first grade again.

Day 1.

So I started off the day at 6 o'clock this morning... actually, I take that back... it started at 2, 3, 4, 5, 5:30, 5:45, and THEN 6. I'm not sure why I had such a spastic night... but believe me, it was annoying. All I wanted to do was sleep.*

Anyways, after waking up I proceeded to make coffee, take a shower, and then start getting ready. I was planning on leaving my dorm at 6:45 to make sure that I got there in plenty of time so that I wasn't rushing to catch my ride. And of course, I realized that halfway through getting ready I was already running late. So I kind of started to panic... I drank my cereal(no lie) and made my roommate drink the rest of my coffee so that I could focus on dressing, straightening my hair, packing the rest of my lunch, and stuffing my back pack with things I thought I might need. I then proceeded to walk as quickly as possible to the student union where my ride was picking me up... and showed up 4 minutes earlier than I had originally planned... so something like 20 minutes before my ride was due to leave(why I panicked? No idea...).

We left Luther at 7:15, and didn't get to the school until almost 8(don't ask... stupid driver)... where I signed in, met my cooperating teacher, and got the tour of the tiny school. I don't think I could get lost if I tried! Then at around 8:20 we picked up the kids from the gym, and got started. I found out we pray 4 times a day(in a very Catholic manner that I'm not used to) the kids have 3 recesses(pretty sure I had one in my day), they have PE everyday(I think...), and the church is only about 30 paces away and it where we have mass and lunch. Oh! And I get free coffee! WOO!

I'm already doing a lot in the classroom. Checking papers, helping with homework, leading reading groups, and I even came up with a new idea for the classroom! Poem of the week! I did basically the same thing when I was a TA in high school, but I did it over the course of a semester, not in 12 days. So hopefully that goes smoothly and the teacher likes what I've come up with so far! (I spent almost an hour and a half finding, and writing all the poems for all the different months so that I would have less work in the long run) I'm really hoping that she uses it for years to come, because I am planning on putting some real effort into it!

I think the only downfall to this experience is that it is such a short amount of time. I just counted and we are only in the classroom for a total of 13 days(including today). It's kind of a bummer. I really enjoy the kids, the entire staff is great, and I feel like this is something I excel at. I feel like this experience is definitely going to be my defining moment in my decision to be an elementary school teacher. If I enjoy this, despite having to get up at 6 AM as a college student, I can't imagine not enjoying it as a career!

Well, it's getting pretty late... and I still have to pack my lunch and pick out my outfit for tomorrow. Plus I'm running out of creativity. So for now, goodnight, I'll update soon, and I hope you're having a great New Year!

Night!

*I think it was my subconscious freaking out. I had multiple occasions in high school where I would miss the bus for something that was mandatory to ride the bus for... cheering at games, show choir competitions... lots of stuff. And I would be so mad at myself when I woke up and realized that I had to drive myself however far away. So waking up almost every hour on the hour made my being late almost impossible.