Whereabouts

 

In the beginning of the semester which was not long ago, I was an intern at Cambridge Elementary in the city of Orange for a week and a half. I got to observe kids in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade in their after school program. Even though I was there for a short amount of time, I still miss the kids and a new friend that I found, Tamara Nguyen. She was my site coordinator at the time. She was very insightful and kind to me.

I found out that the agency, Think Together, was looking for Program Leaders. Since I thought it would be wise to be an intern and also get paid, I decided to apply for the position. Three days later, I got phone call to be interviewed on spot. A day after that, I was placed in their system to be interviewed in person and take an exam. The exam included basic math, grammar, and oral written test. Two days after I was to present a lesson plan in front of other site coordinators for ten minutes. To be realistic, a lesson plan tends to take a week to finish.

It has been about two weeks settled in at my new job position as a substitute Program Leader at Heninger Elementary in Santa Ana. I have the largest group of kids who are in 3rd grade even though I remembered telling my coordinator that I wanted students who are in junior high. In the future, I am going to be a teacher for junior high students, I might as well get some training in that area. But I don't mind staying where I am now since I get to challenge myself with younger kids. I want to know how long I can keep my will stable and strong. And, plus I think the harder the challenge, the more character skill is build in. My current schedule at the this is...I work on Monday through Friday from 1pm to 6pm except on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the kids tend to get out earlier from their regular school around noon. So, I get to start around 12:20 until 6pm. I tend to come 45 to 30 mins earlier to eat lunch and prepare the lesson for that day.

From February 18^th to the 22^nd, my 22 kids got to make Mardi Gras masks.  

My next project is in progress for St. Patrick Day. Most teachers would just tell students to wear green, so they can avoid getting pinch. For my project, the green clover represent as luck, the black box represents as black pot, and inside the boxes will be yellow paper star represents as gold. I randomly placed raffle tickets inside the boxes. Students at this school use different color coded raffle tickets to buy items around school such as ice cream, lead pencils, and so on. I have also placed in each box a gold coin that has a clover on it and candy.  Thanks to my closest and talented friend, Ryuna, for drawing a giant clover out of cardboard for me. I needed it for my students to use it as a template to trace on their decorative paper. My students needed to work on their motor skills rather than having myself trace 22 clovers and then cutting them out for them...too much work.

Nowadays, I think it is ashame for teachers these days for not telling students the gist of the background story of any holiday. The week of Valentine’s Day I had to summarize to my kids what was the true meaning of Valentines.  I'm guessing I will be the one telling my kids stories for each holiday such St. Patrick and Easter that is coming up. =] 

 

Song of the Day: "Break Them" by Jordyn Taylor

Pengen On the Go...

Everyday there is something for me to prepare before the day comes and to do on the day of. Beside going to school in the morning and somehow finding the time to eat lunch in my car or in the teacher lounge, I feel like I'm always on the run.

Starting a New Journey

 I have strange feeling coming over me while staring at this Blog site. It has been awhile since I actually typed up my feelings and thoughts online. My blogging skills might be rusty since it has been a couple of years now that I actually typed up something rather than an essay for school. I miss my old Xanga account since I had it for such a long time, but I forgot my password and I can’t seem to log on anymore.  I guess this is my new home now.

My friends have already been blogging on this site for at least a year and I finally decided it was time for me to open an account here…and plus I’m lazy too write everything down in the traditional way (pencil and paper).  I think this is a good way to express myself and it’s very therapeutic for me since I have been through a lot these past few months. I have been an emotional wreck, but I’m slowly recovering from a broken heart.

I see myself transition into another person for these past 3.5 years and I don’t like myself at the moment. People used to look at me and know that I was the friendly person…but I don’t feel or see myself that way as much as I used to.  Somehow I feel lost and confused that I have lost my way for who I am. This year and years to come I hope I get to pick up the missing pieces that I have lost, misplaced, or gain to discover…let this blog site transport me somewhere else!

My goal is write at least once a week  since I am really busy with school and interning/working. And at the end of every blog there shall be a song or poem that will describe me in what I am feeling at the moment.

 

 "Forever And Almost Always"  By Kate V.