Slacker. Again.

As yet another semester draws to a close, I find myself panicking due to all the uncertainty in my life.

I have been with my kids, my group of 2nd graders, for two weeks now. We had several breakthroughs this week, where they actually paid attention to me, and I was their teacher.

While my Host Teacher is good, nice, and friendly, there is a lot more "classroom crazy" going on than I like. I am learning to adjust. I started actually teaching lessons last week. I did the spelling section Monday - Thursday. I graded their homework.
Then,

• I found myself wondering who actually studied at home.
• I noticed particular words that the entire class missed on the Spelling Pre-Test on Wednesday.
• I now can pick out my strong students, my middle line students, and my students whose parents are not involved or don't give a flip.

I love these kids- all of them, even my ADHD boy who now just stares me down as he runs from me, instead of scrunching his face up like a monster ready to attack. I am having alot of fun.

Yesterday, I had to go to my classroom at Tech. It was a somber scene all morning. I got there early, I listened to horror stories about Practicum from my peers. One guy told me that all his Host Teacher lets him do is file papers and move boxes. Another lady told me of how she is belittled. This was the first time this semester that our entire class was so quiet. There is a sense of panic about the upcoming four weeks - it is crunch time. Our Professors gave us a calendar of when to be where, what is due, what we should be working on. I am feeling more than a little overwhelmed. There is not enough hours in my day.

I am living three lives - I leave the house at 6:50 a.m., drive for 30 minutes, teach till 11 a.m. , drive for 30 minutes, go to work, pick the kids up, work till 4:30 or 5:00, go home or to soccer games or back to school. After this, I am trying to be a mom, and a wife. I have no time to be a friend. My tornado could be catastrophic, but I have Dave there, picking up my slack, backing me up with the children. I have my mother in law in the back, picking up my leftovers.

I woke up before 6 a.m. this morning, thinking about my kids at school, what I am going to do to get their attention about the lessons on Chinese culture that I am teaching next week. In my dreams I was devising word games for them to remember their vocabulary and spelling words.

I will be finished with this semester on April 30. The following week is FINALS.
So, today, I am going to work on today. Tomorrow is for tomorrow.