Cohort… or family?

Thank you, Michael, for the anniversary cake! 

I think it is so cool that our cohort is so close.  I feel valued and supported by all of you and I just want you all to know that I value and support you too.  Everything I learn about you impresses me  and I consider myself lucky to know all of you!

Doubts

As I mentioned in Leadership this morning, I spent the weekend with a high school “friend” who just graduated from NNU in elementary education.  She fits Jennifer’s description of the self-righteous NNU student perfectly, not only religiously buy also academically.  While we were painting our own pottery at Fire and Ice, she explained to the other bridesmaids who were from Ohio, “Dennis Cartwright had to come to The College of Idaho because it was failing.  That’s why they have to have a five year program.”  Listening to her talk doesn’t make me feel any better, either.  She talks about things I’ve never heard of.  She knows about education related laws and policies and goes on and on about how much time she’s spent studying education.

After the wedding, I had a nice chat with my parents.  My father graduated from NNC years ago in elementary education as well.  He had some really encouraging words for me.  While he thinks that NNU’s elementary program may be slightly better than ours, (I have no idea how he knows this, since I am not in elementary ed) it is not as grand as it used to be.  The most encouraging thing he said was that NNU can’t possibly teach their students everything they need to know.  So when we enter the classroom, we’re about at the same place that NNU students are.  Teaching is learned by doing.  Plus, those who have a natural talent for teaching find that the pedagogy classes just teach them common sense.

Willie’s comments this morning about community members who have expressed their respect for C of I education graduates was uplifting too.  I feel good applying for jobs and listing the College of Idaho on my resume.  I don’t know if anyone else has had feelings like this.  Perhaps growing up in Nampa has influenced how I perceive things.

P.S.  I had a dream last night that I strangled that “friend” of mine to death and then got a frantic cell phone call from her mother.  I think my time spent with her had a toll on my psyche.

Wedding Weekend

I had a whirlwind Thursday, Friday, and Saturday centered around the Wedding of my high school friend Lachelle.  I was one of 6 bridesmaids, three from Ohio, three from Idaho.  It was a beautiful wedding and I really enjoyed spending time with my high school friends, but I did not have any time to get anything done.  In addition to all of the wedding activities, I had to take my cat to the vet, my husband was out of town, and my sister wanted me to come help her pick out her wedding dress and my bridesmaid’s dress for her wedding.  I feel like halfway through the term will not really be halfway.  I still have so much to do in the next four weeks.

Leadership is…

Ammon (rhymes with salmon)

Apart from the fact that he had a virus a few weeks ago, I realized that you guys still don’t know much about my husband.  So in honor of our 3rd wedding anniversary (Wednesday the 25th), I am composing a blog post all about Ammon.

He and I met in middle school–I was a seventh grader and he was in eighth grade.  We both played the cello in orchestra and had Gifted/Talented together.  We started dating after my freshman year in high school.  He went to ISU in Pocatello for a year and in Boise for his second year and has his associate’s degree in paramedicine.  He works for Ada County Paramedics, so if you get into a car accident, do it in Ada.

We got married more than 4 years after we started dating and to date we’ve known each other for nearly ten years.  Our closest friends are our families; we spend most of our free time hanging out with his 5 siblings or my parents.  We bought our first house almost two years ago and have devoted much of ourselves to remodeling the kitchen and various other parts of the house.  It’s still not finished, but we’ve come a long way.

He wants to go back to school for mechanical engineering, so kids are still quite a way off for us.  We enjoy playing Halo together and have two cats that demand way too much of our attention.  Plus, if we had a kid, it would be like I was the single mother of two kids–Ammon and little Bartholomew.

I can’t imagine my life without Ammon (although I’ve had to these past 6 days while he was in Texas) since he has been an integral part of everything I do for so long now.  I’m trying not to think too hard about it, but somehow I still enjoying being with him every possible moment.

The Teacher Who Can’t Say ‘No’

After the Kurdy’s presentation on Thursday, I can’t help but wonder whether I am entering the right profession.  I believe it was Kallie who said that teaching is just a set of reactions.  I am a terrible reacter (reactor?).  Being about the shyest person I know, my underlying motivation in interpersonal interactions is to keep everyone happy.  I hate having to say no, I am always afraid I’ll make someone angry.  I generally regret my actions in dealing with other people and, upon reflection, come up with what I should have done.  Can you imagine a teacher who can’t say no?

Door-to-door solicitors are the bane of my existence.  I’ve paid way too much for magazine subscriptions, chocolate bars, and gift wrap simply because I convince myself I need these things (and it’s for a good cause and she’s so cute and I can’t get this item anywhere else) while staring in the face of a person on my doorstep.   Then I prodeed to shut the door, immediately regain my correct state of mind, and kick myself.

I am going to buy a lot of cookie dough in my time as a teacher…

Anticipation

So, I’ve made it through my first week of MAT.  I still don’t have a very good idea of what’s in store for me in the next year.  I have the same feeling I had while being cranked slowly up, 150 feet above pavement on Lagoon’s SkyCoaster ride, only to be released into freefall for about 25 feet and then left to swing back and forth above the park.  As with anything, the anticipation is the worst.  I have no idea how much work will be involved, whether I will enjoy my time student teaching, or if I will even make it through.  Logically I tell my self that eventually it will be over and I’ll come out okay, but I just can’t make myself believe this yet.  I’m getting too into my head and I just need to live one day at a time right now.

Sick and Tired

Eating the cold, crispy leftovers of my husband’s potato soup while he was sick last week did me no good.  It was inevitable that I was going to get sick living with Ammon almost 24/7 for a week while he was sick and I was between school terms.  So I deliberately contaminated myself with his virus in hopes that I’d get it over with before MAT started.  I felt fine for more than a week from when Ammon first felt sick.  Friday before classes began I began to feel a tickle in my throat.  Poo.