April 2013

I have seriously been lacking in the blogging area lately.  With spring reluctantly arriving, my fingers want to dig into the dirt and grow something rather than type away at the keyboard.  And then again, how on Earth can it be the night before May 1st?!

Low:

• My time is winding down at my second placement.  It has literally flown by and I now only have 7 teaching days left!
• My car air conditioning needs recharged.  It was a long, hot drive back from the Twin Cities last weekend.  Just ask Dustin.
• Lu canceled her Netflix.  Just when I was almost done with Brothers & Sisters.

High:

• I have had great weekends this whole month!  The first one was spent with Whit having best friend time, the second one was spent at home with the niece and nephew for their birthdays, one was spent in Brandon and Iowa City, and last weekend was in the Twin Cities.  Great times were had!  :)

• I have had a wonderful time in my second placement!  I love the students, teachers, paras, and the random things that happen.  Like Duck Dynasty Day!  :)

• So far, I have sent out exactly 1 application for teaching positions.  I sent it yesterday.  I received a call to have an interview today.  I have an interview on Thursday!  Pray for me please?

What a crazy month before a summer of unknowns.  Some answers are slowly coming, but a lot of things are still up in the air.  Just knowing that God is always faithful keeps me hopeful.

Commonalities

Finding that common ground.  Pick up on commonalities.  Common, common, common.  This thought has been drilled into my head in my years at UNI.  Bill, last semester, was the main driller.  Whenever I hear the word, I hear it in his voice.  Seriously.  

Never in my whole life did I think that the common ground with my students would be as easy as princess stickers, talking about the day to day, high fives and Mario.

I seriously love these students so much!  I mean, how many people can say they have made cupcakes with a student who is blind?  Or dirt cups for that matter?  I love what I do!  I love the people I work with!  They make every day just a little bit better than it already was.

Yesterday one of my students was asking me about what radio station I listen to.  I told him I listen to country and Christian music.  He is the soft rock kind of guy so he was a little disgusted with my answer.  Somehow, the conversation got turned to George Strait.  Go figure since he is my FAVORITE!  I like to consider myself a George Strait Junkie of sorts!  :)  Anyway, Evelyn is one of the sweet paraprofessionals that I work with.  She's kind of like my grandma at school.  She was saying something about having George Strait records that she'd have to look for.  The subject changed and I never gave it another thought.

Today in the hub-bub of the morning, Evelyn came in and handed me a flat bag.  I opened it to 2 George Strait records!  She told me I could keep them!  I geeked really badly!  It was all I talked about today!  I annoyed my students a little when they didn't know who he was and I played some tunes for them.  I didn't care!  I was too stinking happy!  Evelyn found that common ground with me, and look at where we are now!  It's huge when you can find something that really connects with a person.  Finding common ground with one of my girls was as simple as offering her princess stickers, but it's been a little slow up until about Tuesday.

Ah, common ground!  :)

You Just Have To...

I have been embarrassingly behind on blogging lately.  So much has been going on since I last blogged!  I've sat down to write a couple of times over the past month and then I would get distracted by a more pressing need.  So, for this blog, I will attempt to catch up on the past month and all its happenings.

I couldn't be happier with my second student teaching placement.  I started after a mere 4 days of saying goodbye to my 3rd graders.  That first day was practical culture shock.  Instead of there being more students than teachers, it's the other way around.  Instead of my name being said, yelled, uttered multiple times in a half hour span, I could go for half hours without hearing my name.  Instead of a stuck to schedule, there is a roll with the punches atmosphere.  I don't think I can express how happy and free I feel in this room.  I take over next week completely.  I've been getting along so well with each of the students.  And I need to get red pants for Red Pant Wednesday!

And I have a desk.

With a yellow rain boots pot with a plant.

AHHHH!!!!  

:)

My boyfriend and I have been dating for 2 whole months.  The time has simply flown by!  He's come home with my twice and loves hanging out with my family.  We love playing cards and just last night, he beat me for the first time in Rummy.  Dustin is a country boy through and through.  He's convinced I need to get a gun and go hunting with him this year.  He loves fishing...and he enjoys catching more than me...

Bella, his dog, is super jealous.  She's had him all to herself for her whole doggie life.  But that problem is now solved since he took her into his parent's house to stay. 

And then there's Benji.  Ya know, that sweet and innocent Yorkie that guards the Abrahamson house?  The only reason he's so 'sweet' is because he ate 1 1/2 Scratch cupcakes.  Yep.  The cupcakes I got for Dustin and I.  One that he special requested.  Benji got them and took one to hide for later.  We aren't on sweet terms right now.

I was able to see Jani Lippert last week.  Oh man, did I miss that girl!  It was so good to get a hug from her!  It was great to catch up a little bit in the gas station parking lot.  She brought me a portfolio that I was badly in need of because not only do I have to do the whole teaching thing, but I have to do the portfolios and other assignments for seminar.

Did I mention that I'm starting to look for real jobs now?  Holy cow!  I'm trying to find something up this way.  There are a few openings, and there is so much to get done for the application process.  Dustin came over last week to help me look and I was stressing out a little bit.  After a good dose of prayer, I was able to sleep that night.  I know that God will open the door I need to walk through.

Well, you should all know by now that my best friend is getting married in November.  We got her dress, and so with my precious few weekends that I have left, we spent Saturday looking for my dress.  The first one I tried on was the one!  I can't wait to wear it at her wedding!  No pictures because the dress was the wrong color, and it was a size too small, but look for them in November.

Before the kids even left today, my teacher told me to get ready because I was leaving as soon as the kids left.  She was too.  

"It's too nice to sit in here and work.  Sometimes you just have to do that for yourself."

So I sit on the deck getting ready to work on lesson plans and portfolios.  At least I'm outside, right?