aaahhhhh!

It is friday after school, I am NOT rushing kids to the shower, I am not rushing kids through homework, I am not rushing kids through supper. I myself am not rushing to do anything. We are sitting, relaxing, and enjoying some much needed down time!

Dani (Faron's daughter) is moving in with us on Monday! Jaala and Lei are SO excited! Every morning since we told them the date Dan is coming, they have rushed upstairs, to count how many more days are left, and check off the previous day. We had to discuss the rearranging of the seating, put up your hand if you guessed that Dani got put between the two little girls!

The weekend will be busy getting her room ready, and reorganizing some storage.

I was evaluated by my practicum instructor today, from 9-10am.
I was nervous, for sure, but very glad that they do the first evaluation so early in the term...I figured, even if I did poorly, I have a lot of time to fix my mistakes, before final evaluation time.
I was also extremely thankful that my instructor is who she is. (Shawna) has been my instructor for 4 of my classes, I LIKE her, she is very personable, very smart (she is one course away from achieving her masters of Education), and good at reading people, dealing with people and communicating.
When Shawna arrived, I was in the staff work room, preparing the guided reading story materials for the class (photocopying, sorting, chopping, stapleling), so she chatted with me while I completed that, then followed me to the classroom where I began my usual "pull out" for sight words. She observed that, then I had to administer and mark a spelling test and by that time, the hour was up and I took a break to hear what she had to say.

She gave me an A-. She complimented me on my repoire with the children, my ability to engage with them, she noted that all the children were obviously comfortable with me, she said she liked how I used humor as a tool, she told me I was doing well teaching decoding stragtegies and that I used praise and encouragement well.
She said she observes that I have recognized the differences in each student's personality and ability and capacity and that it shows well in how I teach and interact with them.
She liked that I showed enthusiasm and used fun tactics to engage their cooperation and attention to my lessons and that I communicated effectively.
She said there are no major concerns or suggestions for her to make about my preformance, however, she did have one suggestion for betterment and thus wouldn't give me an A. I appreciated her advice on this matter, a lot. She said that I can and should assert my authority b y changing the friendly tone of my voice, to a more stern voice, when st udent's silliness is breaking focus. We discussed that for a short time until I was sure I "got it".

She's RIGHT!!! Didn't I say, a few posts ago, how difficult it is for me to NOT join in their silliness and NOT to laugh at them?

So, now I have some strategy to make that issue easier to deal with.

Mhhhm that's about it, except I have zits, grrrr. Just when I think to myself "whew, didn't break out this cycle".......I break out. Oh to be 12-23 again, with a clear and zittless complexion.