Perks of being a teacher...

Being a teacher has some pretty cool perks.  The one I am absolutely loving right now is spending my weekend with a cold.  My OD on Vitamin C and staying hydrated are no match for the lovely present my students bring to me every day.  GERMS!  headache inducing, throat scratching, eye watering, nose stuffing germs.  Aren't I lucky?  I bet you are super jealous.

Here are my blessings from this lovely present:
1. Laying in bed reading a book (I just finished Reality Check by Karen Tuft,  I highly recommend to all of you LDS ladies)
2. Listening to music and actually listening to the lyrics.  This is great for my obsession with Imagine Dragons and the fact that they just released a new album.  I have to say some of their songs took on an Owl Cityish sound, but it works for them!
3. I have had a lot of time to contemplate life, and, as my good friend Jeremy has recently found, this often leads to crying.  No worries.  Most of these tears are tears of joy and feeling blessed.
4. imgur and Pinterest have had my devout attention for the past hour.
5. I am falling in love with ginger candy

My attempt at a smile with a pounding head ache

Maybe I will attempt actually doing something productive now.  Maybe....

Let's Play Catch-up

It has been a crazy two weeks!  Two Mondays ago my uncle Mark had a stroke and on Wednesday he left us to go be with our Father in Heaven.  On Saturday our family caravanned down to Arizona for the funeral and to see our family.  This trip was very long and emotional but one of the best experiences I have ever had.       It was amazing to see how blessed our family is even in a time that should be tragic.  Sunday we spent the evening at the viewing.  The strength of my aunt Roxanne and all of my cousins helped me a lot.  I have a favorite cousin.  His name is Shawn.  We get along really well even though he is 3 almost 4 years younger than me.  I don't get to see him often because he lives in Mesa, but it just makes the times I do see him that much more special.  Even though he does not have his dad with him here on this earth, he has found numerous blessings that have come from Uncle Mark's death.  I think my tears from this trip dried me out for a few months.

Monday after the funeral we left for Saint George.  We stayed with my great aunt and uncle.  While we were driving there I got a phone call from my very good friend Shannon.  She is also a FACS teacher.  She got a full time position at another school and wanted to talk to me about applying for her job at Wahlquist Jr. High.   I called the principle the next day and set up an interview.  This last Thursday I went in for my interview and by 3 pm that day I had a teaching job!  I am really excited and nervous.  School starts Wednesday.  I have never taught junior high before.  Yesterday I spent the day in new teacher meetings and met all of the CTE people for the district.  I know I am in the right place.  Growing up in this district brings a lot of comfort to me because I am already familiar with the people I will be working with.  After my meetings I spent some time in my new classroom.  I have a feeling this is going to be a crazy ride!

You know what I have learned from all of this? God has a timeline for us.  We may not understand it or like it, but He knows where we need to be.  After all of the heartbreak and disappointment of the summer He has led me to what I really should be doing.

The Weekend

Friday:
My little sister Em and her bestie Meg came with me to teach on Friday.  It was the Mr. Lancer Assembly so I had a long break in which we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  Yum Yum!  It was a lot of fun.  That night my friends and I went to La Ferrovia for dinner.  This was more than YUM!  If you love Italian you will love this place.  It is on 25th street in Ogden.  Go!  After we at our delicious food we walked over the the Solomon Center and watched people do iFly.  I am a chicken, and poor, and don't see myself trying this out for a LONG time.  One day I will do it.  I will be able to do all the cool flips and tricks too. Next, we went to the $3 movie theater and saw "Red Tails." I had never heard of it, but I loved it. A LOT! Here is the trailer.


After this I went to my aunt's and talked to her and my uncle and Heathie for a bit. We ended up watching "I Dream of Jeannie" and I crashed on her floor.

Saturday:
Woke up and discovered my cousin Jaimie was up here from Arizona. We went to my aunts for a St. Patrick's Day breakfast. We had breakfast burritos in green tortilla shells, a fruit rainbow, toast, green milk, green apple juice, and of course green magic dust. It turned our fruit green! (Take a box of lime jello and put it in a sugar shaker. Shake it onto your food and it will change the color of your food to green. It helps if the food is slightly wet.) After that I came home and did some work and then went to Brigham City with my Aunt Debbie and Momma. We got a free pizza and went over to Idle Isle Candy Shop and got an almond creme toffee. My Momma told me some history of Brigham City while we walked down Main Street. That is where she grew up. Such a pretty little town. We came back home and I went over to Madison's house for drinking games and a movie to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We had a lot of fun. Drew concocted up a bunch of interesting, and of course virgin, drinks for our games. We laughed so hard it hurt. We played Mau. I have a love/hate relationship with this card game. When we got sick of the game, we watched "Puss in Boots." Hilarious, of course I only saw some of it because of course I fell asleep for the end. It is my curse. I can never finish a movie without falling asleep. One day.

Sunday:
So I woke up to my brother making us breakfast. We have church and then after church we are headed to the Grandparent's for Family Dinner. Our theme is Comfort Food. I am excited to see people! Also, Sunday's are the best!

"Ms. Judkins! My Water Broke!"

Pregnancy unit in Child Development = electronic babies and pregnancy bellies.  This sure has been and is going to continue to be interesting.  Today in my first class I picked on two guys and one girl to try on the bellies.  They had a lot of fun walking around and of course the guys love touching the new bumps on their chest.  (Mature high school students)

So I am helping the last girl get her belly on.  It takes a bit to Velcro everything in place.  From  the front of the room I hear "Ms. Judkins! My water broke!"  Yup, one of the boys had water all down the front of his pants.  The cap to the water pouch inside the belly had come party off.  The poor boy literally looked like he wet himself.  A lot.  Let's just say he is getting some major extra credit.

So the rest of the day was going great today.  Adult Roles came.  We talked about divorce today.  Super touchy subject for my classes because 98% of them have dealt with divorce directly.  Crazy I know.  So remember the mock wedding we had a few weeks ago?  Well it was time for me to divorce the lovely couple.  I am in the middle of my lesson when the school police officer walks in.  "I am here to see (we will call this student Howard) Howard." I look over and Howard's face is white.  He looks so scared!  The officer says he has some paper for Howard.  And then the officer adds they are divorce papers.  This is when my class catches on.  I had planned for this to happen.  I just didn't plan on my student almost going into shock because he was SOOO scared.  Note to self, if I ever do this activity again I need to make sure the student I am doing it to does not have previous history with the school officer.

Being a teacher can be pretty entertaining.

Teaching Kids about Reproduction

I had the awkward wonderful awesome funny experience of teaching reproduction to my high school students.  My background knowledge of this is very limited (duh) to what is found in textbooks and discussed in college classes.  I was a little bit nervous for the questions they might ask, but I actually had almost all the answers!

*Warning*
Don't continue reading if this topic makes you uncomfortable.

Did you know that the epididymis in a man is a mile long? CRAZY!

You CANNOT get pregnant by sitting in a hot tub with a boy.  It is not possible.  This is why students should not believe everything they hear on Glee.

Dr. Pepper does not make your reproductive organs smell "good"

Yes, women can die in child birth from pushing too hard.  I don't know all the science but it can cut off a nerve in the brain stem.  (This led to a short discussion on how Elvis really could have died while going to the bathroom)

Caffeine mutates sperm.  It is true.

There are many more questions we discussed but I don't feel like those are appropriate to tell you.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!  I am becoming quite the reproduction expert.

Just Another Manic Monday

My version of the song:


Five o'clock already 
I was just in the middle of a dream 
I was kissin' Channing Tatum  
By a crystal blue Italian stream 
But I can't be late 
'Cause then I guess I just won't get paid (I don't.  I pay to be there)
These are the days 
When you wish your bed was already made 

It's just another manic Monday 
I wish it was Sunday 
'Cause that's my funday 
My I don't have to runday 
It's just another manic Monday 

Have to head out early today 
Got to get some gas in the car
And if I had an air-o-plane 
I still couldn't make it on time 
'Cause it takes me so long 
Just to figure out what I'm gonna wear 
Blame it on the traffic
But the boss is already there 


(I couldn't make this verse apply because I don't have a lover...)
All of the nights 
Why did my lover have to pick last night 
To get down 
Doesn't it matter 
That I have to feed the both of us 
Employment's down 
He tells me in his bedroom voice 
C'mon honey, let's go make some noise 
Time it goes so fast 
When you're having fun 

Two more things to tell you all:

1. Today was my very first Parent Teacher Conferences.  I sure lucked out.  I had not upset parents.  Only 15 actually came.  They fed me sloppy joes.

2. Tonight was my first FHE in my new ward.  We wrote to prisoners.  How you may ask.... well ever heard of http://www.writeaprisoner.com/ ?  You can go on there and find someone to write to.  It is very interesting to read through the profiles, very very interesting.

Have you written to a prisoner this week?

It is DANCIN time!

Interior Design and Line Dancing don't usually go in the same sentence.  Well, today they do!

Today we talked about the element of design LINE.  I was thinking to myself how do I find an activity that gets my students excited about line?

SOLUTION:
LINE dancing! Duh!  We added streamers to the mix and we had all kinds of line created.  I even taught my class how to do the Hoedown Throwdown (thank goodness Liz and I made learning that a priority in college).

I am excited to have a great weekend!  It is my wonderful cousin's birthday.  She will be 18!  Happy birthday T!

Here is a little song we sang in Child Development today.  I hope it gets you in the Valentines mood!

(sung to Clementine)

Find a paper

Get a crayon

Draw a heart

Write a rhyme 

Put a smile on your face 

Give it to your valentine!

Wedding Day!

The best part about teaching is finding things I can do with my students to get them up out of their seats and having fun.  Today was one of those days.  Two of my classes today held mock weddings.  IT WAS SO FUN!  The students basically planned it all and ran the whole thing.  We had vows read, rings exchanged, and even toasting.  It was a blast!  The best part is my students now understand how much work a wedding is and what kind of a commitment it is.

Sadly I cannot post pictures of them on this blog because it isn't legal, but just take my word for it! It was fantastic!  Best part about it is that some students actually brought wedding cake and snacks so we were able to have a great party!  The day was ended with watching Father of the Bride.  Such a great movie!

Things Students Say

The other day there was a speaker in my class from the Art Institute.  He was talking to my students about marketing design.  He asked where in the department store has the most light.  One particularly outspoken student quickly responded "Over the milk!"  It took a second for everyone to comprehend what he just said and then the speaker had to quickly explain the difference between a department store and a grocery store.  I'm not supposed to laugh at these things, but I could not hold it in!

So the topic of marriage has been on my mind for the past while.  I am in the middle of the Marriage Unit of my Adult Roles class.  So, not only am I teaching about marriage twice every other day, I am planning lessons about marriage.  One of the assignments my class is working on is a wedding budget presentation.  They are looking for examples of items they would purchase for their wedding.  They are discovering that having a wedding can be very expensive.  Anyway, when I was explaining this assignment to one class a girl asked if I had done my wedding plan.  She meant it as "have I made an example for them for this assignment."  I understood that and she did as well, but the girl next to her quickly said "She isn't married!  That is rude!"  In my head I was laughing and very much not offended.  The two girls looked at me in horror waiting for I don't know what.  I smiled at them and told them that I could make an example of what I would do for the assignment and quickly moved on with the assignment explanation.

There are many times throughout the day that I have to turn around and pretend I am looking at the board while I get control of the fit of giggling that is about to escape.  I have to remind myself how old these students are and that when I was their age I often had "blond" moments as well.  (my friends are probably laughing because they know how often I still have blond moments)

What are some funny things you have heard the younger generation say?

Wednesdays... That is all I have to say.

First of all I am going to make it a tradition to start every post with something I did that broke my comfort zone.
1. Sang Tony Chestnut to a bunch of high school kids:


(This was finished with a nice round of applause from my students.)

2. Yesterday in one of my classes we talked about engagement and the importance of that time for strengthening a marriage.  As the students walked into class I greeted them at the door on my knee with a bowl full of ring-pops and a sign that said "Will You Marry?" (I left off the "me" on purpose)  What was more embarasing for me was that other teachers that were walking past my door and looking over and seeing me do it.  My cooperating teacher told me they are just jealous they aren't as cool as me.  It is probably true.  I am cool.

Anywho...

I am at work, sitting here, waiting for basketball to get over so I can lock the school.  Kennteh is supposed to come visit me if he gets bored.  Doubt that is going to happen.  Another great thing is that the light sensor in the office thinks I am invisible and the lights keep going off on me.  Thank goodness this school district has YouTube open.  I have been searching funny, cute, and embarasing proposals. 
This is the one I showed to my class yesterday:

Cute, right???

Let's Break Melissa's Comfort Zone

So being a teacher has really pushed me out of my comfort zone.  I am totally comfortable reading and lecturing and leading a discussion, but an FCS teacher's job is much more complex than this.

So I LOVE singing, to myself, when no one else is listening.  Singing just isn't one of my talents.  Well lucky me!  I get to work on this talent.  Every other class period for Child Development we get to sing a children's song.  The BEST part about this is that in order for me to teach my students this song I get to sing it to them.  On my own. Solo. Out loud.  Last time we did "My Bonnie."  I don't know how I really sounded, the kids weren't covering their ears and crying, but in my head I sounded like: (go to .50 and pay special attention in the 3rd minute)



Another great thing I did today was play pretend.  My interior design class came in and I pretended I was an exercise instructor.  We did chair exercising.  I was peppy.  I was loud.  My class was laughing so hard at me.  Yep, it was fun, but at the same time scary.

One day I will be a great teacher and these things won't make me uncomfortable.  But until then I just have to fake it till I make it!

My Classroom!

I'm a teacher guys!  Isn't it exciting?! 

This is me in the classroom I work in (not the best picture ever)

I can't even explain the feeling I get when I am standing in front of a big class teaching them exciting things and they respond to me!  It is such a relief that I am not just standing at the front of the room talking away and no one wants to participate.  These kids volunteered when I asked!  They were so kind to me even though I was nervous.  When I told them to look at their assignment and start answering the questions they did it!  I didn't even have to ask them twice!

This student teaching experience isn't going to be so bad afterall! I am excited to see what these next three months bring me!

Of Friends and Flirting :)

So basically I have had some fun experiences the last few days.  


First of all...boy who can't get a clue...GET A CLUE!!  It didn't happen in May, it won't happen now.


Secondly, I am getting very frustrated with Katniss in Catching Fire...


Lastly, going to bed at 8:30 really messes with my body's schedule.


Ok, now for the important stuff.  So Tuesday two ladies from National FCCLA did a workshop for us future FACS teachers.  They were really fun to work with and gave us some great tips about how to include FCCLA in the classroom.  We then walked them to Aggie Icecream and indulged in some of the best ice cream in the world.  Basically that made my day the best!


Today has been great too!  Classes have been fun.  Lets just say I LOVE INSTITUTE!!  I learned some great things about how I can better prepare myself for upcoming general conference.  I also have been learning some great things about Joseph Smith's life that I didn't really know before.  It has been a great testimony builder.


Its Wednesday! Wednesday means IWA!  This particular one was so much fun!  Sister Dymock did a lecture called "Flirting 101."  Basically I have not laughed this much in months!  She really understands how the dating process works and she really had some great tips on how we can make dating better, especially the flirting process.   My favorite part was when she explained the 5 stages of dating.  
1. The approach
2. The "talk"
3. Swivel & turn
4. The touch
5. Synchronization


If you want more detail about these stages just come talk to me :) I will explain.




Well I am off to keep reading this book.  Hopefully I will move past this frustration...

My Fantabulous Life!

Mondays are not usually my favorite day of the week but this one is going to be hard to top!


So my day started with going to class at 8 am.  As far as Secondary Education classes go, mine is pretty bomb diggity.  Basically I am really learning how I can be the best teacher in the world!  This brings me much excitement!  Can't you guys picture me as your favorite high school teacher ever?  This is my new goal in life. Be the favorite teacher!


The rest of my day was devoted to FCS and all the fun that comes along with it.  SOO, every semester we put on a fashion show with the Dress and Humanities class on campus.  The theme is recycle.  Recycle but fashion show equals EPIC!  When I have pictures from last night I will make sure I put them up!  So right after my class I went to the Family Life building and started preparing for this awesome day!  Lets just say carrying a bunch of stuff across campus really gives you a great workout!  I am sore today!


At noon a group of FCCLA high school students from around Utah came up to participate in a Leadership Conference we put on for them!  This got me totally pumped to teach!  I love high school kids.  Sure they can push your buttons but for the most part they are really fun to be around!  The best part is I am a cool college girl and became an instant role model to them.  I love the chance I get to mold young minds!  As part of the workshop, the students were given a challenge.  They were given a garbage bag full of... well garbage.  They had 40 minutes to come up with an outfit with the materials they were given.  Lets just say high school kids are really creative!  They came up with some sweet designs.  They had the opportunity to models those designs in our fashion show!  Basically those models were struttin their stuff, showin off to the college boys.  It was hilarious!  


So now that I have told you about the fashion show I will tell you some actual details.  So we set up for the show throughout the day.  The setup this year was by far the best we have ever had.  We were able to have around 940 chairs set up in the TSC Ballroom.  We filled all of them!!  We are always successful in our shows, but this one really raised the bar.  Our judges this year were Dean Noelle Cockett, the dean of the College of Ag, her daughter Shantal, Troy Chilcott, the only male member of our major, two of the national FCCLA representatives and Joel Dewberry and his lovely wife!  If you have not heard of Joel Dewberry you are missing out.  He is basically my favorite fabric designer ever!  The best part is that he is local!  He lives in Perry!  Here is just a sample of his wonderful work!



Isn't his work just so wonderful???  We were so privileged to have him attend our event.  Here is a link to his webpage! http://www.joeldewberry.com/


So after the fashion show, Liz and I went to the paint dance!  It. Was. Awesome!  We got covered, and I mean covered in the watery paint.  We pushed our way to the front and danced the night away.  It really was a blast.  I will post pictures when Liz sends them to me.  


Basically yesterday is going to be really hard to top! I love my life :)