National Sibling Day

According to the world of Facebook, it's National Sibling Day! Sorry everyone else, but I have the greatest siblings in the world. They make me laugh, look out for me, and are my biggest role models. I love my siblings, and my family more than anything, so I thought they deserved a post! Leigh and Shannon, I don't have any pictures of us, but you guys are WAY more than just sister-in-laws, you're definitely my sisters and I'm so glad my brothers got SO lucky when they found you, because we all got lucky when you came into our (big and crazy) family. Love you guys!

Thanks for giving me such a great family Mom and Dad! 

My crazy and loving brothers and sisters

Shannon's been in my life since I was two! Definitely my sister! 

My beautiful sister-in-law Leigh

Lesson Planner On Its Way!

My Erin Condren lesson planner has shipped! It's currently in Carson California....yeah that's still really far away. Sad day. Can't wait to post pictures of everything when it gets here. Erin Condren does an "invite a friend" thing on her website. If you use my referral code when you make an account, you'll get $10 off your order! And when your order ships, I get a $10 giftcard! I referred my mom and just used my giftcard to get some notepads that coordinate with my planner! I'll post my referral code at the bottom of this post, use it to make your account!

https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/kristinaclark1127

My lesson planner notepads! 

Building My Library

As someone who hopes to become an English teacher, it kind of comes with the the territory that I love reading. I've kept all of my books from my English classes here at UGA. They are filled with my notes and thoughts from when I was reading them, and I hope to use those someday to teach my students. But I've also recently started building a collection of books for my own personal library. When I was in England I got to go to Jane Austen's cottage, as well as her brother's estate. It was really pretty there, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a  copy of Pride and Prejudice while I was there. Taking a moment to read the first chapter in Jane Austen's garden was a pretty surreal experience.

When I got back I discovered that Penguin makes really beautiful editions of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels. He's the author that made me realize my love of literature, so he will always have a place in my heart. So far I've gotten The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night. I'll be working on finishing up that set of his novels.

For my birthday my wonderful parents got me a first edition printing of a limited edition version of The Great Gatsby. It is so beautiful and it was so thoughtful of them to give me such a meaningful gift.

Yesterday was the latest edition to my library! My sweet boyfriend Nick gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble. They have a beautiful selection of collector's edition classics. I had a hard time deciding which novels I wanted (kudos to Nick for the patience he showed while I stood there debating which books I wanted). I figured out pretty soon that there was only one option for what to get! They had really pretty collections of the Bronte sisters' novels and a collection of all of Jane Austen's novels. I got ten novels basically for the price of one thanks to Nick's sweet gift! Afterward, Nick and I went to the gym at UGA and I started reading Jane Eyre while Nick showed off for me at the climbing wall. Then we went and played tennis together (a new hobby that we have both started doing together that we are both really enjoying. Look for us at Wimbledon next year, we're going pro). It was a perfect day for this book lover!

Now all I need is a bookshelf for all of these books...Dad, looks like it's time to come visit me in Athens!

The sweet boy who got me my books!

The start of my library! 

First Lesson Plan!

I just designed my first lesson plan! It's for my online ESOL class and I had to design and present a lesson plan. I created a World Literature lesson for either 9th or 10th grade. It was a lot of work because I had to research that particular age group to see what they are like, in addition to designing a lesson. I decided to do reading groups to compare the styles, themes, and plots of authors from different cultural backgrounds. I'm really proud of it and I hope it gets me a good grade tomorrow when I present it!! Here a few of the slides from my presentation.

"Nerding Out" Over Erin Condren

After my orientation for my cohort last week, my excitement level about teaching has taken off. I'm watching BBC documentaries about first time teachers, checking out the teacher section at Barnes and Noble, deciding how I want my classroom to be decorated, and my favorite part, dreaming about ORGANIZING. I want to be "that teacher." The one with the adorable classroom. The classroom that feels inviting. The one with a place for EVERYTHING (and a label for all of those places.) Oh god just thinking about all that stuff makes my head swim with all the possibilities. And I know my mom is just as excited to help me with my first classroom as I am to have one. I'm so lucky to have her support.

My latest organizational obsession goes by the name of Erin Condren. Really though you guys if you haven't been to her website yet, you're missing out. Being from the South, we like EVERYTHING to be monogrammed and personalized. And Ering Condren doesn't miss a beat. All of her stuff is cute and personalized just for you! She's got it all: Life Planners, clipboards, boxes, canvas bags, Apple product accessories, you name it she'll personalize it for you. Her stuff is a little on the pricey side, but from the reviews I've watched (and that's an embarrassingly high number of reviews) of her products the durability and time she takes in designing her products makes them worth the price. As a gift for beginning my student teaching, mom ordered me Erin Condren's Teacher Planner. It's too die. I placed the order today and have already checked the status of the order...I'm a little excited for it to get here. I'm going to use it as a combination agenda (since I'll still be taking classes at UGA) and organizer for my student teaching in the Fall/Spring.

The Lesson Planner style that I chose

Don't worry, I've already planned out how I am going to use everything in the planner. I'm gonna keep rosters with student's ID pictures in the page protectors so that I can learn everyone's name extra fast, I'll keep track of absences and missed work, take notes from the meetings I have to attend, keep my own assignments organized, and stay up to date about the plans for my mentor teacher's classroom. I am so excited and can't wait to upload pictures of everything when it finally arrives!!! Until then, I guess I'll just have to be content with watching YouTube videos of other people's planners (hence the "nerding out" title of this post haha)


Here's a Link to Erin Condren's website. Check it out! You won't be sorry!
Erin Condren

Picking Up The Blog Again!

Well, since my mom and sister-in-law have taken the blogging world by storm I thought I should dust off my blogging skills and use it to update the world on my life and my path toward becoming a teacher. I initially created this blog as a final project for an education class, and I thought it was the perfect place to keep a record of my journey to teaching.

There have been A LOT of changes since I last looked at this blog. I mean A LOT has happened in my life and for my career path. At the end of my sophomore year (the last time I blogged on here) I took the step to study abroad at Oxford! I kept a separate travel blog for it, which I plan on getting printed into a book, but I'll post a few of my favorite pictures on here. I don't even know where to begin on what that trip meant to me. It was the most amazing experience of my life and has totally shifted my passions. My heart lies in Jolly Old England now! If I didn't have anything tying me to the States, I would KILL to go teach in England when I finish school. But, with an incredibly supportive family, a wonderful boyfriend, and a desire to get my masters, I'm thinking that's not in the cards. That said, I get my British fix in every way I can. Whether it's curling up with an Austen novel (she's not my favorite but you can't get much more British than Jane Austen), having a scone and clotted cream with my mom, or binge watching Downton Abbey over and over again, I am in love with everything British (much to my brother Scott's dismay...He and I will forever fight about whether British History or U.S. History is more interesting). I found every moment in England breathtaking, and since I came home I have decided to pursue a certification in British Irish Studies at UGA. I already completed the most difficult part of the certificate--classes in the UK-- so I thought it would be a waste if I didn't try to finish it up. I had always planned on teaching 12th grade Literature, which is British Lit, so it worked out just "smashing."

Phone Booth Shot in Oxford

Balliol College where I had class. Built in 1263!

Outing in Stratford. Seeing a little Shakespeare.

Tossing a coin at the Roman Baths

My Beautiful Roomies at Trafalgar Square

Views from the London Eye

This semester has been CRAZY. And that's not just me being a college student and whining. It has been crazy. In order to complete my BISP certificate, I had to take 19 hours this semester. Ha. HA. I now understand why my advisor gave me funny looks when I told her my plan. I'm taking the following courses this semester:

• British History from 1600 to the Present
• British History from 1600 to 1900 (The Age of Revolution)
• Selected Topics in Shakespeare
• The 18th Century Novel
• Special Ed: Inclusion for 7-12 Grade
• Tennis (UGA requires all students to take a PE)
• ESOL for Grades P-12

My English classes were my last required English classes for my English Education major, and I was able to choose classes that overlapped with my BISP requirements (woohoo!). I love my 18th Century Novel class (not so much the reading, but my professor is Awesome!) but my Shakespeare class...well...let's just say the struggle has been real, but I will hopefully still walk away with a B in there! My history classes are FASCINATING. They're both taught by the same guy (back to back...and sometimes the lecture material overlaps can you say snooze fest sometimes??? zzzzz). But I have HUGE papers due for him at the end of the month so I will be disappearing into the depths of the library soon.

I've started preparing lesson plans in both my ESOL class (I'm getting an endorsement on my teaching certificate in ESOL) and my SPED classes. I thought this was going to be boring and tedious but I LOVE IT. I love trying to come up with exciting ways to teach material in  my class and it's so fun organizing everything! This week has really reminded me that this is SO what I want to do.

In addition to those crazy amounts of classes, I'm also interning at Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School in the Media Center. My boss is super fun and I've made some really good friends with the girls I work with. Some of the little kids are, well we'll just call them "firecrackers", but I love going over there during the afternoon and decompressing in the library. I sort books, run checkout, make displays, decorate, repair damaged books, and help kids find what they're looking for. We just had Book Fair, which was insane, but a lot of fun! So in case you were wondering where this fit into my day, it barely does. On Mondays, I go to back to back classes from 9:05 to 12:05. Then I rush over to the elementary school and tutor ESOL students until 2:30, when I come back to campus for my SPED class from 3:30 to 4:45. Then Wednesdays and Fridays instead of ESOL tutoring I'm in the library with my internship.

My Biography for my Internship

I'm still in the Orchestra, which happens from 6:30 to 8:30 on Tuesday nights (yeah, that's a painfully long amount of time to hold up a violin) and it's still pretty fun. I got promoted to first violin, which was really scary to me and I'm still learning how to fit in a million notes into one beat, but I like the challenge.

I have taken on a little more responsibility with Honors Program Student Council this semester. I even organized a lecture and corresponding service event! I had the shelter director of Athens Area Homeless Shelter come in and give a lecture about homelessness in the city of Athens, and then organized a day where HPSC kids cooked a meal for the residents of the shelter. The lecture had a surprisingly good turn out and the meal went off without a hitch. It was a great feeling. Next I'm in charge of getting enough Chickfila coffee and desserts for our biggest lecture of the year...180 came to it two years ago. That's a lot of Chickfila. Here's hoping I don't drop the ball on this one!

My latest bit of academic news was that I recently interviewed to be one of the UGA College of Education's first ever student ambassadors. I have wanted to be a student ambassador since coming to college and it has never worked out. I thought about not even bothering to apply, but I thought I would give it one more try. They called me back for an interview and they picked me!!!! I am beyond excited to start giving back to the College of Education! Our first event will be helping with the COE's Convocation in May. We have a welcome lunch and a "photo shoot" with the Dean of the COE next week.

I also had my orientation for my English Education Cohort last week. I was accepted into the Cohort in March (after stressing for months, it was their largest number of applicants EVER. 45 candidates and 25 spots. Gulp.). It was basically just a welcome and informational meeting, but there was a panel of students who are currently student teaching. It was nice to get to ask them our questions. I also filled out a survey about where I want to do my student teaching. Fingers crossed I get an amazing placement.

My first Student Teacher Name Tag! 

I think that's all the big news for my Junior year. Seems like a lot? Well it feels like a ton! But I'm enjoying seeing just how much I am capable of, and looking forward to sharing more about my path to teaching on my revamped blog!

Final Day At Classic City

Yesterday was my last day at Classic City, and it was a little bittersweet. I worked with Kevin yesterday and I'm glad my last day got to be with the first student I worked with at Classic City. He was pretty distracted and it took a long time to get him to sit down at the computer and start working. We went through some of his USATest Prep tests and worked through some of the questions he missed. He sat patiently and listened, but I could tell he just wasn't really feeling sitting there haha (which is ok, sometimes sitting in front of the computer just doesn't sound awesome.) We had a nice time chatting about what he wants to do after he graduates. He wasn't aware that it was my last day, and I think he may have been a little sad that we weren't going to get to hang out and work together anymore.

After 14 hours at Classic City High School, I feel like I've really learned a lot. I've that a new and different kind of patience is required when working with older children as opposed to working with early childhood students. You have to find a balance between treating your student with respect and maintaining the role as the adult and the teacher, you have to find the balance between mentor and instructor, friend and critic. I know as I grow as a teacher these balances will be easier to find and will vary from student to student.

I walked into Classic City with a lot of assumptions. Assumptions about the students, the program, and the teachers. Probably the most important thing I am walking away with is the knowledge that most of my assumptions were wrong. I assumed, that in a struggling county such as Clarke county, that the teachers wouldn't care, the students would be unable to learn, and the facilities would be severely lacking in resources. I was wrong on all counts. All of the students I worked with were incredibly smart, but I feel like they have been treated like they aren't smart for too long. Many of the students had incredibly intelligent thought processes but lacked the skills to take their thoughts and transfer them to paper. The teacher I worked with I feel truly cared about her students. She gave assignments of her own to supplement the online work the students were required to do and I feel like she really cared about each of her students. Classic City had a totally different feel than I was imagining. I anticipated it being a highly structured environment where the teachers wet very authoritative, but it was a much more relaxed atmosphere where the students and teachers worked together much more than fought against each other.

My time at Classic City taught me to never underestimate a student, and to never--for whatever reason--give up on a student. I would love to go back to classic city and continue to mentor more students there. It has been a very interesting and rewarding semester!