Important Mail (:

This afternoon, as my mother and I were pulling away to run errands, she checked the mail. She pulled out a rather large envelope that was addressed to me. It was from Richard-Stockton College. In the car, as I tore open the letter in excitement, I was hoping that this was finally the moment I had been waiting for. I pulled out the letter and Stockton said that they had accepted me. I smiled in amazement and was thrilled to be accepted into one of my top choices! Throughout the entire day this was all I could think about. During dinner, I got to announce it to my family and they were happy too and congratulated me. So far, I have only told one friend, but I am just super excited. Finally, all of my hard work has payed off. I hope I get more acceptance letters because when I received this letter, it felt as though so much weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I had been waiting so long to receive one, and I really did begin to think that I was not going to be accepted anywhere; however, I thought wrong! I am so grateful to have received this letter, this afternoon! (:

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

On Wednesday night we had a celebration, I guess you could say, for our Senior Project Seminar class. In my opinion, the night was rather interesting. I arrived at 6:40 and walked in to Mr. Abrams already talking. I began to worry, thinking I had the wrong time; however, he was just anxious to start his presentation and was beginning early. When Mr. Snyder put a stop to his speaking, everyone else started to settle in and the show began.
Mr. Abrams spoke about the class and what we do each day, while all of the students went out into the hallway to prepare a mini presentation. Boy was I nervous!? I was so afraid of getting in front of my parents, teachers, and fellow classmates. What if I stuttered and messed up? What if I seemed as though I didn't know what I was talking about? What if I froze up there? Too many thoughts were racing through my head at one time!
Then, it was time for me to speak. As I walked up to the front, I realized I had to do this no matter what. Once I started talking, my thoughts and ideas came out fine. After I was done, it made me feel a lot better when Mr. Abrams and Mr. Snyder commented on how well everyone did. For everyone who got up there and spoke, it took a lot of courage to do so and I think everyone did a great job! Overall the night went rather smoothly.

First Meeting with Sponsor

Last Thursday, I met with my sponsor Jennifer Teti, who is a teacher from Lindenwold School #5. I just wanted to meet with her to introduce the project because I only was able to e-mail her thus far. Overall, the meeting went well and I am super excited to start for the remaining marking periods of the school year!
We sat and talked for a little over an hour about how the project was going to be ran. She sounded excited for me to be sitting in her room for a couple days out of the week. Mrs. Teti began to say that if I came from 1:30-2:30, I would sit through her math lesson. After talking about how her mathematics is taught, she began to say that if I could come from 9:30-10:30, I could sit and observe her Language Arts lesson. She thought that would be a fantastic idea because if I pick up on a productive style of teaching reading and writing, it will not only benefit myself; but, rather it will benefit my future students.
We finished up just talking about life and college plans. This meeting was a success and I cannot wait to observe Mrs. Teti's third grade class. (:

AP's 1st Basketball Game

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, aside from Obama's Inauguration, it was Aspen Price-Perry's first game of her season, for girl's basketball. I was so excited to see her play because in my eyes, she is an ALL-STAR! (: After managing basketball since the beginning of the season, it has been a rough one for our girls. They try their best and work hard, but we've had only two wins up until Tuesday! :D Aspen did so good and made it that much more exciting for Sam and I, at the scorekeeper's table. Everyone in the crowd seemed to go wild whenever a basket was made! There even seemed to be more people who attended the game, but I don't know if that was just because it was Aspen's first game or if it was just a good game to come to. This is one basketball game that I am so glad I didn't miss! The team just seemed to be unified and together as one, as each and every one of them contributedo their victory! Every one of the girls did something exciting and I hope the games to come are like this one against Gateway! The final score was 74-54, Lindenwold. (:

Stress & Blah Moods

Lately I have been having this unexplainable mood that I get into out of nowhere. I have no idea where it comes from or the reason behind it. I just get into this mood where I don't talk to anyone, zone everything out, and get mad over the dumbest things! It just doesn't make sense to me. If I could find out why this happens it would be great. I am beginning to think it is stress that is taking over. There is just so much to worry about this year and that may be the reason. However, this mood comes out of nowhere and randomly.
When people see me this way, they begin to ask what's wrong; however, I just reply with nothing because I don't know how to explain the way I feel. I want to try to explain it, but there just isn't an exact feeling or word to let people know. If there was a cure or something to help that'd be great! (: I just want to know the cause of this feeling!

A Letter From the Future

One of my students, above, reading in the library. Winslow Elementary School #4

Imagine that you are twenty-eight years old, and you're writing to a cherished teacher whom you haven't heard from in ten years. Tell him/her about your professional life. What do you do for a living and how did you get there? Consider the following: What schools did you attend? What special training and degrees do you have? Where do you work and what is the name of your company? What do your coworkers and boss think of you? What professional successes and awards have you enjoyed since graduating from high school.

Dear Teacher,
I haven't heard from you in so long! I hope all is well. My life is going great and I'm finally out of school, and I get to pursue the career I've always wanted to do- an elementary school teacher. I attended Rowan University for four years to earn my bachelors degree in elementary education and early childhood. Finally I grew up (: I work in Winslow #4 school and I teach third grade. My early childhood dream actually came true and I hope I am making an impact on my student's lives, as you did mine! Many of my co-workers are good friends of mine now and my boss is great. I wish you could meet him, he is the nicest guy ever. My students are so smart, they surprise me everyday.

One year, my student Robert came up to me on the first day of school crying because he didn't want to go. I simply explained to him that he would have so much fun in Miss Hans's class and he would never want to leave school. He laughed and told me that would never happen. However, at the end of the day when his mother came to pick Robert up, he refused to leave and told her that I was his favorite teacher ever! This brought a smile to my face instantly and made me feel that my students really do appreciate me! It's the little things that count the most.

Well I hope you write me back soon because it would be great to hear back from you. It has been far too long! Tell your family I said hello and let them know my family and I are doing fine. Everything in my life seems to be in order! Thanks for all your inspiration! (:

Love Always,

Aliccia Hans

Myself, below, teaching my students.

Blog Visits

I visited and commented Mr. Abrams, Desiree, Jamie, Sam Messner, and Turk's blogs! The book that Mr. Abrams blogged about seems so interesting and something that I would consider reading maybe one day! Usually I am not the one to read, however, this book seems like one that would catch my interest. Des's thing about being so stressed and not enough time, I totally agreed with. Senior year is sooo stressful and way too costly! Time management is such a big thing to have to manage! I did not know that about Jamie being so self-conscience about herself, and that is sad because she is close to me. She would have been the last person I would think to say about herself; although, I did know she doesn't like to get up in front of the class to do presentations. I learn something new every day! (: Reading my fellow classmates blogs and commenting on them, I feel is great because it opens up my eyes to other opinions and their feelings on certain subjects. I can learn SO MUCH from reading their blogs!

Weekend Grab Bag

Bungee Jumping! (:

Something I have always wanted to do is bungee jump. It's in movies all the time and I think it looks like so much fun! (: I'm quite the risk taker out of my friends. I am the one who goes on the highest roller coaster or the craziest ride in an amusement park; I like being the dare devil. If I was given the chance to bungee jump, I would be so amazed.

When I see people do it in movies they seem to get an adrenaline rush and I want to experience the same thing! It would be great to have that feeling like "Ahhhhh! I am flying from a bridge and tied by a rubber band!" To have that going through my mind would satisfy me! (: I love the craziest things in life and I am not afraid to take these types of risks. I have always wanted to go bungee jumping and I am determined to do so before I die! :D

Chicken Soup for the College Soul

We were told to choose a book in English class that would help us in life and inspire us. I chose Chicken Soup for the College Soul. So far the book has caught my attention in many ways and I cannot wait to go away to experience college. In this book there are so many different experiences that people go through; some are bad and others truly inspire me.

After reading some of this book, the chapter Inspiration Can Be Anywhere really caught my attention. It was about a girl named Hannah Moore who had a dream of going to Africa to help the sick children; however, her family was poor and her mother shot down her dreams. She went through 17 years of her life in shame about her dream. Although her neighbor, Mrs. Haverill encouraged her to do what she believes she can do, and if she puts her mind to it she will become a doctor. The following excerpt was very inspring:

Mrs Haverill said, "Ah, yes, I hardly know you, dear child, but I can see that in you. I have a cousin who was a doctor in Africa during the 1960s. Now she runs a mobile doctor's office on the streets of the city. Ah, yes, Hannah, can you stay a while for me to tell you about her?"

Hannah felt that her neighbor was the only one that believed in her and therefore she went to talk with her neighbor daily. Eventually, Hannah did go to medical school and she is currently in her junior year of it. I hope her dream does come true and she goes to Africa to help the sick children!

Project Exploration

I want to be an expert in teaching younger children and motivating them into making a difference in their lives. Elementary school teachers I feel have the most difficult job! They have to lay down the basics of learning and if students don't understand the basics then they won't make it through the rest of their educational career. If my dream to become a teacher comes true, then I will be the best teacher there ever has been!

Without John Dewey, education probably would be nothing like it is today. He has put a voice on educator's rights and progressive education. Mr. Abrams told me about this man and I was shocked that I did not know anything about him. If John Dewey was not outspoken then I may not have been able to become an elementary school teacher today!

Dewey even went all the way to Turkey to stress the importance of education. Without an education today, you cannot get far at all in life. Almost everything now-a-days requires some kind of degree. It would be great to be that one inspiring figure in a child's life that they always look back on. If I was able to research all about John Dewey and the things he has accomplished in order to make education what it is today, it would be great!

New Blog ..

Hello fellow bloggers!!

I just started with blogger.com because I had thoughts.com and I will be honest, it was a little confusing. I'm hoping this blog site will be easier! (: I have this blog profile because it's for our English class.
I think that our blog entries should be graded once a week, with a series of atleast 3 entries. We should just be able to do three entries whenever throughout the week, we shouldn't have a certain day to do a blog. Maybe one day we just don't feel like blogging, but as long as we get 3 by Friday it's ok!
Each blog entry I think should be our feelings of the day with a "Hot Topic" question of the day. Maybe if Mr. Abrams made a list of questions that we could answer in the blogs; I think that would be interesting. Not everyone would do the same question because they would have a choice of which question they wanted to answer. This way there wouldn't be all the same entries and it would be a variety of readings. (: