Adventure #7: Two weeks down!

I survived week two! It went fairly well. There were some obstacles to overcome, but there will always be obstacles. I am starting to get the routine of it all down. It no longer takes me an hour and a half to get myself together to go home at the end of the day. Ashley and I have been able to get out fo the school by 4:00-we barely know what to do with all our time :)

This week the weather caused a little chaos for us. Monday and Tuesday there was a heat advisory so the kids had to eat lunch in our rooms instead of outside (our temporary cafeteria is benches in the shade on the side of the unfinished gym). Then Wednesday it was extremely windy and slightly rainy so once again they had to eat in our rooms. And Thursday the kids were out at recess for about 5 minutes before it started pouring sending all 26 of my first graders soaking wet back into my classroom. And Friday it poured all morning so they once again at lunch in the classroom. Not having that break made the days a little longer and the crazy weather made the kids a little more wound up. But we survived!

There have also been many moments this week that reminded me of why I love this so much. The smile that lights up a child's face when I comment on how beautiful their handwriting is and how I can tell they have been working hard on it. The cute little pictures they bring me of rainbows and notes that say how much they love first grade. And their silly giggles when I say some outrageous thing they know is just crazy. Those are the things I love so much about little kids and the reasons why I worked so hard to get to this point. And those are the things which give me the energy to wake up every morning and crawl out of bed and face all the crazy obstacles that come my way!

Thank you all so much for your faithful prayers and encouragement! There is no way I would be where I am today without the strength and guidance God has given me and so many of you have played such an important role in that. Love you and miss you all :)

Adventure #6: I Survived the First Week!

I don't even know where to start :) It has been a whirlwind of a week! Most of it was good, some of it was hard, some of it was painful, and it was all very tiring!

My voice is just about shot- I sound a little bit like a 13 year old boy going through puberty :) And my heels and pinky toes have blisters all over them. We can't wear flip-flops or any kind of shoe without a back to school, so my feet are going to have to get calloused really fast. And until then I will continue to limb around because my feet hurt so bad!

My kids are pretty cute! Sometimes by the end of the day they start to drive me a little nuts, but their little hugs and notes are pretty cute! And the way they smile at me so proudly when I walk around praising their beautiful handwriting reminds me of why I want to be a teacher. Those simple words hold so much power! You have all the power in the world contained in your little pinky finger as one of my college professors used to say.

Continuing to get to know the staff has been awesome as well. Everyone at the school has been so helpful and encouraging during this first week of school. It has taken us a long time to get home every day because we stand in the hallway joking with people and trading advice and stories!

Trying to figure out all the curriculum and procedures is an everyday learning process. I feel like we ask so many questions everyone must want to run and hid when they see us coming :) But they have all been so helpful and patient with us. I don't know what I would do without our team leader and my mentor and wonderful principal and office staff :)

God has been so good to me and I go to bed every night thanking and praising Him for the opportunity to be here in Arizona and doing what I've wanted to be doing for so long! Miss you all and hope you are all doing well!

Adventure #5: Classroom Finished...Now Comes Teaching

The front of the room and my desk


The book corner


The view from the window wall


The view from my door

After a very long week of moving things and scrambling to get everything in my classroom all put together before meet the teacher night on Friday, everything is finally done, at least for now. :)

Now comes the adventure of teaching these kids. I'm pretty nervous about it all, but I think it will be okay. Its going to be a little choatic and I'm sure there will be times when I have no idea what is going on or what I am going to do, but I am confident that somehow God will give me the strength to get through. Thank you again for all your prayers and support and encouagement! They are felt everyday :)

Adventure #4: Moving in!

This is moving week!! But it really is turning into moving days :) Construction never finishes on time and our school is no different. They have had workers there pretty much around the clock trying to get everything together so we can start school on Monday. We spent all day Tuesday moving desks and chairs from the old campus to the new. But that was all we could move because the fire marshall hadn't approved it yet so nothing flammable could be in the rooms. 9 hours standing and hauling in the hot Arizona sun is no picnic, but it was fun to meet some of the parents and continue building relationships with our co-workers. Today, Wednesday, Ashley and I spent the morning picking up some last minute things at Target. Then we loaded up our cars with all our stuff and headed over to figure out if we could get in. We ended up helping teachers who were here last year load all their books and papers on pallets to be brought over to the new campus. Then we headed over to the new campus and unloaded our cars into our rooms. There were still construction workers trying to finish things but we just moved around them and they moved around us :)

The maintance worker from the school brought over a load of pallets full of teachers boxes and no other teachers were around so Ashley and I attacked the piles and had them all unloaded by the time they left with the truck to go get another load :)

It was another long and streuous day, but so exciting to finally get into my classroom. Granted, it is currently the construction office for the school and there are blueprints laid out all over tables in the corner of the room. But its still my room and its so exciting!!! I took a couple pictures so you could all see what it looks like before I make it all cute :)

Adventure #3: Two weeks!!!

Two weeks from today I will have completed my first day of school as a real live teacher!! Its so crazy to think about and I don’t think its really even set in yet. Ashley and I look at each other every once in a while and say, “We are teachers” or “We live in Arizona” Its crazy to say but it still feels a little like summer camp or RA orientation at Crown. But I think as the days pass by it will continue to set in more and more.

Ashley and I made a trip to Lakeshore Learning Store on Saturday to stock up on all kinds of fun stuff. We then spent the next 24 hours cutting things out and gluing things together and coming up with all kinds of wonderful ideas for decorating our classroom. We also spent some time relaxing in our pool with Ashley’s cousins and getting some much needed rest.

Training is still going strong. Spalding (the language arts curriculum) is starting to make a little more sense, or we’re all going a little more crazy, and things are sort of starting to come together. But there are a lot of things that just don’t make sense and I have no idea how they are all going to come together. There is so much stuff that I keep thinking about or they keep telling us about that I have no idea how I’m going to get it all done. I’m sure it will all work out though, that’s what everyone keeps saying anyway :)

We have really enjoyed getting to know people at school. There are so many nice people and they are so patient as they answer all our questions and so friendly asking us if we found this grocery store or that restaurant. Ashley and I have come to be known as the Minnesota Twins- we are together a lot of the time and our principal called us that in a meeting so I’m pretty sure its stuck. I couldn't think of a better person to be stuck with though!

The next days will be filled with lots and lots of preparation. Which is really exciting, but it all gets a little overwhelming sometimes. But we just need to take things one day at a time and trust that it will all come together! I promise I will put up pictures of our apartment soon! Things are a little crazy around here right now because we have a friend from Legacy staying with us for the week. She’s our first house guest :)

Miss you all!!