Here Comes the Weekend - Sept. 25 - 27

JOHN - On Friday, I received a text from Jared and he wanted to see what I was doing that night. Originally I was planning on coming home, playing a little First in Math and doing absolutely nothing. But like everything in life, plans changed!

Jared and I were going to go out and have a few drinks at this little local pub called Smitty's. In case you're wondering who Jared is, he and I shared a few classes at ISU. Though we didn't hang out too much, I did know he was coming down here last semester and when I found out he got a job here, we were eventually going to hang out.

Jared came on over and we had a couple of drinks and then we took off over to Smitty's. Smitty's is your typical, townie bar. There was a jukebox with 80's and 90's music, a couple of pool tables and some dart boards. Jared and I talked school, life, music and everything in between over a some pool and games of Cricket. It was a great way to start the week.

On Saturday, I had to run a bunch of errands. I needed a new dome light for the car, get some comics and some other miscellaneous stuff. Jayma went and laid out at the pool. That night, we met up with Lisa, Don and Lisa's friend at Boston's to watch some football and spend a beautiful Saturday night outside. Jayma and I are beginning to build up quite the little posse down here and are happy to have such great people to hang with.

On Sunday, Jayma and I spent the afternoon with Lynn and Irene. They wanted to take us to this little German town called Gruene (pronounced green). Maybe I should change the spelling of my name to Grueneacre? HA! Anyway, Gruene was this quaint, little town full of gift shops, restaurants and dance halls. It was definitely a throwback to a older time and we had a great time walking around to all the little shoppes. We also had a wonderful lunch at the Gristmill! We definitely want to go back on a Friday or Saturday night to see how the natives really party in rural Texas. I guess it's time for me to get my cowboy hat!

Lynn and Irene also took us to New Braunfels where we saw people tubing on the river. Jayma and I decided right then and there what we were doing next weekend!! We went and tested the water but it wasn't too bad. We texted Lisa and Jared and they agreed that next weekend would be a great time to go tubing. We also visited a couple of smaller towns around the area and got to see a different part of Texas. It was a great way to end the weekend!

ISU Comes to Visit - Thursday, Sept. 24

JOHN - On Thursday, September 24, we had visitors from ISU. And not just any visitors. San Antonio was proud to welcome Phyllis Metcalf-Turner and Jill Donnel. Dr. Metcalf-Turner is the Chairperson of the College of Education and Jill Donnel is the Coordinator of Educational Partnerships. They were here to see how the program is working out for not only Jayma and myself but to also meet with other ISU graduates who stayed here and accepted jobs. Margie Irwin also joined us for the dinner.

Lisa picked us up at our apartment and we went to downtown S.A. where we met Don. We walked along the Riverwalk to the Hyatt. It was there we met Dr. Metcalf-Turner and Mrs. Donnel. We were surprised to see so many other people there accompanying them. There were about 7 other ISU alum and that wasn't including Jared, who just took a job at NISD. From the Hyatt, we walked down to Rosario's for a nice dinner.

I had a wonderful time talking with Dr. Metcalf-Turner. After breaking the ice, we discuss the C&I program at ISU and some of the grievances I had. I tried to not focus too much on the negative but I wanted to express some concerns and Dr. Metcalf-Turner was willing to listen to those concerns. We had a delightful conversation about the state of American education and eventually moved into non-school topics such as music, history and Kanye West. We had a wonderful evening and I believe they can see how important the San Antonio partnership is for ISU. Speaking not as a student but also an alum myself, I feel this program is wonderful opportunity for students to challenge themselves in a new environment and it opens new doors and opportunities.

I just wanted to again thank Dr. Metcalf-Turner, Mrs. Donnel, Margie Irwin and ISU for coming to visit us (too bad you arrived on the two coldest days of the year). Plus, I hope this program becomes even larger next semester and years to come.

P.S. President Bowman, if you should ever read this, you are more than welcome to come down here. I will take you to a Spurs game (of course, it'll be on ISU's dime!).

Chickenfoot concert at Sunset Station in San Antonio - Sept. 20

JOHN - On Sunday, September 20, Jayma and I headed to downtown San Antonio for the Chickenfoot concert. For those not in the know, Chickenfoot is made up of Chad Smith (drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Joe Satriani (a great guitar player), Michael Anthony (bass player for Van Halen) and Sammy Hagar (all-time rock god). This is my 4th time seeing Sammy live but first with Chickenfoot. And anyone who really knows me that I love Sammy! Needless to say, I was pretty psyched for this show. However, two days removed from the Living Colour show and a night out for the Texas-Texas Tech game has started to take its toll on me. But we persevered and ended up having a good time.

On the way to the show, I wrote down directions to the Pavilion. However, I made the mistake of entering the directions using W. Commerce instead of EAST Commerce. Let me say this, there is quite a difference between East and West Commerce. We hit W. Commerce and we knew immediately were in the wrong part of town. There were a ton of homeless people and and we were surrounded by buildings that advertised bond and bail money. We ended up stopping at at Motel 6 and got directions realized that we were on the wrong end of Commerce.

After finally finding the Sunset Station and parking (it's located right next to the Alamodome), we made our way to the ticket window. Once again, we hit another snag. The ticket lady asked me for my I.D. and credit card that I used to buy the tickets. I had my license but not the card. She asked me if I had the order number and I didn't. Sooooo....I ended up having to call my buddy, Jake, and he was able to look it up for me (THANKS, JAKE!!).

After all of this, we finally made it into the show. The opening act was still playing so we decided to just walk around and chill. We were sooo tired from the weekend but it was such a beautiful night. We got a few drinks and chilled by the fountain. The Sunset Station is an old train station that has been converted into a place where weddings, receptions and concerts can be played. The concert was outside and there was plenty of room to move around. We never felt crowded at any time. Plus, there is a nice restaurant that we plan on hitting the next time someone comes to visit.

For this concert, Jayma and I agreed we weren't going to make the effort to get up front. We were just too tired and our ears were still feeling the effects of the Living Colour show. So, we decided to just stand towards the back and just chill. We are so glad we did. Even though I didn't get as great of pics as I would've liked, the band sound amazing and Sammy's voice is still great at the ripe young age of 61. That's right, Sammy is 61 and he still rocks harder than everyone! I hope to be that awesome when I am his age. Anyway, they performed the entire CF album and came out for an encore. They performed Bat Motor Scooter (an old solo-Sammy hit) and a cover of The Who's My Generation. All in all, it was a great show, beautiful night and a great way to end the weekend.

Texas-Texas Tech game at Fox & Hound - Sept. 19

JOHN - On the day of the Texas-Texas Tech football game, I was getting pretty psyched!! This was the Longhorns' first real challenge and it was revenge game from last year when TT got real lucky and beat UT in the last minute. That game not only cost the Horns a conference title but a shot at the BCS title. But don't get me started on how screwed they were (sorry, Pete, UT deserved it more that TT and OU!).

The night before, Jayma and I were in Austin for the Living Colour concert. However, we decided not to get a hotel and tickets to the game. We knew that the game would be really expensive and we didn't feel like forking over all that money. Instead, we were going to go to some bar and watch the game surrounded by all of my Texas peeps.

On Saturday night, we met up with Lisa and Don at the Fox & Hound. We were going to go to Buffalo Wild Wings but the wait was too long and I wanted to get somewhere quick. We invited Mrs. Schiebel out and she joined us even though she refused to wear orange (She's an A & M graduate). However, I was decked out in burnt orange and so were most of the patrons of the bar even though there were some TT fans (They must have been rejected by UT if they were TT fans!!).

After text-trash talking with Klay (my cousin-in-law), the Longhorns ultimately prevailed. Sorry Klay, TT is overrated!! It was a good night and we all had a blast just kicking back and watching the game. Even Mrs. Schiebel seemed to have fun even though I know she was secretly rooting for TT to win. When we got home, I immediately passed out on the couch which Jayma was kind enough to get a picture of.

Living Colour concert at Emo's in Austin - Sept. 18

JOHN - On Friday, September 18, Jayma and I made the trek back to Austin (my new favorite city) to see Living Colour at Emo's. Living Colour is one of my all-time favorite bands and it's the first time I have gotten to see them. They were really popular in the early 90's with songs like Cult of Personality and Open Letter to a Landlord. Well, they just reunited and put out a new album and were touring around the country. When I found out they were coming to Austin, I had to jump at the chance to go. Plus, tickets were only $20!!

Before we took off to Austin, I asked Jayma to cut my hair. We went out on to the patio and I had my clippers, she grabbed the scissors and she went to town. I was a little nervous at first but she ended up doing a phenomenal job. If this teaching thing doesn't work for her, she should definitely consider becoming a hairdresser!!

Jayma and I arrived in Austin around 9:00. We went to Emo's, which is located on 6th Street. Once we got to Emo's we found out that Living Colour wasn't coming on until 11:30 so we decided to walk around 6th Street and get a few drinks. Our first stop...Coyote Ugly!

Within 30 seconds of walking into Coyote Ugly, one of the scantily clad bartenders who was dancing on top of the bar looks at me and say "You are one lucky guy"!! I believe she was referring to Jayma and assumed we were dating. Jayma was looking really pretty that night and I think the bartender wanted her to join her on top of the bar. Well, never one to shy away and from a little push from me, Jayma danced on top of the bar. Believe it or not, Coyote Ugly is not as bad as I thought. To be honest, it's like Hooters, just with girls dancing on bars. It's good clean, all-American fun. After a few more dances and a couple of drinks, Jayma and I bounced around to a couple of more places before heading back to Emo's.

Once we got back to Emo's, we maneuvered our way to the front of the stage, directly in the middle. Somehow, when Jayma and I go to a concert, we are always able to get up front. Living Colour finally came on and they rocked the show! They played most of their hits (they forgot to play Landlord though) and the crowd went nuts when they performed Cult of Personality. In fact, a mini-mosh pit broke out next to us and I actually saw someone get punched and knocked out!! We were really impressed with Doug Wimbish's playing of the bass. His energy was unbelievable!! In fact, he came into the crowd and played bass surrounded by the fans. Living Colour performed for over two hours and had great interaction with the crowd. They performed a lot of new songs which was good but I wish they would've spaced them out instead of playing them back-to-back but that's my only complaint. Jayma also caught one of the broken drum sticks which was pretty cool!!

After the show, Jayma and I waited around and we got to meet Living Colour, get some pictures and I got my cd and drumstick autographed. I finally got see one of my favorite bands but my ears were feeling it the next day!!

4th and 5th Weeks of School

JOHN - Well, I haven't been the best at updating this blog but I also have been working hard at school and having fun on the weekends. Therefore, I won't apologize too much.

The last couple weeks of school have seemed to fly by. I am now teaching 3 class periods each day (6th - 8th periods). I am really enjoying all the extra responsibility that I am picking up and beginning to realize how teaching the same lesson is a double-edged sword. You see, when you teach a lesson the first time, those first hour students are your guinea pigs. During the lesson, I can immediately see what is working and what doesn't. As much as ISU pushes its students to write reflections each day, I have no choice but to reflection each class period. Heck, I will reflect during the class period. My point is, by the time I get to my 2nd and 3rd classes, I have worked out the kinks and adjusted the lesson enough where it's beneficial to the students and more comfortable for me.

Mrs. Schiebel has been really supportive and her feedback (constructive criticism) has been most helpful to me. Almost daily, she provides me with praise. But she also gives me areas of focus in which I need to work and I appreciate her honesty. For example, this past Friday, I had a difficult time keeping the 7th period class in line. 7th hour is my most challenging class because there are more students with special needs and they are quite the social bunch. Plus, there are some combination of students that just shouldn't be sitting next to one another. Anyway, I expressed my frustration with Mrs. Schiebel and she gave me some great advice. First, she said that I should never punish the entire class. Most of the students are good and if you punish everyone, you begin to lose ALL the students. Instead, she said that I should deal with those students at the root of the problem. Sometimes it's as easy as turning the desk around and facing the wall. Or sending a student to "Isolation Island". Or pulling that student out of the classroom and having a talk. And if comes down to it, request a conference with the parents. And it's important that once the issue is resolved, I have to be sure to go back to being positive and not focus on the negative. That's difficult for me because I can sometimes be impatient and a little bit of a control freak. I have gotten better as I have grown older and I do appreciate the insanity that is middle school students. I just know that I have to adjust my teaching and develop discipline techniques which work for me and help the students.

This week, I taught my multi-cultural lesson. Mrs. Schiebel and I came up with the idea of showing the students how to use an abacus. I have never used an abacus but I have seen one used, I just wasn't sure how to operate one. Well, after conducting some research and background history on the abacus, I have become quite fascinated by it and all its many variations. For those unfamiliar with an abacus, it's a device originated in Chinese culture but used during the Roman Empire and later adopted by Russia and other countries. The Western version is more basic where the Asian counterpart is much more complicated. Needless to say, I am going to buy one for my classroom (probably the Chinese version) and use it a supplemental aid if need be. If anything, it will be a good history lesson and I love me some history.

Over the past two weeks, RMS has had something called "No Freedom Friday". NFF is where all students who are failing (it can be just one subject), are sent to a classroom where they can complete all their make-up work. The first week, I spent over three hours organizing who was going and what work needs to be made up. Well, I decided to take it one step further and get ALL make-up work for ALL students who need to complete it. As many students that have been sick since school started, that means there is a lot of make-up work. On a side note, the flu is going around and kicking a lot of students' butts and I average about 3 students out each class period. This past Friday for 8th hour, I had 7 students missing; that's a lot of kiddos. Anyway, once I got all of that work together for those students "failing" math, I saw that only 4 of the 8 students had missing work. That means the other 4 students had all of their work in and were failing math for other reasons. However, those students still had to go to NFF. This doesn't mean they had make-up work for another class. But I feel it is more important for those students to be in class than working on make-up work. I think NFF can work but there are some kinks that need to be worked out and I feel there needs to be tutors on hand to assist students that do struggle, regardless of the subject.

The further they get behind in math, the more difficult it is to catch up. Plus, math has a very tight curriculum here in Texas and we don't have time to wait for our students to go at their pace. In fact, the schedule is so tight that we have very little leeway where we could incorporate a make-up day. This is where the students and parents need to step up and come in for tutoring or during advisory. There is only so much we can do in the time that we have and there has to be some responsibility by the students.

One thing I can recommend to any student teacher is that you need to move around the classroom. On Thursday, I told Mrs. Schiebel that I felt I was confining myself behind the overhead. I didn't feel as if I was moving around enough. Well, that means I needed to become more familiar with the E-board. The E-board is similar to a Smartboard. It allows one to use a portable mouse pad and electronic pen where you can write on a worksheet. You'd have to see it to understand. Anyway, on Thursday and Friday and using the E-board, I had the chance to maneuver throughout the classroom which really helped become more comfortable.

Okay, I think I am done talking about school. I need to go play some First In Math and start beating my 2nd period students before they run up the score!

Visit to Jim & Lynn's

JOHN - I forgot to write about this but I wanted to be sure to include it in the blog. A few weeks back, Jayma and I went over to her mom's cousin's house (Lynn). There, her husband, Jim, and her sister treated us to a day at the pool and a wonderful dinner. The weather was a beautiful and we spent a few hours in the pool.

Jim prepared the dinner and we finally had a wonderful, home-cooked meal. We talked school and all sorts of thing. We felt very welcome and full and appreciated everything they have done for us since we first got here.

Parachute concert at the Scout Bar

JOHN - Jayma and I decided to go to yet another concert but this time, right here in San Antonio. Jayma's old roommate and our good friend, Stephanie, introduced us to Parachute a few months ago and we became fans. We decided that since Parachute was opening for Secondhand Serenade, we would get to see two good acts for under $20. Plus, one of the teachers at my school spoke highly of Scout Bar so I definitely wanted to check it out.

On the day of the concert, Jayma had a parent orientation that night at here school. We knew we were going to miss the opening acts but were pretty sure we'd make it on time to see Parachute and S.S.

I ended up picking up Jayma from her school around 7:45 and we headed up to Scout Bar. What should've taken us only 15 minutes to get there took us over an hour. We ended up getting lost on the way. Let me say this about S.A.'s highway system...since when does going north mean you're going west? ARGH!!! Anyway, after asking for directions twice, we ended up arriving at Scout Bar right at 9:00. We walked in the door and there was Parachute, on stage, tuning up. We arrived right on time!!!

The Scout Bar is a large bar with a stage. It felt like a very likely and clean bar. There were autographed guitars on all the walls from the bands that had played there. Bands such as Collective Soul, Creed, and Soundgarden had all performed there at one time or another. The great thing about it was that it didn't feel crowded at all. There were probably a couple hundred people there at the most.

Parachute performed a great, 45-minute set. Jayma and I got some great pics and video. We wanted to make sure we got lots of footage for Steph. After Parachute was done, S.S. came out and announced they weren't going to be performing due to an illness to the lead singer. However, he was going to be signing autographs and taking pics. Plus, everyone was going to be receiving a refund!! This concert ended up costing us NOTHING!! Well, we did have a few drinks but we would've done that anyway!

As the Parachute singer was on stage, after the show, Jayma yelled to him to keep playing. He looked up and smiled. We ended up getting pics of the lead singer of S.S., Parachute and one of the opening acts, The Rust. Even though we didn't see The Rust, all of the guys came out and talked. They were really cool. We told them we were from Illinois and asked if they were heading towards Chicago anytime soon. I ended up buying their cd which they autographed for me. Believe it or not, it turned out to be a pretty good album. Anyway, we had a great time, and got to once again meet and party with more rockstars!!

3rd Week of School (Sept. 7 - 11)

JOHN - The 3rd week of school started and I am becoming more entrenched in the happenings of the classroom. I am now teaching at least one class period each day. Mrs. Schiebel and I agreed that since I was already kind of teaching 8th that I would just stick with that period and begin working my way up as the weeks progressed.

This week, I was going to be observed by the ISU supervisor, Mrs. Irwin. She was going to be stopping by on Wednesday to observe me. So this gave me a few days to prepare my lesson. Since the students had a test this week, Mrs. Schiebel and I agreed that I would be responsible for preparing a review lesson that day. I was pretty excited about creating my first real lesson since coming here but also a little worried that I had a lot to cover. However, Mrs. Schiebel recommended I try doing some form of game with the students where they could have some fun while still reviewing for the test

I decided that I wanted to do some form of Family Feud style game. This way, the students could still break up in to their tribes and work together. It was important for me to create the game in a way where everyone would be involved. So, after some thought and brainstorming, I ended up changing the game and creating a new one called Tribal Trivia. In Tribal Trivia, there would be 20 questions the students would have to answer. Most of them related back to what they were reviewing. I threw in a few questions about Mrs. Schiebel and myself to mix it up. The teams would score points as long as they were one of the first to wave their tribal bandanna and provide the correct answer. On top of that, each tribal member must have the same answer and show all their work.

On the day of my lesson and observation, Mrs. Schiebel informed that she wouldn't be there due to an illness. However, I was going to have a substitute teacher, Mrs. Hoffman, there to fill in. Mrs. Hoffman is a retired RMS teacher and was a tremendous addition that day. She allowed me to run the classroom all day and stepped in only when she thought I would need it or when I would request it. She provided great feedback and was very helpful that day. I appreciate her allowing me the freedom to be the "teacher" that day.

The lesson went off amazingly!! After 2nd hour, which is my first class period with the regs, I was able to make a few alterations to the lesson. I was never able to get through all 20 questions and I ended up switching the order of the slides because I wanted to be sure certain things were covered such as PEMDAS and subtracting of integers. The great thing is, by the time Mrs. Irwin came to observe me, I was an expert on my lesson and everything seemed to run smooth.

I loved teaching that day and I appreciate Mrs. Schiebel having the trust in me being able to do so. It was a lot of work prepping for the lesson but it was totally worth it. Mrs. Irwin said that I did a pretty good job and that I seem to display a lot of energy. I just feed off the students, to be honest. The more excited they got, the more I did.

The one thing I learned in this whole experience is that it's okay to over plan and not to be afraid to make adjustments throughout the day. Sometimes lesson plans don't turn out the way you'd like at first. As a teacher, you need to be able to improvise and think on your feet. Plus, you need to reflect quickly and adjust things when necessary. Even fine tuning a few things here and there will make a lesson run so much more smooth.

The rest of the week was back to normal. On Friday, I went around and observed some teachers. Let me say this, I wish I would've done this sooner than later. Each teacher I observed, I was able to take a little away. It's good and necessary for all students teachers to watch other teachers in action. It just gives you an opportunity on how other teachers operate. You may not necessarily like everything they do but you can learn something each time.

Pete's Weekend - Our First Visitor! (Sept. 4 - 6)

JOHN - Pete, my good friend from when I went to ISU the first time, flew down from Chicago for a quick weekend visit. He's our first of hopefully many visitors. The weekend ended up being a blast and it went all went so quick. Good thing I had a plan because I wanted to make sure that we got everything in.

Friday night, Pete flew in and I picked him up around 9:30ish. We came back to the apartment and immediately went to the store to get some beer. We ended up picking up some Busch. But not just any Busch. We got Texas Busch. You'd have to see the cans to understand. We sat around and talked the rest of the night and got some sleep b/c we had a busy day planned on Saturday.

On Saturday, the plan called for us to head to Austin. We were going to hit 4th street and maybe get tickets to the UT game. We figured that if we didn't get tickets, we'd at least tailgate and just hang around Austin. Well, let me tell you about what it means to tailgate at a UT football game. I have tailgated in Milwaukee where it's an art form. Let me say this, Texans put Wisconsian's to shame when it comes to tailgating. As we pulled into Austin and found a parking spot a few blocks from the stadium, it was as if we were walking into a sea of burnt orange. I couldn't believe I was finally in Austin for a Texas football game!! Plus, I was sharing it was two of my best friends!

Anyway, back to the tailgating...WOW!!! Not only were there grills, there were actually smokers. There were people with huge smokers!! At first, we thought it was people setting up vending stands, that's how professional it looked. In fact, the closer we walked to the stadium, the more extravagant the tailgating became. We saw people with painted school buses, hearsts, trucks and so on. Some people had their 60-inch flat panel tv's and even had portable sinks set up. The only thing that was missing was the actual cow that was to be served up.

Before the game, we decided to walk towards downtown Austin. We ended up having lunch at this sports bar called Bikini's. Bikini's is similar to Hooter's except with hotter, Texan girls and they are all wearing, guess what, bikini's and cowboy boots!! Let's just Pete and I weren't disappointed with the view.

After lunch, we did a little souvenir shopping as well as hit a few taverns. It was a great time and as game time, we wanted to see if we could tickets. We ended up buying tickets from a scalper for $15 under their initial value. These seats ended up being awesome because we in the front row of our section.

When we arrived at the game, we found our seats and we getting pretty psyched. Even Pete, who is an Ohio State fan, seemed to enjoy the euphoria. Since I am a longtime UT fan, this was my dream to eventually go to a game and I was finally fulfilling this dream!! To be among the sea of orange and all the fans was everything I thought it would be. I started to learn all of the Texas songs and really grew to appreciate the passion of Texas football. The Longhorns ended up pounding Louisiana-Monroe 59-20. After the game, we decided to head back to San Antonio because we were beat plus we wanted to up for the beach the next day.

On Sunday, we got up early and headed to Corpus Christi for a day at the beach. Since we wanted to get the peak sun, we left early. As we drove into C.C., Jayma and Pete were a little worried that the weather wasn't going to be in our favor. I, ever the optimis, didn't worry. And guess what? The weather turned out to be perfect. We ended up getting lots of sun and I got burned for the 3rd week in a row. That's ok, it was worth it.

After spending the afternoon playing in the sand and the ocean, we headed back to San Antonio to spend an evening on the Riverwalk. After showering and changing, we headed to the Riverwalk. After walking around a bit, we had a delicious dinner at this restaurant that neither one of us can remember the name for. After dinner, we did a little more walking around and decided to hit some of the clubs. We found this British pub that wasn't really British. Maybe they thought they were British because they had a old school phone booth inside it. But the bartenders (guys) were all wearing kilts. Isn't wearing a kilt a Scottish thing? Anyway, we went to another club after that and continued getting our dancing on.

The night ended up with us getting completely lost in San Antonio trying to find our way back home. It ended up taking us almost an hour to find our way back home. By this time, I had a pretty nasty headache and all I wanted to do was go to bed. Jayma and Pete ended up hitting the hot tub which they said was nice. A few hours later, I got up and ended up taking Pete to the airport. It was a fantastic weekend (except for the getting lost part) but we all had an outstanding time. Pete's already talking about coming down again and we are hoping we get lots more visitors during our time here.