Laughing Lindsay

One week from now I will be graduating from college! Wow! How can that be? I don’t think it has really sunk in yet. I finished up student teaching on Wednesday. I was sad to leave the kids and I miss them. Many of them asked if I would be teaching eighth grade next year at their school. Aww! Aren’t they cute? On Thursday, I went to campus to turn in paperwork, apply for my teaching license, and take care of some things.

I swear, I keep thinking that my college will contact me to say that I am missing a class or something. Haha! I just can’t believe I’m going to be walking across that stage to get my degrees in one week’s time. This week is what is considered “dead week” because seniors’ grades have to be in by Monday and so we have nothing to do but wait for graduation.

I hope to have lunch with a couple of friends this week and get ahead on blogging and stuff. Plus, I’m working hard on filling out job applications and looking for special education teaching jobs to apply for. So, it’s pretty much been hurry up and wait recently. Oh, well. I believe I will find a job for the fall. I mean school doesn’t start until mid-August here. That’s still several months away (considering Virginia just approved a state budge which many localities were waiting on to hire teachers).

In short, yay me! I survived student teaching and college! I don’t remember ever being this excited or proud of myself. I’ve completed a five-year Master’s with Bachelor’s degrees program in just four years (while keeping up with this blog and having a life). I think I’m entitled to brag a little, don’t you?

Yay! At various points in my life and especially this semester, I didn’t think I would make it to the end of my student teaching semester without a mental breakdown. However, I’m happy to report that I have today and then three days next week left for this semester! Woot! I may do some teaching today and Monday. I will be strictly observing on Tuesday and Wednesday, so they won’t be bad at all.

Words can’t even begin to describe how ready I am for this experience to be over. I have enjoyed my time in the classroom and am ready to get a job teaching in the fall. However, I am feeling very run down at this point and am over student teaching. It has been the hardest semester ever and I do not wish to do it again. I really am truly excited to be done with this portion of my life.

Now, the hard part will be to make myself get out of bed (and going to bed at a decent time) for the remainder of the semester. Haha! I see summer and graduation right in front of me and am so stressed/excited about everything that I can barely sleep. Please leave me thoughts of encouragement or reassurance in the comments below. They would be much appreciated.

Wow! Time is really flying by at this second placement! This week was only four days long with schools closed on Monday for spring holiday. So, this is my last full week student teaching since my last week (next week) will be only three days. I can hardly believe it. It seems like I just got to the middle school and I’m already planning to leave it. Just eight more school days are left for this student teacher!

I’m really getting excited now. I am stalking a few counties’ school websites in hopes of seeing something to apply for and am eagerly awaiting graduation at this point. I don’t think it has sunk in, yet that I’m going to be finished with my degrees soon. Gah! That felt so good to type. Hehe!

Please leave me some love in the comments to get me motivated to get through this last 1.5 weeks of student teaching.

Wow! I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now. I realize I just started student teaching middle school. However, this placement is a couple of weeks shorter than the first one. I have completed three full weeks in seventh grade now and we are on spring holiday break. Yesterday, we had a 2 hour early dismissal and we don’t go back until after Easter. Once we return from this break, I will have just over 2 weeks left of student teaching.

I am doing much better at this placement. I am nowhere near as tired when I go home at the end of the day in middle school. I’m also finding lesson plans to be easier and quicker to take care of. My college supervisor’s evaluations of my teaching have improved significantly as well. So, things are going really well here. I am definitely going to miss these kids. It feels like just as soon as I’m getting to really know my students and get used to teaching them, I’m preparing to leave.

However, I am very much looking forward to having this semester behind me. It has been the hardest semester of my life, hands down. My supervisor has pushed me to my limits many times. I feel like I can take criticisms of my teaching from anyone now, regardless of what they have to say. I have had to make decisions about how to handle situations countless times and have developed the “just survive” attitude in regards to finishing up my time with the college. I’m happy to have had this opportunity and to have the mentors I have at the middle school, but I’m ready to move on. I am “on track” to graduate in early May and have begun the process of looking for a teaching position in the counties near me. The word “excited” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Although, I think I may need to find some motivation to finish out the semester as I know I’m almost done.

So, please leave me some comments of encouragement or motivation.

I’ve mentioned it several times on here, but my dad has many health issues. One of his main problems is diabetes. So, I knew I had to share with my readers about a day I just learned about. Today (March 27th) is the 24th American Diabetes Association Alert Day. This is held every fourth Tuesday in March and is supposed to serve as a

“wake-up call” asking the American public to take the Diabetes Risk Test to find out if they are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

To correspond with the day, the American Diabetes Association has posted an updated Diabetes Risk Test on their Facebook page. It can be taken in under a minute and shared with others.

The Diabetes Risk Test requires users to answer simple questions about weight, age, family history and other potential risk factors for diabetes. Their results are reported as a numerical score indicating low or high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Those at higher risk are encouraged to speak with their health care provider to learn more about ways to help reduce their risk or delay onset of the disease.

If knowledge isn’t enough to get you to take the test, then maybe this bit of good news will:

To encourage individuals to take and share the new Diabetes Risk Test, Boar’s Head®, manufacturer of premium delicatessen products, will donate $5 to the Association for every risk test taken, up to $50,000 from now until April 27, 2012.

So, spend the 1 minute to take the test and perhaps talk with your doctor if you get results telling you to do so (or if it runs in your family). It never hurts to check.

Disclosure: I received nothing for this post. No compensation was received. I just wanted to share this information in hopes of helping someone. The opinions expressed are my own.

Two weeks ago, I told you that I was going into my last week of student teaching kindergarten. Well, this past week I moved on to my second placement for student teaching – middle school! I have been looking forward to this placement since last semester as I’ve had an interest in middle school for sometime. I even observed in seventh grade civics once and really liked it.

Needless to say, I was tickled pink to be placed in a seventh grade civics and economics class in addition to being placed with special education mentors. This placement will be a little different than the last one. I am going to be shadowing my civics mentor for the day-to-day routine and teaching. Then, I will be leaving the classroom to be in meetings and witness the paperwork in special ed. So far, I love my placement! This is a much better fit for me (which I already knew it would be). I love being able to give the students some freedom and joking with them. Granted, the kindergartners were cute. However, I never was truly happy there.

This placement has been enjoyable thus far and seems very promising. My mentors are encouraging yet honest about my teaching performance. They are extremely helpful and caring. I am so looking forward to finishing out my student teaching experience with these people. I have learned so much and it’s only the first week.

So, do you have any suggestions for dealing with middle schoolers? Haha! I honestly don’t think they are that bad (yet). I just thought someone might be able to provide some nice tips.

I posted about the World Kidney Day 2011 and 2010 World Kidney Day. So, I knew I had to post about World Kidney Day this year. Today, March 8th, is World Kidney Day!

Today is the day I urge you to find out more information about your kidneys. Take tests to see if you have kidney disease or check your blood pressure at least. See if you are maintaining a healthy weight (or not). However, I also wanted to draw attention to this year’s theme for World Kidney Day – Donate – Kidneys for Life – Recieve. The reason I take time out of my schedule to post about this day every year is because of my father. He went into kidney failure when I was in middle school and had to be on dialysis for several years while waiting for a kidney transplant. Then, in my senior year of high school, he received a kidney transplant!

So, this year’s theme is especially close to my heart. I mean if someone hadn’t donated their kidney, then my dad might not be here today. That being said, please consider being an organ donor. Also, be sure to check out all of the ways to keep your kidneys healthy this World Kidney Day.

Disclosure: Nothing was received for this post. I am posting this to draw attention to the cause and nobody from World Kidney Day has asked me to post this. The opinions expressed are my own.

Wow! I truly can’t believe it! I am preparing for my last week in my first placement for student teaching. In some ways, I’m very excited to move on to my second placement (middle school). However, I am going to miss the little kids and my wonderful mentors. The experience in kindergarten has been exhausting, challenging, and sometimes entertaining. I will definitely always remember the people I’ve come into contact with during this experience. I have learned so much from everyone and I am thankful for everyone that has helped me thus far (including my students).

I should have some free time this week as I’m slowly giving the classroom back over to my mentor teachers. Friday I will be strictly observing again. I hope to work on some posts during this time to get ahead. The past few weeks have been some of the busiest and most draining weeks of life. There have been good days and days I wondered why in the world I was doing this (as in student teaching and my choice of college to attend). However, I can honestly say that I have never doubted my decision to go into teaching. So, I guess that is a good thing. My mentor is insisting on having a good-bye party for me on Friday. Do any of my readers have any suggestions for (cheap) gifts for my mentors or students?

Oh, this also means that there’s only two more months until graduation! Woot! I’m super excited about that! So, leave me some encouragement for getting through the next few months in the comments, please.

I have been blogging since 2009 and I have learned many things along the way. However, being a college student, I don’t have the money to pay my own way to a nice blogging conference to learn more things. I also don’t really have the time to track down sponsors to attend a conference. However, the 2012 Reviewer’s Retreat is being held in Charlotte, North Carolina in early June and I believe it would make for a great first real blogging conference for me. Living in southwestern Virginia, I could easily make the drive to the conference, thus saving on transportation costs. Then, I heard of an opportunity to apply for a scholarship for the conference which takes care of registration and lodging at the Great Wolf Lodge. So, I knew I had to apply.

Being a college student, I am used to sitting in classes and learning things. I thought it was so fascinating that a conference would the classroom type set-up to manage the events. I believe I would excel at that type of conference since I’m already used to it. I believe I would register for the graduate track at the conference. This would also be neat for me as I have been working on both an undergraduate and a graduate degree at college. I will graduate from college (hopefully) in early May. So, this conference in early June would be a great graduation present for myself.

I would love to use this conference to learn how to take my blog to the next level, whatever that may be. I believe we could all use some advanced SEO tips for our blogs. So, I would be interested in hearing that lesson. I’ve also previously mentioned that I would like to take more trips for my blog. So, the session on traveling for your blog sounds like a good one for me. I’d also love to hear about those ambassadorships I keep seeing other bloggers get. I sincerely believe that every class for graduate seems interesting and helpful.

Attending Review U would benefit my blog by allowing me to learn new things and to meet new people. I enjoy getting to meet other bloggers and putting faces with the blogs. I would love to meet some pr in real life as well. I have learned that you have to work to build relationships, especially in the blogging world. These relationships include those with brand representatives and other bloggers as you never know what may come up. Additionally, I have heard some of my other blogging friends are attending. So, I would love the opportunity to catch-up with them.

If I were to receive the Reviewer’s Retreat 2012 Presidential Scholarship, I would be able to grow my blog as well as a person. I would be able to meet more people and to learn from them.

Disclosure: I am being entered to win a scholarship to attend the 2012 Reviewer’s Retreat in North Carolina (lodging and tickets). The opinions expressed are my own.