this weekend was a blast. friday i got back from school and just wanted to crash. i knew that wouldn't be the smartest idea, so i decided to go the grocery store. sam [my roommate] and i always tend to have the best adventures at the grocery store. i was thoroughly impressed with myself when i got to the checkout counter - it was my lowest grocery bill yet! yay!!! :) anyways, i decided earlier in the week that i would kick off my semester of roadtrips this weekend. so, saturday i ventured up to purdue to see two of my bestest friends! we had a great time! it was good to see them! today was a pretty good day. i know you are supposed to keep your sundays clear and just relax, but i tend to put everything off. oops! :) anyways, i woke up this morning and decided to go "church shopping". i went and checked out a pretty cool church that's about 10 minutes away from my apartment. it was a good service - nice people, good music, relevant sermon. definitely worthy of a second visit. after church, i did a walgreens run and grabbed some cold medicine - these crazy kids are making sick already i think! the rest of the afternoon is a blur - between taking a nap and getting things organized for this week it was a pretty productive day! however, i must say - i might have the greatest roommates ever! sam decided to make dinner tonight and what did she decide to make you might ask....chocolate chip waffles! they were AMAZING! :) overall - it was definitely an amazing weekend.
[sam, meghan, and i at purdue!]
anyways, tomorrow marks the start of my 3rd week at school and so far i still get excited about it. every day is something new. most of my kids are still in what i would call "summer mode", so it's been quite an adjustment to get them to sit down and pay attention. slowly but surely we'll get there though. my students are starting to get used to me being there - just like a teacher - which is good, especially when it comes to me having to discipline. yikes! it's still hard for me - but i guess it'll just take some time. these kids are great though! i get greeted every morning with hugs, high fives, and smiling faces (well usually - i had a few criers last week!). since i usually leave in the middle of the day for my college classes, i leave with kids asking a multitude of questions - they still don't understand why i can't stay there with them all day. [most days i wish i could] once i get back, i'm overwhelmed with all the "i missed you" from students. and somehow it always work out that they are in the middle of a lesson - so we tend to get a little off topic. eventually we get back on track and finish out the day. as i lead the kids outside to get on the bus, i am bombarded with hugs all over again. it doesn't matter what kind of day you've had with these kids, because at the end of the day they still love you! for example, this week was a little rough for one of my boys. he had trouble keeping his attitude and behavior in line. and even after the consequences and repercussions he was given, he was still first in line to get a hug at the end of every day. although there have definitely been some challenges through this experience, i wouldn't trade it for the world. i did a presentation in one of my classes last year over a classroom management theorist by the name of william glasser. he believes that all students need to have 5 needs met to succeed in school. these needs are survival, fun, freedom, power, belonging. [i'll explain them in further detail later!] for a lot of my students, these needs are not met at home - however that doesn't mean they can't be met at school. so, my HUGE personal goal for the week is to see that my students meet their needs while in class. students have an extremely difficult time learning if all these needs are not being met, so it is my responsibility to make sure this happens.
alright, i can feel myself getting tired and i have no time for tired to fit into my schedule tomorrow, so i better get going! just for the record ~ i'd argue with anyone who thinks they have a better job than me! :)
-caitlin.
