School Days: The Teacher Education Program

Happy Friday!

Yesterday, I had a very busy day. It began with a brisk walk to Dinand to prepare for my presentation later that day.

After another tough dance class, I presented on the Democratic Republic of Congo, I think it went okay! Then I headed to the Administration building for Worcester Public Schools to be trained as a substitute teacher. Once this was finished, I headed to Stein with some fellow TEPers to attend an event called “Inside the Hiring Process” which was very interesting and helpful for the job search I have ahead of me.

After my Geometry class on Friday, I stopped by the post office to pick up a package and then prepped for my Urban Education class.

 

We had the day off on Thursday for practice, but today the team had to work on the scout for Sunday’s game and get back to business.

 

 

 

 

After practice, I spent time with my roommates eating dinner and watching a movie!  week left of There is only one week left of classes (crazy) so this weekend is going to involve a lot of time in the library. Thank you for reading my posts this week…I enjoyed being able to share my daily adventures!

 

What a wild Wednesday! Today I started my day with another stop at Starbucks to finish a little bit of homework with some of the other basketball staff.

Later this morning, I had team breakfast at the hotel and after watching film, a few of us made our way to the gym at the University of Vermont.

 

After the gym, the team had shoot around. Shoot around is when the girls prepare for the upcoming contest by reviewing plays and working on game like situations. The team made 3 half court shots in a row—a new record!

Then we headed back to the hotel to mentally get ready for the long night ahead. My roommates and I watched some tv before we had pregame meal (which was chicken parm…yum!). And at 5 pm we headed to take on the Catamounts.

The team locked in and prepared to take the court. As a manager, I have to fill the water bottles for game, pass out uniforms, and make sure everything is set up for the pregame talk. Thankfully, the game went GREAT. We won 65-40!! I am currently posting this from the bus ride home… hopefully it will go quick and I can get some sleep for tomorrow!

Today was another busy day! I began my day with a quick workout at the field house on campus and then grabbed some coffee with friends before my classes. In my first class of the day, “Ballet 1-2”, we participated in a workshop given by choreographer Ronald K. Brown. This was definitely a workout I was not prepared for, but experiencing a different type of dance was very cool. Taking dance classes at Holy Cross has been an important way for me to develop a greater appreciation for the arts.

After ballet I went to my second class of the day,” Sex and Society in Africa” where we discussed articles that I am doing a presentation about on Thursday (Yikes).

Next, I had to quickly pack my suitcase because I am traveling to the University of Vermont this week for a basketball game. Before leaving, the team practiced and prepared for the upcoming opponent.

 

 

 

 

Once practice ended, the other manager and I had to pack the bus and get the meal ready for the team as we made our way to Vermont. The bus ride was definitely a long one, but the team always finds way to have fun if we get bored.

We arrived at the hotel in just under four hours. Two other girls on the team and I did some homework that we needed to make up for missing class tomorrow—it is definitely important to have good time management when you have to miss school.

After a long day of traveling its finally time for bed—gotta rest up for gameday!

Hello Everyone! My name is Kat and I will be taking over the blog this week! I am a senior Mathematics Major in the Teacher Education Program. I can’t wait to upate everyone on the upcoming week because it is definitely a busy one!

Today I began my day by heading to Geometry class with fellow TEPers Kate and Ally. I am getting sad about ending my math classes at Holy Cross because it has been a journey for sure, but I am excited to be using all my math knowledge next semester during student teaching! It just so happens that today I taught my lesson for Pre-Practicum at Burncoat Middle School where I will be doing my student teaching in the spring. I enjoyed being able to use teachniques I have learned over the past few years in my lesson on one step equations.

After school, I decided to stop at Starbucks for a coffee because I had a long night ahead of me and needed some caffeine. 

Aside from being in TEP, I also am the manager of the Women’s Basketball team at Holy Cross. We are in the middle of the season right now and have been practicing since October. I played basketball in high school and love watching this sport. I definitely spend a lot of time at the Hart Center, but it’s been really cool traveling with the team throughout college because I’ve gotten to go to a lot of cool places!

After practice, my roommates and I did some homework while setting up our Christmas tree. I love Christmas time, and played a lot of classic tunes while preparing my work for the week ahead!

Finally, a few of my friends and I went  out to dinner to celebrate some birthdays!

Can’t wait  to see what tomorrow brings!

TGIF!!! Best day of the week! I woke up this morning to a winter wonderland! I cant believe how much it snowed last night! This was the first snow I have experienced living off campus and I have to say I did not love having to shovel off the stairs and get the snow off my car. I can only imagine how much worse it will get second semester when I have to leave for school at 6 am!!

After a quick trip to the field house I headed over to Rehm to finish up my Greek Mythology essay which, if you have been reading, you will know that I have been putting off all week 🙂

Before going to my 11 am class I stopped at cool beans for a hazelnut iced coffee with milk- my coffee favorite order if anyone is ever wondering!!

I was supposed to have three classes today but two of them were cancelled because of todays engage summit. The first summit event I attended was about how to be an ally. The second event was so packed that we had to leave Stein, walk to Kimball, and eventually relocate to Seelos theater. It was encouraging to see so many members of the campus community show interest in engaging in issues on campus and gathering together to listen to one another.

After that I went to the Auburn mall with two of my junior teammates, Maddy and Meg. We then went back on campus to pick up my roommates Molly and Lilly and all headed over to Chic Fil’ A for a nice Friday night dinner! What could be better??

Once home we made homemade chocolate chip cookies and are now all cozied up for a nice movie night! Happy Friday and thanks for tuning into my blog posts this week!! 🙂

Hello! Today I do not have too much to report, but I will keep you updated nonetheless 🙂

My morning started with my 9:30-12:00, two and a half hour, seminar. This is one of the three three hundred level english classes that I had to take this semester so that I could fit all of my requirements in before student teaching next semester! This class is called Hybrid Forms Hybrid Selves, and it is all about hybrid pieces of literature- essentially its a mix between poetry and prose and autobiography. It’s a pretty cool class and the two and a half hours are not nearly as painful as they could be. This morning I decided to walk to class (for the first time ever I always drive to Linden Lane and risk getting a ticket). It also happened to be 20 degrees this morning and my hands almost froze off because I of course had to bring my iced coffee. Here is a picture of my new Starbucks cold cup that I am obsessed with.

After class I went to the gym and then went back home where a reporter working on a piece about athletes at Holy Cross and the community called me for an interview about the recent Nativity food drive up at Hart/Luth which just wrapped up with the end of October.

Next I headed back on Campus to the library where I buckled down to write my essay which is still a work in progress. Here is a picture of my friend Lilly keeping me company at one of Dinand’s finest main room tables!

By the time we left the library at about 8:00 the campus was covered in snow!! I am honestly really excited because I love Christmas and full disclosure I started listening to Christmas music this weekend. Driving home from the lib was actually kind of tough because the snow was accumulating so quickly, but I’m sure the plows will have it handled ASAP.

Here is a pretty blurry picture that I took out my window of the snow because now that I am inside I am too warm to go and take a real picture 🙂 Thanks for reading happy Thursday and TGIF tomorrow!!!

This morning for Pre-Practicum, the senior TEP crew headed over to Burncoat High School for a special class. Once there a series of students came into the guidance office and shared their stories of struggles with us. These students were truly incredible and the battles that they have faced thus far in their young lives were not easy to hear about, let alone endure. Each of the students were selected specifically for the reason that they have been working to stay in school and succeed in school despite momentous challenges. These students have all been touched and supported by the school and it was so encouraging to hear about the impact that teachers and other faculty have been able to make on their lives. What makes me most excited about teaching is being in an incredible position to help kids who really need it. This morning was really inspiring.

Once back on campus I decided to go for a quick run down Southbridge Street before my 11 am class, “African American Literature.” Here is a pic of me repping some much needed Holy Cross gear to keep me warm in this freezing cold weather!! (I heard its supposed to snow on Thursday!)

After my quick run I headed to class. During my second class of the day, Classical Mythology, my cold really got the best of me (its that time of year again!).  I decided it was time to come home for a much needed nap. Before leaving campus I took this picture because this campus is just so pretty 🙂

I am supposed to tutor at Nativity on Wednesday nights, but decided that it is for the best to sit this one out so I don’t spread any of my germs to the kids. Hopefully my tutee, Travis, will forgive me for not showing up. Last time I had to skip he was very upset with me which he asked Kate my fellow TEPer and Nativity intern to share with me! I will have to make it up to him with some HC gear or lobby shop candy next time.

For the rest of the night I plan on doing some serious homework! I have a Classical mythology essay due on Friday that isn’t going to write itself! I made some lemon tea to help me get started. Dinner will probably consist of some mac and cheese or a defrosted turkey burger as usual 🙂 Happy Wednesday!