky girl. My internship last semester took place in the classroom I will be student teaching in, and may I add, they are delightful. Challenging and rambunctious, but just wonderful. I can't to share my experiences in the classroom, school, seminars (more about that later!), and job hunt with you. During my internship, I always searched for and read blogs written by student teachers (as well as regular teachers) for ideas, tips, and just plain stories. What better way to jump back into blogging than this? Plus, I'm pretty sure my mom enjoys it. Here you go, Lori.

I'll start with a little recap since its been about six months. I had a GREAT last semester (dean's list, yeeeaahh!), had an awesome time at my internship, and traveled between St. Louis and Springfield quite a few times. Jeremy travels a bunch, but he loves it. He is such a people-person, and is so good at his job. I love listening in on his work calls, and hearing him talk like an adult. Instead of, you know, stuffing Reese's wrappers in places where he thinks I won't notice, and asking me to pick up stuff to make cookies while I'm out. But I digress.

In the past couple of months, we (obviously) have been discussing our future at great lengths. With me, finally, graduating in May, we clearly have a lot of choices to make. Originally, we had planned on staying in Springfield for a few years. We were hoping I would get a job in Springfield school district, and that we could buy a house down here. Ultimately, we decided that this wasn't the right fit for us. I am so grateful that his job allowed us to come back down here, so I could finish my degree. But, drumroll please...we're moving back to St. Louis this summer. We just recently started the house-hunting process (trying to decide between building or buying an already-built home), so I will make sure to update about that, as well! The whole process is very exciting, stressful, and adult-like. Especially for a couple who had brownies for dinner tonight. Anyway, we're looking in the Wentzville/Lake St. Louis/O'Fallon area. Jeremy's little brother asked us last week, "Is it weird to think you'll be buying a house back where you started/grew up?" Yes, yes it is.

SO, lots of rambling. As usual. Don't act like you didn't know this about me. I would really love to use this blog as a tool during my student-teaching; any comments with advice, tips, or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Share this with your friends! Make me internet famous! Ok, not really, but I LOVE feedback. So talk to me, people.