God's Kid

After an extended time on the reading rug, it was times to sing a few songs before we headed into snack time.  We sang the pizza hut song, Waddly-Otcha, and others. Then we finished with, "I'm God's kid."

I'm God's kid.
Yes, God's kid.
No matter wether I'm tall or small,
I'm God's kid.
With Jesus as my Savior,
I'm God's kid.

We proceeded out into the hallway where one of our kindergarteners pulled my teacher and I aside and asked,
"Do you think my baby is God's kid?"
This kindergartener's mom is pregnant and will have a baby this coming April.

"Even though he's not out yet, he's God's kid right?"

:-)
Yes, hunny. Your baby is definitely God's kid. 
Praise the Lord.

Update

Wow! A lot has changed since the last time I posted!

First, I am MARRIED!!! Bobby and I had a wonderful wedding day, this past July 3rd. We are so in love, and feeling so blessed to be where we are at!!

Second, I GRADUATED!!! I am so thrilled to have made it through those hours of student teaching! It was hard work, but it payed off! 5 years, and thousands of dollars later- I not have a small piece of paper that says I know a little bit about education. haha.

Third, I now have a job working as a Parapro in a small Christian Elementary School! AND I LOVE IT!
The kids are so funny. I am working in a three-day kindergarten class in the mornings. We have so much fun.

I didn't realize how much kindergarten is about learning how to do school. I knew it was about letters, and numbers, and writing skills and reading starts. But we also do a lot of teaching about how to go through a school day. Walking in the hallways, asking to go to the bathroom, what the bells mean, what we do when we have indoor recess... Wow, there is a lot to learn.

Balance

I realize I am not considered a "working professional" but I feel like one. The biggest difference is that I am PAYING to do this rather than getting payed. But I still wake up at 6am, leave the house by 7am, and don't get home until 4:30, and am exhausted when I get home.

It is becoming apparent to me that I need to work at balancing my life. This includes times of rest, times of work and times of play. Though I really don't feel like doing laundry when I get home, I should. If I do a little bit of work around the house each day, it wont pile up all week long. Otherwise I have 5 or 6 hours of work left for me saturday. This takes away from my weekend time to relax and enjoy time with friends and family.

I am living alone right now, and with this comes good and bad things. It is nice to be able to take a nap or do whatever I would like, not having to worry about anyone else's schedule. But at the same time I do get lonely. I am much less likely to fix myself a good meal, and much more likely to put off housework, as I don't mind seeing the mess. I look forward to the day when I have a family to take care of and to help take care of me. But for now I think I will work on taking care of myself and my house.

Love

The more I am getting to know these students, the more I love them. Don't get me wrong, there are times when I get so frustrated with some i almost rip my hair out. But all in all, I care for them.

I am starting to see strengths and weaknesses in each one of them, and find my self contemplating ways to teach them even during my down time. I have various activities or items that remind me of my students even when I am away from them. And of course, I have nightmares about all the things that could go wrong while I am teaching.

They are a part of my life. I think this is an aspect of teaching I have never really thought about before. I have always looked forward to impacting them, and my students impacting me- But they are a part of me, a part of who I am, a part of my daily life. This means we share something- whether we want to or not. :-) I hope that what I share with them is a positive experience for them- not just something to get through.

Through the business of the school day I often forget about feelings and relationships. I have been trying to just breathe a few times a day- and take a look at each student and think about how wonderfully God has made them, and the gift that they are in my life.

I love these kids.

Decisions decisions!

I have always been told that the best tool for a teacher to have, is to be prepared. But I am quickly learning that no matter how long I spend planning, or predicting or preparing, I can never be 100% ready for what will happen.

I am astounded at the number of decisions I have to make throughout the day- it is almost constant. Where should I set these papers? What should I do with this extra 2 minutes before library? Should I let Jason go to the bathroom now? Or should I make him finish his math first? Should I get upset over that remark I just heard Jane say about Amanda? Or should I let it go? Can I let them work on this in partners? Should I use the whiteboard to explain this or is verbal instruction enough? Josh has been in the bathroom for a long time, should I send someone to go check on him?

Being a teacher is exhausting. Some studies even put teaching in the top ten most stressful professions. I understand why!

Though I want to fall over on the couch each day when I get home, and I take a two hour nap 4 out of 5 days, I love it.

I am learning so much, and the more i encounter these decisions, the easier they are becoming to make.

Family

Today I lost my first student.

Okay, thats sounds bad... A student in our class is going to go to a different school starting monday. It is very weird to think that this group of learners, that is just starting to feel like a family, will be loosing one of its members.

Fooled

There is one student in my class who really threw me for a loop today. I felt astounded.

The past week and a half this student has not been able to accomplish ANYTHING. Reading, writing, math, spelling, social studies. Every task was most difficult. This student moped through their day, including recess and free time. While reading this student could not even read the word, "the." Spelling, this student could not spell, "we." In math, this student could not even follow along on the board with me next to them.

Today we had a 20 min long workshop time. This student had the task of writing down the spelling list, just copying it down from the board. They got one letter down in 20 min. My cooperating teacher was very frustrated and pulled this student to the hallway to speak with them.

"This has got to stop." My teacher said. "You need to be able keep up with the class. If you don't start completing your work, you will stay inside for lunch recess with Miss. Roer and I,"

"Ok Mrs. K." the student replied.

After this, the student went into the room and completed all 10 spelling words in two minutes. Their whole demeanor reversed. They became engaged and energetic, and even read a book for free time.

This student had been faking it since the first day of school.

I was so frustrated. All of the worry of how to differential tests and lesson, all the extra work of keeping on eye on them. Every part of me felt useless. I was so unaware.

How did Mrs. K know!? What will I do when I am a teacher? How will I know?