Oh my Florida!!!

Family Picture before leaving

We made it!!!! Sorry it has been so long. Whew, between finishing up student teaching one which entailed making a complilation of my 2nd graders videos, getting them gifts, getting final projects done for my methods classes to packing, taking a three day road trip half way across the country, arriving at a new school, meeting new face after new face, coaching soccer and jumping into teaching already......blogging has definately well let's just be honest here, one of the last things on my mind! But here i am....doing this for you, my fans whom i love haha. (hi mom)

Anyways...quick wrap up of my final week at East Butler in Brainard NE....

- I started playing soccer with the kids at recess, since it was finally "warm" enough to go outside.....and let's just say I didn't keep track of all the goals i scored or kids i schooled, but the number was definitely pushing fifty ....

-playing soccer against small town second graders can really do a number to your confidence

-Bry came my last day because the kids really wanted to meet him....he also brought out new little puppy Lola. The kids loved them both. When I went to introduce bry I realized that he should probably be referred to as mr. Krieger, which was beyond weird to call him that. But he and lola came out to recess with us...bry played soccer on the boys team, I on the girls, and Lola just spent most of her time chasing the ball and running away from all the crazy second graders trying to grab her. She was more then exhausted when they left.

We fit!! All 3 of us and our 8 weeks of luggage!

-saying goodbye to the kids was harder then i thought. I got the class a new pencil sharpener (that had been an on going joke in the class) and i gave each kid some pencils with some erasers. I was swamped with hugs, and had many of them asking when i was coming back. So as of now, we have a schedule soccer rematch for sometime in may. The class also all wrote me letters, which were the kinda heart tickler notes that made you love being a teacher...they will be good for a bad day someday down the road I'm sure haha. One of the grandmothers of the kids made me place mats to remind me of Nebraska.....thank the lord however they were not husker ones!!!






Check out the church and school at http://www.school.stlukes-oviedo.org/



 So now, many miles later,I find myself in Oviedo Florida at st. Luke lutheran church and school. I am teaching a class of 27 kids. The two other girls i was teaching with in Nebraska, molly and laura, are also here with me. We are staying at Peggys house. She is awesome, and her house is.....well check the pictures, spectacular. Technically she lives on an island, but we are not like out in the middle of the lake or anything. The entire back side of her house is  pasted with windows that give you a clear view of the lake that is oh, about thirty feet from her house. It's beautiful, she has a jet ski, and a couple of kayaks....all of which we are hoping to use this weekend!!!! We could really not ask for a better place. There is nothing quite like waking up each morning to see a lake outside my window, and watching the sunrise every morning while eating bfast!!! The people here have been more friendly, and really have made our transition so easy. They have a young adult group here that have made sure we are staying busy. On the drive down to Florida us three girls made a list of things we want to do while we are here, it is over a page long and most things end with the words 'for free.' so we showed it to our new friends, and they have already started figuring ways in which we can accomplish everything.

On the dock



Peggys house and island!



A couple of other random things from the classroom....i have already started teaching and had my first observation today! It went well, I am currently teaching English and leading the daily devotions. By the third week of all this though, i should pretty much be teaching everything.....way different then student teaching one, but good practice i guess!!! I also started playing soccer with the fifth graders at recess, it's been way fun, and a great way to get to know the kids. I actually had some boys ask me today why i decided to teach over playng professional soccer, i told them that i just loved teaching soooooooo much and i didn't want to do anything else!!!! Speaking of soccer, i am also helping coach the 6-8th grade girls soccer team.......like i said ....they are keeping us busy!!!




Monday Morning Breakfast Sunrise

 

Church Sunday





Anyways, hopefully i will do a better job on keeping up on this so i don't type a another novel.

Countdown to spring break....8 days.

Countdown till bry comes to visit......12 days!!!!!!!!!

Its been a while....

Practicing some cursive...check out the last line...

 Wow! life has been more then a bit crazy lately. Time is blowing by (kind of like all the snow outside right now) and in a week from today, I (along with molly and laura) will be hitting the road to Ovido, Florida. AH!

So since its been so long since my last post here are just some mini post, and random thoughts of whats been going on!

***I hope that wherever I end up teaching, the school will have a faculty bathroom.
We don't have one at East Butler....and there is just something weird about it....like yesterday for example: (if your a boy you might not wanna read this little part (:  ). Molly and I were taking our usual morning bathroom break when good ol aunt flow decided to visit, i was not prepared, but thankfully molly was! So as Molly was taking a tampon out of her backpack  and handing it to me, 2 little kindergartners walked in. Myself, Molly and the tampon that was making the transition from her hand to mine, all froze. The girls just stood there and stared. AWKWARD!

Our Saguaros

       ***Its Future Farmers of America Week, and Wednesday was....yup you guessed it, DRIVE YOUR TRACTOR TO SCHOOL DAY!!!
       ***I have been doing a Sonoran Desert Unit with my kids and they are loving it. They just started their final project today, and we are hoping they finish them up and present them by next Tuesday. The kids had 6 different projects they could choose from, and 14 of the 18 kids chose to make a Desert Video. We will see how all those come out-should be pretty entertaining. Their enthusiasm for this project has been so uplifting! They have loved this whole Desert Unit, and I'm excited for them to show me what they've learned!
      ***Other funny comments/questions I had today while I took the kids on a little mini tour from Brainard to Mesa thanks to the use of Google Maps.

     *Why are the houses so close together?

      *Boy: "What are all those blue things one the map?"
         Me: "Those are pools ."

Reading about scorpions

        Boy: "So like every house has a pool? That is SO COOL!"

        *Boy2: "What are your neighbors names?"
          Me: "I don't know we don't really talk to our neighbors"
        Whole Class: "WHAT!?!?!? you really don't know their names??? weird!!!

          *Girl: "So do you have Christmas in Arizona, since you don't have snow and stuff?"
              Me: "We still have Christmas and get gifts, and eat lots of food, it is just warm outside."
          Girl 2: "Does Santa bring you gifts all the way in Arizona?"
               Me: "Yes he makes stops in Arizona, and brings me some pretty neat things."
           Girl 2: "I bet he gets hot when he goes their because of his big ol suit and stuff."

Lost desert animal posters

Those are most of the pretty funny ones, but i have also been ask if i have seen in real life a gila monster, road runner, rattlesnake, scorpion, tortoise, coyote, lizards, and almost any other desert animal you can think of! The other day, after reading the book "The Cactus Hotel," to them, i had girls at recess playing imaginary desert. They pretended to be in the desert, and that they were staying at the Cactus Hotel. And according to them their job was then to catch different desert animals and show them to me. It was cute to watch, made me feel good on the inside haha.  In our desert unit I also brought in a copy of the newspaper article about when my dad got lost in the desert. I did not tell them that the man in the article was my dad till after we read about it and talked about how scary that might be...but when i told them, i saw about 18 little jaws drop to the floor, and then it didn't take long for about 18 little hands to shoot up in the air with tons of questions...."Wait is this a real story?" "Is your dad still alive?" "You promise your not making this up?""Did he see any coyotes?" "So this was actually in the newspaper?" "Was he on the news?

Learning how to borrow & subtract

 "Can we see the news video?" and so on and so on.....

Soooo, now that brings us to today, A WEEK AWAY FROM LEAVING FOR FLORIDA. deep breath. I really haven't had time to even think much about it, because every time i do it just reminds me of all the things that need to happen before that, and then i normally freak out, and then i just stop thinking about it altogether. (: prayers are definitely appreciated :)
After all that being said, I will apologize now for my potential lack of posting, for I am currently and will continue to just try and keep my head above water! Enjoy the pics!






                  
                 

This Day Deserved a Blog!

I'm just going to get right to it....the comments spoken by some of my 2nd graders today....

        The guidance counselor comes in on Monday and Friday afternoons, and talks to the kids about life skills. Well today it was on 'self discipline' and the students were filling out a questionnaire....

        Guidance Counselor: "Next question, are you able to say No to peer pressure? What is peer pressure kids?

    Girl #1: "Its when you say no to drugs and other bad things people do"

    Guidance Counselor: "That is correct, it is important that we say no to things that are wrong, like drugs. Boy #1 I see you have your hand up, what do you think peer pressure is?"

     Boy #1: "Well actually I was going to say, (these are his most commonly used words, he always has his hand raised as if he was going to answer the question, but normally he has some fact/story to share about the topic you are discussing).. I was actually going to say that when I am older, I am going to grow my own marijuana and sell it."

     At this point I am sitting on the other side of the room behind a group of girls to keep them on task, and as if Boy #1's comment wasn't enough to make my jaw drop, I proceeded to here the girl in front of me whisper to her friend: "oh marijuana.... ya my dad does that stuff." 

    If my jaw wasn't already on the floor, it was now! These kids are 8 YEARS OLD! 

If your wondering what the Guidance Counselors response was to Boy #1's growing and selling marijuana....

  Guidance Counselor: "Um, well honey if you do that you will end up in jail, so that probably is not the best choice. Alright next question on the worksheet is ......"

    But even though they moved on to the next question, the comments did not stop just quite yet.

   Guidance Counselor: "Next question is, do you touch, take, or play with something that is not yours? Could somebody give us an example of something that is not theirs that they should not touch, like your sisters doll, or mom's cell phone?"

    Girl (who just told her friend about her dad smoking marijuana): "You shouldn't touch your parents smokes, or else they will yell bad words at you."

   Guidance Counselor: "Ok, that is one, but I was thinking more like toys or stuff like that."

I didn't really know what to do with myself all these comments occurred in about a 3 min span...my initial response was shock, pure SHOCK, and then some laughter not because they were necessarily funny but more so because I just didn't know what else to even make of such comments....but it didn't take long for my heart to just feel for some of those kids. Who knows what their lives are at home, and its hard to think that leave school and go home some pretty negative places. 

The hardest thing I think I've encountered in the classroom thus far has not even occurred in the classroom, but its knowing some of the stuff that goes on in their lives outside the classroom.

Anyways. Ya. Wow. 

Couple other recent funny quotes:

     -After I taught science and was handing out their assignment...."Wow Mrs. Krieger, your almost like a real teacher now."

     -After sharing with some kids some information on Arizona......"Mrs. Krieger, did you know that a Saguaro is not only type of cactus, but it is also a Mexican Hat." 

     -When I ask one boy what he did this past weekend...."Mrs. Krieger, that is none of your beeswax."

     -While celebrating a kids bday, the kids thought it would be fun to guess my age....."20? 19? 21? 22?" "You got it I'm 22!" "Wow, you look so young, but you are just so old."

friday...already? YES!!!!

Ok, technically it is Thursday afternoon. To me however,  the 3:30 bell not only means school is out, but it rings in celebration and in honor of being one day away from the weekend!!! I love Fridays....we have early release AND we get to wear jeans. So since Fridays are just plain awesome, i think they should maybe last a little longer then the rest of the weekdays. Hence why, my Fridays, start with that lovely Thursday afternoon bell!

Molly, Laura and I in front of East Butler

       Anyways, I make it sounds like it hate being school, but i don't, promise. And as far as this week goes, i really have NO reason to complain. I've already had a weekend in the middle of my week. If I HAD to say I love the snow and the cold, it would be for one reason and one reason only---SNOW DAYS!!!! And this week sure consisted of its fair share of them!

         Monday it was icing, and the storm rolled in which meant an early release. The snow and wind picked up throughout the evening, and sure enough that night, I was able to experience for the first time all the joy in reading your schools name on the "Closed" list! Tuesday was bitter cold...with wind chills in the negative 30s, and the actual temps not getting out of the single digits! The snow fell, and the wind blew it....EVERYWHERE. It continued into Wednesday meaning, YES another SNOW DAY! It was a nice break in the week! And now, Thursday is already over! Now that is my kind of week!

        Today I had my first observation and evaluation. It went well!!! The kids loved the lesson, definitely helped make me look good :) I am currently teaching Science and Math, and will pick up Social Studies next week! 

Here are some pictures Molly, Laura and I took around Brainard last Friday, when it wasn't blizzarding and was actually a nice tolerable 45 degrees out! Ew listen to me, saying that 45 is tolerable...gross. Since when did I let my weather expectations drop so low!? not good.

Diversity? in Brainard Nebraska? Really!?!?

I have been thinking a lot about this lately, so i figured it was time to blog it before i forgot it!
One of my first impressions about East Butler Elementary School was:
       -Wow! all these kids are WHITE
       -I'm like the darkest person in this school!
       -talk about NO diversity
       -how is this going to get be ready to teach in the "real world?"
I thought a farm town, a farm school, all these kids probably come from little "Leave it to Beaver" families.
  But i've come to already realize some things in my second week,
             I am learning that the term DIVERSITY can vary and be applied in many ways. Yes, all the kids in my class are white, and yes a lot of them come from farms or other small little towns. BUT i am learning that even though I don't have a mix of different cultures...I do have a class of 18 very unique individuals, who all have come from very different backgrounds and upbringings.
In just the short 2 weeks that I have been there I have learned this about some of my students:
     -One girls mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer
     -Another girl is in a foster home, and her biological parents just gave up their rights for her
     -One boys mom is a recovering Meth Attic and has no teeth
    -A set of twins were adopted by their great Aunt & Uncle because their parents are in and out of     prison for drugs
   -One girls parents expect nothing but perfection on all the papers she brings home, she is constantly worried that nothing is ever good enough
   -Another girl talks about the different boyfriends her mom has, and how they stay the night at her house
I think often times we get caught up in the whole idea that Diversity requires different skin colors, or at least i did anyways. But I am slowly starting to realize that essentially, every classroom is Diverse. I have also realized that unfortunately, no matter where you are (small town of 350 people), there is still sin there. There are still people that struggle with things like drugs, abuse, broken families, ext. But it has been neat to see that the classroom can really be a place that they are able to escape all the stuff  going on at home. It feels good knowing that you are able to provide a positive environment for them.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
    -"Mrs. Krieger, why do you get here everyday at 10 and not when school starts?"
     "Because I have to take a class in Seward at the College in the morning before I come."
     "Ooooh, I thought it was because you had to drive here everyday from your home in Arizona."
     "No, Arizona is where I am from, but I live in Seward right now to go to college."
     "Ooooooh."
    -Today I was semi BS-ing my way through a science lesson that i was thrown into, and in the middle of teaching the fire alarm goes off, the kids rush to the door, I follow, not realizing till we are almost out the door that when the fire alarm goes off there is no time to grab your coat, and we are now going to stand outside in 15 degree weather! AWESOME.
     -I need to build up my teacher immune system! Yesterday I came home with a 101.5 fever, cough and body aches. Luckily it was only one of those 24 hour type things...but its going around so WATCH OUT!

And although I just wrote about how this place is more then a little perfect farm town, here is a picture I took as we were pulling up for school the other morning!!!

Week One Done

First off, welcome!!!!  :)

I have had several friends start blogs about their teaching experience, and have had several other friends and family members tell me to start one so, here I am.....starting a blog!

Essentially since this is a "Blog of My Teaching Experiences"  we might as well start it off right....with an objective,

                  -After people have read this blog, they will be able to better understand the life of Mrs. Krieger, and will laugh, cry, or relate to her 4 out of every 5 blogs read.

Current Teaching Situation:

     I am currently doing my Student Teaching 1 at a East Butler Public School, in Brainard NE. Heard of it??? Doubt it. Brainard is a town of 350 people, and normally when school is in session the town nearly doubles in size. East Butler is a two-story building that houses grades Preschool to Seniors in high school. Yes, Preschoolers to Seniors are all in ONE building! Kids come from all different farms and other SMALL TOWNS to attend East Butler only a small handful of them actually live in Brainard.

    I have been assigned to spend my first 7 weeks in Mrs. Dozler's Second Grade Classroom. I have 18 little pupils in which i will be passing all my knowledge on down to! Lucky Them! I also have two other very dear friends who have joined me @ East Butler from Concordia! Molly is right next door with the first grade class, and Laura is just down the hall the opposite way with a 5th and 6th grade class.

Week One Summary:

     -I'm EXHAUSTED, waking up everyday at 6am is a complete SHOCK to my system

    -A different kid made me a different piece of art work everyday, now which are all hanging on my fridge, because Bry thinks its so funny/weird to read "To: Mrs Krieger, your the best teacher! Love: so and so"

    -A couple little soccer tricks can go a long way when it comes to impressing the little boys in your class.

    -Kids Imaginary play sure has changed: I had girls make cell phones and laptops out of paper, and watched them as they pretended to text and instant message each other during class

    -Teachers actually take kids out to recess when their is snow on the ground and temps are below freezing!

    -The kids are really fascinated with and love asking me questions about having a swimming pool in my backyard, rocks and orange trees in my front yard, never changing clocks forwards or backwards, and what its like to never have a snow day.

    -This week I just spent my time observing the whole classroom routine, but next week the real fun begins....lesson plans, teaching, and some, but hopefully not too much discipline! :)

Want to learn more about good ol BRAINARD, NEBRASKA.....check out their website (yes they actually have a website!)

               http://www.brainardnebraska.com/