So, it has been a WAY long time since I got on this thing to post anything. I was just reading my last entry and laughing because it was posted right before everything in my life started to be slowly deconstructed. Literally the week after that post was like, the week from hell...and then things were hellish off and on for several weeks and months after that. I think we're beginning the re-construction process...maybe...hopefully. But everything is pretty much just up in the air right now.

Stress is at a good and constant peak. I think I will go crazy if I sit for long enough to actually think through everything that is going on. I remember in college taking some sort of stress-test in a class. Maybe in health class...I don't know. And you had to like go down this checklist of major life events and check off any that were going on, and then they had different stress-level ratings, and you could get your over-all stress level or something. I don't know. But I think if I had that list right now I'd have A LOT of checks on it...because I have many major life changes going on....graduating, perhaps purchasing a house, remodeling purchased house, starting a new job (now...and then again in August), and then all the other regular day-to-day stuff of just life. Add into that a couple classes, student teaching responsibilities, and a fancy graduation portfolio to put together. And then just dump on a few responsibilities - like leading a youth group - at church. And you pretty much get the picture. I have a headache.

Anyway...somehow, I'm suriviving, and not too miserable either. I still smile most of the time. Maybe I'll post on here again someday. So, how are YOU?

So my car is still being worked on, and that is getting a little stressful having to work out rides and such. We've been able to do that fairly well, but it's still an additional thing to worry about everyday. Hopefully before Monday....it did need a lot of work.

Conversation outside during recess with some of my 4th graders:

Student 1 (to me): How old are you?
Student 2: That's rude! You're not supposed to ask people that. Especially girls.
Student 1 (embarrassed): Oh...I didn't know. No one told me.
Me: Well, now you know. I don't really mind, but some people will be offended.
Student 1 (With a mischeivous grin): Oh. Well then, how old are you?
Me: Guess.
Student 1: A MILLION!
Runs off to play.

Amazing.

Later conversation with a Kindergartner:

Student: I have a loose tooth!
Me: Let me see....oooh. wow. That is loose. Are you gonna get some money for that?
Student: Yeah! Of course. Everyone gets money for their teeth!
Me: Oh, is that because of the tooth fairy?
Student: yup. The tooth fairy is real. So is Santa Claus. My cousin has a picture!

Gotta love it.

Next Sat. is a road-trip to NC to visit a community there. Ever so exciting. First house road trip.

New Music in the house: Beirut. I like them
Exciting Upcoming Events: Over the Rhine on Monday!!! woo-hoo!
Mike got a table...which means we get to sit at a table & can have dinner and watch them perform...I don't think it gets much better than this...and I am EXTREMELY excited.

Do you know what Adapertile means?

Today I'm feeling pretty blessed. I'm still stressed well beyond what I'm used to and struggling to maintain sanity and not just completely lose it. But, I am finding many blessings and God is faithful and good in the midst...

So for my Practicum I have to do student teaching and get at leat 3 observations from my advisor. She observed me twice and then asked that I do some teaching with bigger groups of children. She said she'd especially like to observe me one of the times I was in one of the regular classrooms and that it'd be great if I could collaborate with one of the teachers to teach a lesson. So, I started talking to the teacher of my favorite fourth grade class to see if we could do that. And then it all just kind of came together because I happened to come across this fabulous book called Dory Story by Jerry Pallota, which if you haven't read, you need to find and read it. This book tells the story of a little boy who takes his boat out into the bay and ends up watching all kinds of amazing creatures who are part of the food chain. Because the fourth graders were doing ecosystems and were learning about food chains/webs, producers, consumers & decomposers as well as carnivores, herbivores and omnivores, I thought it would be great to read the book to them and get them to draw their own food chain after hearing the story. I thought we could talk about all their vocabulary words as we read the book to. So we did that today & my advisor came to observe & it all worked out fabulously. If I hadn't already fallen in love with this class I would have today. The teacher prepped them before the observation, telling them to be on their best behavior because this was very important. And boy, did they ever take it seriously! I saw them in the hall and they all were saying "We got your back!" And then when the lesson started they all got quiet immediately, every student had his or her hand in the air (but was still quiet!) to answer every question, and for the most part their answers were intelligent. When we discussed the the story they had amazing comments and things they noticed. And they got so excited about the story and everything. And then as I left there were many whispers of "Did you pass? Did you pass?" It was incredibly adorable. Not to mention that one of my students, in explaining what a consumer is said "Well, they eat producers. but sometimes customers eat other customers." I managed not to bust out laughing on that one.
I got an excellent evaluation. My advisor loved the lesson, thought the plan was very well-thought out and thoroughly enjoyed observing it. She gave me some great suggestions for ways to improve a few things in the future and that was it. It made my day pretty great. Also, the teacher of the class said she really liked the lesson too and was going to have to get her own copy of the book and look for more books to go with more of the topics. She said "They were really into it, and they really got it! The book made it concrete for them and I think they really got the concepts." That's what teaching is all about.

Additionally, one of my neighbors has taken it upon himself to fix my car & all my roommates cars - get them up and running and fix all the little things that have been going wrong with them that we've all been ignoring and putting off as long as possible. This is tremendously helpful. He's also calling up everyone he knows in town trying to find the cheapest prices on parts for us and using all of his connections to get as much free stuff as possible (e.g. four new tires for one of the cars for free, and a transmission for mine for $80 - with a 2 year warranty.) So...I feel like this is insane and I'm waiting to see if there's a catch, but on the other hand I think this is really what community is supposed to be about and it's kind of sad when you think that we all naturally think this kind of neighborly behavior is too good to be true. Shouldn't we all be this kind of neighbor?

Tales from the 4th grade classroom:

One of my students said to me today "I' won't be at school tomorrow, so you don't need to come if you don't want to."

And with another student:
me: So how's the bass guitar coming?
student: Good. I'm trying to save up for an electric guitar.
me: Oh, well that's cool.
student: Yeah, I want my grandma to give me some allowance so I can start saving for it. My bank account is just for my life savings, you know, and for emergencies.
me: Oh, I see. Right. So, you wouldn't use that to buy the guitar.
student: no..no. See, it's for like, you know, if I work somewhere for 30 years, and then I get to retire...and then they like send you money every month, or every year...is it every month or every year?
me: uh, every month I think.
student: Right, yeah, every month. So then they send you money. But you know, like, what if something happens? And you lose your retirement. Well, then you need to have savings.

Wow...so this kid is like years ahead of me...He's skipped college and gone straight to saving for retirement. In the 4th grade.

Everything is going full swing here, and life is a little crazy and chaotic. I'm pretty happy, but sleep deprived. 5-6 hours of sleep a night during the week is not quite enough, and I can never quite get enough on the weekends to catch up.

You know you have too much homework going on when the reward you give yourself for finishing one set of homework is either 1) another set of slightly easier homework, or 2) chores.

I really love my students and I think they are incredibly fabulous. I love ESOL because I get to meet all these wonderful little people from all over the world. Its great. I mostly have students from Mexico, but I have one from Cuba and one from Guatemala and one from Indonesia (this particular one has an accent that sounds just a bit like Dexter from Dexter's lab - which is one of the best things ever). So that is great. I also get to work with two little kids who are developmentally delayed and the sweetest kids ever. One (the little boy) has Downs and the other (the little girl) is just delayed. So she looks out for and takes care of this little boy all the time - helps him get his backpack, holds his hand, talks to him, makes sure he follows directions, etc. Its a beautiful thing and I think she is quickly becoming one of my favorite people. She wasn't talking when we started, and today she jabbered the whole way downstairs in Spanish about what she was having for lunch that day and what she had been doing in class. We've been learning the names of fruits. They colored pictures of fruits and cut them out and glued them on construction paper and today we stapled them together to make "books" about fruit. When she saw the little boy's book she said "Oh, WOW!!! Yo quiero, yo quiero!!" So we made hers and again, "Oh, WOW!!" and then she "read" her book to me. It was a beautiful moment. I wish I'd video taped it.

I also work in probably the best fourth grade class in the whole world. The 45 minutes I spend in there is one of the high points of my day because the students in there are just exceptionally great. They all get very excited when I come in (there are lots of whispers of "Yes!" - quite the self esteem booster). And there's the one boy in there who told me has has visions, and that if you go through a black hole you turn into spaghetti. "Oh really? You think so?" I said. He looked at me solemnly and replied, "I know so." This same child later told his teacher "I'm learning to speak Dragonese."  There's the little boy who told me that one of the Harry Potter books was his favorite because "of the intensity. And it's so action packed - cover to cover." And then there's my Mexican child, who makes me laugh constantly, because he's so enthusiastic, and soooooo lost most of the time. Like they had to do projects on planets and he and his partner were doing Earth, and he kept telling me "but I wanted to do a different state."
"You're doing a planet, sweetie, no one is doing states."
"Oh, I mean, I wanted a different country. I wanted Pluto. I already know all about Earth. I live here."
He proceeded to fill out a lot of "Facts" about Earth - it is 3 miles from the sun, has 12 moons, etc.
I asked "Where did you find this information?"
"Um...in my head?" He said.
So these are the things that keep me going everyday.

How about you?