Survivin'

***And for those of you who, i'm sure, are dying to know.... I did not hold the gator on the field trip at Gators and Friends. I don't care if the dude's mouth is taped shut - no thank you. I did, however, touch him with the end of my pointer finger. There was also no feeding animals out of my palm. Yuck. Have you seen how large their tongues are? Gross. I left that up to the lovely children!! :)

Well, the first week is over and i'm still alive. It's truly a miracle. ha. I think I cried 2 or 3 nights this week. Most of it were tears from stress. You don't realize how much you pack inside, then you sit down to take a little break and tears just come pouring. ah. I'm going to make it.

I've been teaching once every week for the past few months, but I was only in charge from 7:30 to about 10 at the latest. I'm not sure that I would have had the same amount of confidence to take on this job if the Lord hadn't given me those 2 little hours every so often.

When I filled in on those mornings that she had check-ups I had things down pretty well. The kids were under control, they were engaged, attentive, and I was having a great time. Mom walked in one day during the middle of my reading lesson and was so excited to find them sitting still on the carpet completely into what I was telling them :) yay!

There is something about being IN CHARGE that kicks it up a notch. Nerves. Stress. Fear. Etc..

I didn't have to take credit for their failer when I was just the aide who filled in every now and then. All those short 2 hour moments that I was "in charge" were just trial runs to test out everything i've been learning.

Not anymore.

2 hours are much different than 7.

I'm constantly reminding myself who my God is. I wouldn't be able to make it without Him. Everything is giong to be okay.

I have messed up more than once this week. Failed on certain things. Handled things incorrectly. Let words come out that shouldn't. Showed my frustration at times. But He is still God and everything is okay.

Like I said - i'm only one woman, i'm human, i'm not perfect.

This is a learning experience and i'm thankful for the opportunity to learn just how much I haven't learned. haha. I just wanted to see how many times I could say a form of the word learn in that sentence.

There is so much that I don't know. But praise the Lord for a chance to grow and take note.

I wrote about my favorite part of the day on my entry on Thursday. And now I want to share that with you.... because it's just about the only part of my day that everything seems to flow just right. ha.

Each morning around 8:30 we come to the carpet for reading. I always start off that time with the calender.

"If yesterday was Monday, then today is what, Bobby?"
"Tuesday"
"Can you say that in a complete sentence?"
"Today is Tuesday!"
"Great! Now Sally, if today is Tuesday, in a complete sentence tell me about tomorrow."
"Tomorrow will be Wednesday."
"Wednesday - what sound do you hear at the beginning of Wednesday, George?"
"/W/"
"And what letter makes the /w/ sound, Jill?"
"w."
"Very good! Now Tuesday is the day, let's find out the date. Yesterday was Monday and it was the 26th. (holds up the number card 26) what is the date for today, Jim?"
"The 27th."
"And Brea, how do you make a 27?"
"A 2 and a 7"
"Good! Have we changed months yet?"
"No."
"So what month are we in, Frank?"
"2010"
"That is the year.... what month are we in (sing months of the year song)"
oooooo, oooooo
"April"
"There you go! And now everyone, what is the year?"
"2010"
"Yall are doing awesome!"

I try to make a point of moving very quickly around the carpet and constantly calling on different kids to answer every question that I can think of; with the hopes that i'll keep them engaged. How many seasons are in one year? What are those seasons? What season is hot, cold, leaves falling off the trees, flowers blooming? How many days do we have in one week? How many months in one year? And so on.

This is the only time all day that I have complete silence and everyone's attention. I take it in! :)

Once we figure everything out about the calender, I look for my "helper". When they see me reach for the dry erase marker they know what's coming next. I turn around and say, let's see who wants to come help me write this sentence. Everyday, as a class, we write 'Today is (day) (Month) (date), 2010."

When I first started this I wrote the big words, but I let them write the beginning letter of those words - if they could identify it. Now they write the entire sentence with few hints from me. Progress. Yum!

Here lately i've been moving things forward and building on what they have already mastered to bring a bit more of a challenge to this activity. If they spell April like ApRiL, then I ask them what makes a word capital? "The beginning of the sentence or a name." So look at your word. What needs to be fixed? And they fix it - only the A is capital. They even know what a comma is and where it goes! Yay!

This is my favorite part of the entire day. Everyone is involved. And I get to see their growth.

Now if I could only fix other parts of my day to keep them as smooth as this. I'm learning.

Thank You, Lord, for this little part of my day that seems to go correctly and smoothly. Help me learn and change other parts of my day as well. Direct my steps. And continue to open my eyes to see You in my day. I love You... help me love You more with every day.