Finally.

    Hey guys, sorry about the impromptu break last week, but I really needed a legitimate break.  I've been really busy lately with finals and moving that I just wanted to sit down for a bit without needing to to anything important.  That being said, exams are over and Thanksgiving break is upon us.  Not to mention we're officially moving on Saturday, so we'll be out of this apartment.  Everything is slowly coming together and I'm FINALLY looking forward to something coming up!
    In school, it's the start of a new trimester, (as I believe I've mentioned before, my high school has trimesters instead of the traditional semesters), which means that most teachers have new students in at least some of their classes.  My full-year freshman course is an exception, but I'm glad I still have them, for now...  They've been tough on me and I haven't exactly been helping myself, but I'm determined to get back in control this trimester.  Operation: Retake 5th Block has begun and I am confident in my abilities to successfully succeed.  So far we've started our poetry unit to introduce them to the Poetry Out Loud project.  Since Thanksgiving break starts a mere three days after today, we decided to give them a break from reading so much and watch a movie.  We will be starting The Dead Poet's Society tomorrow and I can honestly say that I am already way more excited than my kids are about watching it.  There is so much they can gain from this film, so I hope they take away at least something from it.  It will be awesome to get to experience their first exposure to good film.

    My first day back in charge didn't go as well as I had originally thought, but it still went better than I anticipated.  I improved my projection and volume and did a decent job maintaining classroom management before lunch, but after lunch it went to Hell in a hand basket...  I had some technical difficulties, which resulted in a rowdy and distracted group of Freshman and a flustered teacher.  Obviously I have to keep reminding myself that I still have plenty of time to improve my strategies and come up with new ones that work for me, but it's daunting sometimes to think about whether or not I will actually be able to run my own classroom at the end of this.  I don't want to be overconfident, but I want to be sure I'm making the right decision and not wasting my time.  The thing I gained the most out of this experience was actually listening to what my cooperating teacher had to say for feedback without trying to defend my actions.  I need to work on thinking more on my feet and stopping to think when I need a minute to collect my thoughts so that I don't panic.  I also need to work on explaining WHY we do things, introduce the unit and set it up so that the students understand what we'll be doing, how it will impact them and what they can expect to learn.  I'd rather take away some good advice and work on it than waste time defending my horrible ideas.  I also started another co-teaching opportunity this trimester with a different teacher in a World Literature class.  She just came back from maternity leave and needs to leave the classroom every day for the last 15 minutes or so, so I'm running the SSR, (Sustained Silent Reading), and writing program for her.  It will be great to get to see another teacher teach and also get a taste for what it's like to teach juniors.  World Lit. has never been one of my strong points, so I'm hoping to learn more about the genre myself in order to add more books to my repertoire.  I just had a thought: I can spell "repertoire" without a problem, but I still have to check to see if I spelt "possession" or "conceive" correctly...what is wrong with me?

    I had a really great out-of-school observation last week at the school I work at in the afternoons.  It's a combination elementary/middle school, so I went to visit some of the middle school language arts teachers there.  One in particular, an 8th grade language arts teacher, stuck out to me.  She was genuinely kind, upbeat and quirky.  I felt honored to be included in their classroom group and honestly, I had one of the best times in that class.  We sat in a circle and had a truly engaging discussion about the dystopian short stories they had read and journaled about the night before.  I've never been so impressed with a group of 13-year-olds and the way they handled that freedom.  This teacher reminded me of why I love the middle school environment and what kind of teacher I'd like to be able to be eventually.  She was an inspiration and I learned so much in the short time we were together, but that exposure will only further my career in the long run.  I will never forget that class.

    Since we've been so busy working, moving and such, my husband and I have not had a lot of time to devote to TV in the last week or so.  We JUST got caught up on everything we missed from LAST week, (which was almost everything, so it took awhile).  So for now, I'm only going to post on Once Upon a Time, which seems to be the only show at the moment that I can watch on time.  Things have taken a turn for the weird in Storybrooke...  I'm starting to understand all the pieces, but it still doesn't leave me with many answers to the questions I've been asking.  We still have no idea what the hell Rumple is trying to do, but I have a hunch that it has something to do with revenge for the death of Neal, (who I am still not convinced isn't coming back, since Rumple may be trying to resurrect him in his own twisted way).  After this episode, with the potential foreshadowing of Hook's imminent doom, we may want Neal to come back and pick up the pieces of Emma's already complicated heart.  But that's beside the point.  Ingrid already started the black plague of hatred and now we finally know that Anna is frozen with my poor Kristoff back in Arendelle, so at least that's settled.  For me, it seemed a bit anticlimactic to go through all that back story and hunting around just to have her be frozen across the sea for the last few years.  I'm glad Emma has found a friend in Elsa, but I'm a bit disappointed in Snow and Charming for losing a little faith in their daughter.  They've been kind of lack-luster this season, so I'm not really sure what's in store for them.  The one thing I was wondering about is who the sorcerer really is and who wrote the book, now that we know someone has been tampering with the pages.  I have a few different theories, but they could all be horribly wrong for all I know.  My first theory is that the apprentice is actually the sorcerer in disguise, considering the extreme longing way he looked at that box the second Ingrid gave it to him.  That one makes the most sense.  My second theory is that Henry is the sorcerer, but this is where it gets tricky.  Henry could have been the sorcerer back when everyone was still in the Enchanted Forest.  He may or may not have had a "past life," and obviously doesn't have any memory of it at this point, so we'll see if this comes up later.  My last theory is that Henry is the author of the book.  Again, this would play into the alternative life theory as well, but we'll see.  I have no idea either way, but it should be fun to see all these play out together.
    That's all I have for this week.  I'm so excited about watching Dead Poet's Society tomorrow and moving into our new place this weekend!  A lot of good things are happening right now and it's been nice to have things to look forward to besides doctor's appointments and hospital stays.  Hopefully this good vibe sticks around through the holiday season, because that's only making me more giddy:)  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

    Happy Thursday!  It's been a crazy week so far, so I haven't had a lot of time to myself.  It's been super hectic at work, going from site to site, preparing to close down for the summer.  It is a meticulous process that will probably take me longer than the few hours they're giving me, but I will have to get it done by the end of next week.  All paperwork has to be filed, each child accounted for and everything inventoried and stored for the next year.  I have a two-sided check list I have to go through and it doesn't look easy, but I have faith that I'll get it done.  That being said, I'm also simultaneously preparing myself for summer camp.  Coordinating around that at the same time will be difficult, but doable for sure.  I'm excited and nervous at the same time, but I think I'm ready.

    My health has been steadily climbing and rebelling since joining the gym.  My Lupus is putting up one Hell of a fight, but I'm trying to take it in stride and work through it.  Despite my issues, I've been making obvious progress.  Between losing a little weight and building a little muscle, I'm getting there.  I enjoy going to the gym every week and look forward to my sessions with my personal trainer.  That's more than I ever could have hoped for in a gym membership.  I expect nothing but good things to come in the coming months as I continue my journey to a better self.

    I also learned a little more about my teaching internship next year.  My cooperating teacher got almost all Freshman classes for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year, so I will be taking on one of her English College Prep classes in tandem with her other one.  This means that she will teach one section of the class first, then I will follow.  I will also be helping her with her other classes, which are an American Lit. class as well as a reading specific course to help struggling students.  This looks like it's going to be a great upcoming year, so I'm super excited! (and extremely anxious, but that is to be expected)  I have another book to add to my summer reading list as well called, Book Love, by Penny Kittle, a well-known education author.  We will be using this book to help construct our English curriculum for next year, so I have to read it to get information regarding her teaching methods.  I was also thinking about reading Lord of the Flies, since we may be teaching that text as well, which I've never read.  Let me know in the comments what you thought of your experience with Lord of the Flies.
    TV this week was epic!  Game of Thrones didn't disappoint and the Bachelorette made it to New England FINALLY.  Here are my week recaps for those two shows, including SPOILERS:

    Game of Thrones really picked up this week.  I liked how they left Tyrion's trial by combat to the very end to build suspense.  I also loved Arya's laugh, which has been seriously lacking since the show started years ago.  It's nice to see the kids smile every once in awhile when they're not too busy killing everyone in sight.  I was mad that we didn't get to see Arya and the Hound make it inside the castle, but I'm sure we'll get a peek on Sunday.  It'll be interesting to see how Sansa feels about having her sister back in her life, but at this point I think she'd be ready to see any familiar face, even Arya's.  I'm desperate for a Stark reunion, so however it happens I hope it's soon.  I LOVED Sansa in this episode, the way she conned the council into believing she was a victim, (which she technically is, but lying for Baelish seems like a bad idea all around).  He was looking at her like he had taught her everything she knows, like a proud father, (even creepier...).  Then she kind of brushed him off when he went to thank her, proving she really has grown colder in the last few seasons.  She really looked like a grown woman and I'm actually beginning to like her now.  We'll see how long that lasts.  Obviously, everyone remembers the fight between the Viper and the Mountain being the most memorable, (and gruesome), part of this episode.  I had to walk away at the end because I couldn't take the gore, but the fight was spectacular.  I'm really sad to see Oberyn go like that, but at least he took the Mountain with him.  He finally got the revenge he wanted.  I'm looking forward to the last two episodes of this season to see if my predictions come true or if I'll be disappointed until next season comes around.  Praying for Lady Stoneheart!

    The Bachelorette had a two-parter this week and it definitely needed it.  The gang hung out in California for the Sunday night episode, alluding to drama between the guys and Andrew getting a waitress's number at a restaurant.  Nothing really exciting happened, besides singing a horrible rendition of a Boyz II Men song WITH Boyz II Men!  I was fan-girling wicked hard, but not for the guys and their terrible voices, (sorry Opera Guy, you still don't really get the R&B vibe).  Monday night saw the group enter New England territory by way of Mohegan Sun, an over-priced gambling hot-spot.  I'm glad Dylan got the first one-on-one date because it is his "hometown," (even though they're in Connecticut, not Massachusetts).  They went on a depressing train ride to talk about his siblings overdoses and it was difficult to watch, to be honest.  Luckily, he got a rose out of it so he's safe, for now.  Honestly, unless he starts showing some emotion, I don't see his stark, quiet persona lasting that much longer.  The date with Marcus was my favorite because you can tell she really likes him already.  If he's not in the final four, I'd be really surprised.  I also really liked Brian's chance to shine on the basketball court.  The nice, quiet, no-drama guys are winning this week!  The worst part of this episode was the fight between Eric and Andi.  It was really uncomfortable to watch, especially since we've only really seen good things from him so far.  It was sucky the way he left so quickly, but it was for the best.  I didn't stay to watch the memorial for him after the show, but I know Tasos went home.  So far, I've constructed a Top 5 based solely on what I've seen of the show so far, and they are: Marcus, Chris, Josh, Brian and Dylan.  Fingers crossed that most of them don't turn out to be assholes!
    That's it for TV.  For next week, and until further notice, in order to stay as relevant as possible with what's going on in my life at the moment, I've decided to move my blog entries back to just Tuesdays instead of Thursdays.  Thursdays are difficult for me because they're the end of the week and I don't want to do anything, so to stay on task with everything and be relevant to the shows I'm currently watching, we're moving to Tuesdays!  That being said, I hope everyone enjoys their weekends.  I'm planning on cooking dinner and dessert with my mother tomorrow night, spending the entirety of Saturday spoiling my husband for his birthday, (HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY BEAR!!), and Sunday I'm meeting up with a friend in town before hanging out with my dad.  This is why I look forward to the weekend!  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.