Congratulations to the new state president of FEA, Emily Mettes!! We are so proud of you! :)

Tired Competitors!

A day of stress is all over these faces!!

STATE CONVENTION!!!

Our group is ready to rock the convention! Thank you, Grand Canyon University, for hosting!

DC Time!

After breakfast with the whole FEA group at the convention and an awards ceremony for the competitions, we are currently waiting at Penn Station to take a train to DC. We are more than ready to show the nation's capital what Greenway's FEA chapter is all about. Also, special shout out to Jenea, our impromptu speaker; Emily, Andrea, and Alisa, our ethical dilemma competitors; and Taylor Way, the lesson planner extraordinaire. We are so proud to say that Taylor took third place out of the nation in her competition!! Congrats, Taylor!! :)

National Finalists!

At Sunday morning's award ceremony, Alisa, Andrea, and Emily were honored as finalists in the Ethical Dilemma competition and Taylor won 3rd place Nationally!! Congratulations to all 8 of you for stepping up to compete at the national level!! We are soooooo proud of you!

Baltimore Faces!

Crab (crabby) Faces

The Type it Takes to Be a Future Educator

After a long morning of presenting competitions and sitting through education sessions, it was an amazing sight to witness just about every single one of the 1,100 members here representing FEA jammed out to "Don't Stop Believing" during lunch. Seeing all of these people join together to sing and dance to this song truly shows the incredible people that will make a difference in the future in the lives of children because they were willing to go all out in front of strangers to do something big. Don't stop believing in your goals! :)

And after...

See a difference? :))

Before competing...

Nervous Competitors!

Getting mentally ready while first general session rolls on...

Checking out the neighborhood!

Carousels and swing sets along Chesapeake Bay...

Sleepy girls in Detroit

A little over halfway through our travels, we have a layover in Detroit. We sleepwalked from one gate to the next.

Ready to Fly!

Through security and at our gate, we are so excited to fly to Baltimore for Nationals! But excellence never rests! While we wait, our ethics team continues to prepare for their Saturday morning presentation!!

Applications now available for Centennial Scholars picks

Applications now available for Centennial Scholars picks
Hey seniors! Go see if you qualify for this scholarship as a future teacher! I think it would be amazing for a Greenway grad to be one of the first to receive one of these 10 scholarships! It would help pay for housing expenses if you already have the AIMS scholarship. Start on it this weekend! :))

Big Day in FEA!

Today was one of the craziest days in our chapter as we all made final changes and tweaks to state competitions. It was a great hour spent watching the many videos created by our classmates, helping those who had to finish, providing support to Mrs. Stockwell after a crazy week of following our every move to ensure our success, and celebrating a birthday, with more than one singing of Happy Birthday. It's days like this when we realize just how much of a family our FEA class is. 

Tiara, Sam, and Ashley are hard at work

Levi finishing up his competition

Relaxing after a crazy week

Tiara and Sam smile as they finish their competition

Damiana and Veronica

Congratulations!!! (:

So as president of FEA I just wanted to say how extremely proud I am of some of our awesome members! Alisa Stockwell, Emily Mettes, Andrea Meyer and Taylor Way way to go!!! Placing at nationals? AMAZING!!! I know you all worked super hard and deserve this! (: For all other members going to nationals good job as well with your competitions I'm also proud of you guys (: Remember everyone competitions are due by Friday so lets get work done! We're going to be unbeatable at state so good luck and stay positive! (: Love you guys! ♥

In addition, to working on our competitions, FEA has been busy spreading the word about our awesome class. Through presentations to sophomore classes, we already have numerous students interested in signing up next year. These presentations are also helping to give us some more practice in public speaking. Tonight, we have Future Freshman Night, which will allow us to hopefully get incoming freshman interested before they are able to be in the class. We are hoping to grow and get more people involved with our amazing group!

Since getting back to school on January 10, we have been hard at work finishing our state competitions. This past Tuesday night, half of our members showed up for a work night from 6-8. We got a lot accomplished in those two hours, as well as enjoying some yummy pizza and quality bonding time. Good luck, Greenway! We know you'll rock state!! :)

What competitions are you involved in, and how are they coming?

Stocking Service Project

On Friday Dec. 23rd, Ashley and Tiara delivered stocking filled with candy to sick cancer patients. Our chapter had been working on these stockings for a couple weeks before they were finall complete and ready to go. The two said it was a huge success and when the hospital called Levi (our student that brought this idea to us) they told him they'd "never seen the kids smile so wide." I'm very proud of our whole chapter for taking this project on because it was hard, but in the end it made children's day which is what we are all about. (:

Holiday Party!

The Holiday Party turned out to be a huge success!!! (: Thanks everyone for bringing delicious food and hanging out. It was a night filled with laughter and good times that brought our group closer together. We had fun with a white elephant exchange and playing Taboo and Catch Phrase. I never knew we could get so competitive! Anyway the holiday party was amazing and I can't wait to spend more time with everyone again. (:

Levi, Ashley, and Haley

MaryAnn and Levi

The group

MaryAnn and Mrs. Stockwell

Haley

Tiara

Hugs (:

Levi and his crocodile

MaryAnn

Alisa and Emily

Damiana

Laughing (:

Alisa

Emily, Haley, and Ashley

Tiara

Playing Taboo

Holiday Potluck Party!

When: Sunday, Dec. 18, 6:00 - 8:30 pm

Where:  Mrs. Stockwell's house, maps available in class

What:  Great food, great company, great games

Mrs. Stockwell will have chili for dinner.  Everyone can bring one side dish or dessert 

and one 2 liter bottle of your favorite soda/juice to share.

Bring a crazy white elephant gift wrapped to share with everyone else 

in the traditional FEA white elephant gift exchange.

RSVP right here--comment below with whether or not you can come 

and what dish and soda/juice you're bringing.

Celebration of the Arts Dec. 2011

Celebration of the Arts at Greenway High School for the 2011 school year had many successful performances that included a few of our FEA students.

Seniors MaryAnn Puccio and Jenea Leschniok participated in a play for theatre. MaryAnn played a Tooth Fairy and Jenea was Lucky the Leprechaun. In this play, Santa becomes ill and cannot deliver Christmas presents to all of the children. This is where all of the other holidays come in. There is the Easter bunny, Cupid, Lucky the Leprechaun, Mother Nature, and the Tooth Fairy. In the end, they all learn the true meaning of Christmas.

In addition to theatre, the dance department put on an amazing performance as well. This included seniors Alisa Stockwell and Ashley Reynolds, and juniors Emily Mettes and Taylor Way. These girls did three dances that were all outstanding.

Lastly but definitely not least, Choir did their thing singing. This included Junior Dee Hicks. She definitely has an amazing voice as she is always singing in class. :-)

Excellent job, ladies!!!

Special Education Lesson

The hardest part of planning the special education lesson was by far putting myself into the place of someone with a disabilty.

It was fun to try and make the lesson but sad to know how little options they actually have.

--
- Kelli-Jo Hunter

Blog!

What class have you enjoyed working with the most in the past two years?  Why?

 

I've loved every class that I've had the chance to work with so much! They've each been a great experience and taught me very different things. The one class that I've enjoyed working with the most would be my second graders, Mrs. Konesky's class. It was my first time being in a classroom and the kids, teacher and envrionment were amazing! I felt like I was needed in that classroom even if I was only there for an hour a day. My two job shadowing experiences were so eye-opening and made me realize just how much work is put into teaching. It was so inspiring though! I loved when I got to hang out with the kids for their field day too; it was just a little reminder of the fun, crazy things you get to do as a teacher too :) Working with this class definitely reassured me of what I wanted to do with my future.

blog

Going into my class has really made me nervous.  I understand what to do and say, but it is being accepted into the class that I am nervous about.  I have seen classes where the student teacher is not active and just sits there in the back and does nothing.  Classes are like families. I am afraid of being the person that is brought home to meet the family only to find that everything around me is awkward and tense because they do not approve.  I am also petrified that once I get in the front of the classroom and I start to teach, I would either say something wrong or just not do whatever it is I am doing right.  I know that they are very young and not as judgmental as teenagers today, but having a shy 9 year old let you in is harder than trying to get someone your age, going through the same things as you, let you in and welcome you.

blog

What did you enjoy in the first days in your classroom? what was a challenge?

 

My first two days in the classroom I really enjoyed seeing how the kids work together and how well they follow procedures and workings of the class. It feels good to have them get excited when I come in the room and say bye to me as many times as possible before I get out of the room. I like to see how the kids work together and respect their teacher and its so fascinating to see their brains working and to remember what it was like to be that age. It was a little scary when I had to help a small reading group, and sometimes its hard to know how to correct the children. I don't feel confident enough or enough like an authority figure yet. I'm sill an observer right now. I cant wait to be more comfortable. I already love it so it can only get better.

Atlanta 2011

Nationals Blog!!

Kayla here!! :D
Well let me start by saying that the National Conference was outstanding! Georgia was beautiful, the Hyatt was great and the people were just plain amazing!! I am so glad that I got a chance to participate. The best part of the National Conference was the conference in it's self. I love love loved the whole thing. One of my favorite parts was when we broke out into the different sessions. I enjoyed all the sessions I did because there was so much student involvement. When the instructor would ask a question or for a volunteer, the students would happily answer or volunteer. The involvement made the sessions very entertaining. I loved the guest speakers too! Bill Nye and Dr. Christopher Edmin were amazing!! They were very inspiring. Their speeches were funny, inspiring, witty and contained so much personality. I could see that they really had a passion for what they were doing. I also loved seeing all the attractions around Georgia. I felt like such a tourist and I loved it! I'm also excited to see what the future holds for us with all the new tech from Georgia Tech coming out. I was left speechless after every presentation. Everything was so cool that I didn't know what to say about it. The hardest part was leaving the conference. I didn't want to come home because I was having too much fun. Overall the conference was not only educational but tons of fun too!! I recommend everyone to go next year.
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Blog contribution

I am most nervous about going to my elementary school class because I am terrified that the kids will hate me and that wont know how to teach them. I am afraid that I am going to get in the front of the class and forget what I am supposed to do and the kids will laugh at me. I know I have been taught what to do and how to work with child but I am afraid that I just wont be able to do it. I  am also afraid that I will teach the kids something wrong. I don't take math or science this year and I am afraid that I might forget what I know and teach them something totally wrong. I know all my fears irrational because I am an ADL peer trainer so I have experience getting up in front of a class and teaching valuable life lessons and I have also made many presentations in a number of classes in the past but getting up in front of a bunch of third graders just frightens me. 

Excitement in the Classroom

Torie Jones here, and might I just say that Thursday was possibly one of the best days of my life? I had always imagined how nervous I would be, and how the kids would view me, but none of that mattered once I was in there. All that mattered was that I was there to help, and Taylor* seemed especially pleased to meet with me. I spent the hour going over multiplication tables with her, and helping her grasp the concept of Greatest Common Factor. By the end of the class period she really seemed like she'd learned something, and I was proud to know that I had been the one to teach her that.

As for my future times in the classrooms, I must say that I'm far beyond excited. After the initial fears are gone, only happiness remains. I only wish that I was a junior rather than a senior, so that I'd have an entire year extra in the classroom to bond with the kids. They're such sweethearts and are quite eager to learn, though they may not always show it. Needless to say, this is going to be a great year :)


*name changed to protect identity

Nationals!

We just got off the plane and are taking the MARTA to our hotel.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from my classrooms.

Use them on the blog if you want.

 

-Tiffany