Transitioning

Monday was my last day of substitute teaching for the year!! Probably my last day of substitute teaching period, but you never know. So today I started manual labor with my dad. It was hard work today but we don't work that many hours in a day, as I mentioned in a previous post. He doesn't have lumber for the barn work yet (he went to get it today), so we did some odd jobs that needed done including cutting down a tree in the back yard. It was a learning experience to watch the process of cutting it down. Then Dad cut it up into firewood and we stacked it into the carry-all on the tractor and moved it to the wood pile where it will "cure" (dry out completely) for a year or more before we burn it for heat. There were also many small branches and limbs that I dragged down to the burning pile.I also found a snake skin in the barn where we were cleaning out old pieces of wood from the rafters. It was almost as long as I am tall. Scary!

I am super pumped for our camping adventure this week. As most of you probably already know, I had my first smores of the year on Sunday and it was a great taste of what is to come over our open campfire this Thursday!

Speaking of smores, I tried the new smores oreos! They are not as good as the real thing, of course, but I think they make a pretty tasty cookie. I also bought some Honest Tea brand Watermelon Lemonade and I am here to tell you, it is awesome! It is all organic and some of the ingredients are even fair trade. But that's not even what makes it awesome...its the taste. It actually tastes like watermelon and lemons, not watermelon flavoring. I actually like it so much I was considering buying a whole case of it!

That's all for now!
The Farmer's Daughter

Feelin' Thrifty & Crafty

I've been slipping on my blog posts, which is why I am posting now! I've been looking for some inspiration and I've found it! I am feeling like an especially thrifty spender today and I know my fellow Twenty-Somethings appreciate good deals too.

I substituted today for my mother (my favorite substitute teaching job!) because she was going to a breast-cancer survivors luncheon called Horses & Hope. So, we still rode in to L-Burg together and she met up with some other woman who were attending, while I stayed in school and subbed for her. After school she took me to a craft yard-sale she had heard about. It was an older woman who had interests in many different crafts, but who was trying to downsize her collection of items. It was awesome! She had very reasonable (cheap) prices on the craft supplies and Mom and I loaded up for a total of $8 between the two of us! I bought several scraps of fabric for making hair bows (and perhaps other things), three bags of buttons, some miniature clothes pins and some little wooden stars. Now I will be searching Pinterest for button and other crafts because this shopping adventure has put me in a very crafty mood.

 I also got a $5 trim on my hair today. There is a place in L-Burg with a permanent $5 hair-cut salon which I think it pretty cool, but I don't always go there for my haircuts. She cut off more than I expected, but the ends feels so much better! I was pleased to get this done and get a good deal, to boot!

Looks short, huh? Sorry for the over-exposed selfie 

Well I've gotta run! 

The Farmer's Daughter

A Beautiful Rainy Day

Today was a beautiful day, even though it was rainy and I had to get up early. I agreed to sub for Olivia, my brother's girlfriend who teaches at Madison Central. Since it decided to not snow this time, I actually got to sub for her today. I was a bit nervous when I woke up since it was only my second sub job, the first time I've taught in a high school since Thanksgiving, and Madison Central is huge. My first sub job was at a middle school and I was utterly bored since the student teacher did everything. Today was totally different without being overwhelming. Olivia was still in the building; she just had to run the sound in the auditorium all day for an event. She met me at the front office and showed me around the building. Since she's the assistant choir director, she has classes in a couple different classrooms. It was fun to be in front of a classroom again even if I couldn't do direct instruction since I don't know music theory well enough. Some of the students were friendly, even. I especially appreciated that Madison Central has thirty minutes set aside each day for what they call Silent Sustained Reading. In theory it's a great idea to encourage students to read. If I were a teacher, I would use that time to read to my class, but since it wasn't my class I had to follow the protocol of letting the students read a book or their phone as long as they were quiet. It really saddens me that most of the students chose to browse the internet on their phones rather than read. I wonder what our society is coming to when students just don't love reading because they are so attached to their phones and devices. But that's a rant for another day. I just take solace in the fact that one student read a real book out of the 15 in the class.

After school I visited Four Sister's Tea Emporium and Soap Shop. It smelled wonderful when I walked in. I liked that it wasn't crowded in there like coffee shops generally are. Kudos to Martha S. for the recommendation. I was going to go back to Purdy's but I have a feeling that it was crawling with high schoolers at that hour since I know I heard a group from Central talking about going there after school. This little shop and tea room was perfect to have some tea and read. I enjoyed a chai tea latte made with real chai tea instead of that nasty powdered stuff that coffee shops tend to serve. Maybe it's the tea snob in me but I appreciated that they had at least 30 varieties of tea without any coffee selection. I have nothing against coffee drinkers, but I always feel a bit jipped when I go to a coffee shop with friends and have no choice for tea or am only offered a store bought tea bag and water for the price of an entire box of tea bags at the store. (I will give Purdy's that. They do have a small selection of loose leaf tea, but I didn't appreciate that my tea was room temperature when I got it there.) I was alone but it was a pleasant experience. I imagine it would be more pleasant with friends. Also a plus was that the tea is all organic and fair-trade. I know those are words thrown around to attract people these days, but it still sounds nice whether it's true or not.

Now I'm going to curl up with a book and maybe a movie for the night. (I heard recently that your health improves if you can read for at least 30 minutes a day without any technology distractions. Who knows if it's true but I like the theory!)

Snow Day...and other news!

Today has been a long day. I have been somewhat productive..but it's been unusual because of all the snow and my mother has been in the house too because of course, she was off school. As I was thinking of making some coffee this morning shortly after getting up, I was also considering making some scones. I really enjoy scones and I think they're especially good with coffee. I have some raspberries I froze a couple months ago and I was thinking of making some more raspberry scones. I found a new recipe from Martha Stewart (the original Martha, not to be confused with our very own Martha S. on the blog) that looked pretty tasty so I decided to try it. I think they turned out nicely, but I don't know that I would use the exact same recipe again. The only reason I say that is that the raspberries were supposed to be kneaded into the dough, I think I would have preferred to mix them in or fold them in because by kneading them in, I had a couple of the scones with layers of berry on the bottom. The individual scones didn't want to stick together as well this way and didn't bake as nicely. I didn't actually end up eating any of them for breakfast because by the time they got out of the oven I was done with breakfast! But they'll be there for tomorrow...and hopefully the next day. Yum, scones!

Before they went onto the oven..I made them rectangular instead of triangular

I also tried to take a walk today...Ever since I can remember, I don't have any recollection of the snow being so high that I couldn't take a walk. Today I went outside with plenty of layers on and I wore my rain-boots since the snow was so high. I have snow boots which are more insulted but I thought the snow too deep for my shorter insulated boots (as opposed to my tall, cold rain-boots). Although I didn't get any snow inside my boots with the rain-boots, the rubber easily transferred all the cold from the snow onto my legs and feet. Nova also tried to come out in the snow and of course, she couldn't walk very easily. From her vantage point it was probably like trying to walk straight through the side of a mountain with every step she took. Unfortunately my walk was very short. I was also hoping to get the toboggan out and sled down the hill a few times, but I was discouraged with how deep the snow was and went back inside. I needed some friendly encouragement and camaraderie to get me going...but since I was by myself I couldn't seem to encourage myself enough. Since the temperatures aren't supposed to get any warmer, I should have another chance to go sledding tomorrow or even the next day. I'm planning on it!

Like Martha S., I also worked on catching up on some homework today. I finished some math home work that needed to be done and I have also been working on editing more of the wedding photos for the Ramsay's. Perhaps I can motivate myself to study a bit on my time off tomorrow. I'm not sure about you all...but my school has been called off for tomorrow too! It's a good thing...because I wouldn't be able to make it out if they did have class. I've heard prediction that the public K-12 schools in the area may be closed all week. Of course that means no work for me either...but we shall see what happens, they may go back Thursday or Friday.

In other news:

• I attended my first tractor/truck pull on Saturday. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. Even though they tried to control it, there were alot of fumes in that building. It was also REALLY loud. The beau and I wore earplugs the whole time. It was quite an experience. I think I would prefer to watch my next tractor/truck pull outside! We also went to the National Farm Machinery Show to look around, before the pull.  
  
• The weekend before last I tried The B.O.M.B. at Sonny's barbecue. I read an article on Facebook that Miss Ellaneous' sister had shared about a man from Richmond creating a sandwich for the Annual Pitmaster Showdown. The sandwich has a patty of macaroni & cheese, brisket, onion straws and sweet barbecue sauce, all on a bun. It was an unusual sandwich, but it was very tasty!  



You can't see it very well here, but this is the only photo I took

• I'm sorta getting the hang of the whole substitute teaching routine. I've now substituted for two kindergarten classrooms (once as the regular classroom teacher and once as the teacher's aid), one middle school special education teacher and one elementary school special education teacher. Each day presents new challenges, but I haven't been too overwhelmed with any of the classrooms yet. 
• It's Girl Scout cookie season!!

I know these as Samoas...they're my favorite!  

Adios for now!
The Farmer's Daughter

100th Day of School

Yesterday was the 100th day of school! And it was also my first day working as a substitute teacher. It was exciting, nerve-racking, scary, intimidating and rewarding. To give some background about my first day, I was a substitute for a "traveling" special education teacher. I wasn't too nervous about accepting this job because I have some knowledge of special education through my mother (and some limited knowledge through my background as a psychology major). I also really liked the idea of substituting for a special education teacher because she only works with a couple of students at a time. Her schedule took me to two elementary schools and an hour at the middle school. I worked with 1st graders through 6th graders. It was a busy first day.

I like lists, so here is a list of some of the things I've learned about my first day:

1. Second graders are ADORABLE dressed up as 100 year old people. Kids are adorable anyway, but add some suspenders, curlers in their hair or a little cane and they are 10 times cuter. I feel like Captain Something Fun when I say this, but I really wish I could have taken a picture of them and shared it with you all.

2. It is difficult stepping in for another teacher (especially when you have no teaching experience...and you don't know the layout of the buildings). Some people are very understanding about this and others aren't. First of all, the school buildings I went into, I had no knowledge of their layout which made it difficult to find my way. Luckily, many of the staff were very nice in directing me, but some of those buildings really felt like mazes. They were difficult to navigate. In the middle school, I went out a different door than I went in and had to walk around the building to my car. I am grateful to the people who were friendly, helpful and understanding when I was unsure about what I was doing, both with directions and with the children.

3. Communication is very difficult when a child has poor speaking skills or an inability to speak at all. I became very aware of the importance of speech yesterday. I worked with two kids who were unable to speak except with a computer (or iPad) and two who had limited speech perception as well as speaking skills. Wow. One of the students could communicate "yes" or "no" with her eyes by looking up or down, and with the computer (she had very little use of her arms/hands), she would make eye contact with the screen, and make selections for various words corresponding to what she was thinking. The problem is, the computer she was using to communicate had a limited vocabulary. So she could only say a limited amount of common words. I felt sympathy for her and her situation. Can you imagine not being about to always communicate exactly what you were thinking by using spoken languge or sign language?

4. Parents send junk food for their children to snack on. I can't say this really surprised me that much, but it was crazy to witness. I was in a regular classroom in the morning with two of the students who needed extra help and when it was snack time, I was horrified at what most of the children pulled out of their bags. Doritos, candy, cookies,...I don't think I saw one piece of fruit. I didn't examine the food on everyone's desk at snack-time, but most of what I could see was terrible food for a child's snack. I counted one child with 5 or 6 regular size cookies in a bag. I thought..wow, if I sent my child with cookies to school, it would be one cookie, not six. Not that I don't ever eat these junk foods..I like them too. But that kind of food isn't appropriate for daily snack time! Thinking back to my childhood, my mother would have never sent me to school with a bag of chips or a bag of candy for a snack. Not that we never got candy or chips, but it was all in moderation. And I just don't think daily snack time should consist of these foods. I was reminded of some of the work Save the Children does in the schools in certain parts of the United States, educating children and parents about healthy eating habits and healthy lifestyles. If only they could educate parents, children and teachers everywhere!

5. It was really weird to go my Miss Lutz. It made me feel old.

6. This is going to be a difficult job, but I also think it will be rewarding and it will give me many days of real-life experience with children which will hopefully prepare me for my future work. I'm nervous about what my future days as a substitute will hold, but I'm excited that I am stepping out into the unknown and learning countless new things.

That's all for now folks, hopefully I'll have more stories of my journey to tell you about soon. Tomorrow I am going to work as a teacher's aid in a classroom at the Early Childhood Center. I'm excited about working with even younger munchkins!

The Farmer's Daughter

I HAVE A JOB!

Well friends, I am now going to be a substitute teacher.

As I've been looking for a job, a couple of people have suggested I try substitute teaching. My first reactions were: 1. I have very little experience with teaching & no experience with large groups of students in general and 2. My mother (who has been a teacher for 25+ years and a substitute before that), discouraged it because she knows how tricky students can be with a substitute and how little experience I have. But..I searched for a part time job in other fields for about 3 months. I had several requirements though, maybe I was too picky: I wanted a job that I would like, would fit with my school schedule and would be worth the drive (since I live in the boonies)..I was not hired anywhere.
In December my mother talked with a twenty-something acquaintance at her school who was substituting. This acquaintance had a bachelor's degree unrelated to teaching and no teaching experience. This encouraged my mother and she encouraged me to apply to be a substitute. So I finished my application by mid-December for A. County schools but I was only recently contacted because of the holidays. I've had my interview/meeting this week so now I just have a background check, physical, TB test, and several hours completing online trainings before I can begin in the classroom. It could take 3 weeks or more before this is all complete (mainly waiting on the background check) but I'm very excited that I finally have a part-time job in my near future.
When I had my meeting, they also helped me apply to be a paraeducator (what I understand to be a fancy word for a teacher's aid). This part-time position is with a full time teacher and I think it is mainly with the early childhood educators (which I find more exciting than other ages, as I'm sure Captain Something Fun would agree). The paraeducators are paid slightly less than a substitute but I think it would be helpful to start out doing this to get a little experience before I take on a full class by myself. I'm really looking forward to getting started and I hope to be able to work at least 2 (at most 3 days a week because of classes). It sounds like A. County is in desperate need of substitutes so I should be able to get as much work as I can handle. Until and once I begin I'll be eagerly accepting advice from my fellow Twenty-Somethings who have more experience with children/students than I do!

Also, a thanks to Miss Ellaneous for helping me out as a non-supervisor reference! I owe you! :)

I hope to keep you posted on this experience,
The Farmer's (and teacher's) Daughter