A day in the life...

...of a teacher.

This past week has been really great in middle school. I don't know if it is because I am getting to know the students better or if I am improving in my classroom management skills, but I have really enjoyed the past few days in 7th and 8th grade.

The biggest challenge for my in middle school is maintaining my students attention. I have been working at this for the past couple of weeks and it is nice to see some improvements. When I was at Dordt we talked about middle school development and how they are just so different at this age. I am starting to put the pieces together between college and real life experience. The middle school students really are in a world of their own. I enjoy seeing the different personalities in my classes. Sometimes it is fun to think about what they will all be like in 10 years. I often go back in time, remembering my own middle school years. It was a good time, but sometimes a difficult time. I am hoping that even though I am only with these kids for a short while, my teaching will impact them. I can definitely see how it might be difficult for teachers to say goodbye to students at the end of the year.

One of the reasons why I have enjoyed these last few days is because of the Drama class I am teaching. I just started an improv unit with them and it is soooo much fun! The kids are so interested and they love the new exercises and games I am teaching them. I am excited to see how things go after break. I especially love seeing how the students react to each other in a setting other than regular class. The atmosphere is fun and relaxed.

~tangent~
The pictures below are of everyday life in Nicaragua. From pigs in the ditch to salesmen at the intersection...always someting interesting to caputure in a photo.







The first picture I have attached was taken of my feet after a day in 5th grade. I would often come home from school with feet like that. Although my feet don't look like that in the high school end, this picture reminds me of long days at school and hard work.

These past few days I have been grading projects and tests like crazy. I finally finished my last test at 9:15 tonight. YAY! It feels so good to be done with grading. Now, comes the lesson planning.But that might be spread out over the next 10 days because....

tomorrow morning at 6:00 we are leaving for Costa Rica! I am very excited to finally have a long break! We are taking a 10 hour Tica Bus ride to San Jose. Most of our plans are ready, but that will be disclosed at a later time....