isn't it nice to know?

My friend Beth made this for a class…she’s a communication major and she’s so talented. Dan and I happen to be in it :) funny stuff.

INFJ

Personality tests have always intrigued me. I love the Myers-Briggs one…it’s really accurate and interesting. My result is INFJ….which stands for Introverted iNtuition Feeling Judging.

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R.U.S.T.

Really Ugly Sweater Tuesday

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Hello. The title of this post has been the state of my brain the last 4 weeks. I have been so busy, it’s almost unbearable. But I’m actually really happy :) My classes, especially my Ed classes, are tons of work and a lot of reading every day. And then of course I had to choose to be an English concentration, which means even more reading. Go me! But I am enjoying the work and my Ed. classes are so interesting. I’m learning a lot. And my brain is feeling similar to mush right now because it’s Friday so pardon my awful writing right now. But anyways….I’ve been assigned to a 1st/2nd grade mixed classroom in Fillmore. There are 17 kids in the class, I think 9 first grade and 8 second grade. I actually really like the mixed age approach. Did you ever think how unnatural it is that our traditional classes are divided by age? What about the 7 year olds who aren’t at the same level as the other 7 year olds? Having mixed ages allows the teacher to give students instruction that they are ready for. As with anything there are limitations, but I’ve enjoyed about learning about a different classroom environment. What usually happens is Mrs. Chaddock (my teacher) will have her homeroom in the morning for a while, and then for math all of the 1st/2nd classes in the wing will split according to ability. So she will have a math class comprised of kids from all classrooms who are of the relatively same ability level. Interesting stuff. So I’m learning quite a lot and I love the kids so much. They are so precious and so well behaved compared to being in a Buffalo classroom. They’re so quiet! Anwaysss that’s that. When I’m not busy doing homework (which is quite often), you can probably find me hanging out at my friends’ flat watching Dr. Who and having nerdy discussions or laughing our heads off. It’s nice to have a place that’s not a dorm room to get away to. I love lambein, but dorm living is getting a tad old - it would be nice to have my own kitchen haha. Dan and I have also enjoyed playing music for our church. There are a few other people in the band with us and it’s nice to play togethe.r Anyways. Sorry I’ve been so non-communicative, but I never anticipated my life to be so busy. Ahhglsdkha;gl. Love you all :) 

A long awaited update for people that care about me

And if you don’t care, you may as well stop reading, because this will bore you.

I will first say it is so good to be back in Houghton. I just love being here. I am RAing on the same floor with some of the same girls and it’s going to be a fun year :) I finished my second day of classes today and I am so excited about them. Who would have thought that you actually would like the classes you go to when they’re in your major?! No more integrated studies for this girl. Pretty much I’m done with my liberal arts requirements and I’m just taking education and english classes from here on out (with a few gym credits here and there). I’m taking five classes:

-Intro to Literary Studies (m/w/f 12:30-1:35)

• only a half semester course, yay! This is a basic course about the four genres of literature (poetry, plays, novels, and short stories). It’s part of my English concentration

-Immigrant Literature (t/th 3-4:50)

• this course concentrates on Asian immigrants and their stories. We’re reading a bunch of books that look either really depressing or scary war stories. So it should be interesting. It’s a small class though so we should have some good discussion and one of our projects is to write a paper on our own family’s immigration history. 

-Curriculum and Assessment (m/w 3:-4:50)

• One of my core ed. classes in which we learn about curriculum and assessment (surprise!). It’s actually really exciting. I was intimidated by the upper level ed. classes because they seemed so serious and important and SO much work. But the work is all very practical and engaging. And surprise surprise, I am actually looking forward to doing the papers and projects. Weird how I actually like the classes in my major, right? Actually I feel really re-affirmed that I’m doing the right thing in college because I enjoy the thought of studying how to educate children. Nerd. 

-Foundations of Language and Literacy for Diverse Learners (t/th 8-9:50am)

• Another big Ed. class- scary and important! This one is completely devoted to learning how to teach kids how to read and write. And it’s 2 semesters long. But that topic definitely deserves that much time. And it’s not just a normal classroom, it’s special ed, gifted students, international/english language learners too. Crazy. I had to buy a honking big 3 inch binder and print out 2 inches worth of articles to read for this semester. It’s a crazy amount of work but it must be done :) And it’s interesting. 

-Inclusive Childhood Education Practicum (W/F 7:45-12:30)

• This one’s also a year long. Essentially, I’m assigned a classroom which I will observe in all year. The fall semester I’m there in the morning and the spring semester I go after lunch. My partner and I will observe the kids, the teacher, and even do some teaching from the lesson plans we’ll learn to create. Pray that I and my partner, Kelsey, get a good teacher who is invested in our learning. This class requires a lot of my time but it will be so good to get into the schools again. 

So there she blows. It’s an exciting semester and I really do love the Ed. classes and all my fellow ICE majors :) Dan and I have also been hired to lead worship at the church we’ve been going to. Well, he’ll be leading and I’ll be on piano. There will also be a drummer, bassist, etc. So that’s exciting. We’re also being compensated, which answers a lot of prayer/worry about finding a job for gas money this semester, since Kelsey and I will be doing a lot of driving to schools. 

And that’s basically the news. I hope everyone in VT is safe and well- seeing the pictures on facebook is surreal. Many people here have asked to make sure my family was safe because they saw VT on national news. Crazy times….

I’ll try to update kind of consistently, but I do have a busy schedule and a lot of responsibilities this year. :) Bye! 

Hope everyone in VT is surviving…

jennigirl:

knit2together:

Martha and the Fish Hat (by scottfillmer)

I love this pattern. I’ve made probably 20 fish hats. I’m not even sorry :)

THEN WHY DON’T I HAVE ONE JENNI

zzzzzzzz

In the great green roomThere was a telephoneAnd a red balloonAnd a picture of —The cow jumping over the moon And there were three little bears sitting on chairs And two little kittensAnd a pair of mittens And a little toyhouseAnd a young mouse And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mushAnd a quiet old lady who was whispering “hush” Goodnight roomGodnight moonGoodnight cow jumping over the moonGoodnight lightAnd the red balloon Goodnight bearsGoodnight chairs Goodnight kittensAnd goodnight mittens Goodnight clocksAnd goodnight socks Goodnight little houseAnd goodnight mouse Goodnight combAnd goodnight brush Goodnight nobodyGoodnight mush And goodnight to the old lady whispering “hush” Goodnight starsGoodnight air Goodnight noises everywhere
-Margaret Wise Brown
(I’m writing my literary autobiography right now….my dad has most of this memorized because they read it to me hundreds of times)

(Source: icaruspaperwings)

heckyeahtoms:

TOMS Eyewear

Woah. Those are awesome. 

whatswrightin407:

Abby- we should make this sometime!

theinspirationtree:

Nutella Mug Cake

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons self rising flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons Nutella
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a large coffee mug.
2. Whisk well with a fork until smooth.
3. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 – 3 minutes. (Time depends on microwave wattage. Mine took 1 /2 minutes.)
4. Top with whipped cream and a little chocolate sauce if desired.

[via]

I will also mention that I wear this fancy magnetic name tag that says Houghton College, Miss Booth, Student Intern. So they all call me Miss Booth. But they don’t really pronounce the TH right, maybe because of their inner city accent or  because they’re speaking quickly…but it comes out sounding rather like Miss BooF. Which is pretty funny, to me at least. And usually, they say it more than once because they assume I didn’t hear them the first time. And when there’s more than one of them trying to get my attention at the same time, it’s just a little black chorus of Miss BOOF! Miss BOOF! Miss BOOF! Miss BOOF! 

Someday I will wear these to my wedding, because they are beautiful. Take a little look :)

http://www.toms.com/womens/classics/natural-crochet-women-s-classics

well folks…

Tomorrow is my last day at school. I would love to say that I’m wallowing in the depths of despair because I have become so attached to them that I can’t bear to leave…but that would be a lie. Sure, I love them. Yes, I’ve had a great time. I’ve definitely learned a lot. And of course I will miss them. But I’m ready to be home and it’s pretty tiring dealing with their behavior every day. Today, that trouble little boy I’ve written about before started hard core beating this little boy- attacking him with his fists…just pounding on him. It was realllllly really really scary- the teacher pulled him off and carried him out (I’ve never been more thankful that Mr. Marshall is a tall black man who just so happened to have recently hired a personal trainer…). It was so sad :( I was trying to help the kids with an art project (we’re making habitat diorama thingies…ocean, desert, forest, etc) and my hands were shaking so badly. But I tried to act like everything was fine and I stopped the inappropriate and unnecessary recap of events from the other boys after it happened. Speaking of boys. They are all OBSESSED with wrestling. Like they watch it on TV and know all the wrestler’s names and moves and stuff. I think it’s scary- no wonder there are spontaneous fits of rage in school. This one kids has tons of “wrestlers,” which are essentially action figures of the fighters, and they play with them while waiting for the bus. It’s very primal. And disturbing- these 7 year olds love these scary fighters. They ask me if I watch it and I’m always like “NO WAY I think it’s terrifying.” Because it is. Anyways….we’re at starbucks right now…only 1 more paper to go. 2 weeks have gone by quite quickly, but I’m ready to be back wrapping presents at Mr. Twitters :)