My First Faculty Meeting

Well today I attended my first official faculty meeting! So much information was given and it was a little overwhelming, but I know things will settle down a little bit once the children actually arrive and things get going. I met the other two first grade teachers today, which are only about 2 or 3 years older than me. The whole first grade team is great and I am excited to be working with them for the next 4ish months.The rest of the faculty at Thornton Elementary is very friendly as well. I felt very welcomed by them, which is good because it helps calm my nerves about student teaching (although I know I'll love it!) We even had lunch made for us today at the meeting! I think I could get a little spoiled here ;) Along with a yummy FREE lunch, I also get a free Thornton T-Shirt!! If you know me at all, you know I LOVE T-shirts!! We will wear these tomorrow at the System meeting. From what I understand (which, of course, could mean I'm completely wrong) all three elementary schools in the Newton-Conover system will be attending this meeting, so it should be interesting. After the meeting, I'll help my teacher work on the classroom some more, which I really like doing! Then tomorrow night I'll be going up to Boone for a mandatory student teaching meeting at ASU on Friday. I'll be staying with one of my old roomies, Amie, tomorrow night, and then another friend Friday night. I'm excited to see everyone that I haven't seen much, or at all, this summer. It will be a good reunion! I'll be coming back on Saturday sometime and relaxing the rest of the weekend, since Monday is the first day we have to be at the school. My students don't start until Wednesday, August 25th, but I'll be working with my teacher in the classroom and attending open house and meeting some of the parents of my students. I've been hearing and learning things about my students already, so I can't wait to actually put a face to their names!

And so my journey begins....

Home of the Honey Bee

Greetings from Hahira, Georgia, apparently home of the Honey Bee. Never heard of it? It's way, way, WAY down South, 29 miles from the Florida state line. I came here with Hunter and Vicki (Hunter's mom) to visit Chuck (Hunter's dad). He is living down here for the time being as a DOD Contractor on a military base. Talk about a small town! Such a cute little place, though! We'll be staying in Hahira tonight, then tomorrow we'll head to some lake for two nights, in which Jeffrey and Sara (Hunter's brother and sister-in-law) will be joining us! We'll be fishing, riding the pontoon boat, and relaxing while enjoying each other's company. Tomorrow i'll be going to Florida with Vicki for the morning. Basically, just because we're so close and we want to find a gift shop and get corny "touristy" things. While we're doing this, Hunter and Chuck will be out doing their father-son bonding. I am going to thoroughly enjoy this mini-vacation with the Scott's because come mid-next week, my life will be consumed with meetings, meetings, and more meetings for student teaching while also working in the classroom. The first day the first graders will be coming is August 25th, and I am so very, very excited to meet all of them, but my cooperating teacher and I still have a lot to get done before the 23 six year olds come. I already know that I am going to love them all to pieces!

I finally decided to start a blog. Solely for the purpose of being able to write whatever I want, when I want to! Also, with student teaching about to start in 3 weeks, I thought it might be a good idea to have one of these to share my experiences. :) Speaking of that, I will be student teaching in FIRST GRADE! Oh my gosh, I cannot express how incredibly excited I am! I've met with my teacher (who seems great!) and helped get together/organize the classroom. I know that I am truly blessed by God to with the ability to teach children. I know these little 6 year olds are going to teach me SO much, and I just hope that I am able to do the same for them!

On with the next thing: I have had such a great, relaxing summer! I have had the great opportunity to read several books! I have become such the bookworm, and I love it. Being able to read on my own time and whatever book I chose really does make a world of difference. I have also tried to cook more. Not that I don't like cooking, I just never really do. My boyfriend loves to cook (:-D) and so I have been cooking a lot with him. It has become one of my new hobbies.  Most of my summer has been spent in Raleigh or Newton. Raleigh is where my boyfriend is, Newton is where my parents are. I was also able to take a trip to Myrtle Beach for my friend Bethany's bachelorette party, which was pretty awesome! Other than that, I've been to Boone and will be going to Georgia on August 14th. It is has been very nice to not have any real obligations for a few months, since this has been the first summer I have not taken summer classes and/or had a job. I've gotten very spoiled, but will have to readjust for student teaching!

Basically, this was just an introduction-type of post and a summary of my summer so far. I will try to blog as often as I can until student teaching starts, then I'll try to post at least once or twice a week depending on how busy I am. Or, if something just super duper awesome happens to me or anyone of my family/friends, then I'll post about that!