Half-way done. :)

It has been an adventure.... teaching Kindergarteners. I absolutely love it, & I truly cannot picture myself doing anything else.

It is VERY HARD though. Children at this age are at VERY different levels. While half of my class is reading or very close to reading, the other half varies from knowing 2 letters of the alphabet to knowing all of the letters but not understanding sounds. I am teased for staying up at the school all the time by... everyone, but I honestly don't see how everyone gets it done by 3:30. My room is a mess, I've got paperwork falling from my ears, & I have to call a handful of parents back to tell them whether or not they should be concerned over a test score taken by their children on a computer that lasted over an hour.

Deep breath...

I still love it. I love it because of my students. I love it because even though I'm stern, they throw their arms around me & tell me that they love me. I love it because each of my students are turning into success stories.... and I love it because every day, I learn something new. I feed off of constructive criticism & I do better the next day. My classroom may be a mess some days, but learning is going on every day. We learn about manners.... one student came in saying "What???" and now he says, "Yes ma'am." We learn about people & ourselves, science, nature, weather, time, money, numbers, addition, subtraction, patterns, letters, sounds, words, writing stories, writing sentences, poetry, rhymes, holding a pencil, holding scissors, moving our bodies from side-to-side, moving in rhythm to music, left vs. right, geography, artists, musicians, ..... and this is in one day! :)

Really... when I type my lesson plans for the week, it is ridiculous how many objectives I have to select, but it's very true. We cover a lot in a single day of Kindergarten through singing, dancing, centers, computer activities, read alouds, reading big books, pocket chart activities, guided reading, calendar/carpet time...

Deep breath again...

I'm studying the book of Esther right now using Beth Moore's Bible study. I think God is revealing a lot of things to me that I've been putting on the back-burner while all of the before-mentioned things have been made such priorities in my life. Don't get me wrong... Christ is still my rock & salvation, but I've put a lot of things in regards to my spiritual life in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place to teaching. I've got quite a history for doing this to myself... letting my perfectionist tendencies get in the way of my health or my relationship with Christ or my family/friends. A precious woman in my church has become my 2nd mother here in Amory, and she knows it. She will stop me in my tracks at school (she is an assistant right next door to me) and look me in the eye & tell me to slow down and stop trying to prove I can do this. She told me a week ago that my goals for myself as a teacher are extremely high, much higher than the expectations set for me by the administrators in our district, & their expectations are very high. I think my Amory mama is right ... actually, I know she's right. I'm making this a 24/7 job, and I can make time to relax, spend time with Jesus, & perhaps, go to a gym -- I'm thinking this will have to happen in January. :) Church happens on Wednesdays & Sundays, but honestly, when my Amory mama sat me down and was talking to me, I realized that I'm making church another chore to get done after school... I'm not doing it for the right reasons. Wednesdays are especially difficult because I go straight from school to church to teach preschool choir... then I go to prayer meeting, & sanctuary choir practice is until 8:30. I am exhausted & starving by that point...

So, goals for 2010, starting now:

1. Make time for listening to God, talking to and praising God, & reading scripture every day.

2. Leave school as others leave. Remember, it will all still be there tomorrow, or bring some stuff home & work on it while chilling on the couch. On Wednesdays, leave school at 3:30 & go home for a little while!

3. Make use of that fancy new iPod sitting under the Christmas tree in Tupelo, & go work-out. (This may help me accomplish #2)

4. Spend time with people I've put on the back-burner this semester.

It's been a good beginning to teaching, but it's time to get myself back to being Julie. After all, God's called me to be doing this very thing, why should I be treating these experiences as if I'm accomplishing yet another chore?

"Your God is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs." Zephaniah 3:17