"I find it quite interesting...

...a noun's a person, place, or thing."

Wow, I haven't written in this puppy for awhilee, but I think it is justified as my life has gotten busy again.

I have become a teacher. Yup, I am influencing America's youth. Yesterday was my first day fully in charge of one of my classes (8th grade language arts) and it went well considering the large handful of hiccups (including having to completely overhaul my lesson plan within a few seconds of finding out the worksheet I had planned the lesson around was not the one that was run-off to hand out). Today was my second day and it went a lot better...thankfully. I have been working diligently on my lesson plans and this is going quite a bit better now that I have an Internet connection at my desk (though all email sites are blocked, so that is a problem). I am working on two units (Renaissance Poetry and "Macbeth" to be exact) and am trying to get through "Night" (a novel about Jews during WWII [I think] before I actually have to start teaching it. I also have to work on a few short stories, but since they are indeed "short" this should go relatively well.

I am trying to get to know all my students (it is a relatively small school) and even went to the home football game this evening. Granted, it is part of my requirements to graduate from the Teacher Education program, but it was fun. Another student teacher and I went out and bought school sweatshirts and cheered just as loud as anyone else at the game (they lost, but hey...I was there at least!).

I also took a strong interest in the community by touring the highlights the city has to offer--it was one of the childhood homes of author Laura Ingalls Wilder ("Little House on the Prairie" if you didn't know), so I went to see the homestead, watched a short video about her youth, and went to one of the shops that is mentioned in the books that is still in operation today--pretty cool if you ask me. Next week I am going to the cemetary to see where Ma, Pa, Carrie, Grace, and baby Ingalls are buried...I loved those books as a child, so I am way interested in the history behind it.

This seems a little rambly, but it has been a long week...I work a little over 40 hours a week at the school, drive 10 hours a week to and from, plus all the work that I bring home with me, plus the collegiate obligations I still have (coursework and UPC mainly, though UPC is falling to the wayside); waking up at 5:45 isn't fun either, but I am getting used to it. I guess "getting used to it" is just what I have to do...a teacher's work is never done it seems, so I might as well keep up with it.

Yup. That's it. Pretty sure it is just about bedtime...on a Friday night...sad.