Life carries on!

Quote of the week: "Be the girl you were too lazy to be yesterday."

I guess that I am pretty lucky to only have one class that I don't really enjoy this semester - and it is kind of a shame because it SHOULD be a good class - it is the one that goes along with Learning & Instruction....which is why I am 'here' after all! But I will make it through, and thanks to my supportive teacher friends & some really great professors, I will hopefully learn what needs to be learnt, even if the professor evidently is not too interested in making us successful! It just 'sucks' to be living the example of the cliche of the tenured professor who needs to either re-motivate herself or go ahead and retire - for everyone's sake!!

Other than that I am continuing to love life in the special cohort set up at Lincoln Elementary School in Waterloo. I am so happy that I took the plunge to apply for this program; spending 3 days in a real school is so motivating....I love my 4th grade home base class, and am spending far more than my minimum of 3 hours with them each week!!

This week I began my middle school experience. What fun working with 7th & 8th graders at DNH - and an interesting contrast with my 4th grade kids at Lincoln! Now I have a real dilemma, who do I want to teach anyway?! I love them all. I thrive on the constant change & complete experience of elementary, but I do enjoy that middle school age group :). Well, at least the double major means that I can take the job that might be available & enjoy what life hands me!!

So, maybe I will be a middle school English/Language Arts teacher, maybe I will have a kindergarten class.....who knows?!

Time moves forward..

Obviously! But seriously, I am not sure how we are already talking mid-terms & spring break; I feel as if we just started.
Having said that, I met with my advisor today & found myself conversing about classes in Fall of 2013 - yes, really! Forward thinking at its' best....
In the meantime, I taught my first whole group lesson at Lincoln last week. Simple stuff with a 'read-aloud' - preview, prediction & story time. My class was wonderful, and I am finding that I enjoy them as much as my first graders from level 1! So the good news is, there is no doubt that I have made the right decision. Teaching is just what I want to do! Bad news? I have no idea what grade I want to teach; I seriously love them all! My middle level field experience is coming though, so we shall have to see how that goes.
Highlight of the read-aloud lesson? Has to be when Jalen, our 'sometimes difficult, always a character' personality plus, praised my newly colored hair....... and on a more educational note, when the kids all commented on how much 'stuff' there was in the Magic School Bus book that they had no idea was there "Mrs Bryson, I am going to start reading the books and not just watching the TV show, that was way cool"! Success!!