Friday, August 24, 2012

how to have a good week at work...

For those of you who aren't aware, I got a job! working at a school about two minutes away from my house!  Nice!  It's part-time, which I am sooooo happy about, and I'm teaching Spanish to all the students grades 1-6.  I was pretty nervous to start (this last Monday was my first day) because I've been trained to teach secondary students and I love secondary students, but things have gone well so far!  It's been a lot of fun, and there have only been a couple of tricky classes, classroom management-wise.  I've been making some good friendships with both students and teachers.  Here's an excerpt from my journal last night that I wrote after a great first week...



I've been collecting nice things for when I have hard weeks, and here are a few that I heard this week.  Some were said to me and some I overheard as I was walking down the hallways... All of them made me feel so happy that this is my job :)


"You are so fun."

"I used to never like Spanish, but now I do."

"I think I understand you even better than our normal [English-speaking] teacher!" (Said by an English-speaking girl. This was quite possibly one of the best compliments ever.)

"Who's that?" "That's our new Spanish teacher.  She's really [fun]."  (Okay, I'm making up that adjective because she was walking away and I didn't hear what she said, but this quote came from a girl whose whole face lights up every time she sees me.)

"I love Spanish now. I LOVE SPANISH!"

"Thank you so much. That was an entirely new environment [from last year] [said twice]. *I* even understood some of what you were saying!" (Said by a teacher.)

"Spanish is fun now."

"You're so fun!" (Yes, I know I've already written that. A lot of people have said it this week:) 


"You're better than the last Spanish teacher."


Really.  Pretty much every time I walk through the halls, I get stopped by teachers or students to tell me how much fun Spanish has been and how much they're loving it.  Kids wave and say "Hola" everywhere I go, and teachers are completely backing me in my use of 100% Spanish in the classroom.  In fact, almost every kid in that school is convinced that I don't speak any English, which was my goal.  :)

THIS IS SO AWESOME!  This is completely why I wanted to be a Spanish teacher - to give children an exciting foundation that would make them want to keep studying Spanish.  I didn't ever really think about accomplishing that goal at an elementary level, but since about a month ago, I've realized that it might be even more doable here than at a secondary level because the students are still so excited about learning.  Woohoo!!  

(Although it kind of puts on the pressure for next week's lesson...  I hope people think Spanish is as fun next week!)

I'll be honest.  I don't know if I've ever felt so much that a job and I were perfect for each other.  Everytime I leave school, I'm in a good mood.  It's a constant constant reminder that Heavenly Father has put me in the right place.  I really feel like I (my training, my attitude, the Spirit, I'm not sure what exactly...) was really just exactly what this school needed.  Is that arrogant?  Oh well.  I feel it.  <3 comment-3--="" nbsp="">

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

start wearing purple, wearing purple

Check out this sweet corn we got from Bountiful Baskets!




Yum!

birds update...

Well, our birds went crazy.

As soon as the babies' eyes opened, the parents went CRAZY and started dive-bombing us every time we were in the yard.  Not only us, either - they attacked other birds, neighborhood kids, my visiting teachers...  And once the babies started flying but before they moved out, they joined the attack team.  For those of you who remember, there were five of them... which makes an attack team of seven crazy birds.

They were adorable at first, but we've decided not to let them back again.  We're taking back the house.


Here are some actual pictures of Joel taking back the house...




Excellent craftsmen, those birds are.


The insides of both nests