Odyssey of a Mom Scholar

Yesterday was my last day observing in the middle school Spanish class for this semester. As part of the UTeach program, I have to observe and teach in different schools leading up to my student teaching semester. This semester I was observing/teaching in a middle school Spanish class. I had to observe 14 times and teach 6 lessons. I started out at one school, but had a couple issues with the cooperating teacher so I ended up switching to another school. I ended up truly enjoying the experience. 

The first day I taught the class, I made name plates for the students. They were all really surprised that I took the time (our daughters helped color some of them) to make one for each student. They asked if they could add to the name plates and keep them. I said they could add things to them if they wanted to, but that I was going to collect them to use them the next time I taught – at least until I knew their names – and they could have them at the end of the semester. I was impressed with the additions some of them made to personalize their name plates. It was also funny because there are 2 boys with the same name and one of them liked the name plate of the other one better, so the first time he switched the name plate. The next time, I made a name plate in the same color as the other boy so they were both the same color. However, one was in bubble-type letters and the other was in block-type letters, so one still kept trying to switch them. 

The other funny thing was one day when I gave them their name plates to keep because I said I knew all their names. One boy came up to me after class and asked if I knew his name. I rattled off a name, and he told me, “No. That’s not me,” and kept looking at me. I thought for a minute and then said his name. This time I was correct. I said he confused me because he wasn’t at his seat! It’s much easier to remember all the names when they’re in the same place! I really think that’s going to be my biggest challenge as a teacher, especially when I have more than one class to recognize! I’m great with faces, but horrible with names! 

Overall, it was a great semester. I really loved teaching their class. There were some lessons that were better than others. Each time I taught I learned something more about myself and my own teaching style and how to improve myself. I learned about things I don’t want to do and things I do want to do when I become a teacher.

Since I switched schools and didn’t have quite as much time with the second class, I feel like I didn’t have a lot of time to really get to know the students. However, yesterday was still a bittersweet day because of knowing I wouldn’t see the students again – especially some of them that I really enjoyed working with. It was also a bittersweet day because I’m not moving on to the next UTeach class in the Fall because I have too many other core classes that I have to take. Therefore, it will be odd next semester to not be observing or teaching and just to be taking my own classes. 

Now I start my crazy 2 weeks of projects and papers and exams and final exams. I’m not taking classes this summer, so that will be weird, but also good because I’ll have more time to swim and exercise and play & spend time with my own kids! Sometimes I feel like I’ll never graduate, but other times it amazes me that I only have 3 semesters left!

Michelle 

This week is the third week of classes and my new routine is starting to sink in – at least with my classes. Our older daughter was sick all last week and I know I could’ve gone to the gym in the mornings without her, but I didn’t – so I lost that part of my routine. Since she was sick, we also didn’t go to the gym at night either – so I lost that part of the routine too. This week, the girls have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off of school for teacher development days, so Richard took those days off of work to be home with them – so the routine is a little messed up still. That’s okay though. I’m finally getting used to where my classes are and the routine of moving from one to the next. I’m also now used to what to expect in each class – except for knowing what to expect on the first test (which is coming up this week and next week for all of them). 

Spanish Phonetics and Spanish Linguistics are two classes that are really confusing me right now. Before the semester started, I thought they were going to be classes that would help me understand Spanish more and expand my Spanish skills. However, neither are turning out to be that way. They’re actually making me more confused about the language and I’m not enjoying them at all right now. The crappy thing is that I need to find some way to do well in them because I have to get an A in both of them since they’re for my major. My phonetics professor doesn’t have any times to meet with me that fit my schedule, so I’m either going to have to see if I can meet with her TA or just figure out my own way to make the class make sense to my mind!! Linguistics is more memorizing than anything else, which is hard, but I just need to study more to make it all sink into my brain! 

I really wish that I had picked a different Undergraduate Studies course because the one I’m taking discusses things like rape and sexual abuse and gay/lesbian rights and political sex scandals – all of which are not very comfortable topics for me to think about. I couldn’t even really read some of the readings we were supposed to read about rape because they creeped me out so much and gave me nightmares just thinking about them. The course isn’t what I would call “hard” in terms of the course work or anything, but the emotional toll of the class is hard and challenging. I chose it simply because it fit into my schedule, but if I had to do it all over again I would’ve chosen one that wasn’t quite as controversial or emotionally challenging. 

Spanish Grammar is okay, although I don’t feel it’s really a grammar course. It falls under the “Ethics and Leadership Flag” that the university has and the professor is focusing more on ethics, leadership, and our community service than on grammar itself. She is incorporating grammar into assignments and some of the classes, but I really wouldn’t call it a grammar class. The community service I chose to do is going well even though sometimes I feel really out of place there. This past week there were some people from Girl Scouts that came while we were there to plant flowers with the kids. It went well, but was interesting to have to translate for some of the younger kids who don’t know English well yet. Overall, I’m enjoying the service so far though. 

There isn’t a whole lot going on in Adolescent Development at this point. I still feel like we haven’t really delved into the development portion yet and that a lot has just been an overview so far. It will be interesting to take our first test this week because the test review was just a bunch of terms, half of which were never even discussed in class.

My UTeach class itself hasn’t been all that interesting so far. We’ve talked about different types of contracts for teachers and different duties that are and are not included in the contracts. The more interesting part of the UTeach class is my actual observation time. I’ve only been to the classroom twice so far since I can’t go this week because of the days off they have for teacher development meetings. I was assigned to an 8th grade Spanish class in the same school district (but different school) as my daughters go to, which is kind of nice because it’s not far from home. It’s actually about half way between home and campus, which makes it easy to get to from home and then get to school after my observations too. I don’t know the students’ names yet, but I’m starting to get to know their faces even after just two visits. I’m looking forward to starting to actually teach the class soon too. 

Besides my classes & going back and forth taking the kids to school and Richard to the train, not much is going on. Our older daughter is playing basketball once a week with some girls from church. We still need to keep our eyes out for other clinics and such so she can get more of a chance to play. Our younger daughter started a volleyball clinic a couple weeks ago that is for 2 hours on Monday nights. We signed her up for the volleyball league that starts at the end of February. For the league, she will practice once a week and then have games on Saturdays. That will be from the end of February through the beginning of May. So far she’s loving it and having a great time! This past weekend, Richard got the girls’ bikes out and they started riding their bikes around the cul-de-sac a bunch & they’ve done that these last few days being off of school. Since Richard had the last few days off with the girls, they took me to school on Monday and went to Zilker Park in downtown Austin while I was in class. Here are a couple pictures Richard took of the girls while they were at the park. 

Our lives are far from adventurous or super-exciting at this point, but we are enjoying the journey of life together and are enjoying spending more outdoor time and more active time together now even when the routines get thrown off somewhat!

Michelle 

Well, the first week of school is done and I don’t have classes tomorrow because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The first week was…….. well…… interesting to say the least.

My Spanish Grammar class is more of a discussion class than a grammar class, although we do have a short grammar part at the beginning of each class. It’s nice to get to talk to other students and use my Spanish more, but it sure is different than having a strict grammar class.

The UTeach class will be a challenge simply because it is not as structured as the last semester. There are still lesson plans and papers and other things we need to do, but there aren’t set due dates for most of it because it all depends on how fast or slow we want to progress through our observations and lessons. I should find out later this coming week which middle school I will be observing and teaching at & should be able to start my observations the following week. 

We had a slight adventure the first day of Adolescent Development because the classroom we were supposed to be in had a special lecture in it and a lot of us didn’t know we were supposed to go to a different room. Our professor came to get us and show us to the other room after about 10 minutes. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that class yet. We’ve only just begun to define adolescence, so I think I’ll know more in the coming week or two as far as what I’ll think about it overall. 

The Undergraduate Studies course, Sexuality, Politics & Human Rights, will be the most emotionally challenging class this semester because it is full of touchy subjects that I normally don’t like discussing or even really thinking about. I was pleased in the discussion class on Friday though because people seemed to open up and talk and actually discuss things instead of it being like pulling teeth to get people to talk like my Spanish Civilization discussion class last semester.

So far I think my Spanish Practical Phonetics is going to be the class I like the most this semester. The professor is from the Dominican Republic and has lots of energy and spunk for the subject. I love her enthusiasm even though it’s hard to try to learn all the technical stuff about words!

It is kind of interesting having Phonetics and Linguistics right after each other and right now it’s a bit overwhelming. However, I think they will end up complementing each other and together they’ll help me really solidify my Spanish knowledge.

I did my first service time yesterday at Posada Esperanza for my Grammar class. There were actually 5 of us from our class that went at the same time. Since it was the first time we were there, we really just went over the types of things we would be doing and found out where supplies were and such. Next week we’ll do more of the actual service. A lot of it is just entertaining the kids and helping them with homework and learning skills. I believe it will be a good experience and will also help me to use my Spanish more and will help me learn more vocabulary.

Right now the most frustrating thing about this semester is that a lot of my professors don’t have things already posted on Blackboard or on the syllabus for the whole semester. Last semester everything was posted at least a couple weeks ahead of time and I could do readings and assignments on Saturdays for the coming week. However, this time I can only do the work for the next class period, but not for the whole week – at least for most classes. I’m sure I’ll end up getting used to it, but right now it’s very annoying.

Overall, it was a good week and I’m now used to where my classes are and kind of used to the routine. I’m really glad I’m more involved with Spanish even though I know it will be a challenge to get an A in those classes, especially Phonetics and Linguistics. I’m looking forward to the challenge because I know my Spanish skills and knowledge will improve through these courses.   

I still have 2 weeks before my classes start, but I’ve already entered everything in my Google Calendar and started planning out things for the upcoming semester. I’m taking 17 credit hours this semester. My UTeach class requires 20 hours of observation (6 teaching) in a middle school. My Spanish Advanced Grammar class requires 2-3 hours per week serving the local Hispanic community. I’ve started getting up at 4:30 AM so our older daughter and I can be at the community recreational center when it opens at 5 AM to work out for an hour. Our family wants to start going to the rec center after dinner each night to work out as a family too. Needless to say, I need things planned out well!!!! 

Here are the classes I’m taking this semester . . .

* Mondays – UTL 202 – Introduction to Teaching Middle School - Weekly seminar with a University faculty member plus a field experience in an area middle school under the supervision of a cooperating teacher. Course readings and instruction complement field experience. Seminar topics include classroom management, lesson design, assessment, technology, diversity, special student populations, conferencing techniques, and school organization.
SPN 327W – Spanish Advanced Grammar and Composition II – Designed to develop writing skills needed for upper-division coursework in Spanish. Emphasizes grammar using various topics in Spanish language, literature, and culture. Explores different compositional styles.

* Tuesdays & Thursdays - EDP 363M – Adolescent Development – Exposition of theories of personality, research literature on mental health and character development, applications of principles and theories to the educative enterprise; applications of personality theory to the guidance of children and youth. Addresses contemporary adolescent development in relation to major transitions, contextual influences, and psychosocial tasks, with additional emphases on aspects of adolescent identity development. Application to education and teaching adolescents is stressed.
UGS 303 – Sexuality, Politics, and Human Rights – An overview of several key areas of contention relating to the rights of women and sexual minorities, where American policy may differ significantly from that prevalent in the EU or other advanced democracies, including historical civilizations that we generally regard as enlightened.
SPN 346 – Spanish Practical Phonetics – Recommended for Spanish majors, especially for those preparing to teach. A thorough review of Spanish pronunciation, phonetics, and oral reading.
SPN 345L – Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics – Introduction to the study of the Spanish language through different areas of linguistics such as phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and second-language acquisition.

* Wednesdays – SPN 327W – Spanish Advanced Grammar & Composition II

* Fridays – UGS 303 Discussion – a discussion group for the Sexuality, Politics & Human Rights class. The class on Tuesdays & Thursdays is a large class, so there is a class on Fridays that splits up into smaller classes with Teaching Assistants to discuss topics in more detail.
UTL 202 – Introduction to Teaching Middle School
SPN 327W – Spanish Advanced Grammar & Composition II  

I will probably end up doing my observations/teaching in the middle school Spanish class on Mondays and Wednesdays, although that won’t be arranged until the second week of classes or so. I will be doing my service for Spanish Advanced Grammar on Saturday mornings at Posada Esperanza. 

In addition to classes and observations and service and exercising, my days will be filled commuting to and from school and playing chauffer to Richard and the girls for work and school and piano lessons and other activities. I’m very grateful for a wonderful friend who will be helping out some with getting my girls! I hate having to rely on other people, but I’m glad I have friends willing to help out when necessary because otherwise going to college full-time while having a family wouldn’t be possible!! I’m also very grateful for the Greens (8 servings of fruits and veggies in one serving) and Confianza (natural anti-stress pill) from It Works because without the added energy from the Greens and stress help from Confianza, the busy schedule & craziness of the semester would be much harder to handle!! I’m also very grateful for the Google Calendar that helps us keep it all organized!!! 

Okay, don’t get me wrong here, I love being an American and I love having the freedoms and conveniences we have in the United States. However, sometimes I really wish I was born a native Hispanic – either here or in another country. I L-O-V-E the Spanish language with all my heart, but every day I discover new vocabulary and find out how much I really still need to learn about Spanish. The biggest downfall to Spanish not being my native language is that when I’m really extremely tired or stressed or sick, my head is in a fog and I can’t think well in Spanish. I’ve had a cold the past 2 days and it has made it REALLY  hard to think in Spanish, which causes a problem when I’m trying to write papers and study for tests and read articles in Spanish!! 

I remember one time on my mission in Chile when I was with a native companion (although I forget now which country she was from), and we were waiting at an apartment complex for a lady we wanted to visit to buzz us in the gate. I don’t remember what was going on that day and the reason I was so extremely tired, but I remember that I was exhausted. As we were waiting at the gate, we started talking to each other. My companion said, “Hermana, no le entiendo” (which means, “Sister, I don’t understand you”). In my mind, I responded with “¿Porqué?” which means “Why?” However, I guess I actually said “Why?” because then she answered me and said, “Porque no está hablando en español” which means “Because you’re not speaking Spanish.” Apparently, I was so extremely exhausted that I didn’t even realize that I had reverted to English. At that point in my mission, I had been with native companions before and had been in the mission long enough that it had been a long time since I had spoken English. I had also been with this particular companion at least a few weeks at the time and had, therefore, been immersed in Spanish. Luckily, that was the only time that happened during my mission. However, it is a constant reminder to me of how hard Spanish is for me, especially when I’m not feeling well. 

I’m really hoping this cold goes away quickly. I know I’ll be praying for some heavenly help today when I have my Spanish Grammar test & this afternoon when I have to write a 4-page composition to turn in tomorrow in my Spanish Civilization class!! 

Two more weeks, two more weeks, two more weeks. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!! 

It’s hard to believe that this current semester only has 4 weeks left (really 3 weeks of classes & then finals week). I’m glad that some of my classes actually have the final during the last week of classes, so my finals are kind of spread out a little bit. However, I have compositions and other things to finish for most classes along with the final exams. Therefore, these next 3-4 weeks are going to be pretty crazy.

This semester seemed to fly by. I guess that’s what happens since I’ve stayed busy with classes, homework, commuting, playing chauffer to Richard and the girls, school observations, and community service requirements. I guess that happens with most things in life though — sometimes it seems like it’s taking forever & other times it seems like it’s flown by! 

I’m worried about a couple of my finals because they count for a lot of my final grade in the course. I really hate tests, so I’m hoping I can do well enough on the finals to still pass. Right now I have mostly B’s in my classes. I’m hoping I can keep it that way & maybe even bump a couple of them up to A’s by the end. I’m most worried about Geography since it’s a class I need to graduate and I don’t want to have to take it over again (or have to pick another option). I have a C in the class now & the last test is worth 30% of the final grade, so I’m hoping I don’t mess it up!

It’s odd to think that the semester is almost over, although it also feels good to be one more semester closer to graduation!