Back to school, back to school

to prove to dad that I'm not a fool. (BM anyone?)
Sooo back to school. It's tough. Monday/Wed I'm on campus from 8 AM--7 PM. Pure. Torture... But on the plus side, I LOVE MY CLASSES! They are amazing. It's such a reassurance everyday that I chose the right major/minor when I love my classes. Here's what I'm taking:
MATH ED: Surprisingly, I really like this class. How do you teach math to elementary students? It's amazing how our minds work--everything seems so obvious and simple to us, but you have to realize we are adults--it wasn't easy at ALL when you were first learning to count, either!! It takes a great teacher to explain math to a child. And there's so much vocabulary that deals with learning math that you would never know (unless you're a teacher, obvs)

CPSE: Special Education. Sometimes I think "oh man why am I not doing special ed!?" because I really love special ed. kids. And its awesome to learn about disabilities....how do you change each lesson plan, each unit to fit every single child with an exceptionality? It's crazy how much work teachers have to do. It's really cool to learn about syndroms/learning disabilities that you've never heard about before (systemic lupus erythematoses, anyone?). PLUS, I am doing a practicum in this class, which means I will be working for 10 weeks in a provo school with a child with either a disability or who is at risk for failing. I am beyond excited! So excited that Jon & I are volunteering at a center in orem called Friday's Respite---this is a NP organization that allows parents of children with brian damage or a disability to drop their kids off friday/saturday night and have a date night or just a break!! We will each be assigned to our own kid and I am beyond excited. There is something so special about kids with disabilities. It can be awkward and uncomfortable for a lot of people to be around children with disabilities, but what if it was your child? You would want people to treat them with love and respect. ANYWAY---

IP&T: Instructional Psychology & teaching. How do you create curriculum for a class? Seriously....how do you? (haha, I'm learning I guess). This is SUCH a difficult class. There are these things called "standards" that every state has (wanna read? look here and get ready to claw your eyes out). Then, as an educator, you have to teach ALL OF THOSE THINGS. which of course is literally impossible, so you do the best you can....but you have to create a years worth of curriculum before you start the school year so you can give a handout to parents and let them know what their kids will be learning...you also have to take pictures of the student's work (like if they are doing a project), and file their worksheets/tests with notes written on every single one, in case a parent tries to sue the school for their kid not doing well...it's part of assessment teaching. boo.

EDLF: Learning about the laws of schools, why we have public schools, what our moral obligation is as an educator. It's awesome. So. many. laws. you can literally be sued for EVERYTHING you do. I have a little book called "a pocket guide to school law" that you have to reference and make sure you are so so so careful about everything you do as a government employee.

TELL 410: Good class, for my minor. about teaching student's who don't speak english. Love learning about this stuff!!


As for Jon--well, I really can't tell you much about his classes, other than that they are CRAZY INTENSE & super hard!! That boy studies like 12 hours a DAY! He is gone for at least 13 hours a day, today he left at 8 AM and won't be home till 11 PM. He's sooo busy and it roeally sucks never seeing each other except, "oh hi. love you. night". when we both crawl in to bed completely exhausted. BUT we are really loving school, so that is good. 

We are also MOVING right now. On top of all that crazy stuff above, as of Wed. I started moving things over to our new (albeit tiny) apartment. We're both excited and a little sad. We've loved our ward & neighbors, but we're excited to see our new ward as well. Plus we're sad because our apartment is now a small 600 sq ft, one bedroom, and we have to drive to do our laundry instead of walk :( And it's farther from school (still in Wymount, just farther north). We love having two bedrooms, but it is just too expensive and we have no need (other than storage) for it. 

Saturday Jon is taking me out for our 1 year anniversary! I can't believe it's already been a year! Time has really flown by. I love him so much more each and every day and we are so happy together! :) Monday is our actual anniversary, so I get to take him out that day, then Tuesday is my 21st birthday!!!! Luckily I don't have class tuesday so that'll be nice!!

I'll post anniversary pics. and updates soon!

xoxo,
J & K