{Summer Session Complete}

Long time no blog!!!

I’ve been away for 3 weeks.

3  L-O-N-G  W-E-E-K-S!!!

The last time I had a free moment to share a thought, I was in the beginning phase of my summer school session. Gosh that seems like a lifetime ago! 

The past 3 weeks have been the hardest 3 weeks of my entire school career. I’m pretty sure I can call it a career now, since I feel like I’ve been going to school FOREVER...oh wait I have been going to school forever!!!

I knew the moment I was put into two classes that my ride was going to be a little bumpy. What I didn’t know was that I would be gripping the handle bar tightly only to turn and watch my legs flip wildly behind me. By the end of my first week, I just hoped for the ride to come to safe and complete stop.

The majority of my days were spent inside a classroom. I traveled to school in the mornings for 3 hour sessions and at night for 3 hour sessions. The rest of my time was spent sitting at the dining room table either reading my text books or typing assignments on the computer.

I think I might have stopped breathing for a minute on the very first day of class when both of my instructors handed out their syllabi. I do remember feeling completely overwhelmed when I realized that summer school was no joke and they really did expect the students (ME) to complete 18 weeks’ worth of work in 3 teeny tiny short weeks. I do remember coming home that night and putting my head on Jason’s shoulder with a few tears in my eyes telling him that there was no way that I was going to be able to get through summer school and oh gosh what about the children!!! Needless to say, more than a few tears were shed that night but Jason and Bryanna forced me to push aside the negatives and look at all of the positives and then they reminded me that they were all here to support me. So after I cried it out, I pulled out my “fancy” (color coded) planning kit and literally wrote down everything that was expected of me over the course of 3 weeks.

In 3 weeks I somehow managed to:

Read 2 text books from cover to cover (minus 3 chapters)

Write a research paper and present a power point

Observe in a community setting and type a 5 page report

Create and teach a full lesson (to include a pre-assessment)

Team teach a 2 hour presentation on Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities

7 hours of tutoring

3 hours of classroom observation

Attend a teaching conference

Prepare for 2 tests, 2 mid-terms, and 1 final exam

Complete a final project for presentation

For 3 weeks, the kids were my summer school subjects. I don’t know how happy they are about it but I did my best to make it fun for them especially the 7 hours of tutoring. I promised to share some of my ideas (thank you Pinterest for some inspiration because we all know I needed the extra support) so I will share a few pictures that I took to add to my online teaching portfolio. 

Family Book Club {popcorn included =)}

Adding & Subtracting Double Digits

Practicing Multiplication 

 Making Art...Fun

I wasn’t sure how exactly I was going to end up after this was all said and done. Once I submerged myself into my studies, I had no time to think about or evaluate what was going on around me. I had to keep pushing forward because I had deadlines to meet every single day. I will say that there is no way in heck that I would have made it through the craziness that was thrown my way without Jason and the kids.

My family is AMAZING!!! For 3 weeks every day that I came home from class, the kids made sure their rooms were clean, their dishes were done, the floors were swept and vacuumed, their laundry was put away, and their reading was done. For 3 weeks, Jason made sure the kids were fed, bathed, and the house was in order. By the way, slaving away in the kitchen for an entire Saturday, cooking and cleaning up after preparing 40 freezer meals was completely worth it!!!

As I prepared for my final exam, I actually contemplated on whether or not I wanted to take it. My instructor gave the class the option to opt out of it by doubling the points of our first exam. When I added up my scores on everything I had turned in, I was ecstatic about my grade because after all was said and done I would be sitting at a 92%. Job done...mission accomplished right? Wrong!!! Why you ask? Well for the first time ever, I understand what my poor children are up against with the non-traditional grading scale in the sense that 94% and above is an A so, my 92% was a B. Very sad face for me when I realized that I would be taking the final exam especially since I had already turned my brain off and prepared myself for summer vacation. Very very sad face as I headed to school on a Friday evening to take an exam that I was not mentally prepared for. As I sat in class and looked at 51 questions (case studies included), I realized that I had a very long night ahead of me. 

Half way through the exam, I heard in a very disturbing tone “Shannon Mall, drop your pencil!” My heart literally leaped into my throat. The only reaction I had was to drop my pencil and look up. My instructor looked at me and said "you have an A in the class walk away from your exam." For the first time in my entire life, I crumbled my test paper, took aim, and made the shot right into the trash can!!!   

JOB DONE...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

In my final morning class, we were asked to reflect on our experience.

Let’s see, I missed out on some summer time fun with my three favorite kids in the whole wide world, I missed having meals with my family, I had more work to do in 3 weeks than I knew how to keep up with, I was so stressed that I ended up getting those ever so wonderful migraines...my list was a little longer but you get the point. However, being in the same room with the same people 5 days a week allows for some new friendships to blossom, instructors become part of your family, and let’s face it everything that I was working on is a part of who I am. So after three weeks of pure HELL, I can honestly say that it was completely worth it!! Oh did I mention that I’m working my way through extra classes so that I can graduate sooner than expected and that the golden prize for this family of 5 is a summer trip to California?!?!?!

Yeah...it was worth it!