day 15

I am thankful for the kiddos at my job. Actually, scratch that.....I am thankful for the kiddos that I teach. I mean seriously, I get the opportunity to do what I love everyday, and get college credit for it. No matter how my morning has gone, all it takes is those kiddos running up to hug me and tell me they miss me, and it makes my heart melt a little bit more and more each time. Then after spending a couple hours of the morning with these kiddos, I get to get in my car, and come back to the college for a bit, and then go spend a couple hours of my evening with another set of kiddos that make my heart smile! Tonight, I also got to have a Gatekeepers event, and so I got a triple helping of heart-smiling, laughing so hard it takes your breath away, mile long smiles, and heart melting fun tonight! It is these nights that this that are going to make me miss college!

I would also like to take this moment to say how thankful I am for the insightful conversation that took place in the hallway of an elementary school today! I was feeling a bit frazzled upon entering my first grade classroom to see that there was a substitute teacher. Last week when we had a substitute, it ended up being much more chaotic than it should have been, and the panic was written all over the subs face. In the end though, it worked out and the kids learned stuff. Anyway, when I got there, the sub told me that there was a change in plans, and that she was wanting me to meet with my group, but then also gave me a list of certain skills to go around and work with some of the other students on. I am a person that needs structure and order and time to prep, but at any rate, I did what I was told, met with my group, and then called individual students over to work with them on needed skills until it was time for me to leave. After I left and was on my way to observe a music class, he was walking back to the room and stopped me wanting to chat for a minute. As we stood in the hall and chatted, he told me that I had done a great job adapting to what I was told to do, even with no prep time. This was great news to me to hear, because I had thought I was doing horrible. He also told me that seeing that I had that skill, made him feel that I was going to be an excellent teacher, and that in the short time I have been there, seeing that I have won over the hearts of the students, just solidified this thought in his mind. It was such an encouragement boost for me, especially after getting an evaluation this week from my teacher (the one at the college, not the one whose classroom I am in), that made my heart sink. It made me really question whether or not I was going into the right field. However, in that hallway today, this total stranger made me completely convinced that I was on the right track! So stranger out there, if you ever read this, thank you! I am sure somewhere in our convo we exchanged names, but I am unable to place a name right now!

Words of Wisdom: "Mistakes are part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are. They are precious life lessons that could only be learned the hard way." ~Al Franken