Oh, Institute...

Hello, beautiful people!

So much for keeping up with the blog, right? Things have been so crazy! In both good and bad ways. Let's start from the top...

The first week was pleasant. Waking up early, workshops, dinners, but nothing compared to the beauty that is institute. Once that week was over, we moved from the Sheraton Hotel to the ASU dorms since. The registration process itself was overwhelming. We had to go through about twelve tables that had tons of packets and information for us. Once that was over, we moved into our rooms and tried to make it as comfy and cozy as possible since it would be our home for the next five weeks. That first day was just as many of the previous corps members described it - unforgettable. My heart melted and the nerves kicked in to the max the minute I saw my students. Feelings of happiness, excitement, fear, and whoknowswhatelse completely flooded my brain. I took my students over to the classroom and began this whole adventure known as 'teaching.' It was, for lack of a better term, crazy. You think you've prepared and you have lesson plans in front of you, but you really have no clue what you're doing. So many things to keep track of - Am I differentiating my lesson? Am I keeping expectations high for my students? Am I checking for understanding? How about guided and independent practices? I felt like everything I did was so unorganized and nonsensical. But you know what? You get the hang of it. I mean, lesson planning sucks at first. BIG TIME. I was awful at it! I knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted to teach the materials, but transferring all of that from my brain into the brains of twenty-five second graders seemed almost impossible. Thank goodness for CMAs and your collaborative members. I tell ya, I would have been so lost without their help and support. To be honest, I did not think I was going to make it. But here I am! Alive and well, enjoying every single minute of it and getting better as the days go by. I absolutely love teaching and I don't see myself doing anything else right now. At the end of the day, those kids are what help me get through it. I have some of the most amazing students ever... so smart and willing to learn. Everyday is a new adventure, sometimes good and sometimes a bit harder to deal with. Despite the challenges, this is definitely where I want to be right now.

On that note, I do want to say to all of you peeps that read this THAT I MISS YOU LIKE PEANUT BUTTER MISSES ITS JELLY! Talking to you all has helped me a lot, as well. Thank you.

I'm off to plan lessons for next week. More updates coming soon. And not a month apart; I promise.

Love and peace to all.