A Long and Productive Day

This morning I had to be at school at 7 AM for a literacy meeting. I am therefore extremely sleepy. But we got free bagels. Yay-uh!

I planned a lesson today to have the students connect with a character in Walk Two Moons--Phoebe. After I read chapters 9 and 10 aloud to them, helping them with characterization throughout, I had them write down their favorite quote or saying on a little strip of paper. They each drew out someone else's message and answered a little worksheet about it the quote and about the message which Phoebe received ("Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins").

The kids loved it. Every period was extremely well-behaved. Sixth period was especially good because I made a deal with them. It also didn't hurt that the assistant principal sat in for half the period.

After reading the same two chapters six times and giving instruction all day, my voice is hurting bad. I stayed at school until around 4:30 taking care of random things like grading and sorting and planning.

After school I drove to a local credit union which offers low finance rates for teachers to figure out how to apply. Turns out I need a Utah driver's license. I'm in no hurry to get one of those, but I guess I might as well get it over with sometime.

I left the union pretty quickly--I could've just called and made my life easier. Oh well. I went to Maverik to fill up the air in my tires, again. The light has been on for the past few days. Kinda bugging me. So I took care of that.

Then I stopped at Costco to pick up my new membership card. We won't discuss the fact that my picture on the card is absolutely horrific. No, really. Horrific. After Costco, I went to Macey's. I figure I should try Costco for bigger, bulkier trips. That's the logic.

I got myself some foods and didn't spend very much money, which made me happy. I got home, put everything away, stuck something to eat in the toaster oven, and continued grading. I graded and ate until a Relief Society presidency meeting at 7:30. That went quite fast, and I stayed after a while to make our magnet cards for everyone in R.S. to know who their presidency is. I actually had a great time with the president and new first counselor. They're great, and I'm glad to be serving with them. I've been praying every day to be prepared and able to do my calling and to set an example and for help to be (and feel) worthy of this calling. It is exciting, and I do feel blessed for my efforts lately. Anyway, I left Holly's around 8:15, too late to wind down by baking, which is what I originally wanted to do. (Baking is a great way for me to unwind. That banana bread turned out really good, by the way. It was slightly dry, so I'll use butter and probably a little more banana next time. Anyway, instead of baking, here I am blogging, since I rarely ever get to do it. It works for unwinding.)

So back home at 8:15, I finished grading some worksheets. I entered the scores, and here I sit blogging.

I have parent teacher conferences coming up this Thursday which I need to prepare for, but all my grading is caught up so that feels good. I'm really nervous about it. I hope it goes well.

I still haven't sold Edna. I'm thinking I'll take her to my aunt's dad's car shop so he can sell it for me. It's even on Craigslist and KSL. :( Edna, get out of my life!

Last night, I graded papers and watched Dirty Dancing for a little Swayze nostalgia in his honor. It was really fun, actually. I feel so bad that he is gone. :(

In an effort to feel worthy of my calling, I've also tried (in the last two days--that's a long time, I know!) to start up consistent scripture reading again. It's made a HUGE difference in my day today and yesterday. I love the scriptures. They're awesome.

I miss my rabbit. I can't wait to move out of Crestwood and get a kitty or a little doggy. That will be fun, to have something ALIVE again!

Tomorrow I need to do a reflection/narrative for my internship and also attempt to plan out next week (and all related worksheets/needed copies). It should be a productive day because 8th graders are doing ITBS testing, whatever that means. All it means to me is that I'll be able to sort today's worksheets in files, print out progress reports, get my cart and student files ready, plan next week and order copies, send a narrative to my professor, and figure out how to get Edna sold. I am really, really, really tired and am honestly probably going to be in bed within the next half hour.

While I miss the friends I used to have, and while I find myself lonely and tired and wanting "somebody" pretty frequently, and while this challenge is hard to go through "alone," I still feel immensely blessed, especially as I put more effort into being better. My kids were great today, my lesson plans are going well, I'm healthy (as in "not sick," but I desperately need to get on a workout schedule again in hopes of feeling less exhausted and less obese), and I'm enjoying my demanding calling. I also love my roommates. And I get to go home in a month exactly, plus a month after that for Thanksgiving. I am excited. Yay for vacations!

Wish me luck in my ongoing adventure.

Miss Balibrea, Out

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