10 Happenings

Well it seems as if I have done a lot since I last wrote.
1. Skating in Millennium Park- it was a ton of fun and they even had a couple skating performances for us. I will say I was a little disappointed though that our group did not receive the prizes for most enthusiastic skaters.
2. Held an Oscar- Kodak had a display at one of the malls so we went to check it out. They had one of the awards handed out this year and the one they let us hold will be rewarded next year.
3. St. Patty’s Parade- The dying of the river was pretty sweet, we watched from the river walk so we were nice and close. From there we headed to the parade. I thought this parade would be somewhat spectacular…nope. Perhaps waiting close to an hour and half in the cold rain had something to do with it though. We left a little early, but it didn’t matter, by then half of my body was numb.
4. St. Patty’s Day- We had out fine arts event for the week this night. We went and were able to listen to some Irish music. I must say those kids were pretty talented! I really enjoyed it…kind of makes me wish I was in dancing through the hills of Ireland! Haha Unfortunately I had to leave at intermission to go get ready for school the next day.
5. Neighborhood Tour- For class we visited the Hyde Park and Kenwood areas. This is the area in which Obama’s house is located. Yep, it is guarded well, and their signs that say, “Attention, if you pass this point you are subjecting yourself to be searched.” Something like that any how, but it really means, do not pass this point…walk on the other side of the road.
6. Adler Planetarium- After walking half of our way there with a guy who just got out of rehab for cocaine (he really just needed somebody to talk to), we enjoyed the star show. I really did not see any of the constellations they were trying to get me to see, but oh well; it did remind me of the Iowa night sky. They also had a pretty sweet view of the night skyline.
7. Willow Creek Chicago- This is the church that I have been attending the last few weekends. I must say that I have really enjoyed it. It is a large satellite church, so the actual sermon is delivered via screen, but the messages have been hitting home pretty good lately. I also have really enjoyed the music, which is live. It sounds like they are preparing a sweet Easter service that I would love to attend, but I will not be here for that.
8. Finish My Full Time Student Teaching!!!
This Friday I finished my 3 weeks of full time student teaching! It was way more work and stress than I was expecting, but by the last week I was much more comfortable running the class and enjoyed trying new activities during small group time. There were still a few children that kept me on my toes and made classroom management a new task everyday, but it was so rewarding to see when they worked well on the lessons I had planned. There was one day when 2 of the students were gone, and man-oh-man, did they make such a difference! I have learned a lot and have enjoyed being able to use what I have already learned. I will still spend half of my day with this classroom, but my focus will be spent on the special education students. I am sure this part of my placement will bring me new challenges, but I am interested to see how it goes and excited for the change.
9. I will now be spending the rest of this week in anticipation for the weekend and spring break week to follow. I have a friend visiting for the weekend and we will be attending a Bulls game and exploring a bit! I will also get to spend a few days back at school catching up with some friends and then spending time at home seeing family. Needless to say, I am very excited.
10. Children Stories- I was complemented on my hair and then asked if I was born on a beach again. I guess the unique curly blonde hair is rather intriguing and can’t be from the state of Iowa. Heck, I am pretty sure they don’t even really know that most of Iowa exists. I was teaching them about the different types of communities. I was sharing a personal story to describe a rural area. I shared with them that growing up I did not attend school in the town I lived in and had to drive past cow farms and corn fields for about 15 minutes. One of the students raised his hand, looked at me in disbelief, and with great doubt in his voice asked me if this was even a real story!! I chuckled to myself and told him that there are indeed places such as this!