Mr. Stonehill Opening Dance Video!!!!

Here's the video of the opening dance number from Mr. Stonehill 2009!

I owe a HUGE thank you to my friend Nick from high school, who spent a couple hours helping me figure out how to get this video on the blog to all of you! It took many attempts at changing the type, size, and location of this video, but at long last - here it is! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

Final Days of Student Teaching

It is hard to believe that I have spent much of the past four years preparing for my student teaching practicum - and now it has come and gone! I am now prepared to have my own classroom! It is both an exciting and scary thought that soon I will be starting a brand new application process - that of applying for teaching jobs!

Student teaching was a great experience. I learned so much from my cooperating practitioner, and as I assess myself as a teacher, I can see the progress I have made since September. My classroom management techniques have grown, I have learned many ideas for how to set up my own classroom, and I have prepared numerous lessons. I feel so much more confident about starting my own classroom now after student teaching than I did before. I have heard many current teachers say that student teaching is what prepares you best for your own classroom - and although I still do not yet have my own classroom, I would have to agree!

The last week of the semester was more low-key for me since my cooperating practitioner once again took over a majority of the teaching. But in addition to some teaching, I stayed busy observing other teachers and also making two new bulletin boards to leave my students with. Here are my final projects:

The most exciting part of my final week, however, is when my kids surprised me with a small party and going away gift. A mom volunteered to bake a cake for us to have during our small party, and together the class presented me with a gift. During art class, all of the kids decorated a big L.L. Bean bag monogramed with Ms. Charest with their hand prints. Then they filled the bag with gifts they donated to me to begin my own classroom library with. It was the best gift I have ever gotten! I will definitely use it during my first few years of teaching!

Now I am excited to have a long winter break for Christmas! It was a challenging, busy, exciting, nerve-wracking, and exhausting semester, so I am certainly excited to relax with family and friends, re-organize, and re-charge for my final semester at Stonehill! (I'm still not used to saying that by the way :/ ) I'll be blogging again soon about my holiday!

Mr. Stonehill 2009

At the end of each fall semester is the ever-popular and long-awaited Mr. Stonehill "beauty pageant." It is one of the most popular events that the senior class traditionally hosts each year - and it is a TON of fun! Boys from all class years participate in the competition - which includes the swimwear, talent, and formal wear/Q&A categories. The weekend of Mr. Stonehill was very exciting for me besides the fact that it was that time of year again for Mr. Stonehill! My group of friends that has grown closer and closer over the past 4 years was reunited again! We all have been doing some exciting and important things - like studying abroad, internships, student teaching, and senior thesises - but this weekend, my friend Kathleen who was in D.C. for the semester, came to Stonehill to visit. Plus, none of us would miss Mr. Stonehill for the world, so we all got together before going to the show! Here's a picture of the girls reunited!

The first category is swimwear. Here are a couple highlights from this year's swimwear competition:

Tim Cushing, Student Government Association Executive Board Treasurer by day, body builder by night!

Real-life lifeguard, Travis Kumph, also dressed as one during Mr. Stonehill '09!

This year my friends and I were very impressed with all of the 14 guys' talents! They worked so hard to prepare their acts, and they all did really well! There was singing, dancing, magic, and more! We also had many "celebrities" participate in the talent portion of the show. We had Clenny Kravitz (Clenton McArthur), Beyonce (aka Conor Nordengren) doing "her" Single Ladies dance, and even a special guest appearance from hubby Jay-Z (Randall Stalworth). But the winner of the talent portion of the competition was Randy Jose for his dance tribute to Michael Jackson. It was fabulous!

"Clenny Kravitz"

Beyonce and Jay-Z

Some of the guys singing background while contestant Nate Illsley performed "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies.

The final category the guys compete in is formal wear and a question and answer session. Here are a couple pictures of the guys with their escorts on stage to answer their question.

Jay Ardizonni with his little sister as his escort.

Senior Pat Higgins with girlfriend Erin Rozwat.

In addition to each category that the guys compete in, they also spend countless hours perfecting their dance moves for the opening and closing numbers, this year choreographed by senior Jill Eid, and also videotaping sketches for the opening and other intermissions during the show. This year's theme was Vegas, and they did a re-make of The Hangover as the opening video. It was pretty funny, they had everything from the beginning of the movie covered - even the baby and tiger! Right after the opening video, the guys entered with strobe lights and music and went right into the opening dance number. I loved the opening dance! Stonehill students love to dance, and I must say, we have some of the best dancers around! I took a video of the opening dance that I have been trying to upload all week - without success! I will continue to try to get the video uploaded, so check back to see what great dancers our guys are!

From Thanksgiving to Christmas

It was so nice to be home at the end of last week for Thanksgiving break. Thanksgiving fell in the middle of my 15 consecutive days of take-over, so it came as a much needed long weekend to write my lessons for this week, and also to catch up on some R&R! In fact, the first thing I did when I got home on Wednesday afternoon after our half day of school, was to take a 3 hour long nap!

School was fun on Wednesday though, because we had a morning of Thanksgiving arts and crafts. We had lots of family volunteers come in to assist with the activities, while I ran the cornucopia water-color activity! We had 10 crafts in all that students in my class and the second grade class next door rotated through. Here are pictures of my favorite crafts:

Isn't the pineapple turkey cute?! My favorite thing about Thanksgiving break was being able to spend time with friends and family. I saw New Moon with my cousins, went out with a couple high school friends, had lunch with my gramma, and of course had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at my other grandma's home. Here are a couple pictures of me and my family on Thanksgiving:

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, Stonehill is already gearing up for Christmas! Last night we had the annual tree lighting event on the quad. Two of Stonehill's a capella groups performed Christmas carols and the lights on the trees on the quad were lit up for the first time! :) My friends and I tried to get some pictures, but it's never easy to get good night photos! Here's what we ended up with! But you can notice our cups of hot apple cider and hot chocolate that we got in the Chapel after the tree lighting - YUM!

Over the next week and a half (the last week of classes before finals), there will be many events, all part of Finals Countdown, planned and run by students with the guidance of the Student Activities office. I am pleased to announce that part of Finals Countdown will be arguably the most popular annual Stonehill event - Mr. Stonehill! I wouldn't miss the male "beauty" pageant for the world, so I'll try to get some good pictures to share next week!

I Survived Week One of Take-Over!

Whew! Well, I survived my first week of take-over, and what a week it was! Being in take-over means that I have full responsibility for the classroom. My teacher is in and out of the classroom just checking on things and making sure I have things under control, but even when she is there, I am still in charge. But despite all the challenges, things are still going pretty well!

On day 1, my class was scheduled for hearing and vision tests, and my cooperating practitioner told me they were at 9:15. So at 9:15 I had my class downstairs set up outside the library with work to keep them busy while they waited, only to find out when I called the nurse to find out that it wasn't scheduled to start until 9:30. So I lost 15 very crucial minutes with the kids! I had a lot to get through for my reading lesson that morning, and I could have used those 15 minutes. I ended up having to rush through the whole class lesson, and then rush through my small reading groups too. But I was happy that somehow I still got through it all!

On day 2, I had a little boy get sick...luckily it was into the trash can. But you can just imagine the commotion that it caused! By Tuesday afternoon, I was also not feeling well. I had been fighting a cold the previous week, so after two full days of school, I was exhausting and my cough was getting worse. Luckily, we had Veteran's Day off from school. It was a much needed day of rest and time to get some work done! I also went to Health Services because I felt an ear infection coming on, and they got me all set up with medication. Now I've been feeling a lot better over the past few days!

Day 3 brought more surprises when my paraprofessional was out sick and we had a substitute in the room. But it all worked out okay. As a teacher, I am learning to just meet each new day head-on, take what the day brings because every day there's something new, and just do the best to adjust to all the changes, interruptions, and unexpected surprises that come my way. I am certainly learning how important it is for a teacher to be flexible!

Friday afternoon I attended an open house for the Urban Catholic Teaching Corps through Boston College at their residence in Dorchester. The UCTC is a service-teaching opportunity in which I would get the opportunity to teach in Urban Catholic schools in Boston and also work on my Masters degree at BC's Lynch School of Education. There is a similar program called the Providence Alliance for Catholic Educators through Providence College that I am also looking into. The open house last night was really informative, and all of the students currently in the program are the nicest, friendliest, and most welcoming people! I still have a lot of thinking and decision making to do about what is the best fit for me for next year. I am sure that my Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks will be full of resume and application writing!

For now, I have LOTS of lesson planning to do for next week! Hope you all enjoy your weekend, while I get back to work!

A Happening Happy Halloween

Happy (belated) Halloween! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday! Can you believe it's already November?! And that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

Let me tell you a little bit about how I celebrated Halloween this year. My celebration started with a Halloween party in first grade Friday afternoon. All week the students worked on making Spooky Bingo boards - they had to color Halloween pictures, cut them out, and glue them onto their bingo boards - so everyone's came out differently. We spent the afternoon playing Spooky Bingo with the second grade classroom next door. We had a couple parents come in and help check bingo boards because when the students got "Spooky Bingo" they won a prize! We also had lots of candy and goodies as a snack during our party. It was a fun afternoon, but also really hectic and tiring for us teachers! The kids were all really excited for the weekend!

As usual I had a busy weekend and it felt like I spent a lot of time working! But I did take Saturday night off to enjoy the Freak Week Dance in the Sports Complex. Stonehill students definitely love to dance, and proof of this is just how many students attend each dance that we have. We have a couple large themed dances each year, and Halloween is one of them. There must be over 1,000 students, nearly half our student body who attend the dances! Plus, this one is extra special because everyone gets decked out in costumes. I am always impressed by the really creative ideas (because I am not very good at being creative).

Princess Lolly (Kari-Ann), Audrey Hepburn (Melissa), Queen Frostine (Alexia), Miss Mint (my roommate Carrie), and I in the common room of our suite before the dance.

At the dance in the Sports Complex, we also found Kait and Emma!

This year my roommate and some of our friends who live in our suite, decided to go as Candyland characters, which I thought was a great idea! Unfortunately, I just didn't know how to put together a costume to be Jolly! :( But it all worked out because I was able to borrow a costume from my friend Sarah and I went as a pirate.

But now I really need to be getting to bed! It's almost my bedtime, and I am being observed tomorrow for the second time by my college supervisor. He will be observing me teach a math lesson on even and odd numbers. Then as soon as that is over, I need to finish up this week's planning so I can begin planning for next week because next week I begin my take-over! That means that I will be in charge of everything in the classroom! I'm so nervous I am going to forget things and not be able to get it all done! But this week I need to put together homework for next week, Reading Workshop jobs, and work on my block plans so that this weekend I can write all my long lesson plans. Getting all my lesson plans done is going to be a challenge, so I will need to be working very hard over the next five and a half weeks!

Bulletin Boards Galore!

Hey everyone!

I've got another week of student teaching under my belt, and now it's only two weeks until my 15 day take-over! Yikes! And I still have so many assignments that need to get done before I get too busy with planning for those 15 days!

This week at school, I completed my Fall Into Reading bulletin board, which I told you about a couple weeks ago. I had the students choose a book, write about why it is their favorite book, and then draw an illustration that also shows why it is their favorite book.

This week I also taught a couple science lessons. In first grade, the focus is mostly on learning how to read and write and the basics of math so that students can then be successful in future grades, plus on the MCAS, which is our state-wide assessment that students in Massachusetts are required to pass in order to graduate high school. Plus, it's very early on in the year, so we are still really just learning how to read and write. For these reasons, there isn't much time left for science and social studies. But this week, we were able to tie in some science. First, I taught a lesson on the seasons, and we talked about the changes in weather, plants, and animals from season to season. The students then completed Season Weather Charts that I created. The next day, we went on a nature walk! We discussed the types of things that we would be able to find in nature during the fall (leaves, pine cones, acorns, etc.). On the nature walk, students found three items to bring back to the classroom to then make observations about. Students recorded their observations about the color, size, shape, weight, and texture of their items.

To further tie these lessons together and to provide additional enrichment about the fall season, I also brought in Indian Corn, pumpkins, and gourds, and with those items as well as samples of students' work, I created a bulletin board for our science table. I am really happy with how that turned out as well!

This week was a busy one besides teaching! I also went home Wednesday night because I had an appointment and then stayed for a home-cooked meal. It was nice to see my parents, and also pick up some things I needed. But it was a very long day! I didn't get back to Stonehill until almost 9:00 P.M.! Then they next morning on my way to school, I was rear-ended! No one was injured, and my car wasn't too badly damaged, but on Friday I was so sore and tired! I was surprised by how much a little car accident like that took out of me! Even though there was a lot going on, I had made plans to go visit my sister at Endicott College for dinner on Friday night. I was really excited to see her, so I still made the trip, and then was able to get a good night's sleep back here at Stonehill. The rest of the weekend looks like lots and lots of lesson planning, and well as finishing and working on a couple assignments for my student teaching seminar! This weekend at Stonehill is also Alumni Weekend, so if I have time, I am hoping maybe I will be running into some recent alums who are back for the weekend - either out enjoying the football game (despite the rainy weather) or perhaps at Brother Mike's - the bar on campus that takes place a few times a month.

My sister, Lindsay, and I.

As for next week, it looks like we will be doing some Halloween activities at school. On campus, Freak Week has already begun and will continue through next weekend! Check back next week for Halloween updates!!

*Note: Due to privacy restrictions, pictures of Kayla's classroom were removed

Columbus Day Weekend in Washington D.C.

Here it is! The long awaited (or so I'd like to think) blog post about this past weekend, which I spent with friends in D.C.! I was very nervous about going away for an entire long weekend while I am student teaching. But I had such a great time, seeing my friend Kathleen and all the D.C. sights. Plus, we made so many great memories that I just know we will look back and laugh about in years to come! It was totally worth having a very busy school week upon my arrival back on campus!

This week at school I videotaped myself teach a math lesson so I can now analyze it (which was an assignment for my student teaching seminar), and I also had my first formal observation of my teaching! And I feel like it went pretty well. I received both positive feedback as well as some constructive feedback on things to consider when I am planning my lessons. My college supervisor observed me teach two small reading groups, and then we sat and discussed my daily reflective journal, all of the lessons I have prepared and taught, the teaching he observed me do, and also my PPA, or the Pre-service Performance Assessment, which is required by the state of Massachusetts for teacher licensure. I have been really enjoying everything about teaching and being in school. The toughest hurdle I have been having is that it is just so tiring, so by the time I get home after school, I am exhausted, but I still have many requirements to meet for Stonehill - such as the journal, PPA, writing long lesson plans that are much more involved than any veteran teacher will prepare, as well as other small assignments. It is all the extra work required for learning how to become a teacher that gives me a schedule that's like having classes on top of a full time job. The toughest thing about student teaching, is being a college student living on campus, but having a schedule that is by no means like a college students' schedule.

But enough about my week at school! Let me fill you in on my fun and enjoyable weekend in D.C.! It was certainly a nice break from the hustle and bustle of school! My friends Emma, Kari, Kait, and I all flew down to D.C. Friday night. Of course, we couldn't make it out of Logan, without being delayed, so by the time we made it to American University to stay with our friend Kathleen, it was after midnight and we went straight to bed! Kathleen is a Stonehill student as well, but she is studying for the semester at AU and also interning. However, she actually just left on Thursday for a three-week travel experience to Bosnia with her program! It was nice to be able to spend some time with her before she left!

After sleeping in and getting Starbucks on Saturday morning, we had an afternoon of touring. We met up with my fellow blogger, Matt, who as you may know, is giving tours of the Capital as a part of his internship. Matt very kindly gave us a personalized tour of the Capital! (He even pointed out to us where he was when he saw J Lo!) Here are some pictures of our Capital visit:

Kathleen, Kait, Emma, myself, and Kari outside the Capital, in front of the Washington Monument and the National Mall.

At the center of Washington D.C.!

We also went to the Botanical Gardens. It was so pretty!

Saturday night we spent getting dinner and visiting with many other Stonehill students who are also studying or interning in D.C. for the semester and some of their friends. We also went out to Adams Morgan, which is the place to be for young people in D.C.

Sunday was a full day of sightseeing, and was very exhausting because we did a LOT of walking! Kathleen needed to get some work done on a mid-term, so Emma, Kait, Kari, and I found our way around the city. We stopped by the National Archives, Ford's Theater and the House Where Lincoln Died (as it is so eloquently labled), and the White House, among other sights that we happened upon as we meandered through our nation's capital.

Kari is taking a photography course at Stonehill, and so she was taking some really awesome photos. I really like this one of me outside of the Archives!

After dinner, we gave ourselves a self-guided tour of the monuments by night. It was exhausting because it was the end of a busy weekend and there was a long way to walk in between monuments, which we hadn't realized ahead of time. But as exhausting as it was, this was my favorite part of the entire weekend. The monuments are so famous, that I was really excited to be there and to get to see it all in person for the first time. All of the monuments are beautiful at night, but I think my favorite was walking around the WWII Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, and the Lincoln Memorial. Being able to look back and see the Washington Monument and the Capital was breath-taking. I also enjoyed this part of the tour because it was kind of like the grand finale, and we also were able to see Matt again as well as Sam and Dan, two other friends of ours from Stonehill. It was so nice to be able to take in the atmosphere and enjoy each other's company, with Lincoln himself! Here are some pictures of the monuments:

The Washington Monument

The Jefferson Memorial

FDR Memorial

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Memorial - with Kait, Matt, Dan, Sam, Emma, and Kari!

Well, it is time for me to go have a productive weekend and also to get some sleep! Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend!

Stonehill's Wilderness

So I was sitting at my desk today writing lesson plans, when all of a sudden I noticed three deer in the woods outside my window!

The pictures didn't come out very good with the shadows from the trees, but can you see this deer's two friends in the woods?!

Anyway, I was excited to see the deer, and just wanted to share it with someone!

Fall is in the Air

My original plan was to write this blog on Monday night, and now here I am , Saturday afternoon, with my first chance to take the time to write! So I apologize for the delay, but now I have a lot to update you on!

Last weekend I went home, which is something I don't do often, usually I only go home when they close the residence halls and on Columbus Day weekend. But I had a couple reasons for going home. Next weekend, which is Columbus Day weekend, I am going to D.C. to visit my friend Kathleen who is interning and studying at American University for the semester! So I won't be able to go home next weekend, and I needed to bring back some warmer clothes and also carry-on luggage for our flight! Also, it was my cousin's baby's christening, so I went home to go to the christening. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I also took the GREs! I had Monday off from school for Yom Kippur, so I decided this was the ideal day to take the GREs, because who knows when I will get another good opportunity with my student teaching schedule! I was lucky that I was able to put all of these things into one long weekend at home.

While I was home I was able to sleep in, I got a flu shot from a neighbor who is a nurse, did some errands to buy things for school with my mom, and also went apple picking with my mom and my gramma. Per my request, my mom then made me apple crisp and sent me back to school with apples and apple muffins that I am still eating! I was so excited to do something that is a fall tradition - now it truly feels like fall is here! Here are some pictures of our apple picking adventure:

Picking an apple! Yum!

Gramma with her pumpkin outside the orchard's barn.

Tractor rides out into the orchard!

My mom and I also picked out some mums to put on the front porch at home.

Sunday was a very long day. I left the house with my parents early to go pick up my sister from Endicott College, where she is a sophomore. This was the first time I have been there this year, so I was excited to see her room. I'm pretty jealous of her room, she and her roommate have their own bathroom, and lots of space! It is nicely decorated and feels very home-y. We then went to Salem, MA for Cameron's christening. It was nice to see lots of family. Cameron's mom is actually a Stonehill alum, and she also taught at the same school that I am student teaching at now! Here are some pictures of Cameron's big day:

Cameron with mom and dad (my cousin Dan and his wife Lisa), godmother (my cousin Amanda), and godfather (Lisa's brother). By the way, the priest who performed the service actually used to work here at Stonehill!

Cam was excited to get changed out of his christening dress and into his new Teddy Bruschi jersey in time for game time!

On the way home from Salem, my mom, dad, and I stopped by my mom's new office building in Waltham, MA. National Grid, her company, just moved into the brand new building this summer, so it was the first time I got to see her office. I really liked getting to see where she works! Plus, the building is beautiful! It's too bad that Waltham is such a long commute from home! I went to bed early Sunday night after getting packed and ready to come back to school. Monday morning I was up early to take the GREs and then drove right back to Stonehill afterwards to get back for my student teaching seminar. By the time I was unpacked, it was already getting late and I had to prep for the next day of school!

The rest of the school week went well, and also went by fast since it was a four day week. I took on a lot more teaching than I have so far. I taught two grammar lessons on sentences, a math lesson on using tally marks, two whole class literacy lesson (phonics and anthology reading, etc.), as well as a couple small reading group lessons! Plus, I started working on my bulletin board for the month of October! I decided to do a Fall Into Reading Board, complete with pumpkins and a tree with leaves that are changing color!

Last week in school was also our Curriculum Night when parents are invited to the classroom to learn about what the students learn about and do in school. We did a lot of prep work to get ready for Curriculum Night! For example, I put together our Beary Special Class wall outside the door of the classroom, our Meet My Family display, and also a Best Buddies bulletin board.
But my favorite part of our work for Curriculum Night were the heads that each of the students made in art to put on the back of their chairs. I worked with all of the students on finishing their hair all week long! We asked the students to bring in a shirt that we put over their heads and chairs. When the parents arrived, we asked them to "find their student in the classroom." They all came out so cute, they really looked like our students, and it was a huge hit with the families!

Well I have a lot of lesson planning and brainstorming for future lessons plus other work for my seminar to do, so it's back to work for me on this rainy weekend! Check back for my next post about my Columbus Day trip to D.C.!!!!

*Note: Due to privacy concerns, some classroom photos have been removed