First Week = DONE! Ha!

It's Friday, and I am still alive. In fact, I had a very successful first week! I have met every single freshman, and I can say without a pause that the class of 2013 is going to be the class to beat. They are such a polite, focused and curious group. I can tell who the class clowns are, and who is going to need some extra encouragement to participate, and I want to be the best teacher these kids have ever had!

I gave each of my students a survey on the first day, and the answers I got back were often halarious, and sometimes frightning. I've learned a lot about my kids through this survey, and their answers will be indispensible when it comes to helping them grow as learners. One student said he had really low self-esteem, and many say that they struggle with organization. It's these types of things that I want to help them with!!!!

Everyone has been so supportive this week! Everyone is always asking how I'm doing, and if they can do anything to help. It has been such a good week, that there is nothing that I can complain about. Alright, there is one thing... You see, most teachers teach three classes a day and have one period to prep. My schedule is a little different because the teacher I replaced wanted to do things differently. On "A" days, I only teach two classes (my Honors classes) and then I have two preps. On "B" days, I teach for all four periods, with my only break being lunch. And sometimes I'm on lunch duty during lunch! Whenever someone hears about this schedule, they can't believe I have to go through that! It's amazing how much that one class off helps you regain focus and your sanity. So on that note, I went to bed at 8 pm yesterday because I was so exhausted! I had a horrible headache coming home and then fell asleep on the couch. I wasn't even hungry because my headache was so bad. It was pretty crazy, but I felt so much better this morning! 10 hours of sleep will get you into a good mood faster than anything else I've found!

Now I have a mountain of grades to enter into the gradebook, and some lesson plans to make for next week! Yikes! I hope I find some time to relax this weekend. I need to get in some serious pool time since my tan is fading fast. And I miss seeing my girlfriends, so a girls night out is in order I think!

I'm missing Oregon a lot lately. Wyeth leaves for Sweden tomorrow and that makes me miss everything from Oregon even more!

Cheers,
Danielle!