And Then Life Happens...

Sometimes when we are so encapsulated in the day to day things that we become disenchanted with the fact that what we are doing today could come to a complete halt if life were to happen to us. When I say if “life were to happen” I am talking about those excessively positive like love or the birth of a child, or excessively negative moments like sickness and death. At times we do not give ourselves space for life to happen. If your like me your day may be jam packed from 8am to 8pm, a short recovery period then right back to work from 10pm to 2am. With just a short glitch we inevitably  fall behind schedule. Well this week life happened to me…

While sitting in one of my courses I took a brief facebook break and discovered that one of my friends from home had passed away that morning. Luckily there was only 15mins of class left  yet so I sat quietly completely shaken. I found my head spinning, completely unable to process what I was feeling. Yet I had to pull it together as I still had my methods course from 4:30-7. I walked to the lab to print my assignment for the class that would be due in my next class. When I finished I entered the classroom and sat. One of my classmates from across the room observed my demeanor and asked if I was okay, I tried to snap back and quickly answered “Yea I’m just kind of out of it.” But I wasn’t okay. About 15 minutes into the class I walked to my professor with tears welling in my eyes and my assignment in hand and told her I had to leave and that I could not be here. I slipped my hoody on, so know one could see my eyes and walked back to my apartment in tears. I laid down for a couple hours hoping to suppress the pain I was feeling but when I woke up it was still there. I tried to power up for the paper I had due the next day and the lesson plans I would have to teach the next morning,  but I was only able to make it through my lesson plans. Life had thrown off whatever plans I thought I had for the night. I am going to miss my friend but I thank him for reminding me to cherish my relationships and be thankful for good health because when either of those collapse we have no choice but to set aside the other things.

Despite the many obligations we may have whether it may be student teaching, graduate school, work, research or anything else when life happens everything must be put on hold. It is imperative that we prioritize ourselves and what we are feeling in those moments so that later once we have grieved and grown, we can effectively go back and pick up where we left off.

How Coffee Became my BFF

It started out as something I would indulge in here and there. But as the Fall has begin to take it’s course coffee has become a staple part of my diet. The formal induction of coffee into my life seem to be both unfortunate and quite helpful. My favorite form of coffee is the chilled Starbucks frappucino’s that I purchase religiously from the Fresh Grocer or CVS, both a block away from my house. I have even started to brew my own with my lovely coffee maker that resides on my kitchen counter. Nonetheless, I do realize the potential health detriments of my large intake of caffeine; and thus, try to have at least one Odwalla or Naked and/or a bottle of water for every two servings of coffee I have. Even my students have taken note of my new fix and consistently state, “Ms. Fuller you always drinkin that stuff.” Coffee seems to get me through long days of student teaching, meetings and class; and then through long nights of reading, writing and lesson planning. When I need it, it is only three bucks away…. 

The Cold is Coming

As a Cali girl its difficult for me to conceptualize the cold. When my new found east coast family discusses temperatures below 50 degrees my common response is “I don’t get it.” So this week my roommate choose to join me in my quest for a winter coat, apparently not knowing what she had got herself into. Luckily we began and ended at Burlington coat factory but somehow ended up being in the coat section for almost two hours. In total I must have tried on 16 different coats and re-tried each one at least once. After assessing whether or not it was stylish my next question was “do you think this will be warm enough.” I ended up narrowing it down and walked out with one pea coat and a “puff coat.” Nevertheless, I have been warned that if I can wear it now it may not be sufficient for the peak of the winter. And to this I generally respond “wait it gets colder than this!?” In short I am pretty terrified for my first East Coast winter. I’m taking all recommendations for ways to keep warm. Hit me up!   

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my teaching debut

This week I began lead teaching. As I reflect on my experience, over the three days that I lead, one word comes to mind….WOW. Who knew that teaching was so multilayered. When I presented my curriculum to my classroom mentor she knew immediately that it would not fit into one day as she had instructed me to come up with a lesson for a single class. What was supposed to be a case story on Sumer, a society in ancient Mesopotamia turned into a three day lesson. For my lesson I would have my students becomes experts on an aspect of Sumerian society then present their knowledge to the rest of the class. This lesson was their first time working in groups and sitting in groups so initially they were very resistant. Although I had pre-assigned their groups they complained about who they were working with, where they were working and what they working on. Nonetheless, with the guidance and recommendations of my classroom mentor and penn mentor the next two days progressed quite nicely. In thinking about my first days leading teaching the following thoughts come to mind.

·      Be intentional

·      Be reflective each day and make changes for the next day

·      Be sensitive to student needs but still have high expectations

·      Scaffolding is important, make sure your students have a solid foundation

At the end of my week lead teaching I received a pleasant surprise. Apparently one of my students nominated me for teacher of the monthJ Since I am not a full time teacher my name was not on the nomination list dispersed to the students only my classroom mentor’s…but my student choose to add a slash mark and wrote  “Ms. Fuller” then circled it as a nomination. The academy leader brought the nomination slip to me as he thought I should have it and boy was he right. My rough tiring week was illuminated. When I went home I posted it on my wall to serve as a reminder that even when it seems that no one’s listening, learning or cares someone notices your efforts.