Science: I wish I could teach in the 70s!

Science class, since the zoo, has been fantastic as usual.

I’m really enjoying the inquiry based learning and identifying productive questions as opposed to relying on the “why.”

We prepared life science activities to teach to our class, which was so fun. We broke out the microscopes and really delved into the materials. We saw some amazing things. John Henry presented an activity involving a Magnolia tree on the south campus—and what a fascinating plant! It’s pollinated by Beetles, say what? That caught me off guard. Maybe this common knowledge to people, but I was never interested in science growing up and didn’t make much of an effort to really understand or remember the information. There are so many amazing things out there in our world, and as a future teacher it seems extremely important to bring the real-life-vibe to the classroom (Oh, hello Dewey—yes, some of your ideals are still relevant today!)

Ashley's activity: Parachutes

Kip, our wonderful science professor, spent one morning showing a slide show of pictures from his elementary teaching days. Teaching in the 70s? What a riot! His pictures and stories were fantastic. The school he taught at would be the equivalent of a charter school today. So, I suppose that allowed for a little leeway in his teaching flexibility—but my, oh my! He did some great things!

His kids dug for fossils, visited old forts where they were taught how to shoot guns, hung out in bars (while “examining mirrors” uh huh..), and other such shenanigans.

Kip is soon leading a trip to Costa Rica, meaning our first term of science ends tomorrow. Knowing that this is our only class under his instruction is quite sad. I feel as if we will all be better teachers after taking his class. I feel so privileged at this school!

Did I mention Kip is fantastic? He walked into the room carrying this little snake, saying "I walked outside and he was by the door... So I thought, I better take him in." Yes, Kip wrangled the snake and brought him in for so inquiry-based observations, of course. We named him/her Jasper(ina)

That's all for now on the science front! Without reproducing the activities here, there's not much more I can say!

I Dropped The Blog Ball...Forgive Me!

Hello!

So sorry for my extended absence! Grad school isn’t all fun and games, you know? (Regardless of the fact my last two posts featured field trips field studies). No, but really—there has been a LOT going on. A lot.

I just realized I left you hanging on a limb with my park & ride story. Well, I’m certainly over it now. But here’s the quick version: I rode the max back from the zoo and walked the four flights of stairs in the blistering sun to find my car. But when I arrived to my compact spot, I saw a not-so-compact car (aka 4x4 Super Truck) parked (crookedly) over my line. I was rather annoyed when I attempted to open my car door…and couldn’t even shove my purse (or “duffle bag,” as Ryan so nicely describes it) through the crack. Knowing full well that I was going to have to crawl through the door and over the seats (in a skirt, no less), I took a minute to pout—and I’m not ashamed to admit it! Burning my skin on the hot seats, I finally managed to crawl into my seat. No sooner realizing, of course, that the door was still open on the other side of the car. I wriggled my way back out and stretched as far as I could and slammed the door shut. I then carefully backed out of the spot, put my car in park and grabbed my backpack. I scribbled down a rather nasty note (minus profanities… I took the high road in the moment!), and left it under the drivers windshield wipers. I was certainly not pleased to find how inconsiderate some people can be. I told the driver that they were surely quite lucky that I did not hit their car, as it would have been easy. Oh well. I did take a picture of it that I had planned on sharing with you all…but alas; I cannot find my camera cord at this moment. But the picture doesn’t do it justice, and I end up looking like an overreacting fool.

That weekend I went with Ashley to the Hood River area in the Gorge (not George, which we kept saying to everyone we met…). It was GORGEous! Hardy har har…

We were in search of beautiful wedding venues! Ash is getting married next summer! When did we all the sudden become grown ups? Ain't this view grand?

This is Ashley: The Bride (I'm her Maid of Honor! That's right, folks!)

One of the venues had an old Fruit Company on their property, which was so rustic and beautiful!

Ryan and I went to his friend’s wedding that weekend as well. We thought we took pictures to share… but turns out we just took a bunch of videos, “Did it work?” “I don’t know? Did it click? I can’t tell!” Well, clearly not J Oh well…

Back to school, eh? Well…here’s the deal. Since I’ve been MIA for quite a few days I feel like it might be better to talk about each subject in a separate post. That way, this one post wont be a HUGE novel and those who just want to skip science and go straight to the arts (where the drama—no pun intended—happens) feel free!

Hope you’re enjoying the afternoon sunshine!

Oregon Zoo & 95 Degrees..

What a beautiful day for a zoo trip!

Don't get me wrong, it was a HOT, eight hours--but surely we survived! All three LC cohorts were meeting at the zoo entrance early this morning, which I was quite pumped for. No rush hour traffic! Yay! Well, as I drive past the zoo exit daily on the freeway I always see a sign that reads, "Zoo parking full!" Well, this got me a little nervy so I decided to park and ride the max the one stop it takes to get to the zoo. When I arrived to the max station, I quickly realized I made the wrong choice. Did you know people use the max to commute? What? Who knew!? Well, needless to say there wasn't a single spot to be seen throughout the four levels of the parking garage. I was determined since, at this point, the hope of driving to the zoo had diminished with each tick of the clock. FINALLY, the heavens opened up and I was able to park in the last of all last parking spots: a compact. Well, no problem! I drive a little Ford Focus, I'm compact! uhhh huh.... [to be continued later]

I arrived at the zoo, where I started for my "chimp" group mates! Since all three cohorts haven't converged since that first orientation day, I guess the zoo seemed like the perfect time to integrate. My group, the chimps, quickly split into smaller sub groups that would each choose a specific focus (animal behavior, habits, or ancestry/evolution) and tour the zoo keeping that topic the main direction of conversation. I decided I was interested in animal behavior, and was joined by three other girls in my cohort. Two other members were from cohort 3. Anyway, we headed off to study the different animals traits. We were also required to incorporate art into the trip--so, we did contour sketches of all the animals from which the data was collected.

It was extremely interesting to walk the zoo with a specific focus, as opposed to aimlessly wandering taking time to view the animals and chuckle at the little kiddos smacking the glass panes. We found that all the animals had very similar repetitive behaviors. They would sway back and forth, keeping their feet stationary or pace a particular path back and forth. We wondered if they was natural behavior (perhaps indicating stress?) or primarily due to living in captivity? The zoo speaker who gave us a small presentation at the end of the day said they don't quite know why the animals do this. He assumes it's because many of the exhibits have recently been remodeled, meaning the animals have to readjust to the new habitats. This all makes great sense, expect...I feel like these are the same patterns you'd see on any given day!

We met with our Art, Culture and Creativity's professor at the giraffe exhibit where we became major road blocks in the path as she lead a lesson on contour drawing. We looked brilliant as we squinted one eye and put our pencils in front of our eye to measure lengths and angles. Boy, we were cool! Actually, I did end up with a drawing that I was quite pleased with. Jan, my art professor, even said it was "beautiful" and "striking!" I was ecstatic! Especially with her last remark, "You got it, Makenna! You captured it!" YES. darn tootin, I captured it!

Cara and Katie were also quite happy with their giraffe drawings!

James and Charlene [cohort 3 had a hat theme today, I'm not sure it was planned...]

After we left Africa, we headed over to make a quick stop in Asia to see the elephants. One elephant had an extremely intense behavior pattern, and swung his trunk back and forth--It was actually quite sad to watch. I didn't care for it so much, regardless of how cute it seemed at first glance.

I LOVED this exchange between a momma elephant and her baby. I can almost imagine the dialogue:

"Eww! You smell bad, Momma!"

"oh yeah??"

"Oh dang. Foiled."

The polar bear exhibit also lead to an interesting conversation about their provided habitat. But they were sure playful and active today! Even in the 95 degree heat!

Cara sketching. Cohort 1=Pure Talent.

Well, the rest of the day was quite nice. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the Africa Cafe with more of our cohort, and sketched away all the lovely little (and not so little) animals. We laughed, we sneezed (dang allergies) and we observed.

zoo day= success.

That is... until I arrived back at the Max station.

But we'll save that story for later when the sunshine isn't waiting for me!

Until then, later gators :)

-Makenna

Whoops..

Hello Readers :)

So sorry about the novel of a blog I just posted. If you made it all the way through, wow! I'm impressed. You're a true friend!

I'll try to keep it down next time, I just get so excited!

Field Trips and Show & Tell!

Hello Pioneers!

(You understand the significance of "Pioneers," right? No, It's not a reference to "Pioneer Women," [though she is quite fun!] --Lewis & Clark were pioneers! It's my new mascot! Since I'm now an official Pioneer, I just assumed you would all become instant fans! No? Hmm. Well… I tried, Lewis! I gave it my all, Clark!)

What a week...seriously, what a week! [And it's not even over yet!]

This week has been kind of a whirlwind. Homework is still mountainous, but becoming more and more doable with each passing day. Some teachers say, “Oh, just skim this chapter!” Sounds great, right? Not so much. Skimming stresses me out ALMOST as much as art class stresses me out (we’ll get to that soon, don’t you worry). I can’t skim. If I’m told to read something, I’m all about the highlighting key phrases, circling words multiple times and arrows streaming around the margins connecting points. So, when someone tells me to skim—I panic. I begin to read one or two words per line, jumping and skipping from paragraph to paragraph—NOTHING good comes from skimming. But, I’m working on it. It seems this skill will be extremely beneficial throughout the rest of the year. The 200 pages of reading a night would get a little daunting for an entire year…

Lets go back to my Arts, Culture and Creativity class. I’m aware that this sounds like a fantastic class—and it really is. I enjoy learning new techniques on incorporating/integrating the arts into the core curriculum. The first day of art our professor handed out a glob of red clay to each student. I thought to myself, what a GREAT class! Well, now that we’ve moved on to contour drawings and paintings…well, lets just say I didn’t inherit my father’s artistic gene. Give me a camera, and I’ll be golden…but that blank piece of paper and loose instructions (that really aren’t so loose, sneaky professors!) and I freeze. And the thought of presenting my “art” to my cohort (classmates) produces something resembling an anxiety attack. Luckily for me, children seem to applaud all artistic efforts (as does my cohort! Thanks guys!)

Speaking of my cohort, what a fabulous group of people! I love each and every one of them. They each have their own personalities that really add to our classes—it really makes going to class for hours each day, worth it. It’s only been three weeks, and already I feel like I’ve known these people for years. We spend nearly 7 hours together each day, so I guess that’s natural! But, enough with the sappiness…

Here’s my official apology for those who are forced to endure story after story about the funny, intelligent, and ridiculous things my cohort says! Thanks for at least pretending to listen! You’re quite convincing, really!

I also feel like I should apologize to all those in the dining hall yesterday watching the World Cup—we apparently chose the wrong table close to the TV and shouted and screeched and laughed for an entire hour. Oh well, they were probably the pre-service high school teachers. Whatever! Not that there's animosity within the education department...

Today was so fun! After our normal Social, Historical and Ethical Perspectives (SHEP) class we hauled over to the Children’s Museum where we were given green stickers (aka the green light) for being in the museum without being accompanied by a child J Yes, we were those creepy students with notebooks standing around the exhibits and watching your children play and interact—and we learned a lot, thank you very much! The museum was GREAT! It’s based on the theories of Maria Montessori and the Reggio-Emelia school in Italy. Studying the theories in the book and through discussion, I wasn’t sure I really agreed with these theories. After seeing it played out in the museum and being aware of Montessori’s intentions, my eyes were completely opened up to this way of teaching. I could definitely see the benefits of learning through play and inquiry with real-life tools and child-sized furniture. In this place, the children were competent. They were figuring everything out for themselves (minus those pesky parents all up in their child’s grill—“No, little Johnny, the boat goes in the water like this!” or “Suzy, are you crazy? Don’t swing the doggy by his leash!” but eventually, most parents seemed to relax and let their kiddos explore! Thank goodness!).

After our guided tour and personal observations, we gathered together in a classroom where I presented my artifacts to my cohort. Each day two new people share artifacts and our classmates can ask questions. Now, don’t you dare call it Show & Tell! What do you think this is? Elementary school? Uhh…okay so maybe.

Anyway, my friend Sean presented his artifacts before me. We were standing at the front of the class, when Sean breaks out this Tupperware container. You know what he pulls OUT of the container? Well, I sure as hell didn’t want to know. But I quickly found out, being that I was mere inches away from said Tupperware. BUGS. Not just ANY bugs—but a hissing cockroach. It was named peanut…or marmalade…it’s really hard to say. I was too busy having a heart attack in front of my class that I forgot to listen. The other bug was some walking stick thing…I don’t know. All I know is Sean thrust the leaf with the walking stick thing in my face, “Wanna hold him, Makenna?” No Sean, I’d like to pass out…but thanks. Needless to say, I began my presentation by saying, “Well, first thing you should know about me is that I’m utterly terrified of bugs, spiders, and all creepy crawly things.” (to which, Sean gasped more audibly than you could ever imagine).

You’ll be happy to hear that I survived. Who knew a trip to the Children’s Museum could be so extremely lethal! But that’s not dramatic, right? J

Well, there's so much more I'd love to tell you. But in reality, my allotted blogging time was up quite a few seconds (or minutes...or..well...nevermind) ago. So, that's all folks!

Tomorrow is ZOO DAY! I'll try my best to remember and take pictures...but I'll be so busy observing the animals behavior and sketching away in my "tablet" (not to mention trying not to drown in a pool of sweat in the 90+ heat..) we'll see what happens!

Enjoy you're evening, readers!

Sincerely,

Makenna

Sneak Peak :)

This is the Corbett House on the South Campus of LC (South Campus= Graduate Campus). Isn't it lovely? I promise to soon take lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure! The campus is really something.

Not to mention, it's built on a hill. I'm sure to have rock-hard calves by the time I graduate. Oh baby, oh baby!

Also, I have to admit I'm not looking forward to Fall term when the rest of the university (ie. undergrad students) come out of the shadows and grace this great campus with their summer tans and bleached-blonde hair and memories of beach trips and road trips and FRIENDS-- no, no, I'm not bitter.

No, but really--Campus is so must quieter right now. You never have to fight for tables in the library or the dining hall, the grass has space for sun bathing and slip-n-sliding (oh yes, it surely does..). But, I can share. I think.

Goodnight, readers!

Hello Pioneers!

As I begin my third week in graduate school in the MAT (masters of art in teaching) program, this empty skeleton of a blog has been plaguing my mind.

I'm so utterly torn because on one hand, I want to write (I LONG to write, I NEED to write, I MUST write--It's the journalist in me, I certainly can't help it) but each time I open up the page I am hit by an unbelievable wave of of guilt. Truth be told, I don't have time to write--but I guess that's all part of the process!

It's Tuesday evening and I've finished all my homework for Wednesday--I even got a little jump on Thursday's tasks. But here I am, the guilt has lifted! Throughout the past two weeks I've had idea after idea of things I wanted to share with you all, beloved readers (hello? anyone out there?), but alas--so much time has flown by I now have no idea where to begin!

I guess I will start here, for now: I'm starting my graduate study at Lewis & Clark College in pursuit of my masters degree in teaching! My goal: to become an elementary school teacher! Yes, I'm fully aware that those rugrats cry and drool and aren't quite certain how to become real-life human beings...but someone's gotta do it! Enter, Teacher Makenna.

How I got to this point in my life is a story for another time, but the journey is undeniably bound to make it's debut as we go!

My hopes for this blog are as follow: I want to chronicle my experiences in the MAT program, explaining the good, the bad, and the ugly. This will be a place for me to reflect on my long hours of classes and all the information my professors and classmates are cramming into my [not-so] feeble mind, and also a place for other MAT students to vent and relieve a little stress! I also expect to continue blogging through the process of graduating, and job hunting, and eventually my experiences in my own classroom as a new teacher.

Feel free to ask questions, make comments, or kindly remind me to get back to work :)

In the mean time, enjoy the chaos that is my life.

Sincerely,

Teacher Makenna (Miss B? Miss Bishop? hmm...suggestions?)

Ps. As a shout out to my wonderful Canadian family, I have to add that while Lewis & Clark is a college and not a university...it actually holds a LOT of merit :) Especially in the teaching world! But if it makes you feel more comfortable, we can all just pretend it's a university, I wont tell anyone. You have my word.