update

Soo....

Have you ever tried to reinforce one million personal goals

while finishing school as the teacher of 600 students?

Me neither.

And thus begins a different goal for this month.

Instead of trying to keep up with goals previously established, 

this month's goal is to

finish the school year with grace.

It's okay if things aren't done perfectly!

It's okay if there are scheduling errors!

It's okay if we ate macaroni and cheese and/or pizza a hundred times this week!

Finish the school year with grace.

All I can say is, I know exactly what I'm going to be doing on May 23.

Hellooooooooo, Hallmark Christmas movies.

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“May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion?”

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

and then it was the last day of school...in May

What time is it? Summertime!

Hey, I'm catching up.

Oh, the last day of school.  Glorious.  I let the fifth and sixth graders in on the secret that I speak English, which was beyond fun.  There were a lot of, "Wait - - what?"s, "You're so awesome!"s, and "I  KNEW it!"s, along with my other favorites, the "I'm glad you did it that way"s.  I'm excited for next year when I can talk to them outside of class like friends, the way they and I have been wanting to this year but couldn't really.  If I participated in conversations this year the way I wanted to, no one would  have understood, so I'm excited to be able to respond to their fun plans and stories with something other than, "¡Excelente!" 

The last day of school was also a lot of fun in the other grades.  We played, danced, sang, reviewed, and I answered the questions they asked the week before on their year-end surveys.  I'm glad I get to teach them again next year!  

And I got pictures of all my classes.  Do you know how many classes that is, people?  23.  Twenty-three classes of twenty-five students.  That's a lot of kids, and a lot of adorable class pictures.  I'm not allowed post them on the Internet, though, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  

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"YOU ARE ALIVE.  Your journey is not over.  NO matter what, this simple fact alone is proof that you still have something meaningful to achieve." - Marc & Angel Hack Life blog

favorite quote from today

This is what I looked like today.

When I walked into today's second grade class, a boy said, 

"You look like you went on vacation.

Or went shopping.

Or like maybe you're still a teenager!"

Last week, I straightened my hair instead of doing it curly.

In the same class, a boy asked me, 

"Is the reason you look different today because you brushed your hair?"

Those kids are so funny. :)

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="">

write write write

Some of you may be wondering how it feels to write a 131-page paper.

I now know the answer to that wondering.

Some of you also may be wondering how it feels to turn in a 131-page paper.

I also know the answer to that wondering.

Thanks to Mom and Kelli for this picture!

That's right.  

It feels AWESOME.

education

School.  I've been thinking about it lately.

Being a teaching major, I've been talking and hearing a lot lately about motivation in school, and sometimes it's hard to imagine that there are students who really refuse to try because they don't see the importance, or because of another of a million reasons.

It's at those times that I realize that I now believe education can be fun and important.

All through school, I was a smart kid.  Not always the smart kid, but sometimes.  And when people would talk about how much they hated school, someone would always say, "Not Alison! She loves school!" which I would indignantly (and truthfully) refute.  Just because I made good grades, I would say, did not mean I liked it.  And I didn't.

My freshman year at college, I didn't know how to study.  I squandered too much time talking about not liking classes and wondering why I had to take some of them.  This repeated during my sophomore year, although I tried harder to try.  Finally, second semester of junior year, I wised up and took a class that taught me how to study.  As a result, college has easy-ed up immensely.  I was thinking today that I wished I hadn't slacked off the first little while, but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have ended up where I am today.

As I was walking down the hall last night after my Thursday night class, I was genuinely disappointed that I had just finished the last session of the semester.  And if someone said now, "Not Alison! She loves school!" they would be much less wrong than before.  I don't love all of school, but I'm getting closer to really loving the learning part of it.  Difficult classes can be fun because it's exciting when you "get it."  Reading means I'll understand class.  (That's a lesson you learn get until you actually try to get something from the reading before class.)  Schoolwork this semester has been very purposeful = less boring.

I'm not really sure what the point of this post is.  Perhaps just to get my thoughts out so I can think them clearly.  But if it needs a moral, let it be this: Let yourself like school.  Let yourself like learning.  You just might be surprised how much you like it if you let yourself try.

And to all of you who still think it's cool to say you hate school (or whose friends do): You will be ahead now and later if you stop saying that and start letting yourself believe learning is good.  I know I am.