A day in the life...

...of a teacher.

This past week has been really great in middle school. I don't know if it is because I am getting to know the students better or if I am improving in my classroom management skills, but I have really enjoyed the past few days in 7th and 8th grade.

The biggest challenge for my in middle school is maintaining my students attention. I have been working at this for the past couple of weeks and it is nice to see some improvements. When I was at Dordt we talked about middle school development and how they are just so different at this age. I am starting to put the pieces together between college and real life experience. The middle school students really are in a world of their own. I enjoy seeing the different personalities in my classes. Sometimes it is fun to think about what they will all be like in 10 years. I often go back in time, remembering my own middle school years. It was a good time, but sometimes a difficult time. I am hoping that even though I am only with these kids for a short while, my teaching will impact them. I can definitely see how it might be difficult for teachers to say goodbye to students at the end of the year.

One of the reasons why I have enjoyed these last few days is because of the Drama class I am teaching. I just started an improv unit with them and it is soooo much fun! The kids are so interested and they love the new exercises and games I am teaching them. I am excited to see how things go after break. I especially love seeing how the students react to each other in a setting other than regular class. The atmosphere is fun and relaxed.

~tangent~
The pictures below are of everyday life in Nicaragua. From pigs in the ditch to salesmen at the intersection...always someting interesting to caputure in a photo.







The first picture I have attached was taken of my feet after a day in 5th grade. I would often come home from school with feet like that. Although my feet don't look like that in the high school end, this picture reminds me of long days at school and hard work.

These past few days I have been grading projects and tests like crazy. I finally finished my last test at 9:15 tonight. YAY! It feels so good to be done with grading. Now, comes the lesson planning.But that might be spread out over the next 10 days because....

tomorrow morning at 6:00 we are leaving for Costa Rica! I am very excited to finally have a long break! We are taking a 10 hour Tica Bus ride to San Jose. Most of our plans are ready, but that will be disclosed at a later time....

A little bit of everything

You may ask yourself "what's with the title?" Well, I will just come right out and say that this entry is going to include little bits of everything.

I recently read a blog post of a friend of mine who is student teaching in Indonesia. Her entries were filled with contemplative and precise descriptions.I thought to myself..."what are my blog entries like?" So, here I am about share not only my adventures, but thoughts as well because those will probably give you a better understanding of how things are going for me down here.

Middle school has been going quite well. It has amazed me to see how different students are after two years. Some things that I love about this age group are:
- They can be so childish and yet so grown up at the same time
- They are more responsible for themselves than 5th graders are
- They are funny and easier to relate to than I imagined!

But, there are also some things that are more challenging with this age:
- They can be so childish and yet so grown up at the same time.... :)
- It can sometimes be difficult to get them to pay attention and listen to my authority
- There are sometimes attitude issues to deal with, although nothing major has come up during my time here

As far as lesson planning goes, it has been more challenging for me than it was in 5th grade. I have only planned the lessons for Latin American History so far, but the text book is not good so I have had to research most of the information on my own. This also led to the issues of what to do with the information. I had to evaluate what I was learning and discern what the students should know and how they are going to learn it. All of my education courses kind of came upon me at one time as dealt with this challenge. The irony of it all, is that I will probably be planning in a similar fashion at SPH next year. It is another one of those things that God has put in my life to prepare me for the next step. Learning is never easy.

One thing I noticed when I researched Peru was my love for learning. I was so excited about Peru and all the information I had gathered about it. I almost had a desire to write a research paper or something with all of the information I found. Three and a half years of college must have done this to me. :) I never thought I would miss learning. But, in a way, I will always be learning because so much of teaching is also learning. It can just be overwhelming when you have to learn new information and then immediately teach it to a class full of kids. Gotta love school.

As much as I love to share my thoughts and experiences, the clock is ticking and I need to tell you a bit about my weekend before moving on to my lesson plans.

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit a new part of Nicaragua this past weekend. I went along with two families to Matagalpa which is a city in the North- west mountains of Nicaragua. We left on Friday and drove for 2-3 hours into the hills and country side. Our destination was a coffee farm. The owners had a separate building with guest rooms for visitors. I shared a room with Katie, my "little sister." On Friday night we were warmly welcomed with a fresh Nica meal. We ended up hitting the hay pretty early because everyone was tired.

The next morning we went down to breakfast and had a delicious meal complete with rice and beans (gallo pinto), tortilla's, eggs, and fresh fruit juice. We also got to taste the best coffee I have ever had. They had roasted their own beans and made the coffee fresh that morning. I also put some milk in my coffee that had come from the cow that morning. The farm has a bunch of milk cows that provide fresh milk and cheese. I have never experienced fresh dairy before, so this was a treat!

After breakfast we set out up the mountain. One of the workers took us for a hike up to the coffee plants. The road took us higher and higher into the cooler mountain air, which was a treat for us. The vegetation was beautiful and different than anything I have seen before. The coffee plants are actually quite small, so they grow under all of the bigger trees in the forest. On our hike, the kids found cool things like huge grasshoppers, beetles, and butterflies. I loved being outside and experiencing God's creation.

We came back down the mountain after the hike and had another wonderful meal at the ranch house. The owner told us that a calf had been born in the morning, so we went down to the cow area to check it out. The calf was really cute and was still getting used to it's legs. Much to our delight, the ranch hands were doing the milking when we stopped by. It was cool to see the milking in person. The older kids got a chance to try the milking too. I really wanted to try, but we were already slowing down the milking by having the kids try it out, so I will have to try some other time. If anyone has a diary, let me know when I can come by and try milking a cow!

After the milking we packed up the car and headed down the mountain and into the city of Matagalpa. We were actually quite pleased with the atmosphere and feel of Matagalpa. It is not as dirty and big as Managua, which is a nice change. It is always nice to get another picture of Nicaraguan culture, so this trip definitely helped in that area. We came back to Managua in the day light which was nice because we got to see the scenery on the way.

Sunday morning I awoke bright and early to go biking with Aimee and Carey. We did a solid 20km bike ride which included a few major hills. Besides Holland, this was the furthest I have ever biked. Although, I can probably just leave Holland out since it is flat. :) We took a right turn out of the compound and headed in the direction of the beach. It was nice to be out early in the cool of the day and see Nica people get ready for their daily activities. We did get to see one thing that made us laugh. One of the homes along the road had a U-haul as an addition to their home! The back was nicely fitted into the brick wall. If there is a will, there is a way.

Well, I guess this is the end of my ramblings for today. I am leaving for spring break to Costa Rica on Saturday, so this will probably be my last entry for a few weeks.

Until next time,

Michaela

Mom's Visit

I know, I know, it has been far too long since I left a real post on this blog. The reason is, my mom has been visiting for the last two weeks, and I haven't had a whole lot of blog time! So, I will give a little review of what has been going on down here.

I have now been in 7th and 8th grade Soc ail Studies and History for a week. I am enjoying it so far. I like that the students are more mature (in some ways) and they can be pretty funny sometimes. Today was my first "real" time in front of the students. My cooperating teacher was gone today and she will not be coming back until next week Wednesday. So the substitute and I are taking over her classes. I will be teaching Drama and Latin American History and the sub will do homeroom and English. The rest of the week I will be teaching from Sharon's plans, but starting Monday I will start teaching a new unit in history that I am working on right now. I have been researching Peru like crazy these last couple of days, and it really makes me want to go there. Anyways, things are going to be different for the next week, so I will be praying for patience and understanding as I begin teaching without my cooperating teacher.

As far as weekend excursions go,I have been able to do a few fun things with my mom since she came down. The first weekend went to some pottery and craft towns, Laguna d' Apoyo (both the crater's edge, and the lake at the bottom), and to the Masaya volcano. This weekend we had a big festival at school on Saturday so we helped out with that. On Sunday, we went to the beach and on Monday we went to 2 markets and a mall. It has been loads of fun.

As for news about my future....I think it is about time that I make my decision public. I am going to Indonesia next year! I have signed the contract and it is on its way (Lord willing) to Indonesia now. I felt God calling me to middle school students and SPH just looked like the perfect place for me. It always amazes me how God can make things so clear in his own time. So, I am very thankful for this news. I still have to find out which of the campuses I will be teaching at, but I am fine with waiting for that. When I get sick of planning lessons, I sometimes research Indonesia. I have already learned some very interesting things about the languages there... nerdy,I know. Can you blame me though?? :)

Farewell 5th grade, Hello middle school

Today was my last day in 5th grade. The kids were thrilled with the Canada pencils mom brought for them. I baked them brownies and they loved them. Tomorrow I start in 7th grade and meet a new bunch of kids.

An Adventure in Granada!!

The kids flew out of the classroom making noises of all kinds on Friday afternoon, and I knew that I was ready for the weekend. The week was great in so many ways: the students were well behaved and my lessons went well. But, there is something about the weekend that I can't help but long for, and this weekend was no exception. This weekend was the trip to Granada, a beautiful colonial city on Lake Nicaragua.

Erin, another student teacher, and I started out our trip by taking a taxi from NCA to the UCA station which is like Managua's bus station. This our first time taking a taxi so we were kind of nervous about it. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long and when we got to the UCA station, the taxi brought us to the right bus. It was nice to not have to search for the right bus, although, I am sure that we could have found one pretty easily.There were people everywhere yelling names of cities or places where buses are going. They are all in competition, so as soon as one bus heard that we wanted to go to Granada, we were guided right onto a bus. Thankfully, we got there in time to get a seat. Even though we were in the micro bus and not the big city buses (school buses), the still like to pack people in so there were people standing in the aisles for most of the trip. When we got to Granada, the bus brought us right by the Oasis Hostel where we had made plans to stay.

We checked in at the Oasis and then we walked around the city a bit. It is a beautiful city with colorful buildings that have a colonial look to them. Our hostel was close to the city square which was packed with market booths, people, carriages, and vehicles. It was fun to stroll around the city and take in the fun atmosphere. We strolled down a touristy street and had supper at a pizzeria. We also made reservation plans for Saturday morning and afternoon. After this, we headed back to our hostel, checked our email, and crashed for the night.

On Saturday morning we slept in until 7:00 and checked out of our hostel. We had some pastries for breakfast at a bakery and relaxed for an hour. At 9:00 we headed to the place where we made a reservation and we headed out to Mombocho Volcano for our....drum roll.... canopy tour!!! We did a zip line course through the beautiful forest. Erin and I were the only two people in our group so didn't have to wait to go on each line. We had 3 guides with us who were funny and friendly. The zip line was so much fun!! I was a little nervous at first, but it was so cool to fly through the air! We got to try some tricks on the zip line like superman and upside down!! It was a great experience, and I would definitely do it again.

After the zip line, we came back to the city and strolled down to the lake, did some shopping, climbed a church bell tower, and relaxed at a cafe. Our next activity was a boat tour through hundreds of islands around a peninsula on the shore of lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America. It was formed from Volcanic activity and at some time was a part of the Ocean. This is the only lake in the world that has fresh-water sharks!! Historians believe that the sharks were trapped in the lake because of the volcano's. There are not as many there anymore, because thousands were killed by the government during the Samosa Dynasty. Our tour guide was very funny and he had information on the history of the lake, city and on the birds in the area. We had another group of people on the boat tour with us and one of them was filming the whole time. They were a part of some promotional or tour program. At the end they asked Erin and me if we liked Nicaragua and the boat tour. They gave us their blog, so we have to check and see if we made it on the video!!

Right after the boat tour, we went right to the bus stop and caught a bus and then a taxi back home. It was a great relaxing weekend for both of us. Now that I know how to get around, I will be anxious to visit other places in Nicaragua with a travel buddy.

birthday weekend!!

I am getting bad at forgetting to update my post! Agian, I have to add two weekends at the same time...o well! Here is all of my fun from LAST weekend!!

As many of you know, it was my Birthday on Monday the 15th. To start my birthday off well, I went to a women's bible study retreat at the Skylark Center outside of Managua. That night, Jessica and I got to wack a pinata for our birthdays! We had a grand old time and a work out to boot!! The retreat was enlightening and relaxing which was awesome!

After I got back from the retreat, I went to a lovely restaurant on the edge of a crater in the city. Because it was Valentine's weekend, the place was all decorated with red, pink and white. The best part was that they had a live band and salsa dancing!!!! Of course we made our way up to the dance floor and released some of our stress from teaching all week! Later they had a DJ and they played some songs like the YMCA and some Elvis too. I can't deicide who my favorite dancer was. It was either the 75 year old woman who could still groove, or the little girl who was just learning to ramba!

On my birthday, which was on Monday, I got to go out for some icecream with some friends and catch up on skype with family and friends! It was great to recieve so many messages and calls!

5th grade- a whole new world

This week I have been teaching full time. It has been an interesting week with MANY learning experiences. My cooperating teacher, Kate,was sick the beginning of the week, So she has only been in the classroom for 1.5 days so far. But, she is feeling better and it is great to have her back, giving me advice and support.
Wednesday was hump day. I generally look at hump day as a fun thing, "Yay!We are half-way through the week!" However, this week, it was more of a "Oh no, I am only half-way there!"
On Wednesday...spit balls. Do I need to explain any further? Okay, well, it is complicated. While I was courageously trying to help the students understand the concept of ordering fractions, several of my student's brains were else where. (I know, surprise, surprise!) I could sense that something was going on throughout the lesson, but I couldn't figure it out. Turns out, every time I turned my back to write down a problem, some of the students were blowing and throwing paper balls at each other. I got down to the bottom of the issue and discovered that this fun game that started at recess had continued in the classroom. I asked the class to be honest and after several discussions, I had 5 culprits.
So, today the students faced their consequences which include apology notes, a paragraph on respect, and time out of their recess and lunch breaks. One of the apology notes said, "Dear Miss. crued I am sorry what happen yesterday and the next time I will not do it again the next time I will be respefull." I couldn't help but laugh at that one. Apparently he hadn't seen my name written out before.
As frustrating as it was, I can now add "dealing with spit balls" to my teacher tool box.

Another thing happened today that made me laugh pretty hard. Some of the boys were a little wound up in Library, which is the last class on Thursdays. I caught one of the boys, who is a leader in the class, pulling up his track pants almost to his armpits. At first I laughed, but then I started to see other boys doing the same thing, so I put a stop to that. They thought they were pretty funny. What I don't understand is what made them think of doing that? Haha, another memory from the world of 5th grade.