It's Bike Riding Time!

I've had the same bike for years and while I wasn't really into biking having the same old heavy frame with humongous tires weren't really that big of a deal for a once in awhile rides around the block. When we went on our ride for Kayla's birthday in May and I was struggling to go up a little hill and to keep up with Kayla and Derek (or feeling terrible about slowing them WAY down) and I realized that biking was becoming more of an interest to me so with the help of Kayla and her dad we began to look for bikes on KSL and at other bike shops. They were awesome, they took me to a bike store so that I could test ride different kinds of bikes to decide what I really wanted (hybrid vs. road bike, etc.), I realized that I really preferred the road bike but the good bikes started around $1200 and even with biking becoming more important to me I knew it wasn't something that I could afford yet so we turned exclusively to KSL and craigslist looking for bikes. Kayla found one that looked and sounded great, we contacted the guy and arranged a time to go over. Luckily it was only a mile or so from Kayla's house so her dad could go with us (he knows a lot more about bikes and I trust his judgement/knowledge). I fell in love with it the moment that I saw it! Immediately when we got back to Kayla's house I had to ride around her neighborhood for like 20 minutes (even though it was pitch dark outside). I've done over 200 miles already on it and hope that this beauty will last me for a long time!

Right after I bought the bike, I was a little more than excited. 

On the way back to Kayla's I watched it the whole way to make sure that it didn't go anywhere :)

I didn't have a bike rack yet so Kayla got to bring it back to my house for me, isn't she gorgeous!?

Kayla was so kind and immediately sent out these two snapchats for me 

And with the bike came two water bottle holders so I had to get watching water bottles that matched each other and my bike :) we made a special trip up to scheels to get them (and then I've since found out that they have them at Target as well).

The Ugly, The Bad, The...

A friend and I were having a discussion the other day about kids and how she isn't very excited about having them because all she seems to hear from people is the bad and ugly--"throwing up, weak, swollen (pregnancy), screaming, wetting the bed, not listening, coloring on things, etc." Why is it that so often when parents talk about having kids it always seems they talk about the bad and can't seem to remember any of the good. I understand that having kids isn't all peaches and cream that I should know ahead of time some of the hard (I like that instead of "bad) things that may happen but I also want to hear the good.

Like take this week at work for example---the two year old wet the bed while taking a nap, I'm probably not going to remember that part, but I am going to remember that my first day of work the 4 year old wanted to make sure that I was going to come back and watch them the next week. And my 2nd day of babysitting the 2 year old wanted to come home with me. I would much rather remember those tender and sweet moments than when I walked into the kitchen and found every single can on the floor (which the 4 year was very good about and put every single item away without me asking).

I still want to be a mom and work with kids, despite some of the horror stories I may have heard (and experienced myself), but there may be some who get completely discouraged and pushed away from the idea of being parents. So lets work on making our stories "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" not "The Ugly, The Bad, The...?"

(Sorry to be kind of negative...I've just had the same kind of conversation with a couple of friends lately about not wanting to have kids because all they hear is the negative stories and I don't want that to happen. I don't want to think it's all good and perfect but I want them to know that there are some wonderful moments with children too.)

Parent Meeting

Last Saturday we had our parent/teacher meeting, Andrea and I were both really nervousabout it and weren't really sure what to expect from it. We knew that there had been some concerns of the parents and that we wanted to help relieve them as much as we could but weren't quite sure how Yuling wanted us to do that. I slept very little Friday night and Andrea said that she hardly slept herself. We woke up Saturday and prepared as much as we could and the before going downstairs we said a prayer together that everything would go smoothly and that we would feel calm and at peace.

Yuling began by talking for awhile and then turned it over to us to talk a little bit about howchildren learn the best and what kind of learning they do... we shared this information,which I find really interesting (sorry it's a lot of reading):

Language Acquisition vs. Language Learning (Judie Haynes)

There is an important distinction made by linguists between language acquisition and language learning. Children acquire language through a subconscious process during which they are unaware of grammatical rules. This is similar to the way they acquire their first language. They get a feel for what is and what isn’t correct. In order to acquire language, the learner needs a source of natural communication. The emphasis is on the text of the communication and not on the form. Young students who are in the process of acquiring English get plenty of “on the job” practice. They readily acquire the language to communicate with classmates.

Language learning, on the other hand, is not communicative. It is the result of direct instruction in the rules of language. And it certainly is not an age-appropriate activity for your young learners. In language learning, students have conscious knowledge of the new language and can talk about that knowledge. They can fill in the blanks on a grammar page. Research has shown, however, that knowing grammar rules does not necessarily result in good speaking or writing. A student who has memorized the rules of the language may be able to succeed on a standardized test of English language but may not be able to speak or write correctly.

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

–Language skills needed in social situations.

–When they are on the playground, in the lunch room, on the school bus, at parties, playing sports and talking on the telephone.

–Social interactions are usually context embedded.

–They occur in a meaningful social context.

–They are not very demanding cognitively.

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

–formal academic learning.

–This includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing about subject area content material.

–This level of language learning is essential for students to succeed in school.

–Students need time and support to become proficient in academic areas.

Andrea was awesome and took over the talking about the way people learned, and Rosy's mom (who is also a teacher and speaks English really well) was really nice and helped translate for Andrea.

After we talked about how children learned we were each supposed to have a 5-minute mini lesson to share with the parents what their children's daily classes our like. I chose a simple concept: small, medium, and large to teach about. I brought several examples-balls, squares, etc. to have them practice identifying small, medium, and large. When I first stood up I was still really nervous and so decided that I was just going to ignore the parents and talk to the kids (they were nice enough to let them come in during the lesson part). I asked the first question and Yuling told me to stop and then told the parents that they needed to be answering too.

So I tried again and started over, some of the parents started answer but only when they were prodded. Yuling told me that I needed to get the parents more involved so I brought out a small white board and drew 3 triangles of different sizes and showed first that we put an "s" for small, "m" for medium, and "l" for large. Then I drew another set and asked different kids to take it to their parents and have them write the correct letter under the shape. It was funny because all the kids were raising their hands (which they do normally in class) because they all wanted their parents to have a turn. Rosy's mom (the one that translated and knows English) told Rosy to put her hand down because she didn't want to go. It turned out to be fun and it really allowed the parents to see what a class is normally like. So my 5-minute lesson turned into over 15, but it was really good and I need not have been nervous or worried. After my lesson each of the Chinese teachers talked for a little bit and then we got to show the parents the new program that I am in charge of, it's called KMI and it's different activities that work the kids minds. They are really fun and I had several parents afterwards tell me that they really liked it.

Though we weren't excited about the meeting we have heard from several people that it was a good thing that we did, many parents concerns were laid to rest and answered and they were better able to see how their kids learn and that the style of learning is also changing from when they were kids.