share the road.

where do i even start?

for the past two years while attending UNT i have purchased a premium parking pass. they are normally $180, but this year they bumped it up to $225. im only on campus two days a week for one semester, and i just couldn't bring myself to spend that much on parking. ever since i was little i have secretly wanted to ride my bike to school. well this is the year! the lovely lizzy has allowed me to park my car at her place and ride my bike to school! THANK YOU LIZZY!

now let me tell you i have only been on this bike a few times. and from what i have discovered in its short life is that it's very tall and heavy. so tall, i pretty much have to get a running start. you can only imagine how nervous i was thinking about the four lights i was going to come across. 

so i get my bike out, start running and jump on. *mistake #1* see i have never ridden my bike with a backpack. today it was unusually heavy. my adrenaline was pumping and i guess i jumped on too hard because my dang backpack about made me to fall over. i think only three people witnessed this event. thankfully i just laughed it off :)

after the backpack experience everything was going good, and then the dang light turns red. since my bike is so tall i really can't put my feet down on the ground and still sit on my seat. so i figured if i could keep one foot on the pedal and one tip toe on the ground i would be okay. *mistake #2* i couldn't keep one foot on the pedal, (at this point of my adventure i hadn't figured out that if you hold the breaks the pedals stop) so im basically practicing my ballet on the bike now. the light finally turns green and luckily there is no one behind me. so i struggle on up and BAM the next light turns red (at this point im considering calling my emergency buddy liz to come get me) i stopped and im still pulling ballet moves on the bike and all of sudden i hear this loud noise behind me. i turn around and what do you know, it's a UNT bus. i count to ten and breathe. i am now at the street that scares me the most, carroll street. the light turns green and i swear my legs have never pedaled so fast in my life. now it's only uphill to class (yes oak street is uphill) i finally make it to class after turning on the wrong street. i might have been drenched in sweat, out of breath, and experiencing a slight heart attack but i did make it in one piece...

the ride home was 100% better because a) it was all down hill, b) hickory street has a BIKE LANE! and c) i discovered that if you squeeze your breaks then your pedals stop!

so now when you are driving and you get stuck behind a biker/cyclist/redhead attempting to ride a bike please be kind and patient :) 

angela was my paparazzi today! 

it's hard to tell but im stuffing my bag. 

i will be investing in a basket soon.

 this is what we did is science today! we had to draw a scientist. of course i drew myself because we are all scientists :) my face really isn't that large.

so today our little lunch group ventured over to the new business building to eat lunch. (we really wanted to see where our tuition was going) liz went to the bathroom and said there was buttons on the toilet, of course i had to check this out! these super shiny commodes had 2 buttons, one with one drop of water and another with three drops of water. hopefully you can figure out on your own what they stand for ;)

they also had theses scary/powerful/cool hand dryers!

i can now sleep at night knowing the business majors are in hog heaven.

and now for the stressful part of my day. homework assignments have officially been assigned. sadly my planner isn't even halfway finished. see y'all in december!

SHOUT OUT TO AFGHANISTAN :)

love and miss you dave & the texas flag will be on it's way soon!

we are all scientists.

this pictures describes my day perfectly :) 

(minus my awkward facial expression)

i just noticed how bad my sock tan is. yikes! 

today was beyond amazing for a number of reasons.. let me list them for you.

1. i got to do more grading.

2. i taught a mini science lesson. (AMAZING)

3. i ate my lunch slowly. 

4. i picked my students up from specials (even though it was less than a foot away from the classroom, it was still super cool)

5. my mentor teacher complimented me on something i said during my science mini lesson.

6.  i got observed today and didn't even know it! 

7. my mentor teacher let me take home a book. (see picture below) 

first off the science mini lesson was indescribable. my teacher told me this morning that i could do the science mini lesson if i wanted to. who would say no to that?! basically i introduced the students to the science equipment and we discussed why we use each specific item and all that jazz! the questions they asked blew me away! they were so curious about each piece of equipment! After the mini lesson the students got to draw a scientist in their journals and then they glued down pictures of the equipment we went over. the students were so excited to show me their scientists!!

the compliment my mentor teacher gave me was that she like how i told the students they were all scientists. when i said that most of the students said "im not a scientist!" i then educated the young grasshoppers on how a lot of their daily decisions involve the scientific method! after i explained that to them, most of them turned to their neighbor and said "im a scientist!" it was the BEST feeling ever!

all in all today was probably one of the best days of my life. it made me forget about all those nights i spent on TK20, the past 3 years of readings/tests/papers, my fridays in the CDL, and the numerous emails from timmy. :)

so i must brag about my awesome outfit. i am the biggest bargain shopper ever!

shoes: $16 - Steve Madden - TJ Maxx

Skirt: $28 - Nordstrom

Shirt: $5 - Old Navy

Cardigan: $16 - Nordstrom

$65 for that darling, adorable, my favorite, cute as a button outfit :)

yes i am taking a trip down memory lane tonight :) 

this was my all time favorite book in elementary school. 

it's a beautiful day.

back story on the title: instead of bells, the school plays songs and Beautiful Day by Coldplay is what we hear when it's time to go home! it's now my favorite song... ha!

today was named messed up monday! it wasn't bad or horrible, just a monday! monday's are our days to do library and iStation (reading), so basically the kids are not in the classroom as much as they are on the other days.

i totally had a teacher moment today.. last week the students had a little trouble adjusting to the cafeteria rules and routines. so the teachers and i walked around the cafeteria for half of lunch.. then we ate, really fast. today we only had to walk around for about 5 minutes! It was so neat to see such a big change in their behavior! also lots of thanks to the moms who volunteer so we can eat!!

the highlight of my day was when i got to grade the students spelling test! it was AMAZING even though it was just a spelling test :) it's the little things that make me happy!

rocking the black & white :) (monday's are B&W day at school!)

package from the fabulous aunt nancy! what could it be...

 the MOST precious and DELICIOUS cookies ever!

thank you aunt nancy!

first day of my senior year!

well today was my first day of my senior year! only 261 days till graduation! today i had social studies and math, not my favorite but i did survive. both my professors seemed really concerned with the fact that we're taking 12 hours and student teaching. they told us the course load has been 'lightened' :) some of the assignments seem fairly easy, mainly just observations.

on a more positive note, it felt good to be back in denton and on campus!

prepare yourself:

this is my lovely math group :) i'm about 67% sure we will be separated before the semester is over. what can i say, we like to have fun! and i really can do math... 

  super nice calculators that UNT is letting us use for FREE... we really did pay for them.

3 days in 1 post.

warning: i love lowercase letters (thank you debra g.)

if you're reading this then you are a) bored or b) somewhat interested in my life. hopefully most of you chose b). well as you all know this year I am starting my student teaching! this is an exciting, scary, amazing, and emotional time in my life. so of course I decided to blog about it :)

just to give you a little background of what all UNT requires of me during the next 9 months... student teaching is split into 2 semesters, PDS (professional development school) 1 and PDS 2. during PDS 1 I will be at my elementary school on Mondays and Tuesdays observing and doing small tasks with students. Wednesdays and Thursdays I will be on campus at UNT taking 12 hours of method courses. This is where we will learn 'how to teach' each subject. after Christmas I will start PDS 2 where I will be in the classroom Monday-Friday teaching. during PDS 2 I will only go on campus once a month for a class. confusing huh?!

here we go!

this is my WONDERFUL mentor teacher and I at meet the teacher night! I will be with her for 7 weeks and then I rotate to 5th grade for 7 more weeks!

first day of school picture :) dad and I both started school on Monday! my first day of student teaching was unbelievable, exhausting, interesting, and amazing! It was very surreal to hear 22 second graders say Ms. Stanford!!

2nd day of school!! we jumped right into the curriculum! I even got to read 2 books to the students (doesn't sound like a big deal but it was!) if you know me then you know how red I turn in the littlest situations.. well I did not turn one shade of red during my read aloud! woohoo!

well I'm sure I have overwhelmed you with information and pictures! I hope to blog at least everyday during this exciting journey I am experiencing!