School update

Alright, let's see how quickly I can update everyone on the last two weeks! I don't want to write a book, but want to give an update!

My first week of student teaching went well. I think I wrote a few times throughout that week. It was exhausting to transition into being at school for 8 hours a day! I was really looking forward to the weekend to relax, but wound up with a nasty migraine and didn't have a good weekend. Week 1 went right into week 2, and so by Friday I was EXHAUSTED!

Last Monday I started teaching reading... since that's my favorite subject, I've enjoyed it a lot. It was definitely a great place to start.

Today is President's Day, so there was no school. Yay for an extra day off to plan! Tomorrow I start teaching math--eek! Math is the subject that scares me the most. Really, I don't know why... I enjoy elementary school math, and do just fine when helping students with it. I think it's just because I have never taught math to a full class before. It's unknown and therefore a bit scary. It'll be a good experience--we'll see how tomorrow goes! They're learning the 6's multiplication facts.

Next week I will be taking over social studies and starting my big map unit. Every student teacher has to do a teaching work sample, which is a HUGE project and what students dread most about this semester--it's basically teaching one unit of at least 10 lessons. My TWS is a map unit and will be about 16 lessons! that's about twice as much work as it has to be!!! I'm a bit nervous about that... but we'll see.

I have a bit of planning yet to do tonight--I need to move around some of my reading activities and prepare a template to copy off tomorrow. Other than that, I think I am done for the weekend. I have a lot more planning to do in general, but won't get it done tonight. I will be busy most nights this week planning away!

I've had this just really overwhelmed feeling lately. A lot of it is how busy I am. I pretty much get home from 8 hours at school and eat supper and plan a bit and then crash. I'm used to staying up til 1 or 2 am and have gone to bed between 8 and 10 lately. It's difficult to adjust to that.

I ended up going to get a new phone today. I had a Blackberry. While I loved it, I haven't actively used the internet aspects of the phone in a few months. When I first got the phone, I used it all the time to check Facebook and e-mail and all these other things. Now I just don't have the time. I'm at school all day and then I'm by a computer at night, so I don't use it. I'm paying $30/month for internet I'm not using. So today I went and changed plans. I had to pay full price for a phone plus insurance and it was $400... but I will get a small rebate and will have insurance for 2 years. I will also save about $450 by not having to pay for the internet anymore. In the end, it will save me money... but it was hard to write out that check! They couldn't give me anything for my Blackberry... so I am going to try to sell it on e-bay. We'll see!

I also cut my hair this weekend. I got about 5-6 inches cut off. It feels weird to have such short hair, but it is lighter and my head feels better. My head has been so sensitive lately because I've been losing SO much hair (after surgery). Wearing it up in a ponytail just kills my head... so I decided to get it cut and layered and now I can just brush it and go. It's still not ideal... I hate the natural curl in my hair and would prefer if I could have another hairstyle... but it's the best I can do for now. It's definitely lighter!

I'm hoping that between the phone and the hair... my life is a little more simplified. When I get really overwhelmed, that's what I try to do--simplify my life. That's why I like to rearrange/clean my room when I get busy and stressed. I did clean off my desk, but need to clean the rest of my room soon.

I haven't heard much more on Patrick. It sounds like things are the same as they were the other day... which is both good and bad. They found out he does have a heart condition... though I don't know any specifics. Keep praying for him, and I'll update if I find out any more information.

One other thing I wanted to talk about was the reward system in the classroom. The school district has a district wide discipline system. Students are given marks for things such as disrupting the class, acts of violence, and not following directions.

I talked with my teacher about implementing another type of system. This is how it's going to work. We're going to start giving out these little colored pieces of paper that say "I'm responsible" on them. Students can collect them and turn them in for rewards. There's a point system that will be hung in the classroom. I am not sure what the totals will be, but it's kind of like this:

5 tickets.......1 raffle ticket
10 tickets.....Play games on computer during recess
15 tickets.....Juice and snack with teacher during recess

That's just an example--I believe there were 8 or 9 things on the list. They will be given out randomly.. to students who are setting a good example, doing something they should be doing, etc. I think it'll really help with a couple of students who are really difficult to handle... and will be a fun way to encourage students to behave! We'll see!

The last thing I wanted to talk about is Sunday school! I started yesterday and took over the Pre-K class. I don't know how long I will be there--the teacher is taking time off to have her baby! So I don't know--a month, three months... no idea how long maternity leave is generally, especially for something like a once a week Sunday school class. Anyway... I took over yesterday and they are adorable kids. 4-5 years old... it was a bit hectic because I was kind of thrown into it and didn't have anyone to help me. I'm thinking that next week will go a little smoother. I think I'll enjoy it though. My church in Madison was good, but we didn't have a curriculum and support for me in that way... I had to either create lessons all my own or buy the materials for us to use. That's the nice part about a 1000 person church--they have the money and resources to have the right curriculum. So that will be helpful because I don't have a lot of extra planning to do. :)

Okay, I am going to go get a bit of planning done before supper. I am hoping to get into bed early tonight--it will be a long week. My Vitamin D hasn't kicked in yet, and so the pain in my legs/feet has been horrible lately. Early bedtimes are my friend! Hope all is well!