Teacher's High

First and foremost let me apologize for not writing earlier this week. As I dive deeper into the depths of student teaching life becomes busier and busier. Don't be surprised if I only write one post a week from now on (at least for the end of this session).

This week seemed to move both really fast and really slow. The time slipped away quickly but the days didn't seem to move much. As I began this week I felt like I had a million things to do. I started my Africa unit and I'm happy to say that the kids were as excited as I was to get things going on it! I'm teaching them about both the different regions and one country in each. So far we've covered Northern Africa and Libya, as well as Eastern Africa and Kenya. In each lesson I've taught them about each people group, some geography, "staple" foods, as well as how to say hello in each language. As of right now they can say hello in Arabic and Swahili. I can tell that I'm opening doors to a whole new world (cue Disney music) for most of them. It's really neat to see their reactions to some of the things they've learned. What's even cooler for me is that I get to learn just as much, if not more, about Africa with them!

The principle also came into to observe me this week...dun dun dun. Actually he's a pretty chill guy and was super encouraging when I went to talk with him afterwards. It was still nerve wracking, but once I started teaching it was like he wasn't even there.

I was granted the chance to do some observing this week as well. Our school's second grade class is kind of infamous this year. Their teacher, we'll call her 2nd T, has told us many a horror story about behavioral issues she's had to deal with. I prepared myself for the worst. Little did I know that such preparation was not necessary. They sat in their desks and listened to everything she had to say, it was almost like being in my 3rd grade class. Granted there were a few answers shouted out, but they're 2nd graders...what are you going to do? It was kind of funny because later in the teacher's lounge she was like "Today was a very abnormal day! You should come in and see what they're really like!" I plan to, it'll be good to see how she handles things.

My students asked me some funny questions this week too:
"Do Zombies live in Zombia (Zambia)?"
"Do you guys have teacher parties while we're out at recess?"

Teaching-wise there's not much else to report. My parents are off to Mexico this week for a romantic getaway for their 25th anniversary that was...9 months ago. I'll take the "me time" while I can ;).

Lessons Learned This Week:
-Teaching is a lot easier and more fun than I expected.
-I love teaching math...I never thought I'd ever hear myself say that.
-It's important to find your own ways of doing things in the classroom, just because you see it done one way doesn't mean it's the only way!

Goals for Next Week:
-Teach about Southern, Western, and possibly Central Africa.
-Videotape myself teaching a lesson (meh...awkward).