Chugging Along

I'm not sure how many people actually read my blog, but here's an update on what I'm up to now. This past week my co-teacher and I attempted to visit all 30 of our kids. We are required to visit each child's home before they start school so we can get an idea about the home situation of the child and so they can fill out require paperwork for them to come. Each visit is about half an hour to an hour long. I play games with the kids (the fun part) and take notes while the teacher (Miss Julie) talks with the parent(s). It's exhausting to visit more than 4 families in one day! We got most of the kids, but with class list changes, we will most likely have more home visits to do in the coming weeks.

The other thing we attempted to do was start setting up our classroom. Neither one of us worked in this classroom before, so we have no idea what we have to work with and no time to actually go through. Everyday this week we've swapped furniture or other items from a closed classroom so we have things that are in better condition. Most of the stuff in our classroom is fairly old and ugly. We figured out where we want the different "centers" of the classroom to be, but it still looks like a disaster and there is so much stuff to do and we don't have time to do it unless we work over time. Over time is a big no-no for asst. teachers like me because we are paid hourly, but that puts the load on the teacher and she is super stressed. It's awful. I wouldn't be surprised to find out she worked in the classroom on Saturday....

The greatest obstacle here is that we only are given another 1/2 day to set up the classroom between now and when class is to start. All the other time we are in training all day long. It's going to be a really rough and stressful next few weeks.

On a more positive note, I love living only 8 minutes from the center I work at. It's awesome! I am really excited to work with Julie. She has a bear theme that she does things with all year long, which it perfect because I love bears! She and I get along well. If all goes like it should next year, we should be working together again next year, which right now sounds great! She worries and stresses more than I do, so sometimes she stresses me out even more, but it will be okay.

I work a full day and then M-F each night I have church activities that I go to. Thursday night I try to be home and spend time with my grandma. The most difficult task is getting to bed when I need to. I have to be in bed no later than 10 PM so I can wake up at 6 AM to get ready for work. That means leaving activities at 8:30 or so, which is a big bummer when that is the only social time I have during the week. I'm getting used to it though, so I should be okay.

So, I'm keeping very busy trying to do the same ol' same ol' balancing of life and things. My grandma is doing pretty good right now, too.

School starts August 31st and then I get my implant on Sept. 2nd! Should be great!