Update :)

I can't believe I've gone two weeks without posting...again! Actually I can - life has been so busy lately. Between adjusting to a new grade level, working three days a week at the after-school program on my campus, and trying to survive my online M.Ed. program, I barely have time to breathe!

School is going well. I enjoy my older students because I am able to spend almost my entire day teaching rather than reminding them how to behave in school. I can also laugh with them and genuinly enjoy talking with them. Every Tuesday I host "Lunch with Teacher" day for students who choose to purchase it with their tickets. I typically have about 6-8 of them and we just sit in a circle and talk and laugh. I really like it! I am very happy with my class.

It's been a little difficult adjusting to the increase in grading and the (already) increase in stress to prepare them for the tests in the Spring, but for the most part it's been a smooth transition. It's also been stressful figuring out how to differentiate my instruction to benefit ALL of my kids, since half of them are gifted and the other have are struggling. I really have no "in between," which is who the district-provided curriculum is intended for. I think I've just about gotten it figure out, though. When my principal asked me if I would ever go back to 1st, I quickly responded "No!" Not that I didn't love 1st, but I've realized how much MORE I love 3rd :)

Last weekend I spent a relaxing weekend with my family in College Station (my parents, Lindsay, and her boyfriend Ben met me at my grandparents' house) with my family. We spent most of the weekend riding 4 wheelers on my grandparents' land, which was so much fun! We like to blaze our own trail through the brush as we go along in our train of 4-wheelers, the Ranger, and the jeep. One evening we went into town and ate at Mr. Gatti's, and then the 4 teens (my cousin, my sister, and their significant others) played games (ok, maybe I played a few too). All in all, it was just a great weekend.

This weekend it's rainy in FloMo, and we slept in until after noon and watched a movie. Then I took a midterm exam and graded 7 stacks of papers. All that's left to do this weekend is get my nails done and clean the house - maybe not in that order! We're currently debating what to have for dinner and where to go to church tomorrow. Decisions, decisions.

I do have a couple of funny stories to tell you from the week, actually the first is from last week but whatever.

1. I've befriended the man who comes to do maintenance at our school every two weeks, but I was still surprised when he brought me a gift back from his trip to Mexico the weekend before. He walked in near the end of the day while my students were working and handed it to me, and then I thanked him and asked him about his trip. No big deal. It was a cute circular woven box with flowers on the top (perfect size for tortillas). After he left, one of my students and I had this conversation:

Student: What's in that box?
Me: Nothing. This IS the present. The box is actually the present.
Student: I think theyuh should be a wedding wing in theyuh.
Me: Um, well, I actually already have one of those (I show him my ring).
Student (flustered): Oh. Okay then. Maybe anothuh kind of wing then, whatever kind of wing you pwefuh then!

2. During our Tuesday lunch, I high-fived one of my students for some reason. She then said. "Okay. That was really weird. High-fiving your teacher is really weird, but very cool at the same time. I'm glad I have a young teacher to do awesome things with!"

3. Two of my students interviewed the math-science lab teacher for their independent study projects. Both of them happened to be in Tuesday Lunch shortly after. One of them announced that Einstein was kicked out of school for bringing a skunk in his lunch box releasing it in the classroom, and chasing it around "squeezing his sprayers to stink up the place." Immediately after, the other boy says "So kids, who wants to take a big whif of sulfuric acid?" What interesting conversations we have...

I'm sure I'll think of more after I publish this post, but I'll just have to post them later :)