Teaching

Ah the wonderful world of my chosen profession: teaching. First off let me start by saying that I couldn't be happier then where I stand in life today. Every day I wake up knowing that I am doing the right thing because no matter how tired I am I make sure to try and start each day with a smile. Some days are harder then others but I try to make sure to start each day off right by remembering how difficult the task would be had I not made the decision to change my major. I even set my alarm clock text to "Time for a wonderful day!" The mere fact that I am able to tackle waking up with a smile even on the early mornings lets me know I am in the right place.
Today I woke up before my alarm and got my day started with a bagel and cream cheese. I took a shower and got ready for the day and then headed out the door to County High. Ms. Fodor's class (the fifth hour that I observe is Judith Fodor's honors 9 English class) had presentations today. They read the novel "Night" which is a concentration camp story and had to do a multi-genre project and then present their work to the class. Some of the kids are brilliant. I enjoyed every single presentation! There were poems, comic books of chapters of the story, Recipes to make an SS officer, an auschwitz cafe menu, lullaby's for Jewish kids, birth certificates, Hitler's report card, board games, journal entries, letters, obituaries, an obituary of Hitler's sanity, and many many more creative pieces and we haven't even gotten to the presentations that had a technology piece in them yet! It was the coolest thing seeing the kids present a project they worked hard on! I will definitely teach my classes the multi-genre project even if I end up teaching middle school. *As a side note on that, I will not be one of those teachers who limits what I teach in fear of the students not grasping it. Rather then teaching down to their level I plan on teaching them up to the standard that I will decide on.* Anyway, I absolutely love projects like this one because in a school system that doesn't have art classes at their level, the kids need a creative outlet and a way to express themselves. Hopefully I will get examples of their work to take and keep so I can share it with you. Jamie's 6th hour read today, not too much excitement there, and finally her 7th hour started. That class always brightens my day. We talked about The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Little Shop of Horrors and Ashton Kutcher's Saturday Night Live grape skit (I swear they got work done too lol) and overall just had a nice relaxed class. They are working on the multi-genre project that Fodor's class did and are already starting to put together promising projects. They are the most open to my being there and love sharing their work and stories with me. That class brings me laughs and joys and I can't wait to have a class of my own that is half as awesome as they are.
After class I went to drop off my Dean's List letter at my insurance place so that my mom will get the good student discount but when I got there we realized it didn't actually say my gpa on it so it wouldn't work. We ended up requesting an official transcript be sent. While I was there I solved two rubik's cubes and joked around with the people in the office. I want to start solving the cube more often again, I've gotten kinda slow at it compared to where I was. It used to help me to de-stress and I would like to get to that point again.
I am trying to learn to play the guitar but it is proving to not be easy. I can not for the life of me play a C chord, or any barre chords. Its a bummer!! But practice will help that I hope. I just have to stay on it and not quit like I have in the past. I might take lessons soon but I would rather do voice lessons. I LOVE theater and I have always felt like my number one limitation is the inability (or maybe the lack of confidence) to do musicals. Hopefully voice lessons will fix that. I can teach myself guitar rather then using the lessons for something that I can't learn on my own. My wonderful Mom gave me a certificate for lessons of my choice at the art center and the decision is now between guitar and voice. I will keep my blog updated with my choice.
I made the decision to accept the nomination to be a Deacon at my church today. I am happy with my decision and can't wait to see where being a deacon takes me in my church and faith.
I had a wonderful day and look forward to the end of my week tomorrow so I can have a relaxing and equally as wonderful weekend.

A good teacher has been defined as one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.
-- Thomas J.