Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Art is a verb....

So I just started my second placement for student teaching, but now I am at the elementary level and oh man these kids are FUNNY!

Today I had two sections of 4th grade and four sections of 1st grade.  One of my first graders told me this "story" while he was putting his artwork on the drying rack. (We were doing crayon wax resist with watercolors.)

"I am an artist I um I art a lot.  I um have arted um 13 things. I'm um an artist an I art a lot. I don't do paintings like this one but I do do paintings like this one.

Me: Everyone is an artist in the artroom

(Nodding his head) But I'm an artist and I art a lot.......


On a different note I also watched a little boy write a love note...it said "I luve you (so & so) will you mary me?

Stayed tuned for more stories! 

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Girl bonding

So we took off for Davenport yesterday, my mom, Jacayla, Johannah and myself and we were having a conversation about bachelorette parties and this conversation took place....

Jack (to me): Don't worry I'll throw you a slammin bachelorette party

Me: Well I guess Johannah will have to use a fake then

Mom (to Johannah): We are going to have your bachelorette at Disney World

Johannah: Um no

Mom: laughs

Johannah: Who would strip for me?.......Mickey Mouse?

WAY beyond her years!

Friday, March 20, 2009

"Fast Food" and White American Cheese

So we made the journey back home to good old Iowa today and oh was it a treat.

We get to the airport in Las Vegas two hours early and got through check-in and security in about 30 minutes.....so we obviously have some time to kill since our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 3:15.  Jacayla and I had not really eaten so once we got into the terminal we found a Pizza Hut Express and decided to eat there.

This is the type of Pizza Hut where they have four things on the menu to make the process of filling orders as easy as possibly, hence the "express" in Pizza Hut express.  So we wait in line and decide we are going to get the number 3, a personal pan pepperoni pizza, breadsticks and a drink for 9 bucks.  We step up the front of the line and before we can even order the lady asks us to look around on the floor and see if there is a dollar there because the lady who ordered before us told her that she didn't give her enough change and she just couldn't believe that she would have done such a thing...there was no dollar.  We tell the lady we want to 2 #3's and she says really loud so everyone behind us can hear "WE DON'T HAVE ANY BREADSTICKS" as if we should have already known that.  Ok fine, no problem so I decide to get a buffalo chicken pizza and Jacayla wants a pepperoni pizza.  Of course there is no pepperoni available so the cashier says it will be seven minutes before its ready....so we wait.  

Clearly there was NOTHING express about this place!!!  They have four things on the menu! In a busy airport there should be a constant flow of pizzas going through the oven, I don't work at Pizza Hut and I realize that this is how things should work.

SO......we get back to Iowa

My mom and Johannah pick us up from the airport and Johannah has a dance competition this weekend so she needed some stuff from Super Wal-Mart.  When we get there, none of us had eaten so we decide to hit up the Subway in the store before it closes. When we get there it appears as if only one person is working and there is a group of women in front of us with their two kids. Now for the purpose of this story I must tell you that the lady who worked there and these women and their children were black and I'm pretty sure one of them worked in Wal-Mart as well.  So they are ordering and the Subway sandwich "artist" asks what kind of chesse they want.  The women who was ordering asked what kind the white triangle cheese was and she was like American...and then repeats herself with a little bit of sass and says White American.  We all started laughing, maybe because in a sort of awkward situation like this that was all we could do.  So they finish up and get their food for free because they all must know each other.

So now its our turn to order.  The lady who had taken the order for the people in front of us yells out to the girl mopping the floor and tells her to come take our order because she needs to clean...or power clean as she called it.  The next thing we know some young boy comes in, walks right behind the counter and they both go outside to have a smoke.  So we are left with this one girl to take our order.  Jacayla orders a 6inch turkey on wheat bread....pretty simple right?  OH NO! This girl took a good 5-7 minutes just to get the bread cut and the meat on the sandwich and then she had to put the vegetables on and wrap it up and then she came back to take my order (ten minutes later)

So I order a 6 inch tuna on wheat bread.  She gets the bread out and goes to put the tuna on but the scooper is gone.  So she looks around for a few minutes and then heads to the back to look there.  Five minutes later she comes back with no scoop and looks at my empty bread.  So I'm starting to wonder what she is going to do about not having a scoop.  Is she going to use her hand or what or the bread itself?  Finally the first subway lady comes back and Jacayla asks he if she can help us because we don't know what is going on.  The girl who was helping me has since gone in to the back again to look.  SO the lady yells at her and says you can do the dishes in the back and I'll take care of this.

So we all get our sandwiches ordered and mom is the last to go.  Mom gets to the part where they put all the extras on and a phone (that the people who had come in before us left behind) rings and the lady answers it with her gloves on.  Then she decides to ring up the kid behind us who just wants chips, and gives him his change with the gloves on....THEN she comes back and finishes mom's sandwich WITH THE GLOVES ON!!!

What is society coming to??  No wonder there was a sign hanging up that say "Hiring."  Hopefully their screening process will be better the next time around.

So for the record our two "fast" food stops for the day took about 45 minutes total.....what part of this statement doesn't make sense?

Glad to be home.....

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Out of towners

So yesterday Jack and I decided to pamper ourselves a little bit and get pedicures....at Super Wal-Mart.

Of course we could barely understand the two Asian MEN that were doing our nails and this conversation ensued....

Nail Man: Where are you from?

Us: Iowa

Nail Man: Do you model? 

Me:(Keep in mind I had no idea what he said so I just did what anyone would I said yes an smiled)

Nail Man: Super Models from Iowa.....

Me: Oh no we are not models

Nail Man: oh beautiful girls...(or something like that)

I guess you probably had to be there but it was pretty funny, but my ego was taken down a notch shortly after when the nail man had to get out what looked like a Dremmel tool for my toe nails....it sounds more disgusting that it really was, he was just smoothing out the uneven surface of my nails but needless to say it didn't make me feel very good about myself


Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Meet Rocco

So in our time here in AZ we have gotten to know our brother's dog Rocco an Italian grayhound and he isn't your typical dog.  This dog eats carrots for snacks, he has to be invited before he will come lay with you and rather than sitting down and catching food in his mouth he has to jump up (usually pretty high) to catch it in mid-air.  He is a little hyper and taking him for a walk is more like a brisk jog, which is a good way to force you to pick up the pace in your exercise regimen.  In true dog fashion he does chase one of their cats Nala every once in a while and he likes to wrestle with Jonathan just about every night, which I might add he looks pretty vicious when he does.

I think my favorite thing about him is that he was born and raised in AZ but his favorite toy is a bean filled furry sweet corn toy.....like father like dog I guess....



 


Monday, March 16, 2009

Who likes lobster?

I hate lobster but I sure look like one!  After a day down in Lake Havasu I think I've had my fill of sunshine for a couple of days.  

We decided to take the trip down to the Lake to take in some rays but we definitely took in a lot more than sun.  Obviously, it is spring break time around here and Havasu is a pretty popular place.  The channel was full of boats and half naked people for our viewing "enjoyment."  I guess they did have some good advice to give though, I received a few yells from boats about how red I was and I didn't think a lot of it....I should have.

I'll post some pics later! Off to eat lunch with Sherry!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Nerdy boyfriends are SWEET!

So I'm not sure how I functioned before I met Todd.  Besides all of his wonderful personality traits he also has quite a knack for computers and anything that goes along with them. (I needed to preface the story I'm about to tell with this tid-bit of information)

So after a very lazy day of hanging out at the Harley store BBQ, shopping at Wal-Mart, trying to nap, running and trying to nap again my brother came home from work.  After having some troubles with the internet for part of the day I asked him what his router was named and he said he wasn't sure and he also mentioned that he needed to put a password on it.  Their internet and cable provider has been broadcasting these super corny commercials about protecting your router from people so they can't steal your identity, so I guess he felt like he should and rightly so.  So I did the only thing I knew to do I called Todd (or Skyped him...this is our way of talking for free and it has video chat so its kind of like we are hanging out)

So I log on to what I think is Jonathan's router and Todd remotes in to my computer, which means he was controlling my computer all the way from Iowa.  He gets everything all figured out and a new password on the router.  So after I hang up the phone the internet was not working as well I thought it should be so I called him back.  Come to find out we have not only logged in to the wrong router but changed the password and everything!  WOOPS!!   So after a lot of working and Todd magically taking over my computer several times we got it all figured out.

I highly encourage everyone to get Skype is has lots of great qualities...like me being to give Todd who is almost 2,000 miles away a video tour of my brothers house...its almost like he's here!As you can probably tell my nerdy boyfriend has rubbed off on his girlfriend aka me.

Well we are getting ready to watch Role Models and chill so I will update again tomorrow with details from my spring break trip.  I think the plan is to head to Lake Havasu to spend another lazy day in the sun!

The Joys of Airport Security

So Jacayla (my sister) and I have made it safely to Las Vegas and now to Kingman, AZ to visit Jonathan (our brother)  We flew out of Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids and if you have ever been there it is sort of a joke.  Our flight was at 8:55 PM.  Most airports say to allow for a couple hours to get through check in and security....with this airport if you allow yourself 2 hours, come prepared with things to do or get ready to saddle up to the bar and throw back a few beers.

We arrived at the airport around 7:30.  Before we went in I said oh maybe we should have come earlier, I forgot about spring break travelers. We get to the check in desk....no line.  It takes about 2 minutes to check in.  The next 20 minutes are spent listening to dad make fun of people who walk by and saying look there's your mom in twenty year (as some old lady walk by) or that's Todd (my 6'4" boyfriend) in 20 years as a short fat security guard saunters past. My question was how many people were saying the same about him in his grungy work clothes and a sweatshirt that has a whole in the stomach, which I called his belly shirt...:)

Airport security took a couple minutes longer than normal since I got pulled aside for a bag check on my computer....I was hoping Todd hadn't hid anything in my computer that I didn't know about :) and we head to one of the 3 terminals.

The flight was about 3 hours and we had to sit two rows apart due to a full flight and not wanting to pay $30 extra dollars to sit by each other.  I sat next to a father and his son who didn't say a single word to me...so I guess I can't complain too much.

When we arrive in Las Vegas, we head to baggage claim where we see our brother jumping up and down waving.  We get out bags and Jack wants to pull her first slot.  She puts in a dollar and as it was her first time she didn't know how to run the machine so after showing her she didn't win anything...and said well that was about the extent of gambling I wanted to do so we headed for the car.

1 1/2 hours later we arrive in Kingman, I think we both slept most of the way and after a greeting from Jonathan and Crystal's dog Rocko we hits the sheets both of slept late according to our time zone but with the two hour time difference we slept till 8:30 AM AZ time.(I don't feel quite as lazy now)

Looking forward to a week of relaxation and warm!
 

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The little things...

It is amazing to me how high schools students react when you take them back to their childhood in some way.  Today was my last A day with my students and I brought cookies.  You would have thought it was Christmas.  Note to self...if I get a high school teaching job or any job for that matter, invest in stickers and have a snack day every once in awhile because these simple little things can brighten someone's day.

Quote of the day: "Miss V are you a baker in your free time?"

Unfortunately I can't take credit for the cookies, I have my mom to thank for that, but I did help frost and sprinkle...which some would say is the best part!  Needless to say the cookies were a big hit with my kids and I am sad to be leaving them...the kids that is.


Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Part of my inspiration...

So I come home from school today....I actually got to come straight home!! (The simple joys in life) and my mom has made 14 dozen cookies for me to take to my students on my last two days of student teaching at my high school placement....isn't that nice?  She told me that my dad came home earlier today and asked her what she was making all the cookies for and this conversation ensued....

Dad: What are all these cookies for?

Mom: Jenahlee is taking them as gifts for her students since this is her last week.

Dad: are they high school students?

Mom: Yes

Dad: Well give 'em rubbers then


She also points out the recently defaced Corn Flakes box....courtesy of my dad...(see the picture below)



Left: Weed Flakes Right:I smoked grass & Be Cool smoke dope


Surprisingly enough all of his children have turned out pretty normal!

The Joys of Student Teaching Part 1

So I am just about to finish up my current student teaching placement which is in a high school in small town Iowa.  I grew up in a small town so I was happy to be placed in an environment that was similar to what I knew growing up.  Kids have changed so much since I was in high school, which I expected but not like this.  Kids have SO much to deal with these days, that it is pretty amazing that some of them even make it to school at all.

Not only do these students make it to school almost everyday they are also dealing with all kinds of other things going on and home, with their friends and their own personal problems.  In my 8 weeks at this school I have come in contact with students who have tried committing suicide, kids who are now special needs because of tragic accidents in their lives, kids with parents in prison, parents without jobs or money, divorced parents, parents married to spouses only a few years older than their kid, druggies, felons, you name it I've probably had a student who has dealt with it and I only have around 140 students in my art room over the course of two days...not good odds.  Most of the time you would never know that some of these kids are going through all this unless someone else told you or you took the time to talk to the kids.

Outside of these not so great things that kids have to go through, its obvious that most of them just want a little bit of love and attention.  I can honestly say I was scared to come into a high school building to student teach, but now I wish I could stay longer.  I have so much love for these kids, especially those I have built relationships with, that I wish I could stay longer.  Even though a lot of the times these kids may give me a hard time or act like they don't want anything to do with the art room, there may be one day that you know they appreciate you or they may say one thing that lets you know that they do care that makes it all worth it!

This scenario comes from one of my students who I am convinced gets his kicks off giving me a hard time (we'll call him T)
Me: Hey T, I bet you are glad that this is my last week here.
T: What?
Me: I said I bet you are glad this is my last week, I won't be back after spring break.
T: Really, that means the real teacher is going to be teaching then
His table mate: Well that wasn't very nice
T: Yes it was I just said I liked her better than the real teacher.

We all show appreciation in different ways...