On Saturdays, I share three simple things that brought me happiness during the week. These posts may grow or change as time passes. Please feel free to share your own simple joys in the comments section!
1. Learning more about the Piedmont Renewal Network (and being their official photographer for a few hours).
Although I knew a little about this startup nonprofit that prepares students for college and provides tuition assistance, I did not realize the awesome impact they have in Winston-Salem.
From January to April, I was a student teacher at a local elementary school.
In my last month of student teaching, I made a list of the many reasons that I was eager to finish:
I wish I had time to tell you all of my student teaching stories. I still have 23 class days to go, but I am already armed with an arsenal of student stories, enough stories to fill a separate blog.
I wish I had time to tell you about the first time that I taught math. I later compared the experience to a fish teaching chickens how to climb a tree. Thankfully, the second day was more like a squirrel teaching chickens how to climb a tree.
I wish I had time to tell you about when we tried to melt butter on metal spoons. It was my first science lesson, and the science teacher said that the kids were “ready to start a mutiny.” Then the butter melted, and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I wish I had time to tell you about how a girl threw up on her way into English/Language Arts, and five kids left “sick” within 1/2 hour.
I wish I had time to tell you about when I poured alka-seltzer into Diet Coke to start science class.
I wish I had time to tell you about playing grudge ball.
I wish I had time to tell you about the students that thought they were reading about a “cham-e-lon” instead of a chameleon.
I wish I had time to tell you about the girl that wrote a letter to Sunbutter. Here is an excerpt:
Another reason that I am so fond of Sunbutter, is that it is processed in a facility that doesn’t handle any peanuts or tree nuts. It states this fact on the label, meaning that it’s true. If this wasn’t true, then it would be false advertising, which is illegal.
I wish I had time to tell you about the girl who does back tucks across the soccer field during recess.
I wish I had time to tell you about the Chromebooks that didn’t work when my school advisor was there to observe me.
Since I don’t have time to do all of these things (in fact, I have to read 60 more pages of Because of Winn-Dixie tonight), I hope this post will suffice.
This is the bag of a student teacher.
It is capacious, sturdy, colorful, and (like every good school bag) eats school supplies.
You can tell a lot about a person based off of what is in their bag. For example, if you were to look into my bag, you would learn…
![20170205_182504[1].jpg](https://kats9lifes.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/20170205_1825041.jpg?w=500)
Today I start my senior year of college. How bizarre, crazy, and unfathomable is that?! Since starting school seventeen years ago, I have learned a few things about education, and I would like to impart some wisdom to any new college freshman.
Most people enter college with the goal of graduation. But who wants to be like everyone else? Make your own goals! Blaze your own path! Aim to drop out! Here are my ten recommendations for successfully failing a class.
Disclaimer: Following these ten steps may lead to becoming becoming a college dropout. In such cases, one might have a sense of inadequacy, failure, and depression. Consult your parents and mentors before engaging in any failure-driven activities.
I finally finished cleaning, rearranging, and decorating my dorm room just in time for residential students to move in later today.
I thought I would give y’all a quick tour of my abode for the next nine months…my last nine months of undergrad!
Every room is furnished to house two students. Even though I am in a single-occupancy room, I have two dressers, two closets, two desks, and two beds (and therefore, twice the space to hide all of my junk).
As expected, I have a lot of pictures hanging in my room. Anyone want to guess how many?
It’s only appropriate that the library was trying to discard this Chris Rice CD. I have used YouTube (because I am old school) to listen to various songs from it on repeat for the last three years of college. Now I can quit typing song names in the YouTube search box.
I spent a long time decorating my door, and I am so proud of it! I would much rather stare at my door than get started on the school work that my syllabi say I have to do, but if I want to graduate in May, I better wrap up this post and get to work!
Welcome back the elementary-education-major side of Kat’s 9 Lives.
Today we are going to do an experiment to show young minds the importance of taking care of our bones…because bones keep us upright, and no one wants to look like this:
Just pretend that you are back in fifth grade for a minute as I walk you through the steps of the scientific method.
1. Question – How do different drinks affect our bones?
2. Hypothesis – We are often told that milk is good for our bones, and we are discouraged from drinking soda. Therefore, we hypothesize that milk will strengthen bones and soda will weaken bones.
3. Experiment – For our experiment, we will soak eggs in three different liquids: 2% milk, Coca-cola, and distilled white vinegar. Bones and eggs are both strengthened by calcium carbonate, so any affects to the eggs’ shells are similar to what would happen to a bone.
Supplies:
Process:
4. Analysis – Observe the eggs at different stages over the next few weeks. I placed the eggs in their various liquids on March 1. Here is how they looked on later dates:
5. Conclusion – This experiment proved that Coca-cola can effect the composition of bones (as seen by the bumpy substance that formed on the egg shell after a month of soaking). This experiment did not prove that milk will strengthen bones. There was no observable change to the egg soaked in milk.
