Just like that...

Just like that, spring semester is over!  I am also sitting here, currently on the last shift of my job that I've had on campus for the last year and a half.  I am not too sure what I should make of all these changes. 

Rewind and then fast forward.  I started writing this post last week and of course got distracted and or busy.  My bad! So I'll start all over again.  Spring semester is now over but summer courses started yesterday.  That's right, a whole 4 days of summer break.  Iowa State is SO thoughtful! (Sarcasm.)

Last Friday I got to meet my cooperating teacher that I will be with for the 16 weeks of student teaching.  I AM SO EXCITED! She was also very excited to be working in the Trinect project and excited to have me in the classroom.  It is also going to be a very different experience for both of us.

Saturday I got to see and celebrate graduation with a couple of my closest friends.  So happy that I met them in college, it wouldn't have been the same experience without them!

So I sit here and I have started another "semester".  This time it is about 4 weeks long and VERY condensed and shortened.  I have some of the best peers in my summer blocks and so far we are having a bunch of fun!*

Mom and Babcia are coming to Iowa this weekend! I am happy to have a small piece of home visit, I have been pretty homesick lately. (I thought that I was over that stage in my life!)

Since there is really too much else going on, I don't have much else to talk about now! I'll see y'all next time.

*Disclaimer: We will most likely change our minds towards the end!

The Sweetest Gift..

SO MUCH has been going on since the last time the I wrote!  Things have been really crazy with dead week being this week and finals next week! The light at the end of the tunnel is growing larger day by day.

A couple weeks ago was my last day at practicum with my kiddos.  After four weeks of being with them I didn't really want to leave them but I knew that it was time.  In leaving them I knew that they would be the first kiddos that I ever taught and I would remember them in that way.  My practicum experience was not the greatest compared to some others, but what I took out of my experience will be invaluable as I prepare for having my own classroom someday.  The title of the post is based on what I received in the mail the other day.  A package of letters and pictures from my students!  Something that I will have forever to remember them by.

Since my last day of practicum the weeks have been a blur!  We started having regular class again, there was homework on top of homework, and work to consume my time.  So now I sit here and think of some of the more exciting things starting to take shape!

In the midst of all things crazy, I had a meeting about student teaching. For those of you who don't know what I will be doing, let me fill you in!  I chose to part of a STEM grant that some professors are working on at Iowa State.  STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  This grant allows 10 student teachers to work with a cooperating teacher in the Des Moines Public School District and a Masters or PhD student in the College of Engineering.  The three of us work together to bring more of the STEM concepts into the classroom.  The grant is also supposed to help someone like me whose endorsements are not in science or mathematics.  Let me tell you, I need all the help with math a girl can get! Definitely not one of my strong suits.  Anyway, I found this to be a really interesting opportunity that I just could not pass up.  I will spend 16 weeks in one classroom, have weekly meetings with our group of adults, and I will be getting paid to student teach.  SAY WHAT? No one gets paid to student teach.  I told y'all that it was an interesting opportunity!  Back to the meeting; I met the PhD student that I will be working with, and got my placement!  I will be in a 3rd grade classroom at a DMPS that is 8 miles from my apartment.  How did I get so lucky?  I get to meet my cooperating teacher at the end of this week.  I AM SO EXCITED! I told you that light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger!

The next best thing to happen this week is that two lovely gems in my life are coming home to IOWA and graduating...all in one week! I am so very excited to see them and celebrate! :) 

The last thing is that finals are this week! This semester has been a long one and I can't wait for it to be over.  The only bad thing about this is that I get 4 days of summer vacation and then it is back to hitting the books for summer block.

Within the last week or so it has really started to hit me that other than this summer, I will not be on campus anymore.  This nonsense is playing games in my head!  To think that I wont be on a college campus everyday? What is this life that you speak of?  The road has been long...

Third grade, here I come!