Let me just start by saying that it has been awhile since I posted, but I never seem to find the time. Malie Kate does not like for me to pull out the computer while she is still awake, and after she goes to bed I'm about ready to follow behind her! So who knows how long it will be before I post again. =)
School is going great. I am enjoying each of my kids and they all have a special place in my heart already. I know that this group will always be special for me. What a unique situation to have a chance to move up a grade with them and continue to deepen the relationship that was built last year. If it wasn't such a difficult thing to learn new curriculum and procedures for different grades, then I think I would want to start with a class in 3rd grade and move up with them each year and start again. It has been a huge blessing!
Of course the biggest light in my life is Malie Kate. It is amazing how much she grows every day! I feel like each night we play and talk that she says another new word. She is understanding SO much of what I say that it is at the point that I really have to watch what is said and done in front of her (not that I'm doing anything really bad, but you know what I mean!). She is also one of the most active and independent kids I have ever been around- and I've been around a good many. I love her spirit, but I pray every night that God will use it for His work so it doesn't get her in trouble later in life. Right now I am working on enforcing the no paci except nap/bed/car rule. It is going well. I am also doing something I should have done a long time ago- refuse to get up in the middle of the night when she has pushed the paci off the bed and wakes up crying without it. I am working on it and will keep updating how it is going. It should be interesting. Needless to say, she is such a joy and it is such an adventure to watch the new things she discovers every day!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
First Day
Wow! I am exhausted! Today was a great day back at school. It was so fun to see my kids faces as they walked into my room this morning. We had some great talks about the new things we are doing this year, and I really think they are buying in to the whole process. I now can't wait for things to settle down into our regular schedule and really get to working. It will take some adusting to going all day again, but I know it will happen. I really forgot how it was to go nonstop with kids all day long from 7:30 until they leave at 3:00. I think I just sank down into my chair once the last on had rounded the corner in the hallway just to take a deep breath (the first one I had time for all day). But other than the exhaustion I remembered more things of why of love my job! Now I've got to go over some assessments and get ready for tomorrow before I head to bed. Thank goodness Malie Kate is also adjusting to getting up early and going all day, so she is going to bed early too! Thanks for all the prayers for us teachers today!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Summer High
Well, I finally decided that I would get up with the times and start a blog. Who knows how often I will actually remember to post, but I have good intentions!
I started back to school Monday and have mixed feelings. I have loved every minute of my summer with Malie Kate, but am ready for some type of routine. I'm also excited about this new school year and moving up to fifth grade. It should be challenging, but good at the same time. I'm a little stressed after today and remembering all the reasons why they call it work. My friend Katherine and I were talking this afternoon and decided we would now refer to it as our "Summer High." This refers to teachers being off for summer and forgetting all the real stresses of teaching and only remembering the good things by the end of the summer. If you are a teacher, then you know what I'm talking about. When summer starts you are so worn out and thankful for a break. But by the time school is ready to start you are looking at all the possibilities again through rose colored glasses that made you want to be a teacher in the first place. You can do anything with these students and open a whole new world for them. This year the sky is the limit and you are going to make a difference and get to know each one on such a personal level. You read all these great books on things you are going to do differently this year. Then you go back for the first day which is a teacher workday (even though your room is basically together from the days during the summer you have come up and worked), so you can add the finishing touches to the room and get things together. You are in and out of rooms, talking with coworkers and having a great time, thinking to yourself how wonderful it is to be a teacher. Then comes Day 2 with meetings and paperwork. At the end of Day 2, with day 3 looming, followed swiftly by Day 4 better known as the first day for kids and the rose colored glasses are coming off! You make out your schedule for the first day and realize that the special time you had thought out to have sitting with your kids and just talking about their expectations for the year is no where to be found. So you decide you will squeeze it in between other things, and that is when it hits you! All the things that you had forgotten about over the summer come rushing back to you. The days full of constant moving and teaching which is great, but when do you plan and prepare? oh yeah, I remember now, I'm supposed to do that after hours. That is when I'm now with my daughter. So then it is after she goes to bed and I'm also exhausted but still have things to do. But get it all done, we must!
As you can tell, my "Summer High" came down today. But after talking with Katherine I know she is right about one thing. We don't do this because it is a job, we do it because we are teaching children. That is all I need to tell myself to know that all the extra work and effort is worth it in the end.
Well, I think I've rambled quite enough today! Hopefully, I will make a difference this year! Right now, anything is still possible! =)
I started back to school Monday and have mixed feelings. I have loved every minute of my summer with Malie Kate, but am ready for some type of routine. I'm also excited about this new school year and moving up to fifth grade. It should be challenging, but good at the same time. I'm a little stressed after today and remembering all the reasons why they call it work. My friend Katherine and I were talking this afternoon and decided we would now refer to it as our "Summer High." This refers to teachers being off for summer and forgetting all the real stresses of teaching and only remembering the good things by the end of the summer. If you are a teacher, then you know what I'm talking about. When summer starts you are so worn out and thankful for a break. But by the time school is ready to start you are looking at all the possibilities again through rose colored glasses that made you want to be a teacher in the first place. You can do anything with these students and open a whole new world for them. This year the sky is the limit and you are going to make a difference and get to know each one on such a personal level. You read all these great books on things you are going to do differently this year. Then you go back for the first day which is a teacher workday (even though your room is basically together from the days during the summer you have come up and worked), so you can add the finishing touches to the room and get things together. You are in and out of rooms, talking with coworkers and having a great time, thinking to yourself how wonderful it is to be a teacher. Then comes Day 2 with meetings and paperwork. At the end of Day 2, with day 3 looming, followed swiftly by Day 4 better known as the first day for kids and the rose colored glasses are coming off! You make out your schedule for the first day and realize that the special time you had thought out to have sitting with your kids and just talking about their expectations for the year is no where to be found. So you decide you will squeeze it in between other things, and that is when it hits you! All the things that you had forgotten about over the summer come rushing back to you. The days full of constant moving and teaching which is great, but when do you plan and prepare? oh yeah, I remember now, I'm supposed to do that after hours. That is when I'm now with my daughter. So then it is after she goes to bed and I'm also exhausted but still have things to do. But get it all done, we must!
As you can tell, my "Summer High" came down today. But after talking with Katherine I know she is right about one thing. We don't do this because it is a job, we do it because we are teaching children. That is all I need to tell myself to know that all the extra work and effort is worth it in the end.
Well, I think I've rambled quite enough today! Hopefully, I will make a difference this year! Right now, anything is still possible! =)
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