Monday (not-so-manic!)

For once! A not-so-manic Monday! So exciting.

I am really, really excited about today. I have so much to talk about, I am getting a little anxious thinking about it!

First thing's first....

•  Today's lesson: I talked a little bit about what I was planning for the kids yesterday, and I got to put it into action, today!! Since the regular prep kids (all bells except one) haven't done their latest paper yet, I started this imagery unit with the AA kids. They were SO interested. All I did was give them background notes on imagery, have them create some short images according to the five senses, share those aloud, and then talked about Dante Alighieri's life so briefly. We also introduced the 9 circles of hell in preparation to read some excerpts from the first part of Divine Comedy, "Inferno." It was so rewarding to actually teach a lesson again. They were asking questions, they were SO eager to share their examples from the imagery handout, and they really seemed to grasp what I was telling them.
  
  
• What a great segway to teaching: After the last couple of weeks of more or less "baby sitting" the kids while they read from books in class, worked on vocab (seat work), or sucked up hours and hours of class time writing papers, it was so completely refreshing to be instructing again. I was starting to get lazy: the thought of planning lessons and activities and doing what I like to call "refresher research" [the research I have to do to refresh my memory before teaching something] was completely revolting to me this time last week. After today? Totally excited to do it again tomorrow. And teaching it only one bell right now is a great, perfect, awesome first run before I teach it to the other four bells.
  
  
• Graduation: It turns out that since I had made up my mind at the beginning of this school year to stay in school until June in order to put off paying my loans a little bit more (so that I would [hopefully] have a job when they would require payment) that I have missed the deadline to graduate at the end of this quarter in December. At first, not gonna lie, I was definitely bummed. Not graduating in December means that I can't sub (because I won't have a degree [yet!], and without a degree I can't get a sub license) means less money to put towards Guillermo's surgery and rehabilitation. BUT! This does mean that I can fulfill a few requirements still needed for a minor in Literary and Cultural Studies. Yay for making myself more desirable!!
  
  
• Photos: I FINALLY got around to putting some personal touches on my desk at school. I know, halfway through student teaching is a little late, but better late than never, right? Anyways, looking around my room I realized that I had about five pictures (out of about 10!) of Lauren and I! So I chose the two I liked best, kept those, and used the pretty pretty frames to frame photos of Nick and I and one of Guillermo for my desk at school:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Guillermo: He is doing a lot better today! The medicine seems to have completely left his system, and we are trying our hardest to get him to use his leg (to build up muscle) as much as possible, so that recovery after the surgery isn't so hard. He has been responding well to the liquid anti-inflammatory that was prescribed, and is running up dan down stairs and jumping off and on the couch! Go Guillermo!

Hope everyone had a great Monday, too!! Don't forget to scoop up the new blog button :)

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