Wednesday, May 28, 2014

n a r n i a
today during recess,
S was trying to tell me all
7 of her brothers' names,
but could not recall her
7th brother's name.
:P

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

i've been teaching our new unit on Opinion Writing.

it's a tricky and long process,
but it makes me so happy to see my students
writing about topics such as
gun & knife violence, dirty water,
and that in some countries,
only boys can go to school.
and to also provide reasons why these are problems
and articulate how they feel about it.
these are kindergartners who are starting to
think about complex global issues; i love it.

i like to think that i'm planting the seeds
for these skills that they will have, develop
and can use for the rest of their lives~*~

next, we move onto
petitions :D

Monday, May 26, 2014

another glorious seattle day.
i read in the sunshine,
watched kites flutter when the wind rose,
and then picked up some irises from Pike ^___^
seattle art museum!
we went to the last
day of the Miro exhibit.
i really love aboriginal dot patterns.
i want to learn more about the Dreaming...
when i think of the p northwest, i think this:
sunset at golden gardens
-always the best way to end the day.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

ashley and i went hiking in the woods today
and it unexpectedly turned into a frozen lake
surrounded by waterfalls flowing down
the sides of snowy mountain cliffs.

it was hauntingly, stunningly beautiful.

Friday, May 23, 2014

baking muffins on a friday night~*
tomorrow, i will climb a mountain.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

~*~and now the countdown begins~*~
23 days until graduation!

we will have fancy light blue hoods
and specially sewed sleeves..

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

"You seem fully immersed in a study of oppression.
Any reason for this?"
"Well, I do live in the world."

(p.35)

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

cleaned my room for the first time in a month!
i borrowed some books from the library
and now i have time to actually read them~

Monday, May 19, 2014

Sunday, May 18, 2014

it was teacher appreciation week and
all my students wrote me a letter
and compiled it into a little book! :)
somehow, i had no idea this was being created.
"I think you are awesome! and you rock and
thank you for thecheing me haw to read and to write."

"you rock because you teach us fabric."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
now that i have a life again (post edTPA),
i indulged~ in doing laundry and being clean.
brunch, bagels and free books!
a start to building my own classroom library!

I'm most excited about:
"How my Parents learned to Eat"

"The Muslim Child"
"The Underwater Alphabet"
"What is your Language?"

"Kites: Magic Wishes that Fly Up to the Sky"
"Crystals"
and
"A Cache of Jewels and
Other Collective Nouns"
i taught kindergartners to sew :)
- - - - - - - - -
SoC celebration for completing edTPA!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

HOLY MOLY,
I AM FINISHED.
probably worked on this for ~250+ hours,
on top of full-time student-teaching.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

in my edTPA, i am referring to things such as
beans, anthropology and rainbow pom poms.
in the process of working, ashley and i ate
some amazing tacos and both invested in
some winter-y things. I got these fingerless gloves
made in bellingham, washington.
i'm using them to motivate me to type
and i plan to use them when:
camping,
sewing,
making jam,
walking on a cold night.
母亲节快乐!

recycle, reduce, reuse!

Friday, May 09, 2014

creative ways to get kindergartners to be quiet:
1) tell them you're going to cast a quiet spell
on them and once you tap their shoulder
with the magical wand, they must be silent
until you break the spell.

2. tell them to be wooden figures that can't move or talk.

3. pretend there is a sleeping giant and we can't wake
him up, if he wakes up, he'll eat the talking kid.
~ ~ ~ ~
i thought of and tried one of these on thursday.

it worked. first, they had dumbfounded looks on
their faces and then they got excited.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
11 minutes

Monday, May 05, 2014

val and tay,
thank you for
sharing your stories,
 inviting me to meet the
other 9,998 dimensions of myself
and
reminding me that i am a person
prone to mystical experiences:
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
oh edTPA,
you horrifying monster of a project.
the most challenging academic task
i have embarked on in the last 5 years
X_______________X
I CAN'T WAIT TO BE DONE
so then i can spend my days
frolicking in dandelion fields,
planting nasturtium seeds
and engaging my little friends
to sing in their native language
~

Saturday, May 03, 2014

i was reading The Lorax on Friday
and afterwards, Cathy said:
"I just love listening to you read.
You have the nicest reading voice."
i'm glad it sounded "nice", because inside,
i felt like a crazy actress performing on stage,
trying to be as expressive as possible
in order to entertain an audience of
20 easily distracted children, half of whom
had already checked out...
until i screamed
"the TRUUUUUUUUUUUFFULA TREEESS!?!?"
"when i think of you, i think of a little
orange pumpkin with a vine coming out of it."

~my sister.

Thursday, May 01, 2014

what a long day.
apparently, i taught a phenomenal choral counting
patterns math lesson today :)
yay, i'm finally getting the hang of this
whole teaching thing.
 
now i'm sitting on my bed, sipping a
pink moscato-slushie and admiring my henna~*

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

 "sorry we don't have the colors you want but hey,
i could actually make you a shirt right now."
"..OKAY!"
so i went into the back screenprinting studio
and the nice artist guy let me design exactly
what colors/kind of shirt i wanted
and then he made it and also gifted me some
stickers for my kanteen :D 
o
great plasma sun,
thank you for remembering us here in washington.

i filled with glee as i walked down the
waterfront & i couldn't stop smiling
thinking about all the things i've done this year.
i love this place.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

going to the zoo zoo zoo
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
alas, it's in the 70s!!
student teaching, strolls + melon melonas :)
vanessa and i calculated that we've spent an
average of 7 hours together per day,
every day of this past year :D

Sunday, April 27, 2014

~saturday morning
aurora adventures~
 doodled a picture,
ate some french toast,
attempted to work on TPA..
then i gave up and went to
yoni ki baat with Vesna :)

Friday, April 25, 2014

 ho0o0o0oly moo0o0o0oly.
T G I F.
time to celebrate~*~
cheers~ 

ps: i just feel so ecstatic when 
i can get kids to feel curious about
the world and excited about learning.
this is BEST.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

alot of things make me cringe, but one thing that deeply
makes me cringe is any kind of tooth activity:
wiggling.
twirling.
twisting.
pulling.
yanking.
playing.
flicking.
tapping.
pushing.
knocking.
cracking.

5 year olds + teeth scenarios.
yep, i've seen it all :X
*shudders*
filling out my program completion
& graduation paperwork.
wheeeeeeeee!
 onwards!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

W-E-A-V-I-N-G!
 i taught the kiddos how to weave today
as part of our fabric unit in science.
it was awesome.
see? i walk my talk.
 they wanted to continue weaving
during choice time. i'm seriously considering
starting a weaving club at school. we could try
weaving with paper plates, straws, twigs, erthang~

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

life of masters students
here i sit, preparing 20 cardboard looms for weaving,
stapling leveled books titled "animal tongues"
all the while having avocado, olive oil 
+ honey soaking in my hair
as my roommate and i chat about
colonialism while she writes a paper on sexual abuse.

can't say i imagined this is what i pictured
being in my 20s would look like.
(it's infinitely better :D)

Sunday, April 20, 2014

ashley and i got sushi,
drank bubbly* and celebrated
that we live in this city.
``oh the people, places & opportunities
in this glorious city, i love it all``

Saturday, April 19, 2014

in my tornado of a room;
piles of papers,
thirsty plants,
and cheese crackers.