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