The last few weeks have been so busy!!!!:)

Just as I suspected I would be, I have been horrible at keeping this up to date, which is sad really because so much has happened! I've been student teaching for nearly a month now and it's been both incredible and incredibly busy. Along with student teaching we also moved into a new home (which we bought:) and traveled to Nebraska for Ken's grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. So the last few weeks have kind of been a whirlwind and they've moved incredibly quickly. I love the school that I'm at, I love the staff, the culture of the students (though a bit harder to grasp with uniforms, but still there), I love my mentor teacher, and I even like the additional program I'm doing along with my student teaching. I don't know that I could have been placed with a better mentor teacher. We view kids in the same light in a lot of ways, we're both sensitive to pushing kids too much in regards to speaking up in class. I'm already attached to the students this year. I was terrified to go back. I was scared I had lost my teacher persona. I had felt like after my internship in the spring that I had that down. I felt comfortable in the classroom as the teacher. I was afraid that the summer had somehow dimmed that level of comfort I had accrued. I was also afraid that I had somehow forgotten how to talk to teenagers. I was relieved to find that I hadn't lost any of that at all. It all came back right away, although I'm sure that will be a fear every summer. Classroom management has been so much easier this year than last. A part of that's the kids and some of the different things Mrs. G has implemented to make it easier to transition from activity to activity and then another part of that is me. I do feel like I'm getting the hang of it and I'm finding my niche. I'll never be the disciplinarian type and that's fine. I think I have my own subtle ways of dealing with management issues in the classroom. Of course I still have a ton of stuff to learn. I have yet to really handle a situation well in which I'm engaged in a power struggle with a student. I experienced that last week in a more subtle way. There is one student in the modified class who drives me up a wall. I've worked with her before, a part of me really feels for her and than the other part of me, the part that sees her make fun of someone in class or blatantly talk while I'm talking, absolutely can't stand her. I know that seems harsh, and in truth that's not how I feel. I'm jut frustrated because naturally I'd like everyone to leave my classroom knowing what respect is and how to show it to those around you including yourself. I just haven't exactly found a way to get that concept across to every student in the classroom although most of them exhibit that anyway. I know a part of it is that it's junior high and a lot of time teens are so self involved they aren't necessarily seeing themselves as being disrespectful but rather just as having fun, etc. It will be something I have to work on over time, especially with her. I will try and be patient. But something will have to give sooner or later.
Our house is great. I don't know how much it's really sunk in yet. I think I really felt it last night after my meeting at BSU. I was tired and driving back from Boise. I almost turned up the street to go to our old apartment and it hit me, "Wow! I'm finally back in Meridian." Seeing pictures of Ken's family birthday party on Sharlee's myspace made it sink in more as well. It was neat to see us on our back porch or Sharlee and Ken in the dining room because that's our dining room now and we own it! It will be the same dining room we have Thanksgiving in and the same house we have babies in:) It's an exciting thought. We still have a tremendous amount of unpacking to do. I haven't even touched the office yet, although I feel like I should soon, so that I can be a bit more organized when it comes to school and lesson planning.
Anyway, I think I'm done writing for now. I am going to relax on the couch and read guilt free:)