What I love more than sleeping in + being braless

As I approached the end of my student teaching, I couldn't help but fantasize about sleeping in, going for a run every day, wandering + cleaning my house braless, and getting back to cooking meals that involved more than grilled cheese once I was done with student teaching. But now that I've lived out that fantasy for more than a week or so, I'm just over it--I miss teaching! No, seriously. I miss it so much. I can't believe I'm saying that while I sit here (braless even!) with a huge bowl of watermelon + watching Kelly and Michael.

What brought on this nostalgia was the oral presentation I had to give yesterday on my student teaching experience, plus listening to the rest of my classmates' experiences didn't help, either. Since this post is long overdue and I could probably write a novel on my student teaching experience, I'll  spare you all the details and try to make this post like my student teaching experience--short and sweet.

3 Things I learned:
-Procedures are vital. Seriously, you don't realize it until you have 5 students asking to go to the bathroom (with phones in their hand), kids getting up in the middle of your lecture to turn homework in, and probably the worst thing of all, having a student ask "I was gone last time, what did I miss?" when class has already started. Ugh. Procedures are l i f e.

-The power of knowing your students. In pretty much all of my teaching classes, knowing student names was always stressed, but I've learned in order to really be a good, effective teacher, you need to know more than just names. Know their hobbies, home life, interests--whatever you can! It shows your students that you truly care about them and love them. It made the world of difference getting to  know my students.

-You never "clock out" as a teacher. Even when you're home from school you're thinking about your students (Why does that boy have no friends? Why is that girl wearing the same outfit for the third day in a row?) I still think about my students every. single. day. I've also found  that almost any TV show I watch or any song I listen to on the radio, I have to make a mental note to put it into a lesson plan. #healthteacherprobs

2 Things I loved:
-MY STUDENTS. Seriously, I'm convinced they are the coolest people to spend 8 hours a day with. Truth: I had students who beatboxed, sang, directed plays, and slackline. Then there's me like, Well I ate Del Taco and took naps when I was in high school... 

-Co-teaching. I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but I had the opportunity to work with another student teacher, Yvonne (next to me in the picture above), during my time at Timpview. We planned lessons together and even taught a class together. It seriously was so fun. I loved having someone else who knew/understood the struggle that is student teaching.

1 Thing I Would Change: 
My classroom. Preferably one with windows and one that I don't have to share with 2 other teachers. Oh, and one that had A/C. Am I a diva student teacher or what?!

A student I will never forget:  
It's so hard picking just one student. But for the student I truly know I'll never forget, you can read about them in this post.


I'm truly convinced I picked the right profession, because even though I love sleeping in and being a "stay at home wife" (totally a real thing ha) right now, I find myself missing that dingy, little classroom I complained about almost every day this semester. Most of all, I miss my students. I like to think that they miss "Big G" too.

Anyway, I better get back to my life of unemployment. Those Reese's cups aren't going to eat themselves during an episode of Grey's Anatomy! Just kidding, I actually do stuff around here... even if it is in the comfort of my sweatpants.