My New Goal

Sunday night I was thinking about life and what distractions I could eliminate from it. Two things came to mind...

Since Ammon and I have very different schedules I find myself home alone a lot during the day. I usually use this time for doing my homework, but to fill an empty house sometimes the t.v. is turned on for background noise and facebook is opened to give myself a short --yeah right-- break. Unfortunately, these two very addicting distractions often become my focus and I lose valuable time.

I have made it my new goal to see how long I can go without picking up the remote control or signing into facebook. This isn't an easy undertaking because whenever I open the internet, my fingers automatic begin typing  www.faceb...before I catch myself.

  Proud moment: I am halfway through the week and I've made it so far with complete self-control!
(Although there are some who are skeptical about the validity of my previous statement..namely Ammon.)

The benefits so far:
1) 95% of my homework for the entire week was finished by Monday night!
(The other 5% could have been also if I really felt like b.s.-ing another one page paper on assessment, but I just wasn't in the mood...)
 2) I have kept to my exercise schedule for this week
(Don't ask. It's not at all impressive, but at least it makes me feel healthier until Ammon brings home tootsie rolls)

The pitfalls: 
1) I have replaced my usual facebook and t.v. time with even more blog stalking
(Yes, I created a very big loophole for myself in not eliminating blogs...baby steps right?)

2) Any other free time has been spent researching ways I want to spend my share of the tax return.
(For some crazy reason I've been looking into sewing machines. I don't sew...yet...but all those blogs are giving me false hope. In my mom's defense she tried...and tried...and tried to get me interested, but I was a teenager. Enough said.)

"Why I Can't Stop Reading..."

I'm a regular blog stalker, especially when it comes to the craftier, do-it-yourself blogs. (I'm a little obsessed with home organization ideas, not that our apartment would show it right now.) It's not that I regularly attempt such craftiness myself, I just enjoy the wishful thinking that one day I might be able to complete some of the simpler ideas that they offer. I came across an article  the other day that has an interesting take on these "mormon mommy blogs". It was fascinating to learn about the magnetism these blogs have for people not of our faith. Though I cannot always relate with the talents of these bloggers, I definitely know where the uplifting and happy feelings that resonate from these blogs come from. At the end of the day that Knowledge is enough for me.

Trudging along...

Well, we are a few weeks into our LAST semester here at USU. We both are trying to overcome major senioritis. It is hard playing the waiting game, not knowing where we will end up or if there will even be a job opportunity.

 Ammon is enjoying taking only twelve credits, playing working hard at the computer labs, gathering letters of recommendation from his professors, and applying for jobs all over the country.  Places he has applied to so far are firms in...

Honolulu, Hawaii (first place his resume went)
Tampa, Florida
Boston, Massachusetts
Randolph, Massachusetts
Dallas, Texas
Olympia, Washington
Los Angeles, California
...and probably more, but it's hard to keep track.


I am working towards an ESL endorsement which seems to be made up of six identical courses.  Each class basically includes reading textbooks that cover the same topics (I had to buy 9 this semester!! grrr), writing various forms of one page responses about the reading, taking turns teaching the class so the professor doesn't have to work, and writing a final paper/ completing an interview.

In between readings I am also tutoring a feisty little girl in kindergarten at Wilson Elementary every Tuesday and Thursday. During a personal prayer before bed the other night I was praying for the ability to reach this little girl and help her learn. About ten minutes later I realized that I had never finished my prayer because it had turned into a lesson plan brainstorming session. I had to laugh. I hope that Heavenly Father doesn't mind listening to my lesson plan ideas.

What Next?

I just turned in my one and only final for this semester, and I'm ready to celebrate! Unfortunately, Ammon still has three of his own finals to worry about. I will have to try my hardest to keep my celebrations to a minimum so that he can focus. :)

For both of us this spring will be our last semester. It's hard to believe that we will be entering the "real" world before too long.{ I think I've forgotten how to live life without college.} As soon as this week is over we will start seriously researching and applying for jobs for Ammon. (I will look at my own options after we find a job for him.) We are both feeling really excited at this point, but also nervous about the unknown.

If anyone hears of structural engineer jobs (preferably designing buildings or bridges) or if you have general advice about job hunting please let us know! We'll keep you updated on our progress.

The Thanks I Get from My 6th/ 7th Graders

1) a homemade beaded bookmark

2) candied nuts bought at the book fair down the hall

and...

3) a note:

Dear Mrs. Hedin,
Thank you so much for helping me! Your such a great teacher! I hope you get your tutoring job like you said. Sorry I didn't get you anything. It's because you didn't tell the class. Sorry if you can't read this.

P.S. Thanks for helping me again
P.S.S. Have a good time. My mom wouldn't come and give you a candy bar.
My mom told me to write you a note instead.
P.S.S.S. Sorry if I spelled your name wrong.

What's My Name?

Trying to teach students how to pronounce Hedin (Hedeen) is always an adventure. I've been called Mrs. Hoodeen, Mrs. Houdini, Mrs. Cindy, and Mrs. Wendy to name a few.

A boy in one of my seventh grade classes seemed to give up trying all together and  finds it amusing to just say, "Hey, Student Teach.." So I was amazed yesterday when I heard the words  "Hey, Mrs. Hedin" coming from his mouth. As I was talking to him, he turned to ask my cooperating teacher a question. In his effort to get her attention he said "Hey, Mrs... What's her name?". Ha ha I was so proud. You know it's a good day when your name is remembered before the real teacher's.

In the Dark

As you may notice, this is my first post regarding my experience student teaching in a middle school. It's not that I don't like middle school enough to blog about it, I actually really enjoy it. The every day happenings just aren't providing as many blog worthy experiences...until today.

During 3rd hour (Pre-Algebra) the lights suddenly went out....and they stayed out for the entire hour. Well, that is not entirely true, they would flicker on every once in a while (picture a class full of groaning 7th graders)  and then go back off after about 5 seconds (excited cheers all around). This happened about 6 times during the period.  Apparently the problem was caused by the wind, but in their attempts to fix the problem, the repair people decided they needed to turn on and off all the breakers in the entire school.

Today was a fabulous day for the this to happen because of course they were taking their end of the unit test. There is only one window in the room, so half of the class could barely see their calculators (their faces were about an inch away from the screen). It was pretty funny. Amazingly they all got their tests done (with decent scores) and were wonderfully behaved. The only kids who struggled were the ones who had to find their way to the bathroom in the dark ha ha. I couldn't help but be grateful that I was in a 7th grade class instead of a first grade--boy that would have been an adventure!