I guess it's about time to update again.  I've been busy with student teaching lately.  I just finished my solo week today.  It went pretty well.  I enjoyed it.  Planning was intense, but I did the best I could.  We did a lot of fun stuff and I think the kids really enjoyed it too.  But the last couple of days they have really been pushing the boundaries again, which is very frustrating.  And to top it all off, my voice is all but gone.  It decided it had had enough and started packing its bags yesterday while I was reading a story.  So today I tried to be kind to it, but teaching all day on a voice that doesn't want to be used can't be kind, however you look at it.  Tomorrow I have to videotape a math lesson for my supervisor from the university.  Should be interesting. 

Last week after I got to explain how mother cats wash their babies, I also got to explain how baby pigs eat from their mommy.  That was funny too.  It went something like this:

T: Ewwww!!!!  He's drinking from her butt! 

Me: What?  (I look at the book I'm reading and see that there is a picture of a baby pig drinking from its mother.  Of course now all the students are wondering what all the fuss is about and how a baby pig drinks from its mother.)

Me: Okay, okay.  Let me explain.  When a mommy pig has babies, her body makes milk for them.

K and N: Milk?  Like from cows?  Like we drink?

Me: No, not the kind of milk we drink.  It's pig milk, not cow milk.

K: Pig milk?

Me: Yeah, pig milk.  The mommy pig's body makes it and the baby pigs drink it. 

K: Oh, okay.

Me: So the mommy pig's body makes milk and then she has a row of nipples down her belly (as I poke myself about 5 times in a vertical line down my stomach to demonstrate).

K: Nipples?  What's that?

Me: Well, have you ever seen a baby bottle?  You know there's that part on top that they drink from ?  There's that big bump that they put in their mouth?  That's a nipple.

K: Oh.

Me: So the mommy pig's body makes milk and the baby pigs drink it from her.  That's how baby pigs get their food.

Half of the class: Ewwwww!!!

N: No, that's not gross.  That's cool!

Me: That's the way they were created.

And my cooperating teacher was sitting back at her desk laughing and I knew if I looked at either her or the aide I would start laughing too.  I was trying so hard not to.  I'm sitting there thinking "I can't believe I'm explaining to a bunch of kindergarteners how a baby pig drinks milk from its mother.  And wouldn't they love it if they knew baby humans drink from their mothers too?  Ha.  I'm not going to tell them that part."

Oh the things that teachers have to explain.

I received an email last night from my father chastising me (in jest) for being negligent in blogging lately and suggesting that my life must therefore be dull.  In order to clear up any misconceptions, I would like to offer you a blog post about student teaching.
Student teaching is definitely busy.  I spent this weekend writing approximately 164k worth of lesson plans and am still not anywhere near done with my plans for the week.  I have been learning a lot about myself and about God and about kids and teaching throughout the last 3 weeks.  It has been an excellent learning experience.  I've really been enjoying it, despite a lack of sleep and social life and everything else.  I've gotten frustrated and felt like I haven't been as godly as I should have been many times in the last few weeks.  But then I feel little arms slipping around my waist and I see lightbulbs click on or I realize that someone understands more than I thought they did or I can see and hear the excitement in my students and I know it's all worth it.  I definitely have been learning that I need to pace my lessons better and make sure I don't try to outtalk a class of kindergarteners (yeah, it doesn't work, but you'd be amazed at how easy it is to think it would work when you're in the middle of a math lesson and the kids aren't listening). 
A funny story from the first few weeks: Of course the first day of school, we give the kids the "if you want to get the teacher's attention, you have to raise your hand" talk.  They're working on getting that one down.  But one boy got it the first day.  This particular child is not quiet.  He's good, but when he opens his mouth, it's loud.  He was sitting there in his seat and something bubbled up in him that he just wanted to share.  His hand shot up in the air while the teacher was teaching.  He waited patiently for a while, but she just wasn't calling on him.  So finally, in exasperation, he called out "I'm raisin' my hand!" :)  Made me smile.  I've had to turn my head away and laugh to myself so many times throughout the last few weeks.  I've also had to get the attention of the other teachers and point to precious little moments that are happening that I don't want to disrupt.  Like the day one little boy was crying on the way to art class because he wanted to go home.  And another little boy took his hand and was reassuring him gently. 
Exhausting?  Definitely.  Rewarding?  Definitely.  All-consuming?  Definitely.  Dull?  Definitely not!
So that's my life.