Our second grade field trip to the Albanese Candy Factory can be summed up in three words: very hyper children. They were already acting crazy at nine this morning even though the trip wasn't until noon. Lucky me, right? I got to sit with one of my secretly favorite kids, Travis, on the bus. He's the child with ADHD that can not sit still if his life depended on it. The last week he has been great though and earning rewards all over the place. The best part about this has become his journey to 3rd grade. This student has amazing grades in math but is in Tier 3 for reading. (For you non teachers out there this means that he needs drastic help reading at even a first grade level.) Although his reading scores have not improved over this past year, he has more than made up for it with his character. He has gone from a child who had trouble making friends and now is one of the class favorites. At the end of the day, he stays to help me put up the chairs for the kids who forgot. He never asks for a reward. He does it just to be helpful and as he says, "make your day as a teacher easier." It's funny. When I observed my cooperating teacher before I took over, he was the kid that would never give me a hug at the end of the day like all the other kids. Now, he seems better aware of my emotions than I am. This seating pair led to a discussion about bodily functions, what's the worst possible thing to throw up, and how come a catheter doesn't have apple juice coming out of it. These conversations are priceless and remind me why I love working with kids.
On another note, I finally finished my huge 136 page ten lesson unit and another big paper for my two night classes this semester. Because of this stupid time commitment I have had a hard time sleeping the last two weeks. I'm lucky to have gotten maybe four hours of sleep each night. I felt like a huge weight was off of my shoulders yesterday until a friend reminded me that we still have another 15 page paper to do within the next couple of weeks. Well, at least I felt better for awhile.
Soccer season starts for the Parks Department in a couple of weeks and it could not come at a better time. I'm fully committed to working eight hour shifts again and I am so happy about that. I get to go back to my niche where I feel the best. It also helps that it's outdoors, lets me use a whistle, and be the person I was at 16 all over again. This makes my sixth year as a referee for the VPRD. I almost forgot how much I truly loved refereeing soccer with the 7 and 8 year olds. I love how uncoordinated they are and hearing them smack talk the other team like it's the World Cup instead of a rec league. I'm so ready for putting up soccer nets at seven AM, awesome tan lines, not wearing suntan lotion, getting burned, crazy thunderstorms that come out of nowhere, demanding coaches, and finding the next Mia Hamm.
Bring
it
on
I wish there was a 'like' button. I would 'like' this post :D
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