Schooled

The first quarter of my teaching career wrapped up at the end of October and all I can really say about that is THANK GOD!!!!

Man.

With the start of a new quarter I feel like I'm catching my stride and starting to know who I am as a teacher.  I was worried for a while that my approach wasn't going to work, but I am starting to see some changes in my students.  I believe I've convinced a few resistant students to start paying attention and give themselves a chance -- I am the most excited about that.  I can't stand the kid who gives up before s/he's even started.

JG is doing really well too, she is loving daycare.  There have been a few times when Alex goes to pick her up she throws a fit, as in, "How dare you try to tear me from this fantastic place!" fit.

The benefit of daycare for us is how much she's learning.  Holy mother, so much learning, far more than what I'm capable of teaching her at home.  The other day she pointed at a face on the cover of a book and said, "Happy."

She was right, the face was smiling, the character was happy.

Oh, and JG is really popular with the other kids, including the older kids.  The other morning we walked in and are instantly surrounded by three and four year olds saying "JG!  JG!  Are you JG's mom?" and then they make a face at her -- this scrunchy face she makes

(Pinch your lips together and scrunch your nose as if something is stinky, that's the face she makes)

which apparently caught on with the kids and the teenagers who help out too.

I have no idea where my child inherited the gene for popularity, but she oozes it.  Everybody loves her.  Strangers at the market (sometimes uncomfortably so), my students (I had to take her to school for a bit one day), her teachers and classmates.

When I leave her at daycare I usually tell her to be good, and her teachers say, "Oh, JG is always good." They say that with a big smile.

It's also crazy how articulate she is for a 17-month-old.  New words to add to her list:

Shoes
jacket
tickle
baby
out
owl
ear
eyes
mouth
juice
hug
read
book (she likes to say "Read book")
grampa

Can you believe that?

And she dances and sings nursery rhymes she's learned at daycare, which seems to be her favorite thing in the world:


Okay, I'll stop pontificating now, and shall work harder next time to resume the use of my sarcastic voice.

Which, by the way, typically hurts the feelings of 8th and 9th graders.

Who would've thunk?