-See the Northern Lights in Alaska
-Compose a dance piece for myself
-Marry my best friend
-Share my Christmas traditions with my own family one day
-See my husband play with our children. Kids are such pushovers for dads :)
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
My Second Practicum
So, I started working in a fifth grade classroom this week in Jordan school district. This is my second practicum, last semester I worked in a second grade classroom. I'm excited, and a little nervous because I've mostly worked with younger children.
Shelley's Teaching Experience
Summer before Freshmen year of High School - Volunteer in kindergarten classroom
Junior year of High School - Teach at a track break camp (mostly k-3)
Senior year of High School - Internship in first grade classroom
Summer after Freshmen year at college - Summer camp counselor for 8/9 year olds
Junior year of college - Teach English in China 5-8 year olds
Senior year of college - 1st practicum in 2nd grade classroom
Senior year of college - 2nd practicum in Fifth grade classroom
Student teaching - grade?
Anyway, I'm excited to see how it goes because I love the fifth grade curriculum for reading, writing, and social studies. The math is even interesting (which you are unlikely to ever hear from me again). So I hope that I work well with 10-11 year olds because I think I might enjoy teaching grades 3-5 more than grades k-2.
At any rate, some day I might be able to answer the question everyone always asks me, "What grade do you want to teach?" :)
P.S. On a side note, the library at my elementary school has these awesome posters to describe the subject sections the books are placed in. Each one is related to the development of man as a cave man. Hilarious!
Shelley's Teaching Experience
Summer before Freshmen year of High School - Volunteer in kindergarten classroom
Junior year of High School - Teach at a track break camp (mostly k-3)
Senior year of High School - Internship in first grade classroom
Summer after Freshmen year at college - Summer camp counselor for 8/9 year olds
Junior year of college - Teach English in China 5-8 year olds
Senior year of college - 1st practicum in 2nd grade classroom
Senior year of college - 2nd practicum in Fifth grade classroom
Student teaching - grade?
Anyway, I'm excited to see how it goes because I love the fifth grade curriculum for reading, writing, and social studies. The math is even interesting (which you are unlikely to ever hear from me again). So I hope that I work well with 10-11 year olds because I think I might enjoy teaching grades 3-5 more than grades k-2.
At any rate, some day I might be able to answer the question everyone always asks me, "What grade do you want to teach?" :)
P.S. On a side note, the library at my elementary school has these awesome posters to describe the subject sections the books are placed in. Each one is related to the development of man as a cave man. Hilarious!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
A Freshmen Story
I wrote the following story as a descriptive writing exercise for one of my BYU classes, so forgive some of the "over the top" descriptions. Also, the story may include some exaggeration... maybe a lot :)Yeah, my roommates would probably tell a different story, haha. But it's a good memory for me.
The Freedom to Dye
I stood awkwardly in the aisle of the unfamiliar store, eyes darting over the bright boxes on the shelves. I felt a restless need to move as I picked up one box, put it down, and grabbed another. Panic squeezed me in its restless grasp as I realized that whichever box I chose would ultimately change the color of my long blond hair.
“Look at this one, Shelley, didn’t you say you wanted something with a little red in it?”
“Had I said that?” I thought as my slightly ashen face snapped towards Kaylee, my confident freshmen roommate. Kaylee tilted her head questioningly at me with a helpful smile. The tight muscles in my face relaxed a little as my eyes came to rest on my four best friends besides me in the aisle. Kaylee and Heather attempted to help me come to any sort of conclusion, while Kami and Jessica perused the shelves for themselves with more excitement than I could muster.
My throat relaxed a little, and I managed to produce an answer.“Yeah…but that one is too red. I think I want something that will make my hair look sort of, strawberry blond, or light brown with just a little red in it. But not too dark. I don’t think I want it to look super different...” Kaylee and Heather instinctively snatched the information I would give them and continued to pour over the hundreds of hair dye boxes in the aisle. I returned to being indecisive, both in my thoughts, and in my movements across the shelves. I read labels, looked at color guides, and hefted boxes. I continued my uncoordinated dance around my friends until both Jessica and Kami had chosen bold colored dyes and turned to see if I was done. Heather and Kaylee now sat on the floor, their backs against the shelves. I think they’d finally given up after having me turn down the twelfth box that met my rather narrow specifications. “I’m sorry guys; I’m just not sure if I can do this.” Jessica quickly piped up, “Aww, come on! It will be fun!”
I brushed my hair back behind my ear and glanced down tentatively at the only dye color that had come close to what I’d envisioned. As I fretted, a jovial store assistant turned the corner into our aisle, placing a few things on the shelves and striking a conversation up with my giddy roommate Jessica. The curvy black woman responded enthusiastically to hearing we were on a road trip to California as college roommates. Jessica thrust out her chosen box, saying, “Do you like this red color?” “Oh sure!” the woman replied, her voice carrying all the charm of a favorite aunt, “Everyone can use a little red in their life!” Jessica spun on her toes to look pointedly at me. We all laughed, the weariness melting out of Heather and Kaylee’s shoulders. I grasped the box in my hands tighter and smiled at them, putting up my white flag of surrender. “Okay, okay. Let’s go before I change my mind!”
As we walked out into the warm, moist California Coast air, I started to skip through the parking lot ahead of my friends. I felt bouncy and light, in the middle of an open lot in a place I’d never been before. My plastic bag flew around erratically as the five of us spoke over one another in happy waves of excited chatter. We piled into the car and sped through the hectic streets towards the house of Jessica’s family. Our bodies jerked forward like rubber bands just released from launch when we came to an abrupt stop in her driveway. We rushed through the front door like a gust of summer air as we quickly filed passed all of the messy sleeping bags splayed across the living room floor.
As Kami and Jessica began to open their purchases, I felt a quiver run through my chest. The giggles that had been on my lips a few moments before as we ran through the house were gone. What was I getting myself into? What if my parents hated my hair when I got home? What would my mother say? My roommates sensed my sudden stillness and turned to see my limp hand drifting toward my phone to call my mom. “What are you doing?” Heather asked suspiciously. My voice suddenly small, I replied, “I was just going to ask my mom what she thought about me dyeing my hair…” the words trailed off in the empty corners of the room. My four friends all blinked at me in unison. “Shelley, you already bought the dye! It’s your choice, you’re in college now!” Kami’s words of reason fell across deaf ears; it was too late, I was hitting speed dial, my slippery fingertips somehow managing to get the job done. The phone call was fairly brief. My mother’s hesitant voice sounded less than enthusiastic: “You want to dye your hair? I guess that’s fine; it’s your choice. But why do you want to change it? I love your blond hair.” As her doubtful words shot through the phone, something changed in me. I quickly finished the conversation, whispering goodnight to my mother. In a matter of moments I'd come to two powerful realizations: it was my hair, and my mother was hundreds of miles away.
In a faded t-shirt and paint splattered cotton shorts I eased into plastic chair on the porch and watched Heather dye Kami’s hair. My eyes shone and my hands animated my words as we chatted about tomorrow and all the places we would visit. The thought of this trip had helped us trudge through the hours of assignments and exams at college, and now we had no responsibilities ahead of us for the summer. When it was my turn to dye my hair, I bounded across the cool cement porch like a fawn just having spotted an open meadow. The chair that had looked hard and menacing before, was just a chair now. Heather’s artistic hands flew across hair with the ease of a professional. I waited for the sinking feeling to return. When the acrid smell of the dye wafted into my face, I simply laughed and screwed up my face. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the chair, content to let my friend toy with the silky strands. The cool liquid dye flowed across my scalp, refreshing and pleasant. The sun sunk slowly down behind the leafy bushes of her yard in the west, like chocolate melting into a puddle of nothingness.
Kami beckoned me over to the water hose when my head was properly sopping wet with a dark cherry brown syrup. I leaned over in a rather exuberant gymnastics stretch as she rinsed the excess color from my hair. Heedless of the old worn clothes I was borrowing, I ran around the yard shaking my hair like a dog. The rest of the night flew by, with little attention paid to the clock on the wall. When my hair was clean and dry I looked in the mirror expecting to assess my new look with a shrewd eye, but the moment hardly affected me at all; it no longer mattered what it looked like to me. I quickly fell asleep in my sleeping bag afterwards, hugging the floor of a distant living room.
The pictures from that trip include a tall girl with fiery, bronze-blond hair. I think people blink twice before they can even see my face. But in every photograph, in all the places we went to on a whim, there’s a smile on my lips, and freedom in my eyes.
The Freedom to Dye
I stood awkwardly in the aisle of the unfamiliar store, eyes darting over the bright boxes on the shelves. I felt a restless need to move as I picked up one box, put it down, and grabbed another. Panic squeezed me in its restless grasp as I realized that whichever box I chose would ultimately change the color of my long blond hair.
“Look at this one, Shelley, didn’t you say you wanted something with a little red in it?”
“Had I said that?” I thought as my slightly ashen face snapped towards Kaylee, my confident freshmen roommate. Kaylee tilted her head questioningly at me with a helpful smile. The tight muscles in my face relaxed a little as my eyes came to rest on my four best friends besides me in the aisle. Kaylee and Heather attempted to help me come to any sort of conclusion, while Kami and Jessica perused the shelves for themselves with more excitement than I could muster.
My throat relaxed a little, and I managed to produce an answer.“Yeah…but that one is too red. I think I want something that will make my hair look sort of, strawberry blond, or light brown with just a little red in it. But not too dark. I don’t think I want it to look super different...” Kaylee and Heather instinctively snatched the information I would give them and continued to pour over the hundreds of hair dye boxes in the aisle. I returned to being indecisive, both in my thoughts, and in my movements across the shelves. I read labels, looked at color guides, and hefted boxes. I continued my uncoordinated dance around my friends until both Jessica and Kami had chosen bold colored dyes and turned to see if I was done. Heather and Kaylee now sat on the floor, their backs against the shelves. I think they’d finally given up after having me turn down the twelfth box that met my rather narrow specifications. “I’m sorry guys; I’m just not sure if I can do this.” Jessica quickly piped up, “Aww, come on! It will be fun!”
I brushed my hair back behind my ear and glanced down tentatively at the only dye color that had come close to what I’d envisioned. As I fretted, a jovial store assistant turned the corner into our aisle, placing a few things on the shelves and striking a conversation up with my giddy roommate Jessica. The curvy black woman responded enthusiastically to hearing we were on a road trip to California as college roommates. Jessica thrust out her chosen box, saying, “Do you like this red color?” “Oh sure!” the woman replied, her voice carrying all the charm of a favorite aunt, “Everyone can use a little red in their life!” Jessica spun on her toes to look pointedly at me. We all laughed, the weariness melting out of Heather and Kaylee’s shoulders. I grasped the box in my hands tighter and smiled at them, putting up my white flag of surrender. “Okay, okay. Let’s go before I change my mind!”
As we walked out into the warm, moist California Coast air, I started to skip through the parking lot ahead of my friends. I felt bouncy and light, in the middle of an open lot in a place I’d never been before. My plastic bag flew around erratically as the five of us spoke over one another in happy waves of excited chatter. We piled into the car and sped through the hectic streets towards the house of Jessica’s family. Our bodies jerked forward like rubber bands just released from launch when we came to an abrupt stop in her driveway. We rushed through the front door like a gust of summer air as we quickly filed passed all of the messy sleeping bags splayed across the living room floor.
As Kami and Jessica began to open their purchases, I felt a quiver run through my chest. The giggles that had been on my lips a few moments before as we ran through the house were gone. What was I getting myself into? What if my parents hated my hair when I got home? What would my mother say? My roommates sensed my sudden stillness and turned to see my limp hand drifting toward my phone to call my mom. “What are you doing?” Heather asked suspiciously. My voice suddenly small, I replied, “I was just going to ask my mom what she thought about me dyeing my hair…” the words trailed off in the empty corners of the room. My four friends all blinked at me in unison. “Shelley, you already bought the dye! It’s your choice, you’re in college now!” Kami’s words of reason fell across deaf ears; it was too late, I was hitting speed dial, my slippery fingertips somehow managing to get the job done. The phone call was fairly brief. My mother’s hesitant voice sounded less than enthusiastic: “You want to dye your hair? I guess that’s fine; it’s your choice. But why do you want to change it? I love your blond hair.” As her doubtful words shot through the phone, something changed in me. I quickly finished the conversation, whispering goodnight to my mother. In a matter of moments I'd come to two powerful realizations: it was my hair, and my mother was hundreds of miles away.
In a faded t-shirt and paint splattered cotton shorts I eased into plastic chair on the porch and watched Heather dye Kami’s hair. My eyes shone and my hands animated my words as we chatted about tomorrow and all the places we would visit. The thought of this trip had helped us trudge through the hours of assignments and exams at college, and now we had no responsibilities ahead of us for the summer. When it was my turn to dye my hair, I bounded across the cool cement porch like a fawn just having spotted an open meadow. The chair that had looked hard and menacing before, was just a chair now. Heather’s artistic hands flew across hair with the ease of a professional. I waited for the sinking feeling to return. When the acrid smell of the dye wafted into my face, I simply laughed and screwed up my face. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the chair, content to let my friend toy with the silky strands. The cool liquid dye flowed across my scalp, refreshing and pleasant. The sun sunk slowly down behind the leafy bushes of her yard in the west, like chocolate melting into a puddle of nothingness.
Kami beckoned me over to the water hose when my head was properly sopping wet with a dark cherry brown syrup. I leaned over in a rather exuberant gymnastics stretch as she rinsed the excess color from my hair. Heedless of the old worn clothes I was borrowing, I ran around the yard shaking my hair like a dog. The rest of the night flew by, with little attention paid to the clock on the wall. When my hair was clean and dry I looked in the mirror expecting to assess my new look with a shrewd eye, but the moment hardly affected me at all; it no longer mattered what it looked like to me. I quickly fell asleep in my sleeping bag afterwards, hugging the floor of a distant living room.
The pictures from that trip include a tall girl with fiery, bronze-blond hair. I think people blink twice before they can even see my face. But in every photograph, in all the places we went to on a whim, there’s a smile on my lips, and freedom in my eyes.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
My Favorite Song
Labeling any song as your "favorite" is very difficult. But this song has consistently been in my top five for the last two years, since I first discovered it. The song is entitled "Gabriel's Oboe" and my recording was performed by the violinist Jenny Oaks Baker. A friend of mine recently introduced me to a version I love even more. This one is performed by Yo-Yo Ma.
This song is so many things to me. It's the song I chose to listen to on the top of the sacred Mount Tai in Shandong, China. It's the song I shared with my first true love. It fills me with emotion every time. To me it's come to represent life and spiritual growth - struggles and victories.
And sometimes...it represents my relationship with a special person.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
This song is so many things to me. It's the song I chose to listen to on the top of the sacred Mount Tai in Shandong, China. It's the song I shared with my first true love. It fills me with emotion every time. To me it's come to represent life and spiritual growth - struggles and victories.
And sometimes...it represents my relationship with a special person.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Tangled List
I guess most people call this a "Bucket List," but I'm not a fan of the term. I'll call it my "Tangled" list, after one of my favorite qoutes from the new Disney movie. I don't need to do all these things before I die, I just thought I'd write down ideas of things I'd like to do! It's a work in progress...
Tangled - Find a Dream/Always have a Goal
Rapunzel: I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?
Flynn Rider: It will be.
Rapunzel: And what if it is? What do I do then?
Flynn Rider: Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.
- Take a photography class
- Go to the beach and take silhouette pictures in front of the sunset
- Make one of those really expensive/fancy cooking show recipes I've always wanted to make
- Make a dance video with my friends
- Dance alone in a mirrored dance studio to my favorite songs
- Take more ballroom dancing
- Teach my children how to finger paint (or vice versa)
- Write a book
- Sing "Pie Jesu" from Requiem on a stage
- Have a reunion cruise with my college friends
- Hike somewhere unchartered in the mountains
- Paint a wall mural
- Be a EFY counselor
- Spend a summer in England working as summer camp couselor
- Study how wedding rings are designed and made. Design a ring and have it made one day
- Go camping with my kids
- Make a pinata with my kids
- Teach my kids the finer points of crazy dancing :)
- Wake my future husband up in the middle of the night to drive somewhere new and share the sunrise with him
- Visit the East coast again
- Read the Entire Bible, cover to cover
- Work with English Language Learning students
- Return to China with my future husband
- Make shaped/face pancakes for my kids
- Take my kids to concerts and museums
- Make myself a dress
- Have nieces/nephews/cousin parties at my house
- Volunteer in a foreign country with kids again
- Read Harry Potter to children who have never read it or seen the movies
- Help my students believe in their dreams
- See a Broadway play
- See the Broadway or London Theater version of "Les Miserables"
- Learn another Language...yet to be determined. Probably either Spanish, French, or Chinese
- Find my 3rd grade teacher's address so I can send her a thank you letter. Thank you Michelle Atkins! You believed in me
- See one of my friends embrace the gospel
- Practice piano again, long enough to learn a piece I love
- Be part of engaging choir
- Serve a mission with my husband
- Decorate my home. I love interior design!
- Have a two story library in my home. Cover the walls with the faded script of my favorite quotes...
- Marry my best friend (once we become best friends lol)
- Take my children to a third world country and teach them to serve others
- Give meaningful service in my church
- Learn to love the kind of people I'm afraid to love
- Make a difference in the life of a friend
- Inspire a student
- Create amazing engaging lessons
- read. Read. READ!
- Teach my children to cook
- Continue my family Christmas traditions with my own family
- Use my Elementary Education degree to branch out into other fields. philanthropy, international relations, history, language acquisition, pre-service teacher education, teaching seminary, etc.
- Help a Young Woman who struggles like I did in High School
- Live near my brothers and their children
- Play classical music in my house weekly ( maybe an awesome sound system in my house? cause dance parties are good too!)
- Visit Alaska
- Read more Shakespeare. See more Shakespeare plays
- Read all of C.S. Lewis
- Read all of Antoine de Saint - Exupery
- Collect more music. Itunes, I love you.
- Visit Jerusalem
- Keep a blog/journal
- Devote my life to my family and the Lord
etc. I LOVE LIFE
Tangled - Find a Dream/Always have a Goal
Rapunzel: I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?
Flynn Rider: It will be.
Rapunzel: And what if it is? What do I do then?
Flynn Rider: Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.
- Take a photography class
- Go to the beach and take silhouette pictures in front of the sunset
- Make one of those really expensive/fancy cooking show recipes I've always wanted to make
- Make a dance video with my friends
- Dance alone in a mirrored dance studio to my favorite songs
- Take more ballroom dancing
- Teach my children how to finger paint (or vice versa)
- Write a book
- Sing "Pie Jesu" from Requiem on a stage
- Have a reunion cruise with my college friends
- Hike somewhere unchartered in the mountains
- Paint a wall mural
- Be a EFY counselor
- Spend a summer in England working as summer camp couselor
- Study how wedding rings are designed and made. Design a ring and have it made one day
- Go camping with my kids
- Make a pinata with my kids
- Teach my kids the finer points of crazy dancing :)
- Wake my future husband up in the middle of the night to drive somewhere new and share the sunrise with him
- Visit the East coast again
- Read the Entire Bible, cover to cover
- Work with English Language Learning students
- Return to China with my future husband
- Make shaped/face pancakes for my kids
- Take my kids to concerts and museums
- Make myself a dress
- Have nieces/nephews/cousin parties at my house
- Volunteer in a foreign country with kids again
- Read Harry Potter to children who have never read it or seen the movies
- Help my students believe in their dreams
- See a Broadway play
- See the Broadway or London Theater version of "Les Miserables"
- Learn another Language...yet to be determined. Probably either Spanish, French, or Chinese
- Find my 3rd grade teacher's address so I can send her a thank you letter. Thank you Michelle Atkins! You believed in me
- See one of my friends embrace the gospel
- Practice piano again, long enough to learn a piece I love
- Be part of engaging choir
- Serve a mission with my husband
- Decorate my home. I love interior design!
- Have a two story library in my home. Cover the walls with the faded script of my favorite quotes...
- Marry my best friend (once we become best friends lol)
- Take my children to a third world country and teach them to serve others
- Give meaningful service in my church
- Learn to love the kind of people I'm afraid to love
- Make a difference in the life of a friend
- Inspire a student
- Create amazing engaging lessons
- read. Read. READ!
- Teach my children to cook
- Continue my family Christmas traditions with my own family
- Use my Elementary Education degree to branch out into other fields. philanthropy, international relations, history, language acquisition, pre-service teacher education, teaching seminary, etc.
- Help a Young Woman who struggles like I did in High School
- Live near my brothers and their children
- Play classical music in my house weekly ( maybe an awesome sound system in my house? cause dance parties are good too!)
- Visit Alaska
- Read more Shakespeare. See more Shakespeare plays
- Read all of C.S. Lewis
- Read all of Antoine de Saint - Exupery
- Collect more music. Itunes, I love you.
- Visit Jerusalem
- Keep a blog/journal
- Devote my life to my family and the Lord
etc. I LOVE LIFE
Sunday, January 2, 2011
The Little Prince
I have a new favorite book, it's called, "The Little Prince" by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. And for those of you who have already read this book, or those of you who have read it in it's native French, please forgive me for being behind the times. It's opened my eyes to the world around me. That special "cleaning the spiritual glasses" that happens every once in a while and gives you new perspective.
My roommate, Chelise, and I had a long conversation about it the day I finished. And we didn't just speak of "The little Prince" as a story, but of all it taught us about love, life, and relationships. Then we went on to discuss our lives and everything we are learning and hoping for. One of the greatest ideas we discussed was the idea of love as a choice. The choice to love someone, one someone. The idea that there are millions of roses in the world, and each has something to offer, yet they are all roses. So what really makes difference between all the roses, or our relationship with any rose?
Because it's my rose. Because it's the one I nurture, love, protect, and value. The one that tames you, because you choose to be tamed.
It's the promise, the covenant you make with one person. To love, honor, and cherish them. You could be happy with any number of people in this world, but when you choose to love one and spend eternity with them, your love is unique because it's a personal choice. It's the exercise of that one thing that is uniquely yours, your agency, your will.
Thank you little prince, fox, the roses, and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, for the sweet reminder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Prince
My roommate, Chelise, and I had a long conversation about it the day I finished. And we didn't just speak of "The little Prince" as a story, but of all it taught us about love, life, and relationships. Then we went on to discuss our lives and everything we are learning and hoping for. One of the greatest ideas we discussed was the idea of love as a choice. The choice to love someone, one someone. The idea that there are millions of roses in the world, and each has something to offer, yet they are all roses. So what really makes difference between all the roses, or our relationship with any rose?
Because it's my rose. Because it's the one I nurture, love, protect, and value. The one that tames you, because you choose to be tamed.
It's the promise, the covenant you make with one person. To love, honor, and cherish them. You could be happy with any number of people in this world, but when you choose to love one and spend eternity with them, your love is unique because it's a personal choice. It's the exercise of that one thing that is uniquely yours, your agency, your will.
Thank you little prince, fox, the roses, and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, for the sweet reminder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Prince
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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