One Week Down...

...many more to go!!!

Last week was filled with many meetings, seminars, trainings, and time to work in the classroom. Every one I have met seems very nice and I am looking forward to this week when the kids return to the school.

Some highlights -

1. I now know the pros and cons to student teaching in both the spring and the fall. It is definitely different to start in the fall, but I can also see the advantages to starting in the spring. As for now, I am just seeking the Lord and believing that His timing is perfect for me.

2. Setting up your classroom, getting everything straight, attending everything they want you to attend, and getting your lesson plans done for the first week of school can become very

overwhelming. Thankfully my CT and I were able to work together and get things done a lot faster than most teachers who were doing it on their own.

3. Bulletin boards are fun for someone like me who likes to be creative. My CT has admitted

that she isn't very creative or at least doesn't spend a whole lot of time on "creative projects", so I was thankful when she asked me to help come up with some things. For example - here is a

poster I made for outside the classroom door. All the teachers down our hallway are using apples as "welcome signs" for the classroom. Many have made signs that say "Welcome to the bunch!" or "Mrs. _____'s bunch" etc. I wanted to do something different, so I looked on the Internet and this is what I found. We cut all the apples to look like they had a bite out of them and we made a worm and a tree and hung the apples in the tree with the worm. I am so excited how it turned out.

4. This week promises to be VERY busy as we set up classroom procedures, explain classroom rules, enforce them, and build a mutual respect for each other. I am excited to meet and get to know the students and I think with each and every day that goes by, my anxiety level will reduce. As of right now, depending on how this week goes, I will start teaching my first lessons next Monday and math is the first subject that I will take over. The plan is then for me to take over other content areas until I am teaching the class fully on my own.

I am still greatly appreciative of any and all prayers. It was a hard week last week for me, leaving Sierra and getting into a good routine of getting up early and making lunches, etc. Thankfully this week is only a 4 day week and hopefully with the kids being back, it will go by faster. However, my heart still breaks when I have to leave Sierra behind and I am pretty sure that is going to stop at all during the next 15 weeks, so your continued prayers are appreciated.