Over halfway there

I have completed nine weeks of teaching for my internship year.  From day one, I feel like I have been on a roller coaster.  I had no idea what to expect what it was going to be like, teaching all day.  My brain feels like it's bursting with knowledge which is interesting because I don't have textbooks to read and study.  It's all just what I do day in and day out.  I've learned more than I ever imagined when I got my placement in August.  I have a list of ideas of what I am going to do when I have my own classroom in less than a year. Wow, wrap your mind around that.  In less than a year, I will be in full control of what students' success will be. Nervous? Absolutely. Excited? 110%. Ready? Almost, but not quite.

I have fallen in love with 4th grade.  I could totally see myself being a 4th grade teacher one day.  I love the fact that you can be sarcastic with your students.  And I love how they can carry a normal conversation with you. It's great.  They are so fun.  They make my day everyday.  It's never a dull moment when I go to school in the morning.  The constant questions that I get are "Are you married?" and "Do you have a boyfriend?" I feel like I have single plastered on my forehead because my roommates have significant others,  but apparently to them, I seem like I'm not.  

Students still get crushes on their teachers.  Kristina, my partner in crime in 4th grade, is Miss Pretty to Matthew O'Bryant and I'm the future Mrs. Calhoun to Andy.  They still give out cooties shots, which is one of my favorite parts of recess.  The girls distributing cooties shots while my boys are playing football. 

One of the neatest things that I have learned from me is how they still believe in loving people for who they are.  They are the age before people begin poking fun at others for their differences or call out on imperfections.  They love each other deep down and it's soo refreshing.  I think that's why I'm drawn to my career.  

Okay, I've got to start grading my stack of papers.  4 homework assignments for each student times 80 students, then dividing each group of papers for every students by 4 to get an average homework grade for the week, plus alphabetizing them to transport the information into the grade book is my first activity of the weekend.  I have two sticky notes in my planner of things I have to get done.  Stressful but I still love it. Alot.

Oh I wish I were a punk rocker with Flowers in my hair

Tis the end of Fall Break Day slash weekend.  Elise, Rach, Tins and I went to New Orleans for Fall Break.  It was incredible.  I have never laughed so hard in the last 72 hours in my life.  And that's a bold statement because laughter tends to fall out of my mouth fairly easily.  (side note. Laura, we talked about you constantly. We would listen to your song that you have on burned CD's floating around our apartment so it was like you were with us. :) ) Tinsley's parents took us around New Orleans.  We went to various coffee shops, boutiques, watched Sex and The City (we don't have television/cable so it was a big deal for us), piled in the Whole Foods bathroom together because we are ridiculous and can't wait our turns when it is a one person bathroom, thrift stores,  Bourbon Street, ate an amazing meal at Tinsley's brother's house.  It was perfect.  It was exactly what we all needed.    

Nothing beat though, the four of us running through the airport because we were late constantly. bahaha. At one point, we had lost Rachael and Elise was in a wheelchair because her knee so an airport worker came up to us and told us to climb aboard her the bus thing that takes you from one place to another. Tinsley, Elise and I piled on with our driver lady to go on search of Rachael and long behold, we found Rachael walking out of the restroom.  The driver goes "Rachael! Jump on!" It was funny.  Then we had to race over to the terminal because we were the last ones to board (we lost track of time while eating scones from Starbucks, although we had a bag of them that Tinsley's mom made us).  

I love them. My roommates. They are pretty incredible.  They make life so much more enjoyable. 

Fall is Approaching

So it's been forever and a day (maybe more than a day) since I have written on my blog. I have begun full teaching, which is mix of nerves, patience, creativity and agility (or lack there of). Every time that I stand in front of my students and I teach, I feel like a total rookie. I hear myself giving directions and instructing a lesson and at the same time, I'm thinking "man, this could totally be better if I did (insert new and improved idea). But that's what an internship is all about, right? I have learned more this year than I have learned in my previous three years. Intern year has really broken me apart and made me get out of my comfort zone. I am doing things that I never imagined myself doing which is really neat. Maybe I am cut out to be a teacher.

Since I only have one night class, I have some free time every now and then. I am reading The Witch of Portobello. Laura recommended it to me. I'm really enjoying it. There is one particular quote that has really stuck out to me. It is:

"Dance until you are so out of breath than your body is forced to obtain oxygen some other way, and it is that, in the end, that will cause you to lose your identity and your relationship with space and time. Dance only to the sound of percussion; repeat the process every day; knowing that, at a certain moment, your eyes will, quite naturally, close, and you will begin to see a light that comes from within, a light that answers your questions and develops your hidden powers."

Back in the day I danced. And in ways, I wish I could drop everything and go and audition for companies across the nation, have leading roles in Swan Lake and Giselle and travel to the Paris Opera House and dance in front of thousands of people. It's still one of my dreams. To dance in some shape of form. I've had the dream since I was a little kid and I feel in ways, the dreams that you had as a kid are never let go.