Recent Ponderings...

I have 5 days left until I am done my practicum and on my way to getting my teaching certification! I also have 5 weeks of commuting to UBC and pretending to care about the assignments they give and THEN I can be a teacher! Obviously I am not enthused about these last few weeks, but I hope that they will speed by! It is hard to believe that I have been in school since I was 5 years old, 20 years of my life! When I actually put that into writing, it looks so sad. My 20 year journey is coming to an end though, and I am so excited to get my life started without the constant of school! Now, here's hoping I actually get a job!

Heat Wave...

Well, just as I suspected, practicum has flown by at an alarming speed and my life is as busy as ever. It is a different kind of busy though, on most days I love marking, doing prep for my lessons and interacting with the students. I do confess that the recent heat wave has caused my patience to dwindle. I am finding that I am closer and closer to a breaking point when I have six 9 year olds commanding my immediate attention! (I could not imagine having sextuplets!) Thankfully today I decided that instead of enduring the 33 degree heat inside my classroom, we would go out and sit in the shade! Even with this change, my students are acting out like crazy!!! Despite this not-so-great week, I do love my students and will be sad when I leave them. It is only 12 school days until I return to UBC and I guess it is a necessary evil, only one month until I finished forever!

Besides school, which does take up most of my time, I have been tutoring lots and hanging out with my wonderful friends and family! Sam and I went to Jericho beach a couple Saturdays ago, the tide was out and it was a wonderful walk to the middle of the ocean! We have made the committment to go as much as possible this summer because it was so relaxing the first time! Here are some pictures from the Beach and the last couple things I did with my class:

Jericho Beach, Sam and Fish and Chips - A Great Day!




Decorating Easter Cookies, Charcoal Easter Eggs and Printmaking

Almost a Month!

I wanted to be a faithful blogger, but time just escaped! Teaching is going well, although this week I was sick and missed two days. I recently found out that everyone except for a few people who were at Easter dinner all got the fever/cold/flu combo that I got too. Questionable Turkey perhaps...? This puts me behind on my lesson schedules and I am trying to figure out a way that I am going to fit everything in. Sam and I are doing well, nothing really new happening in our lives. God is continuing to be faithful and has provided Sam with some job prospects, which is an answer to prayer. He has also been providing for us financially and even provided us a way to get some furniture and a better tv for an awesome price. These things sometimes seem inconsequential but I am so thankful that we are able to live and trust God for our provisions in these hard times. On another note I just found out that one of my friends in Ontario gave birth to a baby boy! Congratulations to K and A and new baby!

The next 13 weeks of my life...

For the next 13 weeks I will be Mrs.Bell to a wonderfully cute bunch of grade 3 students. I will start off at 30-50% teaching and within a few weeks I will be teaching full time! I am so excited about this, for as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a teacher and I finally get the chance. Some of the units I will be teaching include:

Being a Historian
Heritage of Canada
Fractions and Numeration
Pirates Integrated Unit
Games based on Sports
Being a Good Friend
"Owls in the Family" Novel Study
Plant Growth and Changes

It is kinda crazy that I am responsible for all the things that my students learn in the next couple months...it is a big responsibility! I think the thing that I want the most is to inspire my students to believe that learning and school are exciting, useful and fun things in life. I know that not every teacher desires or tries to do this, but I want to be the kind of teacher who's own passion for learning overflows to the students in my class. Anyways, the next 13 weeks of my life are going to fly by at an immense pace, but I cannot wait to be back in the classroom! I am going to try to keep my blog updated regularly with news from my class for any readers out there (if there are any).

My Rant of the Month...

Melody's List of Things to be Done by March 23

1. Finish History Unit Plan
2. Finish Heritage Unit Plan
3. Finish Math Unit Plan
4. Start P.E. Unit Plan
5. Finish Art Unit Plan
6. Complete 2 entries for E-Portfolio
7. Meet with my Advisor
8. Begin the Long Practicum

Most of these things don't have any meaning to anyone out there, but it makes me feel better that I have written them down. Each of these things are important to my practicum, but they are only part of what I need to do! This program (UBC Bachelor of Education) seems to be one big test: How far can we push the future teacher's so that they either crash-and-burn or push through?? Although I am trying to not let anything get me down too much because teaching is my passion, I do feel like I have so much busy work and no time to have a life! And this to-do list is only for the first half of my practicum! I just have to keep telling myself that it is only 142 days until I am done school forever and certified as a teacher, I cannot wait!!

A New Look

Welcome to the new look of my blog. I saw the most amazing background on Laura's blog and so I decided to update mine as well. The website has so many options, it was hard to choose but now that I know it, I can update it all the time!

Good Friends

Yesterday night I got together with my wonderful friends that I have known since Grade 8! We went to dinner at Kingfishers, which was an okay experience. I had a salad that was $15 dollars that was definately not worth it, but such is life I guess. Then we came back to my house and basically sat around and talked, laughed and giggled until 1am (which we forgot was actually 2 am). It was one of the best times I have had in a long time, I love these girls! We have been through so much together, we spent our 'growing up' years supporting each other and I was reminded of how much each one of them means to me and the influence they have been on the person I have become! We are all insanely busy and don't get together that often, but then I realize that one of the most amazing things about our friendship is that we go right back to being 15 year-old best friends in about a minute! I am also amazed at how much we have 'grown-up', four of us are either married or engaged! I am so thankful that I am still friends with these amazing women and that I get to be a part of the exciting and important moments in their lives. Here's to the next 10 years of friendship with my girls!

This is really cute, older picture of all of us!