Wow.

That's all I have to say. Wow.

I have never felt so busy, spacey - but happy - in my life. I've also never had more appreciation for all of the fabulous teachers I had as a kid. They work HARD. I mean, I know everyone always says that teachers are unappreciated, underpaid, and yada yada...but FOR REAL, people... it's true. And I'm not even a real teacher yet.

Today I left school at 6:00. Walking outside and realizing it was dusk, was a funny experience. Not funny in the humorous way. Just funny in the way that normally, I would be really annoyed that I stayed at school over 2 hours longer than I needed to, but instead I was satisfied with the work I'd done, kind of way.

Everyday isn't perfect. Sometimes I am probably not as good of a teacher as I'd like to be. Sometimes my students aren't as excited about learning as I'd like them to be. But all in all, we're a pretty happy little crowd. They make me laugh every day (most of the time, it's not on purpose). They each have their funny little quirks (some that might just make me a little crazy at times). I have mine too. Still, every day is a new day --- and that means a chance to start over again.

In our classroom we have a magnetic board in the back of the room. Each student in the class has a bottle cap that they designed. When they do something good during the day, they can "cap up." If they make it all the way to "Teacher's Pet" for the day, they get two stamps on their personal grid. At the end of the month, there's a party for everyone who has their entire card filled. I took a picture of the board one day because I really like the system and think it would be cool to incorporate into my class one day. However, after I took it I noticed something that I hadn't really thought about before. Everyone starts EVERY day at "Way to Make Good Choices." (By the way, I hope you're looking at the picture, or this really isn't going to make any sense.) I love that about the whole system. Every day is a new day for them (and for me). It makes me work harder to be a better teacher for them and to forget about whatever negative things happened yesterday, and focus on today and all the positive outcomes.




I'm learning A LOT about myself through this experience. Really, I suppose I've learned a lot about myself through my entire past two years of college - the part I've actually enjoyed (school-wise). I've done so many things that I didn't ever think that I could do. I feel like I've accomplished so many things and really proved myself to myself. Does that make sense? Most likely not to you, but it does to me --- and I guess that's just as important.

I know people laugh at Elementary Education majors. I know everyone thinks of it as the "fall back" major. I hear (and see) the tone of voice people get after you tell them you're studying El. Ed. People think it's a joke. But to me, I have never been more grateful for such a fabulous education and training ground. I think the training and things I've been taught have literally helped me to become a better person. I didn't just increase my knowledge in college. My character, my personality, my patience, and my love increased too --- and for that, I will always be grateful.

So here's to long, but good days with 12 year olds, answering questions about positive and negative integers, printing out missing grade reports, and having at least one good laugh every 30 minutes.