No Day But Today...

I feel like a deserter. For those who actually read my blog, I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. So much for my New Years resolution.  Between finishing all my projects for university and lesson planning like there's no tomorrow for my month of student-teaching half the curriculum, I've been exceedingly busy. I've been averaging about 4 hours sleep a night, which for me, is bad....to function long-term, I need about 7.

Anyway, for the following week, that (most of it) is behind me as I vacation in the Dominican Republic and gorge myself at the swim-up bar =D  Yes, that's right, this pale-y is headed for darker days as she ventures waaaay down south and meets up for a long overdue date with the sun.  I'm going with my family (mom, dad, and younger brother) and it's our first family vacation in 6 years! Needless to say, I'm extremely excited.

As it stands right now, I got home from doing parent teacher interviews at about 9 tonight, and started packing. I unfortunately ended up having to bring a bit of work with me, but I plan to work for about an hour or so each morning before hitting the beach/pool and I should manage to get most of it finished.  At this point (1 am) I'm just not going to sleep. Our cab comes at 3:30 and our plane takes off at 6.  We fly to Toronto, have a 6 hour layover, then off to the D.R.

Just to give everyone a quick update, I've now finished my fourth year of university (1 more year left!) and I started my student-teaching block this week. I'll be teaching about 50% of the school day, every day.  I've put together a 4-book literature circle - for those who don't know what it is, it's basically novel studies within a group, each student gets grouped according to interest and reading level.  They get questions and "jobs" they have to complete and hand in, and benefit from group discussion which helps them not just read the book but really read the book for deeper understanding and meaning. I've planned the entire thing, from choosing the books to creating activities to scheduling, reading assignments etc. It's been an undertaking, but I think I just might have pulled it off! The second unit I'm planning is in Social Studies. This is the one I have to take with me on my trip to work on...I just didn't have enough time to put it together in its entirety. But oh well. I'll be done my block at the end of April...but I love these kids so much, I just might have to stay another week or so to be pressure free and just help out in the class. Not sure on that yet.  We'll see how frazzled I am at the end of my block.

Anyway, I have a couple more things to organize before I leave, so farewell for now.

xo