One Day More!

Although you may have been wishing for singing, I am unable to oblige as my voice doesn't transfer too well into writing. My blog today has nothing really to do with France, Les Mis, or Broadway in general, but I promise that the title of this entry actually relates to quite a few things.

First of all, one more day of summer school and then it is over! This I am very happy about. I met some great kids, but I'm just ready to be done. I am just not the teacher that I want to be when I teach summer school. So many things make it hard to keep up a lot of the teaching methods, discipline techniques, etc. that I use all of the time to help make classtime livable (but hopefully enjoyable). It just seems that no matter what I do there's always one kid I'm not reaching. But, to end on a happier note, tomorrow is movie day, so hopefully I'll reach all of the kids!

Tomorrow is also a milestone as it relates to my employment at my current district. I am very sad to be leaving and if you would have told me that two years ago, I don't think I would have believed you. My first introduction to my classroom included a bullet hole in the window, thirteen student desks, a bookshelf with a sunken shelf, a teacher's desk covered in piles of math books, a rolly chair with one wheel missing, and a hideously ugly monster green filing cabinet. Oh, and two wasps. No other furniture. No tables. No cabinets. Not to mention the fact that I was going to have at least twenty students in all of my classes, so the kids would need somewhere to sit. Everything else that I got, I either begged, borrowed, or stole. I was really proud of my room by the time I finished and I'm really going to miss it. I added a tall bookcase, beanbags, tables, and color. The room is still mine really. It also came with a great neighbor who told me how everything worked including, teaching, English, and pretty much life. I'm going to miss her and my whole team. I taught with the greatest teachers imaginable.

Teaching at the district I'm about to go to was always my dream, but I'll also always feel a pull towards the one I'm leaving. I feel like I have grown so much in the past two years. I'm hoping to move out in a month or so. As much as I love my parents, they've been so kind to even let me stay here this long. I'm teaching in new ways and with new styles (as long as we don't count summer school). I'm actually driving. If you knew me in Utah, this is a big deal. When I applied for the job, my dad drove me out to the school site so that I would know where it was. I had never even heard of the district before. It was way out of my comfort zone. Except for driving in the city (which has to do more with a fear of guns than a fear of driving), I now am willing to drive almost anywhere. In fact, driving has to do with my third milestone after tomorrow.

One day more until I start my drive to EFY! EFY training doesn't really start until Saturday, but as it is in Kansas and I am in Missouri, I'm starting out tomorrow and stopping at my sister's house. I am so excited and yet so nervous. I'm not the first type of person that I would think of to be an EFY counselor. I'm trying so hard to be a good one, but so far I feel so far behind. I just always remember my counselor and I want to live up to that myself. I just have to remember to be myself, have fun, and keep the spirit. I'm so ready. Except for the fact that I'm not all the way packed. Which is what I should do now.

Happy Friday!