Another Day...
I'm Feeling: 
productive
So while the rest of UConn goes off on Spring Break, Michelle and I and the rest of our cohort is staying here on campus so that we can teach the little kidlets at school - they're not off till April and we don't get a day off till Good Friday now.
Teaching is going wonderfully. With the exception of Tuesday - having a snow day Monday threw me way off, not to mention that over that weekend Mikey suffered a mild concussion wrestling and my Nonno (grandfather) was admitted to the hospital Sunday due to slight complications with his irregular heartbeat. I think he's OK now...he was doing OK when I talked to him earlier this week, and cracking jokes. I didn't call yesterday, but I'll call home to see how everyone's doing after I'm done here. Long story short, my head was not with it Tuesday. Had my second UConn observation that day too and everything. The rest of the week went a lot better, though.
Anyway, last weekend was good until Sunday evening. I went to Greg's on Saturday, and we went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with his brother Drew and Drew's girlfriend, Siann. It was a really good time - and Cheesecake Factory is DELICIOUS. :D That night, I met up with my parents at the hotel they were staying at in New Haven to drop off some stuff and say hi (and, as it turns out, get a set of pajamas from my mom because I forgot to bring a pair!), then spent the night at Greg's house. He made pancakes the next morning (under the scrutinizing eyes of Mommy and Daddy Switaj! LOL), and then when he went to work, his dad had me follow him to the high school that I was meeting my parents at for a wrestling tournament. Greg's family are such wonderful people, and I'm pretty sure they like me too. :)
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little excited for Monday. Since this past Monday was a snow day, our Read Across America day (Dr. Seuss' birthday) was postponed until then. I love Dr. Seuss. Friday, I read The Lorax to the class, and the week before (into Tuesday) I brought in "Horton Hears a Who!" starring Jim Carrey and Steve Carell for them to watch, which they loved. (Then Michelle's class watched it, and would not stop quoting it. Michelle says that if she has to hear "In my world, everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!" one more time, she's going to shoot someone.)
Also, during DEAR time, half the kids were reading Dr. Seuss to me on Friday. Abby and Joelle took turns reading Green Eggs and Ham to me, then I sat in and listened while Joe and Elana (a slightly lower level reader and an accelerated reader), sat together and read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. The wonderful thing about all this is that these children took it upon themselves to share the reading, and sit perfectly well behaved to do so. I didn't have to say a word. I just looked, listened, and smiled as I heard Joe read with more confidence with Elana than I'd heard him read all year. And I love that the kids read together on all levels, and help each other out - the same day, in the morning, Colby and Matthew (same levels as Elana and Joe) read a little play together quite enthusiastically, with Colby helping Matthew when he got stuck. Again, I just had to watch and smile. I love it.
This is not to say that I don't have students that I need to redirect and separate and time out when necessary, and I do - I just love the good things. :)
So off I go, embarking on a new week - it's so quiet here you could hear a pin drop, and our meal plans don't work on break so we had to go shopping today to get food for the week (although UConn is providing free lunch and dinner to those of us who are registered, there's no breakfast and we need lunch for school!) Life's pretty good right now.
productive
So while the rest of UConn goes off on Spring Break, Michelle and I and the rest of our cohort is staying here on campus so that we can teach the little kidlets at school - they're not off till April and we don't get a day off till Good Friday now.
Teaching is going wonderfully. With the exception of Tuesday - having a snow day Monday threw me way off, not to mention that over that weekend Mikey suffered a mild concussion wrestling and my Nonno (grandfather) was admitted to the hospital Sunday due to slight complications with his irregular heartbeat. I think he's OK now...he was doing OK when I talked to him earlier this week, and cracking jokes. I didn't call yesterday, but I'll call home to see how everyone's doing after I'm done here. Long story short, my head was not with it Tuesday. Had my second UConn observation that day too and everything. The rest of the week went a lot better, though.
Anyway, last weekend was good until Sunday evening. I went to Greg's on Saturday, and we went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with his brother Drew and Drew's girlfriend, Siann. It was a really good time - and Cheesecake Factory is DELICIOUS. :D That night, I met up with my parents at the hotel they were staying at in New Haven to drop off some stuff and say hi (and, as it turns out, get a set of pajamas from my mom because I forgot to bring a pair!), then spent the night at Greg's house. He made pancakes the next morning (under the scrutinizing eyes of Mommy and Daddy Switaj! LOL), and then when he went to work, his dad had me follow him to the high school that I was meeting my parents at for a wrestling tournament. Greg's family are such wonderful people, and I'm pretty sure they like me too. :)
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little excited for Monday. Since this past Monday was a snow day, our Read Across America day (Dr. Seuss' birthday) was postponed until then. I love Dr. Seuss. Friday, I read The Lorax to the class, and the week before (into Tuesday) I brought in "Horton Hears a Who!" starring Jim Carrey and Steve Carell for them to watch, which they loved. (Then Michelle's class watched it, and would not stop quoting it. Michelle says that if she has to hear "In my world, everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!" one more time, she's going to shoot someone.)
Also, during DEAR time, half the kids were reading Dr. Seuss to me on Friday. Abby and Joelle took turns reading Green Eggs and Ham to me, then I sat in and listened while Joe and Elana (a slightly lower level reader and an accelerated reader), sat together and read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. The wonderful thing about all this is that these children took it upon themselves to share the reading, and sit perfectly well behaved to do so. I didn't have to say a word. I just looked, listened, and smiled as I heard Joe read with more confidence with Elana than I'd heard him read all year. And I love that the kids read together on all levels, and help each other out - the same day, in the morning, Colby and Matthew (same levels as Elana and Joe) read a little play together quite enthusiastically, with Colby helping Matthew when he got stuck. Again, I just had to watch and smile. I love it.
This is not to say that I don't have students that I need to redirect and separate and time out when necessary, and I do - I just love the good things. :)
So off I go, embarking on a new week - it's so quiet here you could hear a pin drop, and our meal plans don't work on break so we had to go shopping today to get food for the week (although UConn is providing free lunch and dinner to those of us who are registered, there's no breakfast and we need lunch for school!) Life's pretty good right now.