ba da da da da i'm lovin' it

It was another wild day and before I forget, here's a story from our field trip to BYU last Friday...
The bus drove by McDonalds and one of my cute girls says..."babadada (something to a tune) i'm lovin' it." Following her McDonalds song she began to recite their entire menu! haha Truly impressive. This same girl also can't say Tati and therefore I have become Teddy...it still takes me a bit to respond to it.

Today I was sitting on the teeter-totter with my boys, just talking to them. One of them looks at me and says, "I like a girl!" I went through all the girls in our class and then the girls in the class he was in last year. Finally he say no and tells me that it is me! haha ohhhh a crush. I quickly change the subject and my other boy tells me that when he grows up he wants to buy a motor home and move to the middle of nowhere. Now, we were in a serious conversation out on the playground and the kindergartners come out. A little boy asks what my name is and then tells me that he wants to sit on the teeter-totter and talk to me like them. Leave it to the elementary boys to make my day!

Also - Tia Tuki is in town. Michelle took us all to Tucanos up in Salt Lake. It was so much fun and watching Tuki and Grandma together made my night. They are the most adorable sisters ever.

A New Student?

Yesterday morning I go out to the buses and one of the bus drivers asks me if I am the one with the new student. I tell her that I didn't hear anything about it but later come to find out that he is mine and he is in the office waiting to be picked up. Surprise!

Turns out he is super smart. I have not worked with a kid who can do addition and it's actually really fun. We have quickly become friends and I hope that we can get him out in some regular classes really soon.

Funny story of the day:
I was taking one of my students to the bathroom and he asked me who his teacher was. Weird, since I was right there next to him. I said, "I don't know. Who do you think your teacher is?!"
He thought for a minute and said "Chloe!" Ok, now Chloe is his dog. He thought he was hilarious and all day he was telling me the Chloe was his teacher and then he would crack up. Not funny for anyone else, but I loved how much it made him laugh.

I knew this was coming...

Today marks my 21st day of teaching and my first really rough day as a teacher. Two of my students had a really rough day. It wasn't just like 5 minutes or an hour but a full day of school where they were completely off. I knew that it wasn't going to be perfect and that it was actually going to be hard but I just felt like I couldn't reach them today and I got really discouraged. It was frustrating and I had to take many deep breaths throughout the day. If it weren't for my fabulous aids, I wouldn't have made it through the day.

The cool thing about this though it that even though I left work totally worn out and discouraged and frustrated, I left still loving all of them and teaching. I can't imagine my life without them anymore. I left telling myself, "We'll try again tomorrow."

So I welcome tomorrow, FRIDAY!, to come. We are field tripping it up to BYU so 3 of my kids can participate in Adaptive Aquatics (the program that has inspired me to go home in the summer and teach and adapted swim program) and the other 5 can go to the gym for some adapted p.e. games/activities. Sounds exciting, right?

another great day

After work today we met with a grandparent to discuss some things about her student. She told us that when he was younger, they almost lost him several times. She got all teary eyed talking about how they think an education is so important and how they want him to be well behaved and I was just overwhelmed by the love that she had for him.
I don't know how I got so lucky with this ability to work with students with special needs but I am so grateful I did. They touch my life everyday. They make me laugh harder than I have ever laughed before. (example - Today my little jock farted a big one. haha there was some serious tooting as we sat across from each other in serious conversation about the activities going on around the classroom. haha he just kept farting and said "I'm stinky! hahahahaha I stink. hahaha" He was just laughing and laughing and ohhh he has a great laugh) They teach me how to love and make sure that I know how it feels to be loved.
A friend was just telling me how he had the greatest job ever but really, I get to change lives but I get paid to have them change mine. I really do have the best and most rewarding job there is. With my students, I know that we can change the world.

I am the world's luckiest daughter

It's my dad's birthday. I just realized that we have very few pictures together, probably because he is always the one behind the camera. These are just a few of my favs.

My dad picked me up from the Tijuana Airport two summers ago when I came up from Guadalajara for my best friends wedding. I was so excited to see him. He was in communication with me the minute I got off the plane and just hearing his voice made that, what I thought at the time, scary flight from Guadalajara to Tijuana easy. It was my first flight alone and it was all in Spanish.

He is always there to push me to do my best and feel good about myself. He is my hero. That picture of me jumping of the rock in Big Bear is one of my favorites. I hate heights. I am sure I sat up there for half an hour telling him I couldn't do it. But he gets me to do things that make me stronger. He is always there to catch me and when I got put on the waiting list for the Special Education program at BYU, he was the only one who could calm me down and make me feel like life was still going to be ok. I love him. I love him so much. I forever will be his kukiluki.

The Joy of Having Monday OFF

Today was Tuesday, but it felt like Monday. Meaning this weekend is going to come faster than ever!

A little girl came up to me in the hall at school and told me that she really liked my shirt. Amazing what the boost that comes from a compliment from a 3rd grader!

My kids all came into class in the greatest moods, but by 12:30 they were pooped. They certainly were kept busy this weekend. I have a student who calls me teacher tati or tati teacher but tati sound different every time she says it.

I am going to go swimming now. :)

Adventures of a Special Educator

I have realized that I should probably change the name of my blog...and I just might one of these days. Everyday is full of new stories.

As I was taking my class out to recess, another student came up to me and started talking. She asked me if I was a new teacher and we made a few introductions. She asked if I was teaching the UEI class and I said yes. I then asked how old she was and she told me she was 8 so we talked a little about third grade. She asked how old I was and when I said 21 she said, "You are the perfect teacher!" and ran off. haha cute.

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On another note - I hope everyone got to see the BYU vs. Oklahoma University game. I am so impressed with how we played. I couldn't be more proud to be a Cougar. Also, Provo erupted with our final touchdown...it was a riot. I ran across 700 N. and University sooo many times. Hundreds of students were shouting, chanting, running and every car driving by was honking. Then we ran, BAREFOOT, to the stadium where even more crazy students were celebrating. It was amazing.

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One more thing - Such a good day off! I went to Park City for the first time and it was beautiful!