3/2/10
New Lappy
I got my new laptop today. It is adorable and lime green. Endrit let me get the lappy that I wanted. I am in love with it. It has a lot of memory, separate volume control for everything. That is good when you are voice chatting and listening to music at the same time. So, I am still learning about all of the gadgets that the computer has.
2/27/10
Sweet Potatoes
I have never been a fan of sweet potatoes. So, when Bountiful Baskets had 2 weeks with sweet potatoes in them I had to figure out the way to prepare them so I would enjoy eating them. The first week I made sweet potato mashed potatoes for Shepard's Pie. It was really good. This last week I was at a restaurant and on the menu it had sweet potato fries. So, I went home today and for dinner I made a couple of my sweet potatoes into fries. They were really good!! I am starting to be a fan of sweet potatoes. It is good to have things thrust onto you so that you can learn to like what you receive. At least I am willing.
2/25/10
If you want to see a grown woman cry...
Send her to watch the last test of the solid rocket boosters for the space shuttle program. I literally bawled for 20 minutes after I saw that. All of my childhood dreams were summed up. The space shuttle is on its last leg. I shook the hand of a man that was orbiting the Earth less than a year ago. To see the huge flames from 2 miles away and feel the ground shake beneath my feet and the roar in my ears makes me want to sing! It makes me want to fly to Florida and actually see a real launch. I have no great words to explain today, I just stand in awe.
2/24/10
A couple of pictures
The first picture that I have is of Jimmy. He still sleeps on his back. I think that it is adorable!
Last night my kitties both wanted to snuggle so I made Endrit take a picture of it. They are so fun when they are snugglie.
2/22/10
Writing Tests
I had to write my own test for motion, speed and acceleration. It really is harder than people think. I open up the chapter summary. I have to write a paragraph summarizing all of the concepts and then making sure that I can delete the vocabulary words in them and it still makes sense. There was a graph that had to be made. It is really time consuming, but once it is done, it is done. That is the great thing.
So, I have 2 versions of the test written. There are gimme questions and there are questions with extraneous information to really test how much they know. There is vocabulary and knowledge of units testing. I personally think that it is a well written test. My site teacher thinks that it is pretty good too.
It is always interesting to be able to move onto the next thing that I need to do to learn how to be a teacher. Everything that I do is fun in the end. I really like teaching the math. I think that I am okay with it.
I have to admit that I thought I knew how to teach. I am glad that I have the mentors that I have because I learn a new thing every day. I love it.
So, I have 2 versions of the test written. There are gimme questions and there are questions with extraneous information to really test how much they know. There is vocabulary and knowledge of units testing. I personally think that it is a well written test. My site teacher thinks that it is pretty good too.
It is always interesting to be able to move onto the next thing that I need to do to learn how to be a teacher. Everything that I do is fun in the end. I really like teaching the math. I think that I am okay with it.
I have to admit that I thought I knew how to teach. I am glad that I have the mentors that I have because I learn a new thing every day. I love it.
2/19/10
I can't believe it!!!
This is referring to my previous post about my voice. Since I knew that I needed to change my vocal habits in school by the instruction of my teacher, I decided that I would test it out today.
So the set up of my class is that they come in and they have a question on the board that introduces what we will be talking about that day. Today's question had 3 sentences in it. I always read the ATB to the students just to get them on the right track. After I read the 3 sentences, a female student in my class raised her hand.
"Ms. Rachel, are you happier today? Your voice sounds so happy."
Jaw drops to the floor...not only did the change get noticed by the students, it was a big enough change that they felt the need to tell me about it.
"I like your voice today" another student says...a male student.
The smile grows wider on my face.
"Ms. Rachel, how did you change your voice so much? You shouldn't just be able to change your voice like that!" More students chime in agreement to the question.
"Ah, if you are quiet, I will tell you".
"SHH!!"
I proceed to explain how I have been in theater and choir from a young age. I have taken vocal lessons for many years. I am currently taking voice lessons.
"Ms. Rachel, can you sing a song for us?" another male student asks.
"If we can get through the review and there is extra time at the end of class, you pick the song and I will sing it if I know it."
The review went wonderfully. They were very well behaved. They participated and asked questions. There was 5 minutes left at the end of class when we were finished and the suggestions of songs came in like a throng.
The consensus was between "I'm a little teapot" and "Amazing Grace". The latter won...and I sang it. Yay for me, the students were impressed...impressed enough to ask me to sing "The Star Spangled Banner". I obliged. Whispers were around the room that I wouldn't hit the high note...I hit it and I had most of the boys (who are the singing people in the class) gave me a standing ovation.
It isn't the first time we have sung in class. A few weeks ago a male student sang a song in class for the daily incentive. Everyone thinks a duet is in order for another incentive.
The students were happy to learn a new thing about their science teacher. I sing. I sing pretty well. They got to hear it. They participated in science to hear it. I hope they remember me for it.
It was all because I changed my voice because my University supervisor said I had a boring teaching voice. Thank you.
So the set up of my class is that they come in and they have a question on the board that introduces what we will be talking about that day. Today's question had 3 sentences in it. I always read the ATB to the students just to get them on the right track. After I read the 3 sentences, a female student in my class raised her hand.
"Ms. Rachel, are you happier today? Your voice sounds so happy."
Jaw drops to the floor...not only did the change get noticed by the students, it was a big enough change that they felt the need to tell me about it.
"I like your voice today" another student says...a male student.
The smile grows wider on my face.
"Ms. Rachel, how did you change your voice so much? You shouldn't just be able to change your voice like that!" More students chime in agreement to the question.
"Ah, if you are quiet, I will tell you".
"SHH!!"
I proceed to explain how I have been in theater and choir from a young age. I have taken vocal lessons for many years. I am currently taking voice lessons.
"Ms. Rachel, can you sing a song for us?" another male student asks.
"If we can get through the review and there is extra time at the end of class, you pick the song and I will sing it if I know it."
The review went wonderfully. They were very well behaved. They participated and asked questions. There was 5 minutes left at the end of class when we were finished and the suggestions of songs came in like a throng.
The consensus was between "I'm a little teapot" and "Amazing Grace". The latter won...and I sang it. Yay for me, the students were impressed...impressed enough to ask me to sing "The Star Spangled Banner". I obliged. Whispers were around the room that I wouldn't hit the high note...I hit it and I had most of the boys (who are the singing people in the class) gave me a standing ovation.
It isn't the first time we have sung in class. A few weeks ago a male student sang a song in class for the daily incentive. Everyone thinks a duet is in order for another incentive.
The students were happy to learn a new thing about their science teacher. I sing. I sing pretty well. They got to hear it. They participated in science to hear it. I hope they remember me for it.
It was all because I changed my voice because my University supervisor said I had a boring teaching voice. Thank you.
2/18/10
Over Trained
Going to voice lessons again is interesting. I keep on getting untrained from what I was told I needed to do in high school. With all of the voice training that I have done I have excellent control over my voice. Surprisingly enough, that is bad when you are a teacher. I teach in a very different voice than I converse in. My range is smaller in my teaching. I need to untrain that as well. I need to teach in a more conversational voice. After all those years of carefully using and controlling my voice, it trained me to have a bad teaching voice. Who would have thought? More things to think about when I teach.
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