Almost There!!!

Well, Scott and I are getting a little tired, but we are so close. I only have three weeks until I'm done with student teaching. Sweet! I was grading the kids patriotic essays yesterday, and some pretty funny lines came up. I wrote a few of them below. Lol, some of these kids are pretty literal.

-But I will not be a hippy! (said randomly without any connection to the essay)

-We all know that nature has been here since we all can remember.

-If we had no soldiers, we'd all be slaves. And that's dumb.

Student Teaching and School Update

So far, Student Teaching has been one of the hardest and the most rewarding experiences I've had up here at BYU-I. After a lot of struggle, I'm really getting into the groove of things and enjoying my kids. One of my biggest problems has been classroom management with two of my Language Art's classes in particular. My Reading classes are angels. But I've learned how to handle them, and now I'm starting to enjoy the naughty classes too. This Friday, I had my second observation from Sister Frew. After observations, supervisors talk to their student teachers and give them a form with scores for each category of teaching. These are important because they are filed away at the school for review later from potential employers. It really gave me a boost when she gave me a great review. She said I had improved a lot. Hearing her review of my progress was a great reward for all the lost sleep and hard work. Ok, so I'm tooting my horn. But I can't help but want to share with everyone.

Scott is doing really well. He's finding ever new ways to use his transformer tablet. He loves it! Yesterday, he was taking conference notes by writing with his finger on the screen. He's even got me addicted to angry birds, lol! He's balancing school and work, and he's ready to be done with his job because he's worked there so long. I think we are both really ready to graduate in December and move on. He's also got his Stake Tech calling, which keeps him pretty busy on the weekends. Yesterday, he was in charge of setting up the projector at the stake center for conference. We both sat and watched both sessions at the stake center. There were only two other couples and a few singles there. Scott is also getting all the graduate applications queued up in order of importance. They are due in December. Overall, we are both doing great. We are tired but happy and looking forward to the wedding next week when we get to see family!

The Unexpected Encounter

So as Becca (another student teacher I car pool with) and I were driving to Sandcreek MS where we teach, we suddenly became aware of a disturbance, which very quickly became a great, big moose running across the road right in front of Becca's car! I didn't realize how big moose are until I saw this great, limber beast dash past us and leap over a high fence, which guarded an adjoining field. Becca was so freaked out she had to turn off the road to catch her breath; she was shaking so bad. I would have reacted the same had I been driving. It's not everyday a moose crosses your path on a major highway (US 20). Anyway, the experience inspired this narrative poem. The kids learned how to model after a narrative poem, "Casey at the Bat", that we read in class. Since they had to tell their own stories through verse, I decided to make my own. It's not much, but it was fun to write along with the kids.

The Unexpected Encounter

By Mrs. Dyer

The rising dawn spoke of a clear, crisp airy day

The road was fine and clear, not foretelling any fray

The cars ahead hesitated like ants before a tear drop

Not a tear drop but a moose screamed our car to a screeching stop!

Surreal and airy seemed the great lumbering old fellow

I half expected to hear a tremendous, great bellow

proceed from his great and hairy chops. For the presence of old pops

made our fragile existence appear as rocks

crumbling before our eyes. But we had a prize

that day, for we did not collide with the gigantic beast,

a gift that we did not yet fully realize

Yellowstone

8/4/11

Author: Clarissa

Well, whoop dee doo! Here is the first post of our very first blog. I've been contemplating switching over to a private blog instead of Facebook for a while now. This form of communication seems more meaningful and private to me. I prefer it this way. I also waste my time looking at people's pictures that I don't even care or know about half the time. So y'all should feel very honored for being invited to this more "exclusive circle", lol.

Getting on to more exciting things, the latest is our trip to Yellowstone park with my family. We camped for a full week and really got our money's worth. Although old faithful was a blast (literally), my favorite sites were the upper and lower falls. They are pretty gigantic. The lower falls was especially enjoyable because the rail was smack dab against the precipice of the great plunge towards the frothy depths. I was a little dizzy but mesmerized. We also took a tour on a boat around Yellowstone Lake. As far as wildlife, we saw a lot of bison, elk, squirrels etc. Scott kept saying how hilarious it would be to stop on the road and point at nothing just to get everyone else to do the same. "Hey, look at that, it's a group of people!"

Lower Falls (pic from artist's point)

Upper Falls

(Scott informed me that he was not going to shower or shave on this trip. What a scruff! Not to worry, I'm still attracted to his natural odor, lol).

Old Faithful

Our most exciting moment with an animal was when this big old bison was trudging down the other side of our road. He was only about five feet away from our car window! He sure owned that road.

Despite all of the horror stories about bears, we did not even catch a glimpse of one. Dad's bear mace served the very essential purpose of making us feel better :). Anyway, Scott and I really enjoyed ourselves on this trip. He loves tending the fire. And we both read a ton. It felt nice not to do homework for a change. We also loved wrapping up in blankets and skipping down to the lakeside to see the stars at night. Beautiful! For the first time in my life, I actually had no trouble finding the big dipper with the stars being so bright.

Love to all!

Clarissa and Scott