yet another week...

Yes, yet again it has been a week between posts. Sorry, life got in the way. But life has been good, I am happy to report. Christina and I have completed our first week of Quiet Times together. I'm really enjoying that. I'm glad she asked me about that because it sort of forced me to get back on track. God always knows just what I need. And we've been able to have some really good discussions together about what we're reading. Those discussions typically lead to others, which is good because I have a specific person who I can share important stuff with that I can count on to keep me accountable on a daily basis. And she's been such an encouragement to me, as well.

This week has been good. I don't specifically remember why, though. Nothing really stands out too much. I guess it was just a good week in general. My Thursday practicum stands out though. I walked in the door to my first grade class to find a substitute in place of the regular classroom teacher. The thought that immediately ran through my head was "I hate substitutes." No offense to them as people, but substitutes typically have NO IDEA what they're doing in the classroom. And this one was like a hundred years old to top it off. "Well, grin and bear it," I thought. I went in and introduced myself, and a look of sheer joy came over her face. She walked me to the desk where she proceeded to hand me the notes the teacher had jotted down for her. "This is what they're doing today," she said to me as she handed over the two little white slips of paper. "They have to go at the right time for lunch... can't be early or the other teachers will get mad," she said to me. She obviously was unaware I would only be there for a few hours. "I'm just here for the morning," I informed her. With a simple agreement, she stepped away, and it became clear to me that I was to take over. A quick surge of panic zipped through me for a split second. Then it was over. "I can do this," I reassured myself. I was comforted by the fact that I had observed the class before to know how they do things. After examining in detail the contents of the hand-scrawled schedule and realizing that absolutely nothing had been accomplished in the time before I entered the room, I assumed my position as "teacher." We went through the usual procedures of the morning calendar and the reading chart; we did multiple pages in the reading workbook, followed by several pages in the math workbook. I was quite encouraged and put at ease when the co-teacher entered the room (from working with a few kids on speech): she realized what page we were on in the reading workbook and said, "oh! you've gotten quite a lot accomplished! that's great!" "I told you it would be fine," I said to myself. Half-way through the math pages, I had to leave because my time was up. We had gotten a lot accomplished, though, and no one had any traumatic "substitute-day-breakdowns!" (For those who don't know, having a substitute is a very traumatic and disturbing experience for some young elementary school kids! No joke.) I informed the "real" sub where I left off and turned the class back over to her. The morning had gone very well, I thought. "She has no idea what she's doing," I reasserted as I closed the door behind myself.

Like I said, nothing else about my week particularly stands out. But tonight I'm going on the "First Friday Art Walk" which I'm quite excited about. After that, I think I'm going to a cookout at Larry's house, which should be fun. Tomorrow night is The Edge, and Watermark is going to be in concert. That's all my fun and exciting news. Maybe there will be more by the end of the weekend! Peace out!