It is really hard for me to believe that I have been here almost a month already.  Where has the time gone?  I just finished my third week of school.  I am loving teaching!  There are definitely some difficult moments and I feel pretty disorganized still.  My desk is almost always a mess and I can be quite forgetful.  It weird because that is not normally like me.  I am usually the one that is on top of everything and extremely organized.  At least my room and my house are clean still!  That makes me feel like I have still have some order in my life.  I am sure that I will figure out a system of organization eventually.  That will make my life much less stressful!

My students are great!  We have a lot of fun with most of our classes.  English class with the 2^nd graders is always full of laughter as we make up funny sentences about each other.  Earlier this week Xander was coming to rescue Ms. McCauley from the giant rabbit that tried to attack her on her way home from school.  It is always quite entertaining to hear what the kids come up with.  Social Studies with the 5^th and 6^th graders turned into a Bible study the other day as we were talking about the Reformation and questions came up about different religions and Christian beliefs.  It was very interesting!  5^th and 6^th graders can be very insightful.  My 2^nd graders made a volcano on Thursday with baking soda, dish soap, and some vinegar.  I think that was quite a hit!  I promise we are learning things!  We just have a little fun while we are doing it.  I am sure that my math class is not very exciting.  Although we do try to at least make our examples interesting.

On average I still have at least one student cry a day.  Whether it is something one of the other kids said or did, a skinned up knee, or because they got into trouble varies from day to day.  Today I had to make one of the third graders re-do an assignment because she did not follow instructions.  She was in tears as I explained that she was not really in big trouble – just that she had made a mistake and that now we had to fix it.  I think that she forgave me though because I got a hug and a kiss and an “I love you Ms. McCauley” before she left for the day.

As a side note, last Sunday I had off and we went to an elephant orphanage.  The baby elephants were so cute!  I also went for a run that lasted over an hour!  I felt pretty good about that since I am running in the mountains at about 6,000 feet elevation.  I am also playing volleyball with the high schoolers and absolutely love it!  I am starting to get to know some of them a little better.  I went to dorm worship the other night and it was great! I have also started bringing my lesson planning and grading and going to study hall with them.  It is nice to get to know some of the older kids.  Right now I am known in the high school not by my name, but as the skinny girl with blue eyes.  Hopefully in the next week or two I will change that.