Learning

School these past few days has been a lot of new experiences.  I am having to remind myself that not everything will work on the first time.  I don't know that I would call these past few days a struggle but definitely a challenge.  Having two separate grades and two teachers attempting to teach at the same time in one room is definitely a situation I never imagined myself being in.  I have been having to work on my voice level so that it's loud enough for the 2nd graders to hear me but not too loud that the 3rd graders a few feet away can hear me.  It's been a test for me.  Teaching-wise, I definitely do not feel like I have been doing my best.  I have felt very unprepared everyday because I have been going off what Mrs. Lopez asks me to teach every morning.  Hopefully that changes Monday when I come in with my own lesson plans.  The 2nd graders have been very flexible with all of it though.  We have been working together on our listening and voice levels.  They are also easily distracted, as any child is, so we are working extra hard on ways to keep them focused when the 3rd graders and Mrs. Lopez are talking.  We started doing more nonverbal ways of communication today and I think I am going to start teaching them sign language so I can get their attention better.

I had mentioned that Patricia and I were going to be interviewed for the Florida Catholic and that interview happened today.  The lady asked lots of questions, as she should have.  For all of you Harry Potter fans, she reminded me of Rita Skeeter because of what she was asking and the way she was repeating herself.  It just made me laugh but she interviewed Patricia and I for a little bit and then we went and took a few pictures.  My students did not know that this was going to be happening because I didn't know when it would be happening so naturally, they were a little crazy but we got through it and on with our day.

In the evenings, I have been laying pretty low.  Today was our first full day of school and I thought I was ready and would be fine but ended up being wiped out by the end of the day.  I was more exhausted than I thought.  We got all of our living room furniture yesterday so I plopped myself down on the couch and didn't move from it much at all this evening.  For those of you wondering, we actually have nice furniture.  It's only a few years old and used to belong to the Sisters of St. Joseph.  Someone had bought them brand new furniture this past summer so they had been keeping the couch, love seat, and chair in storage and instead of sending it to Haiti, they decided to give it to us for the year.  It all fits but just barely and our futon is now fitting tightly on our balcony and the pad for it is in the closet.  We all agreed it's nice to have furniture though.  I am going to hang up frames in my room this weekend and try to make it look like I will actually be living here for the next year.

Well, those have been the past 2 days.  I realize they haven't been too exciting but a lot of my thoughts have been geared towards the classroom situation which haven't really changed much.  Say prayers tonight for all those that are going to be affected by Irene.  I'm very grateful we won't be but it is not looking promising for those north of us.

It's Friday tomorrow so I hope you have a great last day of your week! I love you!