The local television station sponsors a contest: “most disgusting refrigerator in the tri-state area”
The local newspaper sponsors a hunting photo contest, with the grand prize being a head mounting for your largest animal
The local newspaper’s best headline on the front page is “residents get stuck” — referring to flu shots

Oh my.

So, I can’t really say too much about the job search so far. I’ve had several interviews and have seriously considered a couple of positions, but at this point I haven’t yet made any commitments. While the process is sort of stressful and I’d like to just settle on something, I just want to be honest and straightforward and find the best fit for myself.

In the meantime, I will continue to garden, read, clean, and ponder life at my parents’ house.

Yesterday was my last day at school, and I got some pretty nice cards from the students. I also had a lot of “are you on facebook mademoiselle?? can I look you up??” haha. Anyway, even though this has been such a difficult and sometimes exhausting experience, it has also been so much fun and I have really enjoyed getting to know the students at Jeff. I can’t wait to establish my own classroom now.
So, the whole goal for today and tomorrow is to finish my portfolio… I’m getting close, but I still have a few reflections and summarys and excel spreadsheets to do before it’s all ready to be turned in. After that, I just plan to enjoy Lafayette/West Lafayette and relax until graduation on Friday

The past few weeks have been super busy for me – but (as of yesterday) I have pretty much finished my actual teaching. I will still be in the classroom next week, but I will mainly just be helping and grading and dealing with make-up work. I still have a lot of work to do for my portfolio project for Purdue, but I am confident that I will finish it all and actually be able to enjoy senior week
As far as next year goes, things are really still unknown at this point. I have an important interview on Monday, so I am hoping that it goes well. And after that, we will just have to see what happens.

The end of student teaching is more bittersweet than I had imagined when I started this… It was an exhausting experience, but it was also really fun. I am really going to miss my students.

I’m sorry my blog has been neglected recently, but one post every couple of weeks seems to be all I can manage right now. I have four weeks left of student teaching, and I am quite glad because I’m just pretty exhausted and stressed right now. On top of all that, I’m really starting to think seriously about a job for next year… so that provides a little added anxiety As far as school goes, I feel that I am making slow but steady progress in my classroom management and my ability to write and implement lesson plans. I am really very pleased that I am getting to know the students much better, and this is really what matters when it comes to teaching. So, although this is definitely a difficult experience, I am really happy with the progress I’ve made so far and the opportunity that I’ve had to get to know my students.

I’m back in West Lafayette now, wrestling with some jet lag and laundry. The trip to Seattle was very good – I got to relax and spend time with my family and hold Gabe a lot. Honestly, it was just nice to give myself a little time to not worry and stress over school stuff or the projects yet to do for Purdue. So now I am ready to get back to work and get a lot done in the next five weeks!

It’s a little worrying that there are not very many job postings for world language teachers in Indiana, but a lot of teachers keep telling me that it’s still very early. I guess I just have to trust that I will find something.

I am officially on Spring Break now (much needed, I might add) and am flying to Seattle in a few hours. I am going to see my new nephew and hang out with my sister and brother-in-law. I think it’s supposed to be cold and rainy the whole time we are there, but that is just fine with me. I’m pretty sure I’ll be inside holding Gabriel most of the time.

School this week was pretty good, but Thursday and Friday were kind of hard because the students were so anxious to go home and relax or go to their spring break destinations. I am officially half-way through my student teaching… and I just really can’t believe that right now. Somehow it goes really quickly but really slowly at the same time… hmmm, try to figure that one out.

Bonne semaine!

Tomorrow starts the week before Spring Break at school. Friday also marks the half-way point of my student teaching experience. I have a feeling that it will be sort of a rough week as far as motivation goes. I have to say, though, I can’t blame the students. The weather is getting nice, and I think we all just need a break so that we can go outside and enjoy it. As far as my teaching goes, I feel like I am making good progress in most of the classes… but sometimes it just feels like one step forward and two steps back. C’est la vie, I suppose.
I only have about six weeks until I graduate… crazy.

I have now completed three weeks of my student teaching experience, and I am of course finding it quite challenging as far as finding the time to do all the planning, grading, cultural reference researching, and purdue assigments. I am, however, learning so much every day that I teach, and I know that jumping in there and learning from my own mistakes is really the only way to do this.

I am glad to report that Gabriel is doing much better – he is eating well and gaining weight. I am a little jealous that his other aunt and grandparents are visiting him this week, but I do get to visit two weeks from now
Marley is doing well – I had the chance to see her yesterday which was the best birthday present of all.

This week has definitely had its ups and downs for me – as far as teaching goes. Gabriel also has had some ups and downs, as he had to have emergency surgery one week ago and then his iv stopped working a couple of days later. But I am very pleased to tell you that he is going home today. Also, I ended the week at school exhausted but definitely on a high note and am feeling optimistic for the week to come.

I’d be lying if I tried to say that this has not been a mentally and emotionally draining week for me, but if there is anything that I am learning as a teacher it is that you must always focus on the positive. I am really grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow, and I do have some really remarkable students. So, I am definitely looking forward to seeing how this semester progesses.

Bon week-end!