Student Teaching - Week 9

by Rachel Miller - Bridge Elementary

STUDENT TEACHING

Ballet Hispanico

What a busy week! This was my first week of full time student teaching and it was also the first time this semester that I had some kind of commitment or activity to attend after school.  On Monday, scenery crew for the play started. Tuesday was seminar day. Wednesday was the Chicago Semester hunger banquet. Thursday I had my weekly art event. This week was Ballet Hispanico at Columbia College. Then, finally, Friday I went to Curie Metro High School with Ginnie and Amber to see students perform the musical, Little Shop of Horrors.

LIVING IN THE CITY

Little Shop of Horrors Cast

But of all of my busy things this week, my favorite was definitely going to Ginnie’s school for the musical. First, it was a very neat experience to see a school that is not my own. It was even better that it was my roommate’s because we talk about school all of the time. I can finally imagine it now when she tells me stories about her day. I found it amazing how contrasting the atmospheres are at both of our schools and their surrounding neighborhoods. I am beginning to realize that this is one of the most amazing things about the city. The neighborhoods are so vastly different and unique, that it is hard to believe that they are on the same planet, let alone in the same metropolitan area. Second, the play was incredible. I had no idea what to expect since it was a high school performance, but I was shocked.  I mean the props, costumes, lighting, and acting were nothing to get too excited about, but the music was absolutely phenomenal! When they first started singing I didn’t believe that it was real. They were that good. After the show, Ginnie told me that Curie has one of the best music programs in Chicago, and (here is a fun fact) one of the musicians in The Black-eyed Peas went to Curie High School. I believe it, because, my goodness, those students are seriously talented.

Shamrock Shuffle 8K

This was an especially special and fun weekend (well Sunday) for me because it was the long awaited Shamrock Shuffle. I met up with my teacher, another teacher from Bridge, and another teacher elsewhere in the city to take on the streets of Chicago in my first road race in over two years! It was also the largest race I have ever run in, and it is also the largest 8k race in the country… 40,000 people. There were two separate start times to accommodate everyone. I was supposed to take off in the first group, but I wanted to run with my teacher so I went in the second. Just to give you an idea of how many people were running, we were the second group, right, meaning half of the participants were already running before we even went to the start. Then from the time my wave actually started to the time I actually crossed the start line was about 20 minutes. We weren’t even at the back of the pack either. We were solidly in the middle. It was kind of insane. The numbers also made for an interesting run. I was bumping people all the time and it was so hard trying to pass, but it was okay because it was so much fun! I only ran with my teacher for the first two miles because she needed to walk, so then I was on my own for the last three. I cannot get over how fast the race went by. I felt like I had run less than a 5k when I reached the finish (I guess that is a good sign). I feel like I got the running/road race bug back. I cannot wait to run my marathon in less than 51 weeks!!! Oh yeah, that was another crazy thing I did this week. Coming March 17th, 2013 I will be running 26.2 miles on the streets of Atlanta, GA… wish me luck!