The First Day of School (round 2)

Today's version of the first day of school went SO much smoother than last year's first day of school. Sure there was still plenty to do and prepare for beforehand, but teaching the procedures and routines vigorously from the very first moment allowed me to set parameters with the students, and set high expectations for the school year......including telling them to act like CIA agents as we tiptoed through the hallways, practicing lining up and walking down the hall.
I felt like I'd been talking far too much this morning, big surprise, I know, & so when I gave the kids a chance to get out of their seats & do some Yoga, & then "interview" each other for a getting to know you survey, & overheard a student say, "this is so fun!" I felt reassured that things were going well.
One student, after I told students to notify me if I mispronounced their names, & one student not only jumped to correct me in pronouncing his name, but in several of his classmates' names as well; it was only slightly obnoxious. 
There were several incidents throughout the day, like students taking lockers assigned to other students, and one heavier student shoving one kid in line & injuring 3 other students in front of him. ....he also managed to rip his pants during a teacher read-aloud. What an adventure! He was rocking back & forth with his shirt stretched over his knees, and when I asked him to "sit on his pockets," he slightly complied. At the end of the story when everyone else had been dismissed to their seats, he didn't move. When I inquired as to what the problem was, he informed me that his pants had ripped & he was too embarrassed to get up. I asked if his shirt wasn't long enough to cover the rip, & he said it wasn't; but he had the "ingenious" idea to grab a backpack & put it on to cover it up. Wow! What a funny kid! I can't imagine something as devastating as ripping ones pants on the FIRST day of school!

Suicide Alters Student's Life

So...........I've really been under the impression lately that people do not fathom how their use of agency can greatly affect others around them. I've had some personal experiences impact me, but this came to a head for me yesterday when I also attended a funeral yesterday for one of my student's dads. He is a particularly gifted student who I grew to love dearly this school year. For whatever reason (s),his dad chose to end his own life last week, & I got the news upon coming back from Virginia.
Although I was rather late to the funeral, my student & his mom saw me when I arrived, & came over to talk to me after the closing prayer at the service. My student was visibly upset & shaken, wiping his cute little eyes with a handkerchief, but as we began talking & I steered away from topics that would involve his dad or things that reminded him of his dad. Unfortunately I heard multiple comments on how he looks just like his dad; not a very timely or appropriate comment. He & I talked basketball, the Olympics, & the fact that he's going to take up guitar now that he's inherited 3 of his dad's guitars.
 I can't imagine what my poor student is going through, being that he has spent the weekend with his dad the least couple years, since his parents divorced, & he has to adjust to not only not having the same place to go on the weekends, but also having to live with the knowledge that he's seen his father grow depressed over time & then take his own life. He can't have had any idea how much that would affect his only son.

Officially licensed to teach! :)

I thought the day would never come, but today it has! I have a pretty little piece of paper (that cost me a "pretty penny".....a.k.a. $60!) that certifies my educator license for the state of Utah. FINALLY! I am not sure why there was so much mix up & confusion with the whole deal, but when I never got my college diploma mailed to me last month (as promised) I began to worry. And then I got some informative emails....about the many steps I still had to take to get my teacher's license. One of the "fun" activities was filling out a form about the demographics of my classroom this year. Another "fun" one was taking an Ethics Exam online today. Some of the questions were so confusing to me, in that I've never abused drugs or alcohol, (on or off school campus) but the exam wanted to know what kind of discipline I would succumb to in that situation. Apparently it's ok to drink two glasses of wine in front of a student invited to a friend's party, as long as you didn't know they were going to be there & you drink responsibly. Really?! Or, if you have 2 gay students & you go on an overnight field trip, allow them to share a room & supervise them. (I pray I'm never put in that situation!) Here's a full sample of what the entire 30 question exam was like:

"An educator may use force against a student provided the use of force is reasonable under the circumstances & is necessary to protect the student, other people, or school property from harm. Which of the following uses of force is reasonable under the circumstances & in compliance with the Utah Educator Standards?
a. an educator pushes a student to the ground to prevent the student from throwing an eraser out the window.
b. an educator puts a student in a headlock to keep the student from kicking a locked metal door (....this is quite possibly my favorite!)
c. an educator pins a student against a locker after the student shouted a profanity in the hallway
d. an educator grabs a student with both arms to prevent the student from hitting another in a cafeteria fight.

Let's just say that while the headlock scenario seems favorable to use on some students, & also important to note, I've never had a student try throw an eraser out the window, that I knew instinctively that D. was the correct answer here. Lol.

Oh yeah....remember that time I graduated from college?!!?

I can't believe I forgot to post about that all-time important event, which I was unsure of when I began school at BYU in Utah! I walked at BYU graduation in April & officially graduated last month (June) after a few difficulties with the graduation & licensure office at BYU. No good thing has ever come easy for me, but I'm glad I finally can say I'm an alumni of BYU! 
My friend Amber says "it's about time." 
Mom & Dad came out for my graduation, & my two sisters Sar & Shan were already in Provo & able to come (as well as my brother-in-law Kurt.) It was a very happy occasion. 
Here's my best friend Rachie & I at Commencement on Thursday afternoon; we are so excited to finally be graduating!

Here I am with my good buddy Kyle & his wife Em; it was so fun to graduate with a lot of my freshman year buddies!

Here is me with some education buddies early Friday morning; we made it gals! What a great many things we have learned & experienced together!!! ;)

And here's my lovely fam; I'm so grateful for their love & support all these years! What a happy day! :)

End of the Year.....sad day!

It's hard to believe the school year has already ended, but that's not to say I haven't been enjoying summer & looking forward to seeing my family either! ;)

The last few days of school were a blur really; they were filled with field trips, assemblies, & presentations; my students were enthralled that I didn't assign them any homework that last week. What kind of a mean or foolish teacher would do that though?!

This is me with a couple of my boys on the "This is the Place" field trip; we were on the train ride around the site there. The kids really seemed to enjoy the field trip, even though pulling handcarts was not too fun (they complained quite a bit, & I'll give them that it was a rather hot day)

 and dancing with each other was "weird" because my 4th graders are at that age when touching someone of the opposite sex is rare.

Here's them dancing; this is so cute! They did a decent job learning the Virginia Reel, and *gasp* some of them actually enjoyed themselves!

The kids got to do "real" Yoga with my friend Sam Beal, who's an instructor, on Tuesday. We have done "kid Yoga" throughout the year for stretch breaks and so forth, but we started the day out with about 30 minutes of Yoga, & it made math more bearable that day. 

Things were also quite crazy, because I had Shana with me (now Hermana Bauserman) before I took her to the MTC Wednesday. It was so fun to have her in the classroom, & she was a huge help to me as well!

I have since seen a couple of my kids in summer school a couple of times, running a few errands at the school in the office, & they have run to give me a great big hug every time; it makes me feel good. And I sure miss them! 

Terror!

3/27/12

      I got a new student from the homeless shelter today! He is so cute; he doesn’t talk much, except when he wants to ask what time lunch is or when it’s time to go home.  Unfortunately, that was not the only exciting event in my classroom today.

      One of the scariest things I’ve ever had happen to me in my life, happened today. One of my students walked in from ELP (the Extended Learning Program class) and complained to Mrs. Draper that she couldn’t really feel her leg. Mrs. Draper told her to take a seat if her legs were bothering her so bad, & I overheard the conversation & immediately jumped up from my guided reading group.  (I think the Spirit really just prompted me to move in that instant.) I got to her just as she stood and began falling to the floor.  She shrieked loudly; such a terrifying and terrified sound, and her eyes grew wide as she screamed, “noooooooo!” She said something about “seizing” and I immediately remembered how she’s written her personal narrative about a seizure she’d had last summer. I gently lowered her to the ground as her eyes got larger and her whole entire body started convulsing.  She obviously had lost control over all body functions, and began expelling gas uncontrollably as well. I leaned over my shoulder and told Mrs. Draper to call someone, & she went over to notify the office and call the paramedics.  When Maya came back to consciousness and had regained sufficient use of her limbs after an intense five minute fit, she started crying and whimpering.  Her mom had also been called, but unable to make it there very quickly since she had no car & had to walk to get to the school.  I can’t imagine the panic she was probably feeling as she made her way over to the school.  Mrs. Draper eventually got my students to leave the classroom & line up for lunch pretty quickly once the principal made it up to my classroom. I had yelled at some of my students to quit staring at her, & to return to their reading assignment.  (I later recalled the horrified looks on some of their faces, & realized they couldn’t turn away; I wish I’d thought to get them out of the classroom immediately.)

      Once Maya’s mom showed up, Maya kept whimpering & insisting that she didn’t want to have to go to the hospital again, or be in a wheelchair the rest of her life.  I felt serious heartache for her as she continued voicing everything going through her mind-why would God let this happen when she’d prayed so fervently since last summer that it would never happen again? As I talked her calmly, smoothing her hair back (which is still somewhat of a miracle since I was panicky inside) tears rose in both of our eyes.  I told her it hadn’t seemed fair to me either when I kept getting severe migraines as a missionary, even though I was trying to serve God & do the best thing I could with my life at that point.  As Maya’s tongue became less thick I could better understand her, & at this point she said: “I think migraines aren’t as bad as seizures….I’d rather have a migraine every day!” Poor girl; she really was upset by the whole situation, especially the fact that she’d had a seizure on the floor in front of the class.

      She repeatedly told the principal & I that she didn’t want to die from this, & we reassured her she wasn’t going to die.  She calmed down, & then I had to talk to the paramedics on the phone to monitor Maya’s breathing with them.  They also asked me to keep her on her left side, which proved to be a somewhat difficult task since she kept wanting to stand up so she could feel her legs.  They took SO long to get there; 15 minutes after the episode occurred.  While we waited, the principal asked Maya what her favorite song was so we could hum it together, & it would hopefully calm her down.  First we started with “Called to Serve” & moved on to “I Am a Child of God” when Maya started panicking that she couldn’t feel her legs again.  I told her I would pat them down for her so she could measure feeling based on whether or not my hands were on her legs.

      When the paramedics finally showed up, they put an oxygen mask over her face & she started freaking out about it & insisted she was getting too much oxygen & kept trying to reach up & remove the straps. She kept telling them she didn’t want to have to go to the hospital & that she was scared.  When they started asking her questions like her name, her mom’s name, & where she was, she started to close off to their questions (especially about how she felt.) She started responding with “I don’t know” to everything they queried.  She kind of dozed off at one point, & I felt her little body relax underneath my hands. She was obviously exhausted from the exertion during the seizure. We finally helped her sit up though & walked her over to the stretcher, where I put the oxygen mask on her & then they took her away to run some tests. (I had to talk to a doctor about all the symptoms she’d exhibited during the fit later on that afternoon.) Once Maya left my sight, I completely broke down sobbing; I had been holding it in, trying to be strong for her so she wouldn’t get any more frightened than she’d been, but it was also a very scary and unexpected experience for me.

Good news!

Good news today! Myra and Joanne came to see me after school & reported that after a strict analysis of my performance and evaluations throughout this school year, they are giving me a rating of 4.6 out of 5; that’s awesome! I was just hoping for a solid 4…..which is what a competent teacher rating is anyway. They also told me they’ve been working on my letter of recommendation, and that they are really pulling for me, explaining what a difficult school year it’s really been, & they feel sure I’ll at least be able to stay in the Salt Lake City district; yay!
(Myra’s letter of recommendation):
Katie Bauserman has successfully completed her first year of teaching as an intern in Grade 4 at Washington Elementary in Salt Lake City. Washington is a Title 1 school with a poverty rate near 80% and an English language population of 25%. The challenges of teaching in a diverse classroom were met with enthusiasm and a sincere desire to understand the needs of urban students. Katie is a stalwart defender of all students. She speaks Spanish fluently; this understanding of a second language has enabled her to better meet the needs of the English language learners in her classroom.

Katie approached this year with a positive and determined attitude, an open mind and a sincere desire to understand the dynamics of a difficult, urban classroom. The demands of her classroom required energy, clear thinking and a problem solving attitude. Katie accepted the challenge and her progress has been impressive. Understanding of teaching pedagogy is evident. Lesson planning is thoughtful; objectives are clear a variety of instructional strategies are used to engage students. Strategies are monitored and adjusted in response to the students’ understanding and motivation. Assessment strategies are used throughout instruction to surface students’ understanding. Lessons are engaging and promote opportunities for students to think critically and problem solve. She holds high expectations for each of her students and handles discipline in a fair and equitable way. At the heart of her teaching is concern for each student. She remains an active learner herself and is able to reflect accurately on her teaching practice.

Katie solicits feedback and professional support and demonstrates an ongoing curiosity to understand and improve her teaching practice. She collaborates with mentors and literacy and math coaches to gather and understand classroom data as a way to improve her instruction. She remains appreciative of the opportunity to learn from others. She would be a great asset to any school community; she has the heart of a teacher.