i made you dis

I LOVE getting mail, so naturally this "letter" was a real treat. It came in the mail yesterday from one of my students in Provo. He mailed it to my apartment in Provo, and one of my great roommates forwarded it on to me. I was excited to read his letter--mostly because his writing is so cute. He has a Spanish accent, and his writing is very influenced by what he hears when he speaks. Although I was expecting a slightly longer note, I laughed when I saw the four words he wrote on the small, ripped piece of paper. Slightly mortified at the lack of punctuation and the forgotten "Mama Duck" (the capitalized word at the beginning of a sentence), I was happy to see that he had remembered to attach the silent 'e' onto the word "made". You might be wondering what "dis" thing is that he made for me....



....it was a cross that appeared to be part of a necklace. What a nice thing for him to send me. Though it's doubtful that he actually made it (during the school year, this student brought me several things that he "made"), I think this cross and four-word note tell me something. I hope they tell me that my students know that I care about them. This is especially important to me because the adorable, academically-struggling student who sent this to me was also one of my most frustrating students. I often found myself worrying that he would remember me as one of those teachers that he disliked because I was frequently frustrated with him or on his case about something. This is bringing me some peace on the matter. Because I remember how excited he was to give me small gifts in the past, I can imagine how proud and excited he was to send me this cross. He must not hate me after all. :) Oh, how I miss having these kids in my life everyday!

The last question in my mind: How on earth was he was able to send this letter to me from the future? :)

Remember Me?

Family and Friends,

If you don't remember me, I don't blame you. I know it's been nearly 14 months since the last time I blogged, so let me start by reminding you of my name: It's Janae. You probably know me from Houston, BYU, Seattle, Mexico, or you may even be a new Nashville friend. As I glanced at my blog archive earlier, I noticed that since the birth of this blog in 2007, I've written a total of 18 blog posts. I promise to write more than I did in 2008 (a whopping total of 2 posts), and I will try to write more than I did in 2009 (a record-high of 10). Since I'm through at BYU, the look and title of the blog have changed, but I assure you that the writer is no imposter. I am, indeed, Janae. Now, before we discuss the present, let me share with you a few very important things from my recent past...



1. My 3rd Grade Class!!

There is no way that I could adequately explain what this teaching experience has meant to me. These beautiful, precious students were mine for the year, and it was hard to give them up at the end of it. I care a lot about these kids, and I want so much for them to lead good lives and become leaders among their peers. Without actually being a parent, I feel like I've been a mom to 30+ kids. It was always funny when they called me 'Mom' by accident. I hope those slips of the tongue were a result of being in a nurturing environment where the students felt comfortable. 3rd grade is such a unique time for kids. The move from 2nd to 3rd grade is a significant move forward in responsibility and in the curriculum. They are learning to do much alone, but they are still little and sweet. The learning that takes places and the personalities I got to know, the hugs given, the flowers and/or weeds presented, the funny comments--they all created such a special experience. I hope I never forget these dear guinea pigs of mine. I enjoy getting emails from them every once in awhile. This teaching internship was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was so worth it. I have learned a ton and done many things well, but I know I still have loads more to learn as well as improve on. One thing that has been crossing my mind in the past week or so is well put by my dear red-headed friend, Anne Shirley. 'Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it.' Each day is a new chance to be more patient. A new chance to teach or re-teach a concept. A new chance to improve on something or do better than the day before. A new chance to show love to Heavenly Father's children. I wish I could have been absolutely perfect at these things, but life's about improving and progressing, right?

During this time, I also got to collaborate and become friends with other professionals. I'm grateful for the two patient 3rd grade teachers I worked with. They were so helpful to me and tried to make things as easy as possible for me in my first year of teaching. Leslie and Laurie both have so many wonderful talents and attributes. I will miss working with them. Lori, the school facilitator and my mentor, is amazing. She was so helpful to me, and she has such great ideas. I went downstairs to see her in her office a lot, and half of the time I did so because I enjoyed visiting with her. She has such a fun personality, and I miss seeing her on a daily basis. Basically, the students, their parents, and my co-workers unknowingly reinforced to me something that I already knew about myself. I love people.

Unfortunately, most of the hundreds of pictures I took this year are gone--preserved only in the end-of-the-year DVD I made. We won't dwell on that, though. I try not to think about it. Luckily my mom took some pictures. I'll share a few with you.








2. Graduating from BYU!



As I've written a novel already (I tend to do that...), I'll keep my BYU bit short and sweet. Here are two thoughts on the matter:

1) In the words of Julius Caesar: "Veni, vidi, vici"!
2) I LOVE BYU! :)

Laws of School, p. 183, 436

I'm at that point in the term when it seems there is more to do than can be done. Why does this happen every semester? I think it must be a school law or something that says, "We must overwhelm our students with a multitude of assignments and presentations at the end of each semester." Whoever wrote that law really stinks...

P.S.

I just wanted to say in reference to my previous blog post--that I don't really like writing odes. It seemed right at the time to stay sort of true to the name ode, but the rhyme scheme is weird in my opinion. I prefer couplets...or ABABCDCD...or other things that flow a little better. Just for the record...

And for those of you who didn't quite understand, Joey isn't dead. He just had to go back to the "adoption agency". My parents both recently had heart surgery and they can't take care of him. Sad, I know.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to you all!

Ode to Joe

I found out the other day that my dog had to be returned to the Cocker Spaniel Rescue. Of course I don't blame my parents for no longer being able to take care of him. Still, it really stinks. I've got a lot of good pictures and maybe even little videos of him, but I don't have time right now to go hunting for them. Still, while it's fresh on my mind, I need to give an Ode to Joe:

My Joe, a cute and friendly dog is he.
Since the 8th grade, he'd been my constant friend.
Although he smells, he's really quite funny--
The squirrels in our backyard he'd always tend,
He barked at floaties circling 'round the pool,
He learned to sit and shake and roll over,
He waited without fail for his treats.
Tree leaves get stuck on him--his face of drool.
Unsupervised, he'd sneak some of our dinner--
We found him on the table with our eats.

He used to jump up on Mom and Dad's bed.
The toilet was his place for a cool drink.
I love the floppy ears upon his head.
He got a lot of grief 'cuz of his stink.
He'd sleep in my room 'til I left for school--
Then he moved to Mom and Dad's room floor.
It wasn't fun to have him in your tent--
You'd swear he'd seen a goblin, ghost, or ghoul!
I'll miss his side-by-side-with-Daddy snore.
With hope, his life'll be happy, though different.

[Written by J.E. Stolle. 5/15/09. In the style of an English Ode. Ten lines per stanza. Iambic pentameter. Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDECDE]


Love and miss ya, Joe-Man!

Spring Creek's the Name, 3rd Grade's the Game

Just wanted to leave a short message saying that I found out I'll be teaching third grade next school year. I found out last Friday when I went to visit the principal and school facilitator. It's crazy that I'm already to this point. My BYU life is almost over. Weird...

IN OTHER NEWS...

Welcome to my new school! I got accepted to be an intern at Spring Creek Elementary starting in the fall!

On Monday morning I interviewed with panels of principals and facilitators in the Provo School District. I interviewed in two rooms which pretty much had 3 school principals in each room, accompanied by their respective school facilitators. I felt better about my interview in the first room, although the second room had my principal from Franklin in it. I really like him, and I had hoped to end up at his school. Alas, that was not my fate--and I no longer mind. I was a little unsure when I first got the call from Lynette (my liason), but not I'm really excited to be going to Spring Creek!

Spring Creek is a Title I School, which is actually all I have experienced so far in my cohort experiences with BYU. It is a new school that replaced the older Maeser Elementary, I think. It was only built in 2002, so it's lookin' real good! It's two stories tall, and it sits on the hill right about a juvenile detention center. Ha! Amber keeps saying I'll never lack volunteers because I'll have kids from the juvie who need to get their community service hours in haha. :)

Because they are Title I, they get extra money to spend on things like technology, so I will have my own Promethean Board! It's like an interactive whiteboard that's connected to the computer and a projector. See below:



You can pretty much control your computer by using an electronic pen on the board that's in the picture shown above. The large screen and projector enable you to create interactive whole class lessons. You can project worksheets and class games, create weekly flip charts of information, and of course, show movie clips at a much larger size than the average school t.v. :) I'm kind of funny about it, actually. The kids pretty much expect that I'm going to do something stupid when I use the active board. I heard the following from a student during one of my lessons: "It [the active board] always messes up when she does it!". I'm not quite tech-savvy yet, but I'm working on it! :) I believe I also get a mac laptop while I teach at the school.

I don't know what grade I'll be teaching yet. I still need to call the principal to accept the offer tomorrow. Maybe he'll tell me then. I do know that the current interns at the school are in 2nd and 3rd grade. Hopefully they'll respect my preferences and not put me above 4th!

Thanks to the fam, who fasted for me this past Sunday! Prayers were answered, and I feel good (although nervous) about my assignment.

Click to see more on Spring Creek Elementary