It's Love

I'm starting to love them. Really. The rough nature of last week made it difficult to love my students, however, I'm coming around. This probably says something about how I stink at loving people when I'm stressed or in less-than-perfect situations, but... the point is: I really love them, now.

My favorite part of the day is right after lunch. I get my homebase kids back for 30 minutes of "Enrichment" time. I'm still not exactly sure what I'm SUPPOSED to be doing with them during this time, but I've found something I love doing with them at this time. I read. We all lay/lie around the room, while I read aloud a book called "Things Not Seen." Hilarious, the book, that is.

I love that I can lay/lie on the floor in the middle of the day at work and it is seen as "being relevant" to my students. I also love how sixth graders still LOVE read-alouds. And finally, I love listening to their own connections to the stories.


Side note: I realize I don't know the difference between lay and lie, and I don't think I care. I teach math and reading, not grammar. Thus, the slashes.

Just thankful.

I love my friends. After a week of not-so-fun middle school adventures, I was almost surprised at how much I love my friends.

I love:

- that they don't make me feel guilty for skipping out every once and awhile.

- that we just sit around and talk most of the time.

- that the group is regularly evolving.

- that there are finally several other girls "in the group."

- the ghetto music they listen to.

That's all. Just thankful.

Right, left, left, right

Today was the first time in 2 1/2 weeks of work that I have missed summertime. I guess that is normal. But I do. I miss the beach, and I miss feeling rested. I got home from work tonight at 6:30 and my body just hurt. Like I laid on the couch unable to move, because I hurt.

I'm sure I'll get better at all this, but man!

Don't think it has been a bad start, just hard and intense all day long. Be thankful that someone taught you to open a locker combination, by the way! Because whoever that someone was -- they MUST have had more patience than I do. If I have to say, "Right, left, left, right," one more time....

Open House

After two weeks of meetings, I'm more than ready to start. On Thursday evening we had open house at the school. The combination of meeting students, new school shirts and the realization that I am a REAL teacher (FINALLY!) had me giddy with excitement. Here are my two favorite moments of the evening:

1. At the beginning of the evening started with a meeting in the auditorium where administration welcomed new parents and students to the school. Then as the principal finished her initial introductions the translator began. Although this may not sound like an overly exciting event, I got teary-eyed as I almost heard, "Here ya go, Cara. The nations are at your door. Its time to start loving them." PS - Last I heard, my school is about 57% English Language Learners (ELL).

2. As I finished my shpeel for my advanced Pre-Algebra class, I met the father of a student. He was beeming from ear to ear and told me about his son, in broken English. "He in this class, because he good at math!" I said, "Yes, yes!" I'm so stinkin' excited about getting to know my students and their families.

Truth and Liquor

So I'm 2 days in. Two looong days of personality testing and personal mission writing. I'm actually quite exhausted from the smiling and being friendly all day long. However, I'm excited about the high quality of people I'll be working with throughout the coming school year. I know we are in the Bible belt, but it still encourages me when I walk into a public organization where people still confidently profess their faith and decisions to follow Christ.

Today I wrote my mission statement. I'm not sure how concrete it is, but I liked it more than I expected. Here it goes: "My mission in life is to choose, embrace and reflect truth for myself and others." Not bad, eh?!

On a different note, Tara just turned 21 last week. Since we couldn't celebrate her birthday on her birthday, we've been having a week of birthday celebration. Margarita's, Pina Colada's and Screwdrivers started the week. I hope to introduce her to wine and beer before the week is over. Mmmm....

The Obligatory First Post

So I've definitely tried to blog before, but I've been unsuccessful at the upkeep. However, again I try my hand at a personal diary, of sorts. As I embark on this first year of teaching, I am well aware of my own disdain for handwritting journal entries and such. So I will try one more time to do this, the dedicated way.

Tomorrow is my first day. Not my first day teaching, but my first day on the job. The faculty (that includes me!) is meeting at the Jones Center in S'dale for some professional development. I expect to enjoy these two days of meetings, simply because they are training us to give personality tests to our students, I think. And me + personality tests = a happy, happy Cara.

Getting to this point has been a semi-long journey. 4 years of undergraduate classes, 1 really rough M.A.T. year and a summer of worrying over whether I got the only job for which I interviewed (yes, I'm that person) and wondering where they'd stick me. Final placement: 6th grade, Math!

All in all, I'm excited. A bit nervous, but mostly just ready for routine and purpose. So, bring on those sixth graders!