Crafting Memories - 05/21/19

It is so crazy to think that today is the last day of senior project, and that it's been just short of a month since it started. Yesterday was my last day at AEMS, so I spent today working on my poster and presentation for express fest, which is tomorrow. When I was printing out the photos and writing what was happening under the flaps, I felt like I was reliving that moment and what was happening in that photo. It was fun remembering all the little things that happened each day.


Under the flaps, I wrote the date that the photo was taken, as well as a bit of information about what was going on when that photo was taken. I also tried to include as much detail as I could that would fit under the photograph, so whoever looks at it tomorrow will be able to really get a feel for what I was doing every day.

For express fest, I'm planning on having this interactive poster, a slideshow playing on my computer, my lesson plans and reflections, as well as a few crafts that we did in Mandarin. I spent a long time on my poster and I was really happy with out it turned out. I felt that it did a good job of encapsulating my project and it briefly represents all the different aspects of my project.




Time: 9:16
Hours: 6
Total Hours: 152

How Lucky Am I To Have Something that Makes Saying Goodbye So Hard? - 05/20/19

I'm not drowning in my own tears so I guess I haven't really processed the fact that today was the last time I would be at AEMS until I'm next in little Andover, New Hampshire. As I signed out on the visitor sheet and walked away from the school, I left with a sense of fulfilment as I remembered the first time I ever went to AEMS with the buddy reading program. I remembered walking into Ms. Hildebrand's second grade classroom for the first time with Andrew Harrell, and having all the kiddos run up and hug him as I stood there awkwardly as the stranger in the room. Knowing myself, that is definitely the kind of thing that would make me feel embarrassed and awkward, and if it hadn't been for one little girl who came up and asked me to read with her, I honestly don't know if I would have opted to go back there again. As I went back each week, I started to get more and more hugs, and students started talking to me more and more, and from that very first visit, I just had an inkling that I would be spending a lot of time across the street.

I have experienced a handful of "life's first ever's" at AEMS over the past 2 years. I have held a hedgehog for the first time. I was peed on by a hedgehog for the first time. I witnessed chicks hatching in an incubator. I taught a full lesson to a full class on students for the first time. I taught Mandarin for the first time. I experienced being a "master (flour) baby maker" for the first time. I made and served lunch in a cafeteria to almost 200 students and teachers for the first time. I was a designated measurer for structures made of paper and tape. I played "gaga" for the first time. I made rice krispies and distributed them to sugar-hungry K-3 students for the first time. I got called Ms. Lauren for the first time, that was kind of weird. I didn't freak out and run away when my student started crying, that is definitely a first. That's just to name a few. I have grown immensely and learned so much throughout the time I've spent at AEMS, especially during the 3 weeks of senior project.

Anna and I made rice krispy treats over the weekend. We actually made lucky charm treats because we are high school students on high school student budgets, with no way to get to supermarkets, and we only have access to a little tiny convenience store at the gas station across the road. With no oven or actual baking ingredients, we had to settle for the 3 ingredient, no-bake delicacy. We started in first grade and distributed the treats to the kiddos. We had a few with no lucky charms marshmallows in then, and I'm sure you can imagine that those were not the most popular. Children will just about always, always go for the marshmallow cereal coated and stuck together with more melted marshmallows. I thought it was kind of interesting how students seemed like they either "chose" Anna or myself. When they came up to give us hugs before we left, they either hugged me or her, and very few, if any, hugged both of us. They asked if we would be back next year, and it was kind of heartbreaking to see their disappointment when we told them we unfortunately wouldn't be.

I then went to kindergarten to drop off a bag of treats for the kids. They all gave me a big hug, and even though I didn't get to know them as well as the other kids, I'm still going to miss them a whole bunch. They're such an awesome group of kids and it's crazy to imagine what they'll be when they're older.

After kindergarten, I walked up to second grade to give them treats and to say goodbye to them. As expected, all but 2 of them went for the marshmallow treats. Even though I didn't spend senior project with them, I was in and out of their classroom this whole school year, so it was nice to see them again and I also got lots of hugs and letters from them. They asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, and I told them I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, which was why I spent so much time hanging out with them. They asked me to be their elementary school teacher, I wonder if they realize they're going to be in high school by the time I actually get to be a teacher (WHAT?!? Those little nuggets?? in HIGH school??)! Oh, also a second grader asked if he could be my boyfriend today. That was awkward.

I think third grade was the hardest goodbye for me. They were the students I started with in second grade last year, and I followed them up to third grade to continue working with them. This class also has a lot of Proctor faculty kids with whom I've grown pretty close too, and I'm going to miss them a lot. The good news is that I will still see them at graduation, so it wasn't really goodbye. I received another stack of thank you and farewell letters from the third graders, which made me super smile-y. As they ate their treats, they went around the room and all thanked me individually. Here are a few of the wonderful, wonderful quotes:
"Thank you for not being one of the mean and strict Proctor kids"
"Thank you for teaching us Mandarin and gymnastics"
"Thank you for being funny to talk to and have around"
"Thank you for taking time out of your day to be here and help us"
"Thank you for the help with my Jack and the Beanstalk story"
They are very sweet and I am lucky to have crossed paths with them. I got swarmed with hugs, individual hugs, group hugs, class hugs, you name it. My heart is so very full. Also there is a lot of Mandarin on these cards. I am a proud teacher!!

They made me promise that I would come back and visit them next year when I'm around, so it's not really a "goodbye." It's more of a "see you later."

Time: 3:58
Hours: 3
Total Hours: 142

Memories to Last A Lifetime - 05/13-05/18

I learned a few critical life skills this week, including how to make the best memories, how to enjoy life and the world as a little kid, and arguably the most important of all - how to make rice krispy treats. One of the fears I had going into this last week at AEMS was how sad I would be every day knowing that it would be one of the last, if not the last day I would spend with the kids. Luckily, spending the time with the kids every day and being present in every moment allowed me to put that sadness out of my mind and just enjoy being there with them. Looking back, this was the best way to create memories. Being sad about the approaching ending of something I loved would have hindered my ability to be present in each moment and create full and joyful memories. I also learned that one of the best ways to live is by seeing the world as greatly and as imaginatively as a kindergartener. Spending 3 days and 3 recesses with 6 year old made me realize how much fun it is to find entertainment in repeatedly climbing up and jumping off of bleachers or walking along a plank of wood and pretending the mud on either side is lava. The last, and more important skill of making rice krispy treats is achieved by simply melting butter in a pot, then throwing in marshmallows and melting them, and then mixing in cereal so you create one big sticky glob. That's really about all there is to it.

I loved what I was doing this week. As I mentioned before, this week was different from previous weeks because I was spending time in kindergarten instead of third grade. Even though I had never spent any time with kindergarteners before that (other than a few from gymnastics), they were still really excited to have me there and playing their games with them felt really silly, but also fun. Not only did I get to hangout with some awesome little people, I also got to listen to story times, I got to play on the playground, I got to do coloring and word searches, so how could I not enjoy what I was doing? The other different part about this week was that Anna was also in first grade with me. Having her in the classroom too was a lot of fun. She became someone I could talk and laugh with about all the crazy things the first graders did or said, because she had experienced it too. Also, from teaching gymnastics and Mandarin and walking kids from place to place, I am getting to know a lot of students better outside of their classrooms, and it makes me really happy when they say hi and give me hugs whenever they see me.

This week was actually very smooth sailing, and there weren't really any surprises. Everything went as expected. As I've been learning more over the last two weeks, I'm growing to have less expectations going into this, and this makes me more able to adapt and foresee unexpected circumstances.

I will benefit from this week's activities, through the things that I've learned (listed in the first paragraph), as well as just the culmination of all the things I've been learning throughout my whole senior project. Not only have I picked up skills that will push me further on my path towards becoming a teacher, but I have also learned skills from being with the kids that helps me live a happier life in general.

This week, I felt that I achieved all of my goals. In terms of helping students increase their skills in gymnastics, I definitely saw improvement throughout the last few weeks in every single student's progress. Just to list a few examples: Paige, Sadie, and Connor hit their full handstands completely on their own, Mya landed her cartwheel for the first time, Titus can now walk a few steps in his handstand, Lylah tried and did her one handed cartwheel for the very first time, Emma landed her handstand standing up, and Azalea and Raelyn have started working on back handsprings. Every single student has shown improvement, and I wish I had the space to list out all the achievements of 28 young gymnasts. This also contributed to their increase in strength and flexibility, as I heard a few less "OW's" when they slid into their splits in their last classes. As a mentor in the classroom, I felt that I provided positive leadership for the kids. I got to be more hands on this week by actually teaching whole classes, small groups of students and individual students in areas that they were struggling with. I felt good about being able to provide guidance to students with their math, writing, and even drawing and coloring.

Overall, it's been a really great week, and a really great way to end senior project.

I Love You, Lony - 05/17/19

It was my last day helping in classrooms today at AEMS. I got lots and lots of sweet letters from students from both first and third grade. I am going to miss these kiddos more than you even know. Being in first and third grade, a lot of students are still sounding out their words letter by letter to spell, so you can imagine that "Lauren" might not always turn out as planned. I got a range of spellings, and it was funny that they were kind of bragging to each other how they spelled my name incorrectly. One would come up and say "I spelled it L-O-R-I-N" and then another would say "I spelled it L-O-R-E-N" and then the last girl strutted up to me, put the letter down in front of me, and pointed at each letter as she said "I spelled it L-O-N-Y." I have always spelled it L-A-U-R-E-N, but props to them for exercising their artistic intention. In all seriousness though, the letters all meant so much to me, and I'm so lucky to have crossed paths with such incredible little people.

Here are a few of the highlights from the letters I got:

"I hope you mac it out of high school" I hope so too.

I started my morning a little earlier to teach Mandarin to my three 4th grade students. I met up with Andrew outside second grade where he was helping, and I got to see all the second graders again, which was fun. I've been seeing a few of them in gymnastics, but I was glad that they all still recognized me and were excited to see me. A few of them chirped "that's my gymnastics teacher!" and gave me hugs. Being called a "teacher" made me feel a certain kind of way, but as always, it was a good certain kind of way. In Mandarin, we finished up the books we started 2 weeks ago (last week was share day), which I felt like was a good place to end. Having only 2 half hour sessions, I felt good about how much we covered and how much they retained. They are able to introduce themselves and have a short, but full conversation. They're a quieter group than others I've had, but Andrew and I got them laughing, which is always a plus.

This morning in third grade, the students were partnered up to work on math worksheets. There was a series of word problems, followed by a page full of multiplication facts. It definitely felt much more relaxed in the classroom now that their testing is over. Once they finished those, Mr Hubbard and I checked the answers and they moved onto xtramath and prodigy, which are both online math activities/games. A bunch of students came at sat around me and we worked through the online math problems together. They always want me to just tell them the answer, but I am getting much better at saying "no" and instead prodding them with questions so they figure out each step. I feel like it's important that they realize and know that they have the skills to do the problem, it's just a matter of figuring out how and where to apply the skills. In third grade in the afternoon, they were working on STEM activities where they were partnered up to build structures out of 3 pieces of paper and 10cm of tape. The goal was to build as tall a structure as possible, and I was the designated measurer. With 3 pieces of paper and a minuscule amount of tape, I was extremely impressed that they were able to build up to 125cm! They have such bright little minds. We took both proper and silly photos at the end of the day. If you look at the photo, I blend right in with the third graders. My third grade self is still alive and well, both visually and mentally.

In first grade, they started with indoor recess because it was too wet outside to go out earlier. They did a lot of drawings that they gave to Anna and I, and we also read books and played with legos. Mr Wiley also showed them the video that I edited last night from what Anna and I filmed yesterday. He showed them the proper video, not the blooper one, and they still found that really funny. Anna and I were worried that the blooper video might make some people upset, so we decided to save that for adults and teachers. Mr Wiley watched a bit of it until the kids came back from lunch and thought it was really funny. Anna and I have been laughing about it since I sent it to her yesterday, and we have probably watched it a dozen times each. It is a must-see, 5 star blooper reel. After recess, we were continuing the dragon stories and drawings that they started yesterday. I got to help color, everything from pot-of-gold spitting dragons to dragons hiding in the refrigerator. There is really no limit to where a first graders imagination will take them. It's kind of a magical thing.

At the end of the day, I walked Audrey and Kaitlyn back to Proctor. It's kind of silly, but I really like walking them back from school, because it's a short little time where we just get to chat and hangout outside. Hanging out in our casual class settings is also super rewarding, but there's just something about that "walk from school" that gives me a lot of joy. Maybe it was when she took my hand as we crossed the road, or maybe it was watching them skip as we walked along the grass, I don't know. Something small that was really special to me was that as we were walking, we saw lots of little blue specks lining the floor, and when Audrey asked me what they were, I told her they were tiny little planets with little people living on them, and that earth is just like one of those tiny blue specks on another bigger planet. I told her that some other, giant third grader was also walking along the path noticing the blue specks on the ground that earth is among. Then we started talking about life on the tiny planets. Then she started jumping on them. I guess that's one way to acknowledge the little lives on the little planets.

In Mandarin, we did the stained glass. Paige chose strength, Grace chose love, Audrey chose dream, and Talia chose integrity. I would say that they matched with their personalities perfectly, but I think any and all of them would match all of their personalities perfectly. I really do adore these kids. Teaching Mandarin is definitely one of the things that I will miss most, and though we only went for a couple of weeks in the Spring, it has been such a great couple of weeks and is always something I look forward to. I left them secret notes in the backs of their picture frames. Audrey found hers and thanked me for it, but the others haven't opened theirs up yet. And who knows? Maybe they won't open it up for another 20 years, but that's okay.



One of the things I love about working with kids is when I get to talk to the parents. They are all so sweet and encouraging to me, which makes me love what I do even more. I'm learning a lot from them too. I went to the Proctor play tonight and was hanging out with/watching various kids through the school day, through Mandarin, through dinner, the art show, the play, and even after the play. They're sweet. I'm lucky. That's all.

Time: 10:43
Hours: 10
Total Hours: 139

Is There "peanut dutter" in Your Land? - 05/16/19

A few days ago, I gave a presentation to the first graders about Hong Kong. Since then, I have been getting a lot of questions about Hong Kong. When one of the first graders misspelled "peanut butter" as "peanut dutter", this prompted the young lady next to him to ask me if we have "peanut dutter" in "my land," which of course, was referring to Hong Kong. I told her we have peanut butter, but not peanut dutter. She wasn't nearly as interested in our peanut butter as she was our peanut dutter, which is understandable.

When I arrived in kindergarten this morning, a girl turned to me and said "I love you" and I didn't know how to respond, so I just shot her a quick smile and looked back at the teacher. She then said "hey! I said I love you!" and then I kind of panicked and just looked at her and awkwardly said "thank you." It is flattering and very endearing that they tell me they love me, but I just am not really familiar with how to appropriately respond to that. Kindergarteners are really funny in that, if one person starts laughing, the whole class starts laughing. There is kind of a lag when the whole class starts laughing, because some don't process what was funny for a while longer than others. Ms Crucitti asked a little girl if it was her mom or dad chaperoning on the field trip, and the girl responded that it was her dad. Ms Crucitti then said she would need to change the name tag because she thought it was the mom coming, so she put "Mrs. (their last name)". The little girl then blurted out "YOU CALLED MY DADDY A MRS HAHAHA", and the rest of the class bursted into laughter after about 3 seconds. During recess, I had two girls pulling me around the playground and calling me their "mama", which I again didn't really know how to respond. The discomfort wasn't so much from being called "mama" as it was from knowing how to respond without encouraging it. I kind of feel like, if I were a mother, I would feel a little sad if my child was calling someone else "mama". That said, they were so adorable and I'm sad that I only got to spend 3 days with the little ones. It was a memorable 3 days, though.

In first grade, Anna and I were taking groups of 2-3 students at a time to interview them about our time and experience in first grade. We were mostly asking them questions that we are supposed to answer in our blog, because we thought it would be interesting to hear what we've been writing about them from their perspective. I haven't had the time yet, but will put together the video clips over the weekend. Interviewing first graders is really challenging! A lot of the interviewing was really awkward but really funny, and I think we will be able to put together a pretty entertaining blooper reel. Anna had the idea to ask the question "did we surprise you?" and then have one of us try to surprise them by sneaking up and scaring them. It worked on some and didn't work on others, but they got a real kick out of it. We told them not to tell their classmates to ruin the surprise, but we found out they were giggling and whispering about it to each other after they got back to their classroom. The sweetest moment was when a student was asked why he liked having Proctor students visit his classroom, he said "it's because you guys are my best friends."


In Mrs. Peters' class, they just finished their last day of testing, so I was hanging out with them during free time. I got to channel my inner child once again and do word searches and coloring. A few of them asked me to write them letters, but to write exactly what they were saying. I wrote every word that they said to me (including the "ummm" and "wait no! I didn't mean for you to write that I was just thinking" and the "stop writing everything I say!"). They thought it was really funny. It was also kind of funny how they treasured the letters so much and held onto them until the end of the day.

After school, I was teaching my last class of gymnastics at AEMS. I think I can safely say that I have gotten a lot better at controlling them. I've realized that a really good technique is to just "ignore" the troublemakers, because a lot of the time, they just like the attention they get for doing what they're doing. Of course, with a sport as high risk as gymnastics, I'm not really "ignoring" them, but I stop telling them off unless they are doing something unsafe. The fact is that all of them are there and really want to do gymnastics, so if they aren't getting any attention for not listening, they eventually figure that they should just stop what they're doing and do gymnastics like they signed up to do. Surprisingly, it usually only takes them a few minutes to realize it. The girls were really good today. They worked hard, were engaged, and enthusiastic. I let them pick their own warmup games and how much or little time they wanted to spend on warm up games. I figure that this is their class, and they should be in charge of their own learning, with my leadership. Anyway, I had 3 just about hitting handstands on her own, 2 that are really close to their backbends, and 2 starting to work on back handsprings. The levels are pretty staggered but I think it works well. There's a good variety, and they're really good about helping and supporting one another.

I walked 5 of my AEMS gymnastics girls over to the hub for girl scouts afterwards. I know it seems like a silly thing, but I felt so adult-y being responsible for walking 5 little girls down the street, even if it was only from one building to the next one. We were walking pretty far off the road, but even just walking through the carpark and across the grass for that 2 minutes, I was super on-edge and made sure I could see them all at the same time and that they were all together. Fortunately, we all made it there in one piece.

My last gymnastics class at the hub was also today. Paige and I worked more on handstands, and I was so, SO overjoyed today that she reached her goal of doing a handstand, from standing, without my help. I know how incredible the feeling is of getting a new gymnastics skill that just a little while ago, you had no idea how to even begin. Paige and I started gymnastics lessons about 6 weeks ago. I've taken a video of her progress every other lesson, and it's amazing to see the transition (watch the video!). I was happy to see that she was also really excited about getting her handstand. There's another proud parent moment - or maybe proud teacher, I should say - for the books.

Time: 10:45
Hours: 8
Total Hours: 129

If A Shark Was On Your Raft... - 05/15/19

When I arrived in kindergarten today, the students were listening to a story called "Shadow of the Shark" from the Magic Treehouse series. It is so entertaining listening to stories with kindergarteners. Their teacher read with a lot of emotion, speaking softer or louder for more dramatic effect. When she read "and they saw a fin, and thought, it must be...A SHARK," all the kids grabbed their classmate next to them and hugged them for dear life. When she asked what the students would do if there was a shark on their raft, one little dude calmly raised his hand and said with great confidence, "I would kick him in the ass, then the booty, then the tushy." Touché.

After an eventful story time, we went out to recess. My friend from first grade asked me to play basketball with him, so we took turns shooting the ball into the hoop. I also walked around and played with the kindergarteners on the swings and the monkey bars. I'm really getting to channel my inner 6 year old. Nothing very notable happened during recess. We just played, ran around, all the good stuff. Whenever we go inside, they always ask me if I am going to have "hot lunch" or "cold lunch". When I explain to them that I in fact, will not be having lunch with them, they push out their bottom lips and make their eyes big at me. I only have one more day with the kindergarteners, so I'm excited to make the most out of tomorrow. I can proudly say that I know the names of all the students from grades 1-3, and am quickly learning the names of all the kindergarteners.

In first grade, we were working on counting money. We watched a bunch of youtube videos that were songs about how much all the different types of coins are worth. They were very cheesy songs, but the first graders got really into it. They started picking up the tunes and lyrics and began singing along to the videos. Then we split up into groups - Anna and I each took one group, and the two teachers each took one group. I was working with 6 students, and we had to count the amount displayed on various cards, and match them to amount cards. We got plastic coins and counted them physically too. After that, Ms Lane came to talk about emotions, and we played feelings Bingo. My partner was the same boy I played basketball with at recess. When that was over, my same friend asked me to read a few books to him during break/snack time.

In the afternoon, I went to third grade and ended up spending the time with Mr. Hubbard's class instead of Mrs. Peters' class, because her class had gone to technology. They had some more free time this afternoon after their writing test this morning. I hung out with the same students as yesterday, helping them read and edit their writing. I also got to help them draw illustrations for their stories. At the end of the day, I went to gym class with them. I supervised and joined in the games a little bit, but was mostly just watching the kids play the different games.


Finally, I had my Wednesday group for gymnastics today. It sort of just hit me that I only have one more gymnastics lesson to teach at AEMS and then senior project is over. My group was actually pretty well behaved today. Ms Slayton stopped by for a few minutes just to see what was going on, and everything went smoothly. There were no tears (not that that's the best standard to go by) and no frowns. I had one new student (she was absent last week) who did her one handed cartwheel for the very first time (watch the video!)! I had 3 students start practicing new skills, and the other 2 students have just about mastered their handstands. I also did some demonstrations for them (in the video too) and I definitely felt a little rusty having not tumbled for so long. Overall, it was a really good lesson. Afterwards, I walked one of my students back to Proctor to meet up with her parents.

Tomorrow is my last day with kindergarten and my last day of teaching gymnastics at both AEMS and the hub. It's going to be super bittersweet.

Time: 7:20
Hours: 7
Total Hours: 121

We All Need Some Kindergartener Confidence - 05/14/19

Because third graders were doing state-wide testing, I got to hangout with the kindergarteners this morning for the first time, which was very exciting for me. As they were introducing themselves to me, they went around saying their names one by one until one girl said "I'm Chloe and I'm cute" and another one goes "I'm Sadie and I'm beautiful." I'm thinking maybe we should all start introducing ourselves with that kind of kindergartener confidence too. What better way to do it? 

I arrived in the middle of the kindergarteners' read aloud story time. Because I had never spent time in that classroom before, the kids were both surprised and excited to see me. When I sat down on the carpet, the kids started slowly and discreetly shifting towards me until they were sitting right on my lap and there was a little flock of kids around me. I knew some of the kids from gymnastics, but kids that I had never met before also came over and sat with me just to go with the crowd. It was very sweet. We then got ready to go out for recess, this is when the fighting over hand-holding began. About half of the class wanted to hold my hands, so this is where my only having two hands caused disputes. From lining up to recess, through recess, and right up until lunch, I had both hands occupied by tiny hands of rotating kindergarten students. They kept trying to make me run everywhere and jump off the bleachers, but because I am old and tired, I told them I couldn't do those things because I didn't know HOW to run or jump. They got a real kick out of this. I acted amazed when they showed me their running and jumping (and backwards running and backwards jumping), and they kept trying to teach me how to run and jump. 

"So you start like this with one foot in front, then you put the other one in front and you keep switching!"

"But I can do that already, that's just walking"

"No but you do it fast like this"

"Oh! Like this?" *fast walks*

"No you're just walking!"

"But that's what you told me to do!" 

Little sweetums. According to their teachers, I'm the new "it toy" or "big candy" for the kindergarteners. Now there's a title to wear with honor. 

First grade was exciting for me today because I was doing my presentation about Hong Kong. When the words came up on the screen, all the kids were like "What's a H...o...ng K...y??" Presenting to first graders is a blast. They get super excited and engaged, and they are constantly raising their hands to ask questions or make comments. This was encouraging to me because I felt like they were interested and pumped up about a place that is so near and dear to my heart. While most of the kids had travelled out of Andover before, they were astonished to hear about life in Hong Kong. You can hear the "woahhhh's" when I show them Hong Kong for the first time in the video. They had a lot of great questions about Hong Kong that I had never even considered before. After that, they were making paper dragon puppets and listening to stories about Chinese culture. It was kind of like a China-immersion class, which I thought was very sweet. It made me feel very welcomed and appreciated. I also got to get more experience with being up in front of a whole class, which I haven't gotten to do a lot yet. I have mostly been working with individuals or small groups of individuals, which I love, but I think this experience is important too. I had a lot of fun in first grade today. Enjoy some questions and comments from the presentation:
"The longest plane ride I took was 2 minutes. It was so long!" *teacher: "that's so short"*
"Can I point to Hong Kong on the map?" *points to Antarctica*
"Can you go back to Hong Kong before you graduate and get us all a pet from pet street and bring it back to us?"
"Is the population of Hong Kong 130?" "Is the population of Hong Kong the number at the end of the universe?" All very good questions. 

Back in third grade, they were having free time after their testing, so students were reading, writing, playing legos and drawing. I hung out with a few girls that were typing their own original stories. Two of them that are working on a story together are planning to sell their book at Jakes once it is finished. I requested that they finish it in the next week and a half so I have time to buy it. These young authors have people lining up to buy their book before it's even been published. They asked me to help them with editing their stories, so I helped them with spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I also got to help with illustrations for the soon-to-be-sold-at-Jakes book. I agreed to help them read it and edit it once it's ready. I love the collaborative effort in this classroom. They have a very creative and awesome story coming together, but I'm not going to give any spoilers. You'll just have to pick up your very own copy of "Wonder Pedal: by Bria and Ada," which will be in stores soon. If you're lucky, they might even sign it for you.

Gymnastics today went as normal for the most part. I set up this class the same as yesterday and it ran smoothly for the most part. I had one young man start crying because a girl had "tagged him too hard" and I did panic a little because he was scream-crying. He told me that it didn't hurt though, so I wasn't really sure how to help him. He said he was only crying because she had tagged him too hard, so I had her apologize and wasn't really sure what else to do because he said he wasn't hurting anywhere. He wanted to be left alone for a little bit, so we let him be, but he was back in the game, laughing and smiling after about a minute. Still working on what to do with myself in those situations. Other than that, kids went through the stations and did a great job. We worked on making our forward rolls tighter, we practiced our cartwheels, and I have 4 kids in my Tuesday group that can now kick into handstands all on their own! I'm proud. 

I had my last session of Mandarin with my Tuesday group today, though they begged me to do one more session next week. I'm not sure yet. I bought them all picture frames to do stained glass with as like a final gift to them for being such awesome students. I did all the prep work of the frames last night, tracing and outlining the words so they could dry overnight etc. I picked a few special characters and had each kid pick the one they wanted, the rest will be for the Friday group to pick from. They all picked words that either resonated with them or they just thought looked cool, either way worked. Will picked wisdom, Kaitlyn picked peace, and Ada picked courage, all of which line up perfectly with their personalities. They each picked the backgrounds they wanted and we went on a field trip to the library to pick up the printouts. Then we went back and I taught them how to trace the lines they wanted, and stain them with the paint and glue. They all turned out way better than I could have hoped. I was delighted and I think they enjoyed making them. I hope they keep their stained glass pictures just as a small memento of our little Mandarin club. I'll still see them at school and around this last week and a half, but I'm going to miss these guys so, so much. They deserve all the wisdom, courage, and peace in the world.

Time: 8:34
Hours: 8
Total Hours: 114

Preparing for Diffendoofer Day - 05/13/19

The third graders are doing their state testing tomorrow, and I found out that it has become a tradition to read Dr. Suess' Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! the day before third graders start testing each year. The book is about a little school that has to take a big test to determine where their schools stands, and if they don't do well, the school will be shut down and the students will have to transfer to Flobbertown (where dogs are afraid to bark). At the end of the day, the third grade teachers gathered all the students together to talk to them about test-taking attitudes and mindsets. They reminded them to have fun, not to worry, work hard, and to just give it their very best, and that was all that mattered. I was supposed to be taking an AP Calculus exam tomorrow, but decided last-minute not to take it because I was too nervous... I probably could have used some of that third grade advice.

The third graders in Mr. Hubbard's class had a very exciting morning. A mere 10 minutes into math class, they had a special visitor come to deliver chicken eggs to their classroom. They have recently been working on an incubator to warm and hatch the chicken eggs, and the kids were bouncing out of their seats when Caleb walked in with the two cartons of eggs. Everyone had to sanitize their hands before touching the eggs, and were not even allowed to breathe on them because their breath contained bacteria. The kids held the eggs gently as possible as they took turns putting them into the incubator. Life is such a delicate and precious thing, even when it's still in the egg! We ended up spending almost an hour talking about chickens and the eggs, and about different habits of different animals in regards to their offspring. The students came out with a ton of awesome questions, and it was cool to see them answering each other's questions when they were able to. My AP Bio brain was immediately switched on and thinking of punnett squares when the kids asked about how the color of the parents feathers relates to the color of the chick's feathers. It was a very exciting, mathless math class for everyone. I am sad that this is my second to last day working in this classroom (they are testing from Tues-Thurs), but I have arranged to spend that time in Kindergarten, which I am very excited about!

Anna and I were together today working with the first graders. It was really sweet how students are starting to recognize me, say hi to me, hug me, and even the shyer ones give me a little smile when they walk past me. For some reason, a lot of the kids were asking me if they were my friend, which I of course told them that they were. It made me really happy when they beamed and said "you are my friend too." They were working more on coloring and fractions today through making "fractions pots". It was interesting to see how different students prioritize different activities. Some students spent a ridiculously long amount of time coloring the pots, some spent that time cutting shapes out, and other zipped through all of it in 10 minutes. It was really fun getting to hang out and talk to the kids as they colored. Once they were finished, they moved on to playing addition card games with each other. I was asked to become an official ref when disputes came up about whose sum was higher.

When I arrived back in third grade, students were in the middle of doing a practice LA response for their tests tomorrow. Mrs Peters just had me walk around to make sure everyone was on track and working on what they were supposed to be working on. When they were done with that, they had a little bit of time left to finish their Jack and the Beanstalk stories and drawings. I continued to just circulate during this time, checking in with different students about their stories and how they were coming along with writing and typing them out. Some were already finished so they got to spend that time reading. After that, everyone moved over to Mr. Hubbard's classroom to read the Dr Suess book and talk about their tests tomorrow.


Gymnastics was pretty good today. There are still a few students that I am struggling with getting them to listen to me, but I am getting better at being patient, controlling my emotions and not letting it upset me too much. I think I am growing and maturing as a teacher. Today I had my second crier when a student accidentally kicked another student for standing too close. I have always been terrified and kind of tried to turtle myself when I'm around kids that cry, just because I don't really know how to handle the situation. Today, when a little kindergarten boy got kicked in the arm and started crying, I picked him up and put him on my lap and had him drink some water until he calmed down. I had the little girl who had accidentally kicked him apologize and everything turned out just fine, and I was happy with how I handled the situation that initially terrified me. I am getting close with the kids and and getting better at handing them. A kindergarten girl claimed she had a headache and didn't want to play, so I just had her hangout and ref the game with me, and she said she felt much better at the end. I'm happy to see good progress in gymnastics too. I set up more organized stations for them to go through today, and having them stay busy in the circuit instead of just waiting in line helped to control the chaos that stressed me out last week. I would also just like to take a moment to appreciate how perfect that handstand in the photo on the left is. Wow.


Time: 6:42
Hours: 8
Total Hours: 106 (!!)

You Can See It In My Eyes - 05/06-05/11

You can see how tired I am in my eyes. It's a good tired though. It's a gratifying and satisfying tired that makes me know that I have worked hard and put in all my effort this week. I have been working long hours, and hanging out with kids means I always try my best to be more energetic than my normal self. All of it just means that I feel good about the week and am ready for a restful weekend. As you know, some kids don't have much of a filter before they speak. In first grade, a little dude asked me if I had a black eye, because there were some pretty hefty dark circles around my eyes. Then all the kids started sticking their faces in my face to see my so-called black eye. Also, another girl asked me if I had "pink eye" because my eyes were slightly red from being tired. It was kind of hysterical.

Volunteering and teaching at AEMS every day this week gave me a lot of opportunities to observe teachers that I look up to, as well as a lot of opportunities to teach both in a formal classroom setting, and an informal setting of gymnastics and Mandarin class. All of these opportunities have taught me a lot about being a teacher. Though it may seem blatantly obvious, teaching is REALLY hard! I have said this in blogs throughout the week, but it's hard to teach a group of students whose minds work in different ways and at different speeds. Some are extremely quick to pick up and master concepts, others take more time to become familiar with the material. Some can sit still and focus, while others get antsy and need to move around. Some get distracted easily, others are distractions for their classmates. The challenge is that it is hard to provide the necessary individual attention that every student needs. Education is far from a "one size fits all" kind of thing. That was a long-winded explanation leading up to an important lesson I learned about being a good teacher, which is that you have to take the time and make the effort to get to know the students, instead of just throwing information at them. Not only does this build a better sense of trust, it also makes the student know that they are special, cared for, and supported. Also, knowing all your students and their varied learning styles is helpful when it comes to finding a compromise in the style with which you teach, and also finding external support for students who need it. Through teaching, I have picked up some techniques that match the needs of the students I'm teaching, but I think there is an infinite amount of things to learn in terms of being a teacher and there is always room for improvement. Also, teaching is way beyond just knowing the facts, it is equally as important, if not more important, to know HOW to teach that material.

Overall, I loved what I was doing this week. When I think about the week as a whole, I feel only happy and hopeful emotions. When I reflect more deeply on the smaller aspects of each day, I definitely faced some challenges and frustrations when working with or teaching the kids, but those feel like they are kind of drowned out by the good things.  I am also growing to see those challenges as more of opportunities for growth. I know how short senior project is, so I want to make the most of this time to grow as much as I can in the field of work that I eventually want to be in. With all the gymnastics forms in place, I taught 5 gymnastics classes this week. I only taught 2 instead of 3 Mandarin classes though, because Share Day meant no Mandarin on Friday morning with the 4th graders. That said, teaching all the classes that I did was very enjoyable. As I watch back the videos from the gymnastics and Mandarin classes, there are a lot of smiles and laughter, which makes me happy. As I sift through the countless photos I took during the day in the classrooms and see all the smiling faces, it makes me happy. I also got nicknamed a "master baby maker" and the "princess of gymnastics," so I'd say it's going pretty well.

Everything went as expected this week as far as volunteering in classrooms and Mandarin classes go. Gymnastics sort of went as expected in that I expected it to go kind of unexpectedly. This was the first week that I was teaching gymnastics classes of really young kids. I made plans for all the classes, but as I mentioned in a lot of posts, I ended up winging it and improvising for a large chunk of many classes. I am still in the process of getting to know all the students, and I don't know, when planning, what will work for them and what won't. In terms of timing and what I was actually supposed to be doing though, everything went as planned. I unexpectedly found myself in a calligraphy workshop during share day, where I was working with kids significantly older than the ones I usually/planned to work with. It was a good unexpected though, because I got to meet some older kids and get experience with different students.

I will benefit from this week's activities because I have picked up a greater understanding of how to be a good teacher, and I have acquired little methods and tricks when it comes to teaching. For example, kids get fidgety after about a half hour of sitting still (at most!), so it's good to get up and "do a wiggle" or get outside for an activity, even if just briefly. I also have a much greater admiration for teachers and the difficult but astoundingly critical work that they do in a child's life, which leaves me with a much greater sense of gratitude for all the teachers that put up with me from kindergarten to my senior year of high school. They are largely the reason why I am where I am today, and several of them have inspired me to want to teach when I'm older.





This week I worked more towards my goals of helping children increase skill in gymnastics, as well as strength and flexibility. While we have only had one lesson for each group (and 2 lessons for the Thursday group), I have actually seen improvement in a significant number of the students. There are a few videos on my blog of students trying a skill at the beginning of class and then showing great improvement in the attempt at the end of class. Also, with the lesson at Andover Hub, over the course of 4-5 weeks, that student has gone from barely being able to stand on her hands with her feet on the wall, to hitting straight handstands without a wall from standing. I stretch with my kids every day and we do little bits of conditioning, but they get stronger and more flexible through doing gymnastics itself too. I'm excited to see what next week brings.

Should We Make Reasonable Dumplings Now? - 05/11/19

I just adore these youngins'. At the beginning of Spring term during project period, Jill gave me the idea of doing a cooking day with my Mandarin students at Proctor. It seems so crazy that back then, I hadn't even started teaching Mandarin to faculty kids at Proctor, and now I have 8 students that I teach Mandarin to regularly on Tuesdays and Fridays. Teaching Mandarin to these 8 students has become a highly anticipated part of my week, both when I was in classes and during senior project. Anyway, Jill kind of made the suggestion in passing and we didn't really talk about it after that, until I remembered that senior project was coming up and my weekends would be relatively open. I didn't know how feasible it would be to get 8 little-ish kids in the kitchen with me, but I am lucky to be part of a community in which so many people are willing to offer their support to make things happen. I met with Barb last week in the morning before heading to AEMS, and when she told me I could do it, I was so overjoyed and so eager for today to come.

I was up at 9 doing some last-minute prep before heading over to the dining hall at 10. Audrey decided to join me early to help me make the dough, because we had to let it sit for an hour. I was super happy and grateful that she came early to help out. First things first, Audrey is the new mother of a flour baby girl, who I believe ended up being named Abby. Audrey said the baby looked like me, and I thought it looked like her. We went back and forth for a while, but it DEFINITELY looked like her! She was so happy when I passed the baby to her, carrying her everywhere and showing it off to her little sisters and mom. Little things can mean so much. She is such a sweet girl. As she helped me mix the flour, water, and salt, she asked when the other kids were coming, and when I told her they wouldn't be there until 11, she said "yay! I get to spend extra time with you!" which made my heart feel warm and fuzzy. Her mom also told me that Audrey had asked about "hiring" me to continue teaching Mandarin next year over FaceTime or being her college pen pal, and it made me so, so happy. I'm way far from being a dumpling-making expert, but I taught her the basics of how to mix and stir the ingredients, knead the dough, and roll it into a ball. I told her to press, then fold, then press, then fold again to knead the dough. As she did it, she said "press, fold, press fold" with every motion. She did the same when I taught her to shape the dough into a ball with her fingers as corners, saying "push it, push it, push it" over and over again. It was probably the most wholesome thing I have ever seen. Watch the video!

Everyone else started to arrive right around 11, and I put them to work right away, cutting the scallions and cabbage, and mixing it into the ground pork. These guys have such a great work ethic, constantly asking what they could do next. I'm not an actual mother yet, but I definitely felt some mom-ish feelings kicking in because I was SO TERRIFIED to let them use the knife. Will, Ada, and Grace kept insisting that I let them use the knife and that they're allowed to cut food at home, so I obliged, but I had my eyes glued to their little fingers around that massive blade as it sliced through the vegetables. Once the dough was ready, I gave each student a piece of dough that they rolled out into a long sausage shape and then cut into little pieces of dough for rolling out. Paige started out with the rolling, and rolled out those dumpling wrappers like it was her job. They all swapped in and out with the rolling, but once we had a few wrappers ready, I taught them how to fold the dumplings. Mine didn't look great, but you could tell what it was, so it counts. The fun part was that they were able to try to fold a traditional dumpling, but they also had fun folding different shapes. Will even made a frog shaped dumpling popup, and it cooked surprisingly well. They spent a long time trying to see who could fold the craziest or tiniest dumpling, and after a while, Audrey made everyone freeze and said to me "guys, should we make some reasonable dumplings now?" It was hilarious. 

Kids started to get distracted by other things by the end, which I totally understood, because doing the same thing for 2 hours can get a little repetitive. I was really grateful that Paige stayed and worked right up until the very end, rolling and filling dumplings until there wasn't a single bit of meat or dough left. This girl is a superstar. She was mature when it came to guiding the younger ones, she always stepped up to do the work that everyone else was bored of, and she stayed to fold the last of the dumplings with me, even though all the other kids were on the other side devouring the plates of dumplings. Also, she managed to divide the dough and the meat so we had NO LEFTOVERS. Now THAT takes talent. Grace, Audrey, and Ada took the lead in the boiling of the dumplings - keeping time, and scooping the finished ones out onto plates. 

Everyone, parents and kids, were all so helpful when it came to cleaning up, which made my life a lot easier. People said the dumplings were tasty, and that was the goal, so I'm glad. We had lots of leftovers (we probably made like a hundred dumplings!), so a hungry lad named Nelson that hadn't eaten yet came by afterwards and ate up a whole plate of dumplings. I have never tried to manage a bunch of youngins' in a kitchen at once. I've never been great in the kitchen, so taking the lead on this was definitely a challenge, but I think it turned out well. There were lots of smiles and laughs, so I'd say it was a success. I'm a lucky girl!! (And a huge thank you to all the parents for their support in making this happen!)

I spent the latter part of the afternoon working on plans for my lessons next week. 

Time: 9:44

Hours: 7

Total Hours: 98