labor days

well i finished off my first week as a teacher last week.

deep breath.

it went very well. i was very pleased with the students attitudes and academic performance. i was shocked at the amount of paperwork and thought and preparation that goes into a class day. this led to very long days. long hours i mean. the days themselves fly by, it feels like a huge whirlwind, kids coming & going, papers EVERYWHERE, and i wonder how kids learn anything in a 54 min class period.

i would say the hardest parts about last week were getting up at 6am, which was quite difficult for me. also, going to bed early so i don't pass out from fatigue was hard for me. and standing all day i also found difficult...my feet hurt so badly!

the best parts about last week were coming home 2 nights to find my husband had cooked dinner on the grill and had it ready when i walked in. also, i enjoyed tripping up almost 100% of my students with the following statements during 2 Truths & 1 Lie Activity on the first day-

1. I was born in Texas
2. I have 5 siblings.
3. I have been white water rafting on the Nile River in Africa.

100% of my students guessed incorrectly which statement was false all day long, until the very last period. I guess word got out because 100% of my students in the last period got it right. Other favorite parts of last week were beginning to learn the students names and see them smile when I could remember, and having students come to my class to be greeted by me and then run out because they didn't actually have me this class period, they just wanted to say hi.

It was super awesome to have the long labor day weekend. Ross and I were able to meet up with my family on Saturday for a barbecue and the A&M football game. We were then able to join up with some of Ross' family for an all day birthday bash barbecue on Sunday. There was some serious food going on there! Shrimp kabobs, jalapeno poppers, various other side dishes for lunch. Then the fun continued on into the evening when we had prime rib and other sides for dinner, before topping off everything with 4 different types of cake to choose from! We had a great time. Monday we spent catching up on things. Ross ran errands and did some work on the boat. I spent most all of the day grading papers, writing lesson plans, and generally getting organized. I'm hoping this week I will have to spend less time in the evenings preparing because I have my lesson plans done for the whole week already. Which will give us more time to finish up House, Season 3 on DVD before the new season starts at the end of the month!!