Thursday, March 19, 2009

The storm has passed, and Hal is gassed...

I'm sorry reader(s).
The reason that I have been non-existent for the past week or so (in more ways than this public web log) is because I was being observed by my supervising instructor on Monday and Tuesday. It was an insanely exhausting weekend and an even more exhausting two days. It went very well though, here is a synopsis:

Weekend: Colin and I must have spent a total of 20 hours at school over the weekend. Add a couple over the past few days.....what can I say, I am a procrastinator. In almost all facets of my life, I am a procrastinator. Once I stop getting away with it, I will stop :)

Monday: Chris (my supervisor) observed my 6th grade health class. The kids were great. They were responsive and relaxed and having fun. I ended up talking a bit more than I wanted to, but it was a strong, comprehensive lesson. It was an introduction to alcohol and I was crackin the students up with some activities.

Right as the class begun, I had just handed Chris my lesson plan and turned around to address the class when I find a stranger in my classroom. The 5 foot little creature says "Hi, my name is (we will say) Travel Krisalkhdflsdfajsdlk and I am a new student in your health class!" Oh shoot. What do I do? No notification whatsoever?!? Come on! It actually turned out to be a blessing because I had the opportunity to show of my "thinking on the fly" teaching skills. I introduced him to the class, had him share a little about himself and then turned it on the other students. "Have any of you ever moved to a new school in the middle of the year?"
"what was it like?"
"why was it so hard for you?"
"What would have helped you? Do you have any ideas of how we can be helpful and welcoming to Travel?"

and the class did so well helping him catch up with our current unit and helping him from class to class, etc. I was proud.

She also got to see the wonderful chaos of my lunchtime intramurals (its March madness at Lakenheath Middle School too!).

To top it all off, she watched a "Reading Counts" party that I helped with in the Library that rewards students who have earned a certain amount of points for reading various books. I gave the "St Patty's day quiz" and graded it and awarded the winners.

Tuesday: Chris observed my 7th grade Outdoor Ed/PE class and the last day of our Basketball Unit. The students were goofing off a little more than usual and I had to lay the hammer down on em, but I was running with em, doing push ups and sit ups, and playing with them (like I do everyday) and I think she was impressed.

She then watched my 8th grade health class where I made them do a research project on Alcohol, create a poster, and present their specific topic. The 8th graders are already checked out, so it was a little tougher than usual to rope them is as well...but they did well for me and I appreciated it.

Overall she got to see a 6th grade health class, 7th grade Outdoor Ed, and 8th grade Health! Pretty thorough observation, I'd say!


Its over now, and I have a life again. Thank goodness. I did check my blog one of the days and saw that 4 people had visited the blog...nice. I suppose that I deserved that one. I hope that I have not lost you all for good! I am still here and I should be submitting a flurry of posts in the next couple of weeks.

A shout out to some folks that I never publicly thanked:

The current Grove Groovies for a wonderful bunch of 3 GREAT CD's
Leslie for her great care package full of things to remind me of home, music, good smelling things,etc.
Greg and (soon to be) Jenny Wittreich. I just got your "save the date" card and you know it is already saved. August 22 folks, the first of my close friends to get married. Scary stuff, but a great thing :)
Steve- stevo is doing well in his Moroccan village. Check out his blog, my

BLOG OF THE WEEK:

http://steve-o-smith.blogspot.com/

He is an incredible writer (I wish I could express myself half as eloquently) and has some great thoughts and reflections to share. Miss you already brother.

Kale- sorry if I have neglected you lately. I think you forgot that I was being observed this week and you seemed quite upset in some of your emails. I love you. I returned all of your emails. Lets skype soon!

Mom and Dad- Sorry I ditched you on this weeks skype date. I did notify you that I would though. I can get up early tomorrow...but I probably wont. Can we talk this weekend? I love you and thank you for being so great!

Lilli- I dont really know if you read this blog...but I am stoked to come and visit you in Barcelona! 2 weeks to do nothing in Barcelona, Spain! Its going to be warm, beautiful, and great.

Thats all folks! I will post again soon!

Minglin' in England
okay in the UK
Sure up in Europe
Kickin' in Britain
Ramblin in London

Halbury

3 comments:

Susan Iverson said...

I am sure you were impressive as you always are. Boy, your time there is going by fast! Your students will miss you when you are gone I'm sure. Their loss is my gain! Thanks for the link to Steve's Blog. Talk about an amazing experience! Love you, Mom

Kale Iverson said...

You must be feeling a little crushed after seeing steves impressive 9 and 10 comment posts.

Don't worry Hal, I read your blog and I'm the most important person in the world so that has to mean something right?

You should do a post about your crazy summer and all the possibilities.

I am getting really really pumped up and excited about this summer and our new lives as brothers together.

Aren't you ready for it yet? (minus all the practical plans of course).

Life is exciting and amazing brother and you make mine worth living.

Now have some fun bud!

Anonymous said...

We love you!!!!
Can't wait till you boys are in the same time zone as us!!!!

Loved the post cards, they are on the fridge for all to see!!!

Pkg on its way!!!
Lot and lots of hugs and kisses-
C,J, A and M Wicks :o)

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