Shocking!!!

It is the end of the class for elementary school. I have learned so much from these students. I will miss them all very much. I think from this experience I will take with me a new found confidence in the classroom. I will be able to walk out knowing that I changed the future for these students. I know that maybe some of them will remember me forever, like the runner! I learned that each child is unique and needs special attention. The students love positive reinforcement and need it and that they are always full of energy. I was also taught better classroom management and how to control a class while still being a teacher and not a dictator.
For my last day instead of doing a party I was able to bring in a static electricity generator for the students to see how their hair raised when they touched it. They loved it. I realize how much I appreciate their smiles, and how their smiles make teaching completely worth while. It was adorable watching them jump as they felt the tiny shock of the machine and then giggle the whole time! I cannot wait to have my own classroom!

My Strengths

This was my first time ever taking this strength finder test and I thought it was so annoying at first. I did not like the way the questions were worded, well some of them, and I did not like having it timed. I like to think through  my answers. When it came down to it I ended up loving the answers. They explained me in a way that I thought was hilarious and exactly on point. My strength finder results were:

Futuristic: I loved the sentence in here that says "You gravitate to projects and study

subjects that promise to shape the future." It sounds like teacher to me. I love to look into the future. If you ask many of my friends/fiance they will tell you that I am a visionary. I would rather spend time planning for tomorrow rather than concentrating on today. This I do understand to be both a benefit and a down fall because sometimes I can miss what is right in front of me. 

Focus: I think this one directly relates to the one above. Especially when it states "Perhaps you are more productive when you know exactly what deserves your attention over the next seven days." I like to plan and to focus on tasks that are important. I often get upset when plans are broken especially if they are important. This is something that I have learned to adapt to in teaching, that things will not be kept as promised and plans are never met. I do like a bit of chaos in the classroom, just not in my life. A persons word is very important to me and I think that is what I mean by that. "Maybe your vocabulary sets you apart." I love the way it says this because sometimes I use big words around my Fiance because he doesn't know what they mean, just so I can feel really smart....but he uses the really geeky technology words around me right afterwards. (No offense Rhoda). 

Discipline: "Over time, your familiarity with the required steps may improve how efficiently you use your time, energy, effort, or talents." If I have done something in the past I am far more excited and motivated to doing it because I know how to and it can be done with ease. Although I do not agree with the total of this section, I like to think that I am disciplined in many areas of my life. I like to be on top of my work and I often have many things going on at once. Having discipline allows me to do many tasks at one time. 

Developer: This one was simply flattering. "Because of your strengths, you are naturally inclined to make sacrifices that benefit someone else." I would so much rather be doing something for someone else rather than myself. I believe this is one reason I like working with ESL children so much. They are needy and I enjoy feeling like I can benefit them by being there for them. One of the strengths my supervisor says that I have is paying individual attention to each student and making them feel as though they are part of a bigger group and individually important. 

Communication: As you can see by how much I have wrote, I am not short on words. " Driven by your talents, you feel forlorn — that is, miserable or deprived —when you are separated from someone who is dear to you."  This statement could not be more true. Quality time is my love language and I need to have time with my friends and family or else I feel forgotten. I also have gotten comments from my supervisor stating how comfortable I feel in front of the classroom and I believe that has something to do with my talent with communication and not being afraid of talking in public because words do come naturally to me. 

THE RUNNER

How it impacted me.....hmmmm well I learned a lot about how different and interesting it is to teach Elementary school children.

It was a day like any other and sweet little (PABLO) <--- fake name.... came into the classroom on his first week of school in America. My cooperating teacher and I realized that he had a speech impediment and that his own mother had difficulties understanding him. His classroom teacher was having a difficult time with him because he did not want to adhere to the school rules, probably because he has never had any structure like this before. Either way, he enters into the Kindergarten classroom.
In the first five minutes, he has the entire classroom distracted, toys from little buckets all poured out, is running around and screaming that he wants out. We have been guarding the door because multiple times he has attempted his escape and tried pulling the door open. Finally I think we have him settled down and I am sitting behind the students watching him. He takes off for the door. I get up and go for him trip on the rug and fall. (This is how I recall it in my head) I have my arm out stretched and reach for the door and call for my cooperating teacher and say PABLOOOOOOOO.This is while he is running out the door. My cooperating teacher runs out of the classroom and snatches him up safely. It was a good thing she was there to get him. I was mortified and had to be brought around the school and of course EVERYONE heard the story......