The End of the Year of Teaching...

Dear Readers,
This will be my final blog post about my first year of teaching. I have had so many thoughts, feelings, memories, etc. this year and I will try to capture just the glimpse of how the end of the year felt for me. I could not believe how quickly the school year went by. It seemed like just yesterday I had a lump in my stomach when all the little kids came into my classroom on the first day of school. Their eyes were full of wonder and I had to pray just to make it through the first day. Looking back I can't believe how nervous I was when now standing at the front of the classroom is so natural. I loved watching the kids grow and change the most this year. Most of them lost lots of teeth, they all grew taller, and their faces look older as I compared the picture from when they came on the first day to the end of the year picture. I have also enjoyed watching them change intellectually. The kids all came in at different levels and abilities but by the end of the year they could all read, write, and be able to think for themselves more than the beginning of the year. I have also enjoyed watching their little personalities show themselves throughout the year. One student was so shy at the start of the year that she had troubles letting go of her mother's hand when she was dropped off and now she is a confident student who is ready and enjoys school. One of my major focuses of the year was to teach them responsibility. This meaning I wanted them to be able to know that they are responsible for their actions, study habits, and materials. For example if a kid forgot their homework they could not blame it on their mom but themselves. It was great to see how at the beginning of the year we would walk through the process of organizing their papers/homework and how much they were pros at it at the end of the year. I also enjoyed watching their knowledge of their subjects grow. I loved showing them at the end of the year all of the phonics cards they had successfully learned! I have to admit I was a tough teacher for a first grader but I know it will help them prepare for 2nd grade.
The emotional side of the end of the year was trying to capture all of the everyday moments that happen in my classroom. Each day though routine, something new would happen. A child would realize an idea for the first time, tell me something more about who they are, or ask a really interesting question that would take me a minute to think of the right response. I was realizing that the chapter of time to be their teacher would come to a close and I wanted to enjoy the end of the year.
It was a stressful time with grades being due, cleaning out my classroom, and having to collect all of the borrowed materials. There was also more stress due to the fun activities such as the Field Trip, Field Day, and End of the Year Party. I love doing extra work for the kids so it is worth the extra stress. The kids had so much fun the last week of school and I was glad to watch them experience all the new events that went on.
I asked a lot of teachers what it feels like when the kids move on to the next grade and most of them said it depends on the class meaning sometimes they were happy to see them go and sometimes it was hard to see them go. I really enjoyed the kids in my class this year. I am not saying they were angels by any means but they were so unique and special and made teaching a meaningful experience for me. I knew that it would be hard to say goodbye and I just hoped that I wouldn't cry until they left.
On the last day of school I made it until chapel and then cried when they had the students move to the second grade pews. My kids had never seen me cry and did not know how to react. I felt bad for the Kindergarteners who came to sit by me because I looked like a mess. I am so glad I went and talked to them earlier in the week about what First Grade is like. I also cried when I started reading to the kids like I do every morning just realizing that it was the last time. The last day of school was a great celebration and before I knew it, it was time for them to go home like they do everyday but I knew they would not be back on Monday this time. At that point all my tears were gone and I was in the teacher mode of trying to help them get everything into their backpacks and ready to go home.
A cute moment happened a few hours after school was out. My student Erica came back with her nanny who said that she had been crying since school was out. The nanny then told me that Erica did not want to go to Second Grade. After some hugs and talking about how great second grade is, Erica had a smile and told me that she can now go to second grade. It was priceless!
It has been a week since school has been out and I have been looking back at the pictures with joy and am so excited to teach again in the fall! I know that I have learned so much as a teacher this year and will be even better at it next year. I am looking forward to meeting all my new students and starting the process over of how to be a responsible First Grader.
I have run into a student since school has been out and when he yelled teacher, teacher it reminded me that I will always be their teacher and the time I spent with them had an impact on their lives. I also literally ran into a parent who wanted to thank me for all my hard work and her daughter will be in my class the next year. In the small community of Saipan I will see parents/students in public. There are some students who are not coming back in the fall due to moving away to another country,or changing schools,but the majority of the kids will be at the school so I will see them again soon.
I am really proud of myself for overcoming all the many challenges of being a teacher presents especially having zero training in being a teacher. I love teaching a lot but my only wish is to just be able to focus on a few students at a time instead of a whole class. This is why I want to be a school counselor someday so I can be more individualized in helping students.
So yes to conclude it has been a tiring year of learning how to be a teacher, but one of the best experiences I have had. I will also miss the students in my class this year but am so glad for the time I had with them. I will not miss the grading or papers but the 20 smiling faces looking at me each morning!

1st Year of Teaching Picture Memories!

This is a picture blog filled with the many moments, adventures, and wonderful times that happened this year in Mrs. Fifield's first grade class. This year was full of a lot of ups and downs but I looked forward to seeing their smiling faces every morning! I hope you can enjoy the snapshots!
Kara

Field Day- May 18, 2011

Dear Readers,
During the last week of school we had a Field Day for our entire school. It consisted of rotations of games where the teachers would put on the games and the students would compete against each other. All the kids were split up into teams. The teams were very split up between the grades so the students got the chance to work together as a school. I volunteered Grant and I for the three legged race station. We tied the student's legs together and they had to race from one side of the playground to the other twice. It was so fun to see all the kids have to work together and to see the different ages all at one time. My favorite grouping of kids was a tall 8th grade boy and a little Kindergarten girl, so cute. Grant and I had a great time working side by side which we do not always get to do. After all the stattions the kids headed to the basketball court where they found out the winner. Then we spent the rest of the time hanging out on the playground eating popsicles. Such a great day!

First Grade Field Trip to the Zoo!

Last Tuesday the 17th I took my first grade class on a field trip to the zoo. I had 7 parents help with the supervision and it turned out to be a great day. When we first arrived we met up with the lady in charge at the zoo. She was easy to work with and led the students around the zoo. With each animal she would stop and feed it and while she was feeding it explain the animal and answer questions. The kids eyes were all excited because they love animals so much. The zoo is a very tiny zoo, but there was still lots to see. There was a leopard, lion, emu, turkeys, monkeys, fish, and fruit bats. One interesting story was there were ducks walking around the zoo and one of my little girls screamed bloody murder that there was a duck by her so for the rest of the field trip I was on duck patrol making sure it would not get close to her. The duck was so funny that it kept on following her and her scream. Poor girl. The kids' favorite area was the feeding area where they were able to feed guinea pigs and rabbits. I have never seen a guinea pig in a zoo before since I used to have one growing up, but it was super cute to see the kids running around trying to feed the animals carrots. From there they went into the main building and a guy from the Department of Natural Resources was there with a brown tree snake. Brown tree snakes are an invasive species in Saipan and they kill birds so if you find one here you need to capture and report it. The kids had so much fun learning about the snake and getting to touch it as well. The boys were so into the snake as they have loved the topic of snakes all year. From there the kids with my permission got to play at the playground there until it was time to go home. One quote from the day from a kid, "This was the best day ever." Another kid I asked what his favorite animal was and he said the cat. I asked if he meant the leopard and he said no the cat and I realized that the cat he was referring to was the kitty cat that was just walking around the zoo. How funny that we go to the zoo and his favorite animal was a regular old cat. Hahaha. The kids were very happy and I loved seeing them learn and experience the zoo!!!

Eighth Grade Graduation @ Saipan Community School

Dear Friends, Family, and Readers:
This is my blog about the end of my year at Saipan Community School. I have much more to say in future blogs about Taste of the Marianas, a local poetry reading contest of a local poet (now deceased) my students will be taking part in coming up, and my progress in creating a bible devotional book for outdoorsmen. Kara has said that before I do that, however, she will write a blog entry about the end of her school year. So, there is still much to say about our time in the C.N.M.I.; I guess you could say it is something to look forward to.
The end of my school year was one of joy and sadness. The eighth grade graduation was held at the Saipan Multi-Purpose Center. I never had a middle school graduation and did not know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. First, the joys of finishing the year in ceremony were many for students, parents, and teachers. Joys included many awards given, a chance to see the culmination of hard work ending in graduation, and a chance to see students sad yet excited to move on to the next step in their lives. Awards ranged from graduating with honors (3.5-4.0 from 6th-8th grade), A & B Honor Roll for 4th Quarter, Perfect Attendance (8th grade year), Loyalty Award (students who have been at the school since kindergarten), President’s Academic Achievement Award (silver and gold), Ukulele Elite Award, and the perhaps most coveted Citizenship Award (I say most coveted because the teachers pick this particular student). I particularly enjoyed the keynote speech by our maintenance man, Rommel Tisejo. I enjoyed it not for eloquent speaking abilities, but from the simple yet true analogy of relating life to the structure of a house. The questions he asked of the 8th graders were good questions to ask and I pray that those students took them to heart and consider them as the go on to Saipan Southern High School, Marianas High School, or some other institution (perhaps one in their home country).
The sadness of graduation was not that I missed all of my eighth grade students, but rather that many of the student given speeches by both the Salutatorian & Valedictorian mentioned how the eighth grade class got into trouble a lot and misbehaved frequently. This is all true, of course, but I was saddened that throughout the year the behavior had not been adjusted as it could have been if students had listened more and not talked back to teachers at our school. My prayer for all the students at S.C.S. is that they know how much we care about them despite the difficult situations they put themselves in by their behavior. I did receive a few parent comments later thanking me for talking with them about behavioral issues and keeping them in the loop. That made my day as a teacher. I, along with other junior high teachers, was given a rose from an eighth grade student and had a photo opportunity with another 6’1 eighth grader who has a special place in my memory.
Lastly, the day after graduation I had a party with my seventh grade homeroom in which they brought food to be shared after chapel. It was a fun time, half-way through the party, however, many of the students left to go play dodge ball, which is a great way to end the year and I was allowed a few moments of reflection in my classroom. After students had left, all the staff were taken out to eat by the pastor and his wife to a restaurant called Gentle Brook. There were two cakes after the meal to eat, one was a fruit cake and another was a cake donated by a grateful parent who wanted to thank us all. We are truly blessed to be at S.C.S. and the various cultures that make up our school have given me a lot of insight into being a teacher. The funniest thing was a gift I was given by one of my Korean students, a 4 GB hard drive…to think it used to be an apple! Enjoy the pictures I have posted.
Sincerely, Grant

Pictures are:
1. Picture of the fruit cake (yummy) we ate at while Gentle Brook restaurant. The pastor was kind in buying a cake for the celebration and Gentle Brook's manager was nice enough to keep it in the fridge while we ate.
2. Picture of my kids going through the line of food in my classroom.
3. A picture of me with my eighth grader kind enough to bring flowers for us teachers.
4. A picture of Kara play dancing with one of her students after graduation.

KJ's 24th Birthday!

Hi Everyone~
This Friday the 13th was my 24th Birthday! I felt so loved by the people in my life and had a really good celebration. The celebration started last Friday the 6th when my friend Amy threw me a birthday party with all my girl friends. The 5 of us headed to Wild Bill's for dinner which is my favorite restaurant on the island-they have the best burgers- and had a great time talking and eating. From there we came back to my apartment and Grant had decorated the place with streamers, it was so cute! Grant gave all of the girls flowers for being such good friends to me and they really enjoyed them. After some great cake we headed to World Resort for karaoking!!!! We had a great time in the orange room singing our hearts out! Such a fun time! I have really started to enjoy karaoking since coming to Saipan. I felt so loved that night and loved hanging out with my girls on the island, they really are the best. :)
For the day of my birthday I spent the night before making lots and lots of cupcakes for the staff and my students at school. I always thought it made more sense for someone else to make you something for your birthday but at our school if it is your birthday you bring the treats. I love making cupcakes so I had a lot of fun putting together 70 cupcakes after the Uke Jam. Grant said that there was no way they would all be gone but low and behold all of them were eaten! People really enjoyed my cupcakes and that makes me feel really good to know I have a talent! I was sung to three times at school. Once by the staff, once in front of the whole school at chapel, and my kids dang to me too. It was so great! My kids were so sweet to me on the day and kept telling me happy birthday and asking when they could have their cupcakes. (one tract minds):) After school Grant and I went swimming in the ocean and had a relaxing time. From there the adventure really began. I wanted to go to Tony Roma's for my birthday because it is a fancy place and I love their free birthday desserts. Our car has been in the shop for a week and the mechanic said that it had been working well that day and we could take it that night. We got about a mile down the road and it died on us. I was in tears because I just wanted to get to dinner and car troubles makes me feel helpless. The car guy came to our rescue and drove us to dinner which was really nice. At dinner we had a wonderful time eating and celebrating together. The staff sung happy birthday to me and I got a free birthday dessert which was amazing! We ended up taking our first cab ride in Saipan back home. It was an eventful day but I am so happy to have so many people in Saipan who love and care about me!!!!!
So it was a wonderful birthday!