update

I made it through the semester. I (somehow) got all A's, passed the Praxis, worked approximately 15 hours a week and replaced my roommate.

Yeah..

I really don't know how it happened.

But, YAY! Only 17 more weeks!

I think I will....

...crawl into a hole and die. Or at least find a cave and hide.

I'm taking 19 hours this semester. Yes, 19. And no, I'm not at the graduate level. I'm still working on my undergrad. Oh, and I'll be reading 10...yes, TEN...books this semester. Actually, if I were to be completely honest, I'm only going to read part of them. There's absolutely no way I can do ten at one time. I might have read 14 books in July, but I read one at a time, and they were fluff reads.

Reading isn't all I'll be doing.

I have journals to keep, lessons to write, a classroom management plan to construct, an integrated unit plan to create, reflection papers, expert presentations, discussion groups(as the facilitator) and 300 hours to log in my field placement classroom.

I know I'll make it through, but right now I'm not sure how. It's an insane amount of work. Really, who thought this was a good idea!?!

I would have take one or two classes this summer and gotten them out of the way, but I had to take 9 hours...which is 3 hours over full time in the summer. And I wasn't taking important classes. I took Math 130. It was a waste of my time.

I just want to fast forward through this semester...

A few of my favorite things...

-my family: They're hilarious! I am so thankful that we all have such wonderful senses of humor. Any time we get together--my immediate or extended family--we laugh and laugh and laugh. I wish we were closer, but when we get together, it's like we've never been apart.

-my friends: They're hilarious, too. I love spending time with them without having to do anything. We laugh a lot and just share life.

-books: I love getting lost in stories. I love jumping into other places. It stirs my creativity.

-sweet tea: Drinking unsweet is a sin. HA!

-lemon Italian Ice: yum. yum.

-the creativity of a child: The little boy that was next to me at the fireworks on the Fourth of July told his family to pretend to be dead so the gnats would go away.

-the end of the semester: Any semester. It's always wonderful to be done.

-my bed: It's wonderfully comfortable and a place where I love to read.

-good music: It makes me happy; it makes me cry; it makes me think.

-coffee: It doesn't give me any type of buzz, but I still love it.


So..my list is not exhaustive. There are so many more things that I like, but I just don't feel like putting them in this post. :)

Excitement...

I am overwhelmingly excited that after this week I will be able to read more "fluff" books.

My American Government class ends on Thursday, and I will no longer have to read a chapter a night on an aspect of the government. It's been somewhat informative. Ok, really I think I have taken a lot away from the class. I feel a little more informed when I am reading the newspaper or watching the news on television. However, it has not given me any desire to do more than what I normally do. And I could still care less about politics.

But because I am devoting so much time to this class, I have not done any recreational reading. I plan on remedying this in July. I'll have almost 3 hours between classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. It is enough time to go back to my apartment, but it's 20 minutes from campus, and I don't really feel like wasting the gas. I'll pack a lunch/snack and head to the library.

I have no idea how I will decide what to read, but I plan on expanding my reading world a little. I am sure I'll be able to find a summer reading list somewhere. And I will definitely ask for suggestions.

You have no idea how exciting this is to me. I LOVE to read. I love escaping into books. My favorite book is To Kill A Mockingbird. I have read it at least 3 times. I enjoy that book so much. I even enjoyed the movie with Gregory Peck.

I am so excited about reading!!

When it finally hits home....

I was sitting in my math class this morning and felt a nudge to check my phone. I had checked it just a few minutes earlier. I pulled it out of my purse and saw that I had a new voice mail. I then looked to see that the missed call was from my dad's phone. My first thought was that he wanted to remind me to call about what I got on my tests. (I took two tests yesterday--math and American government.) I didn't get my test back, so I figured I'd just listen to the voice mail and call him after my American government class when I got that test back. I waited until I got out of the building to make sure that I'd have reception. I called my voice mail, punched in my password and listened to my message. It was my dad, but it wasn't about my tests.

It was serious. I could tell by my dad's voice.

He said that he just wanted to call me to let me know the news....And then he dropped a bomb.

Joel, an Army Specialist who is on his first tour in Iraq, has been killed.

I could only say "Oh my God!" over and over again. I honestly wanted to drop to the ground and weep. It took my breath away.

Joel Taylor is 20 years old. I've known Joel for a few years. We had gone to the same church for a while. His mom and I were on the dance team at church together. My friend was his girlfriend. His dad, a firefighter, had been to our house when my mom put a fuse back in incorrectly.

I can't explain how it has effected me, and I haven't seen him or his parents in quite a while.

It really puts things into some sort of perspective when it hits home.

Or maybe it changes perspectives, in a good way.

Please pray for the Taylor Family. I can't imagine what this would feel like. Joel was a sweet, fun-loving guy who was proud to serve his country. We were honored to have him serve and protect us, as we are with all of our military.

...if it breathes, it must be alive.

I'm going to survive this stint at summer school.

Another Perspective

As an educator, it is imperative that I look at what I do from other's perspectives. Is what I am doing relevant to my students? Do/will they understand? What would hinder them?

More often than not there will be a student whose perspective is only attainable through imagination. And even then, it falls terribly short. This is one such perspective:

This student is in 2nd grade..approximately 8 years older. He is not from the mid-west. His family is originally from New Orleans. They came here after Katrina. His family stayed in the Super Dome. He was approximately 6 years old.

He lost a brother and a sister. A while after relocating here, his mother was killed. He now lives with his father and step-mother.

My mind cannot wrap itself around this. Sure, I've gone through several hurricanes. Even stayed in a shelter. As horrible as it was, it pales in comparison. And I'm sure pales isn't a strong enough word.

I have never lost a parent. I lost my grandmother in October of 2006. A week later I had to put together a family book. I was supposed to get stories from my grandparents. She was the last one I had. I had to get my stories from my mom. I feel like I never really had time to grieve. I was immediately thrown into something else that had to be done. It's not really like losing a parent...especially before the age of 10.

Today was sobering. There are going to be plenty of kids in my classroom who come from so many different places and bring so many things with them. I don't know what else to do but love them.

I will continuously challenge myself to look at life through their eyes.