Let the chaos begin

I haven't blogged in exactly 23 days - and let me tell you, so many things have happened in those 23 days.

For starters I got to visit Washington D.C. for the first time. WOW What an experience. I went for a conference as part of my Rockefeller fellowship. I truly mean it when I say it was life changing! I got to meet so many amazing aspiring teachers and so many others who are dedicated to education. I was fortunate to visit an amazing elementary (charter) school - CentroNia. What an amazing school with amazing teachers!! And of course I got to visit and tour D.C., and it's many amazing sites. I was there for 5 short days!! I was able to present my summer project I had conducted at the public library. I taught 8-16 year old computer skills while designing and writing their own comic books. Everyone seemed to love my idea and it was chosen to be represented on the RBF website. I have met lifelong friends and received an invaluable amount of resources as I make my way into the classroom. I am forever indebted to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, this was an experience of a lifetime that tops the charts!!!

Once I got back from my trip, there was no time to catch up on sleep. I had to get ready for school and my classes. This semester I will begin my field based block of classes. This means that 2 days a week I will be in a classroom and helping teach. YEAH!! I am so super excited about this. I got to visit the school that I will be working with and it is AMAZING!! You can see how involved and caring the teachers are by just walking the hallways, you can see the amazing support of the administration by spending a few minutes in the office and you can see how happy the children are as you peak in their classrooms. I know I am going to absolutely love teaching here. Last week we got to put our down our choices for which grade level we would like to teach. My choices in order were 2nd, 3rd and then 1st. I have always wanted to teach 2nd grade. My 2nd grade teacher is who truly inspired me to become a teacher (thank you mrs. braddock). I will keep you posted on what grade I actually get.

My professors this semester are also AMAZING!! I love them all. I really lucked out this semester. Along with my field block, I am super excited about my general science course. We get to do science experiments just like we did when I was a kid. I am so super excited about this. I am so excited (as you can see) about this semester. As fun as these classes will be, there will be a lot of work (which I'm totally up for), so I will try to blog as much as I can in between to let you in on all my fun!! Have a great semester!

Busy, busy, busy Summer!

This has been such an eventful summer - and we aren't even at the mid-point yet. I've gotten so many things done for my future classroom and I have found some amazing finds!! I've finally decided on a classroom theme. It's my 5th theme (and I don't even have a classroom yet). Drum roll please..... I've decided on a safari theme, not a jungle theme but an African safari theme. I plan to have animals like lions, zebras, giraffes, hippos and rhinos. I found adorable web graphics at Thistle Girl Designs. She has amazing clip art!!I loved them so much, I joined the club (totally worth it). I also created my own website, Mrs. Estupinan's Explorers. I think it will be a great tool to help keep my parents informed and involved in my classroom. One of my summer projects is to update it with teacher resources and have it all ready to plug my classroom information in. I will keep you updated on my progress. I'm really excited about my theme. I think it is going to be fun to decorate with it. I know I'm starting early (I don't graduate until Dec '09) but I want to be prepared as possible. I've even found some great things for my reading area. A few weekends ago we went to this enormous flea market close to San Antonio, called Bussey's Flea Market. It has about 500 vendors and I can't wait to go back. There I found a giant leopard print throw pillow, a leopard back rest pillow, an over sized stuffed leopard, crocodile and giraffe. I think they are going to be adorable and perfect for the kids to snuggle up with.
Besides finding a theme, website and now blog, I've also managed to knock out 2 more classes this summer. I took Classroom Management and Physics. I loved my CM class and had an amazing teacher. I learned so much in such a short time. Physics was a challenge but I managed to get great grades in both of them.
In May I was selected as a Rockefeller Brother Fund fellow. It is a very prestigious award. I was 1 of 25 students chosen across the United States. What an HONOR!!! We will receive funds to pay for our Masters. As part of the program, this summer I had to work with children in some sort of aspect. I decided to have a computer class at my local library. Our theme is comic books. We have learned some amazing computer applications and we are writing our own comic books. It has been an absolute blast!
So as you see, I have been busy, busy, busy!! But I wouldn't have it any other way! So far it has been such a fun and rewarding summer!!