Reflections

I've been teaching for nearly a month now. I absolutely love my new school. I was a touch nervous about teaching 2nd grade- they seem so much younger than my 4th graders. I worried it might be a tough transition for me. Boy, was I wrong! It's gone so smoothly- and I'm loving it. When you take away the pressures of teaching in a public school (larger class size, standardized testing, etc) and get to be a teacher in a totally different environment, it's very eye opening. I spend so much more time with each individual child- something I really couldn't do well with 24 kids in my room. I feel like I'm getting to know them on such a deep level.

I can honestly say that I love teaching more now than I ever have before. And I loved it before! I really enjoyed being a teacher. But there's something about the pace at this school that allows me to sit back and really enjoy what I'm doing. Maybe it's that I only have 10 spelling tests to grade at a time, or that it's ok if you're a few minutes late to Spanish cause you were in the middle of a science experiment, or maybe it's that I feel like I have the time to really spend a few weeks on subtraction if they just aren't getting it and not worry about where that puts us on our schedule for preparing for the state assessments. There's just something about it...

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This weekend was great- on Friday night Brandon and I attended the 2nd grade parents/teachers cocktail party! I told you this school was different!!! I wasn't sure what to expect- and was pleasantly surprised. It was held at the house of one of my students. The house was REALLY nice (hello, they pay big $$$ to send their kid to my school!) and my student was beyond excited to have his TEACHER in his own HOUSE!! He gave me the grand tour before retiring to his playroom with the babysitter. It was a great evening- so nice to be able to relax and get to know a ton of parents in a different way. I have a feeling that things like conferences are going to go really well since the parents know me as a person too, not just the teacher.

On Saturday we went out to lunch with Uncle Timmy and Auntie Liz. Jack was being a total toddler all weekend- one minute he loves you, the next minute you're scum! After Jack and I took our naps- we headed to Perkins with Grandpa and Auntie Liz- gotta love Perkins!

This morning we went to church. I'm working in the church nursery 2 Sundays a month- so Jack was happy as a clam to stay with me and play with all the toys. After church we met Uncle Timmy and Auntie Liz out for breakfast at this great resaurant we've driven my a million times and always wanted to try. It was fabulous! Next we were on to grocery shopping. My dad loves our grocery store, so we go every Sunday after church. Jack and I took naps this afternoon, then the 3 of us played outside, ate at QDoba for dinner, went to the park, took Finley for a walk, and then watched Extreme Makeover Home Edition. It was a great weekend!

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Jack's vocabulary sort of exploded last week. He's finally ready to not just smile when you ask him to say a word- but to try and repeat it! So far he's added: yellow, apple, deer, bee, and grandpa to his list.

Another week is upon us- October already! We're ready for fall- and heading to the apple orchard- I've also got to order Jack's Halloween costume!!