Tic Tac Toe! Get to Know Me

You pick a column that makes tic-tac-toe and then share about those three categories.  So here goes…

I chose to go horizontally across the top row.

1.  I went to Indiana University (GO HOOSIERS!)!  My favorite college memory were my two study abroad trips to Ecuador!  I participated in a full immersion program where we spent a month living with an Ecuadorian family and teaching in two different schools.  We also go to spend a lot of time exploring the sights of Ecuador.  My second trip to Ecuador as part of this program was as a research fellow for the university.  I conducted a research study on the impact of the program and found that the program was having major impacts on both the schools in Ecuador and future teachers at the university.  Some of my favorite Ecuadorian memories are straddling the equator (the toilets do flow backwards on the other side of the equator!) , going potty at the top of one of the world’s tallest volcanoes (true story…there are pictures…and it was windy!), attempting to eat cuy, climbing to the top of a basilica tower and standing on the ledge for pictures, whale watching in the pacific, surviving my first major earthquake (6.0 people…scary.) and the friendships that were made with the teachers and students at the private school where we taught.   Of course, I can’t forget my host family.  My friend Sara and I lived with 2 sisters who were in their 50’s but lived like there were college kids!  We had so much fun with them!  Every night we would come home and they would ask what we wanted for dinner and we would say “papas fritas” and adult beverages!  So we would have french fries and each night they introduced us to new and exotic beverages!  So much fun!

So are you wondering what cuy is?  Well, it ain’t chicken and it don’t taste like chicken.

Yes people, cuy is Spanish for guinea pig!  True story.  It is considered a delicacy in Ecuador so when we visited an indigenous village high up in the mountains (think the villages from the save the children commercials…) and they offered us this lavish delicacy we had to at least try it.  So I took 1 bite.  Just 1.

(the mountain in the background is where I went potty!)

This is a lake formed in the crater of an active volcano.  Yes, active.  As in could blow at any minute.  So what do you do at an active volcano?  Take a boat ride in the lake where you can see the gases bubbling up from through the water.

2.  My favorite subject to teach is reading.  I love reading.  I love books.  I love reading to my students.  I love seeing them grow into readers.  One of the biggest thrills and emotional moments every year is watching a child read their first book all my themselves!  There isn’t much that compares to seeing a child realize that they are a reader!

I love teaching reading because reading opens up doors to adventures, learning and places and ideas we might never reach on our own!  I also love that reading presents limitless ideas for lessons, activities, teachable moments and art projects!

My hope is that my students leave my class with a love of books and reading that rivals my passion for books and reading!

3.  My dream vacation is Italy!  It’s been on my list for years.  When we were planning our honeymoon we almost did Italy but decided to scale back for money and stress reasons.  But we will go to Italy soon.  How soon?  Who knows.  But we’re going.  I have a very important meeting with the Pope.  I’m going to lobby for a chance to drive the PopeMobile!  Just sayin…a boy can dream!

So now you know a little more about the Kindergarten Smorgasboard and my love of teaching reading and my dream job to drive the PopeMobile…and the fact that I eat guinea pig and go potty on the summit of volcanoes!