The End of College

This week was THE END OF STUDENT TEACHING!! It was pretty bittersweet, and filled with a LOT of work. On Thursday near the end of the day, the "boss" of the REC building asked me if I'd be willing to stay on as a long-term substitute teacher for the building when school starts again in January. I accepted! I have a paying, full time teaching job for the next few months and I am THRILLED. I feel like everything's falling into place!

This also means that I am officially 100% DONE with college. I can't believe it! It feels SO WEIRD!

Today we came home from church to find that Zoe had gotten into some milk chocolate chips and eaten quite a few...she's been throwing up a LOT and just plain miserable. We called the vet and he said to not give her any food or water, and to keep her up and walking around the house as much as possible. I had the pleasant experience of having her barf INTO MY LAP...oy vey. Thankfully she's doing better now!

Tis the Season!

The past few weeks have been crazy busy as usual, but I'm really feeling myself getting worn down. I'm stressed about so many different things that I feel like I don't have the energy to get through a full day. But this upcoming week is my LAST ONE of student teaching, and then I get a break!! I'm planning on substituting from January to the end of this current school year, and trying to get a full time position for this upcoming school year.

Last week I had my final evaluation by my BYU-Idaho supervisor to grade me on my teaching  The feedback that I received means that I'm the best I can be, at the point I am currently--not a well-experienced full time teacher. So I was pretty happy. My supervisor wrote things on my form like "Jessica is a natural teacher, with the aura of a professional." SO awesome to hear! 

This past Saturday night we had our ward Christmas party! Jake had the day off from work, and we spent the ENTIRE day preparing. We got to the church at 10:30 and didn't leave until 9 pm. It was a LONG day, but it was so worth it! Our ward LOVED the work we did (see the photos I've attached, I think my hymn book tree is INCREDIBLE) and everyone had a great time. 

Children of God

HAPPY NOVEMBER!! I can't believe the year is almost over, it's so crazy. 2017 cannot get here fast enough!! 

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately when I get frustrated with how things are going as I'm student teaching is that we're all brothers and sisters, and children of God. It's easy for me to get so frustrated with a kid for how they're acting/the work they're giving me (or not giving me). Not to their face of course, because I don't wanna make any kids cry haha, but I'll come home and rant to Jake or sit there and just let the angry thoughts stew in my head, and be ready to just throw in the towel. And when I get to that point, I try to remember that these kids are, first of all, KIDS. For me, 8th grade was 10 years ago. So it's been a while, but I can still think back and remember what I was like and the things I cared about when I was 13-14. And it helps me be more patient with my students. Second of all, remembering that they're children of God really helps me have patience. 

These kids, whether they're LDS or not, are important to Heavenly Father. He cares about them SO MUCH! And He put them in a place where they'd have the experiences they're having, because He knew they needed them to become the people they're supposed to be. And who knows, maybe I was given this position at Rigby Middle School because there is one kid who I'll really be able to touch, or who really needs ME. Not any old teacher, but me specifically. How cool is that? When I try to think about my career like that, and about the kids I'm working with, I become so much stronger. Not that the problems go away, because kids are kids and MAN OH MAN can they test your patience, but I feel like I'm capable of handling the challenges I'm presented with. 

I go through this cycle of frustration to exasperation to "spiritual patience" roughly 3-6 times a week, though, so don't think I'm some amazing person or anything haha. I have to "talk myself off the ledge" so to speak on a regular basis. I know it's worth it, though, because I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm learning a ton and having some overwhelming and stressful experiences basically every day that I'm in the classroom, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

What's a blog post without a

cute Zoe photo?!

Gettin' Spooky!

Student teaching is the most challenging but rewarding thing I've ever done. I had a student a few weeks ago that has made so much progress since the beginning of the school year that when I was looking at their work, I started crying. No joke. I'm so freakin' proud of how much they've been able to accomplish, and to know that I've been an influence for good in their life got me all choked up.

General Conference was AWESOME! There were so many great talks, but I have to say that Russell M. Nelson's was my favorite. I can't wait to read it once the talks are available in print version! His talk just really spoke to me.

Jake and I have been having a blast getting our little apartment looking spooky for Halloween, and I have to say we really outdid ourselves. It's so much fun having your own place to decorate and make your own, especially during the holiday season! I love it!

A Rough Week

FALL IS HERE!!!! Well I guess not technically til the end of September, but I'm considering it fall right now because I'm so DONE with summer weather. Plus I'm back in school, so that means it's gotta be fall! I love fall because of so many reasons...mainly because all the bugs are dead and can't attack me anymore! 

This last week was another busy one with school Monday-Friday, and Wednesday was ROUGH. Wednesday was a really rough day for reasons I won't go into, but yeah. It was hard. I cried in front of my fellow student teachers, which was embarrassing. PRAY FOR ME haha.

Other than that, this week was decent. I'm so happy we have school off on Monday for Labor Day cuz I NEED a long weekend! Teachers work really hard, dude. I hope no one I know ever takes them for granted again. 

Tuesday was our 2 year anniversary! I can't

wait to see what these photos look like when

we're old and gray!

First Week of School! First Week of School!

This past week was SO. BUSY. Starting school as a teacher has been a whirlwind of seating charts, lesson plans, worksheets, and countless other stuff. My to do list seems to get longer every day, instead of shorter. But as weird as it may sound, I'm LOVING it! The weekend was great because I had time to rest and get ready for a new week, but I've also missed being at the school a lot. I know, I'm crazy! 

Jake had the day off on Saturday, so we got to spend the day together, which is a rare thing for us lately. We had a friend's wedding that evening, which was so awesome to be at! I can't believe that Tuesday is our 2nd year wedding anniversary. We've basically served a mission together! ;)

My Summer Ends

This past week was my last one of summer break! Tomorrow (Monday) I have an all-day-long orientation at the middle school, and Tuesday is a paid prep day, then Wednesday school starts! 

I found out last week that I'm working with *drumroll* EIGHTH GRADERS!! I was SO excited when I got that info, since it's the grade I've been hoping and praying for. The middle school has kids from 6th-8th grade, and since I wanna eventually work in a high school, I was really hoping to get experience with the oldest kids I possibly could. My mentor teacher's name is Mrs. Wagoner, and she is AMAZING! I got to meet her last Thursday when she invited me to a curriculum meeting with the entire 8th grade Language Arts department, which was super nice and not necessary, but it was such an awesome gesture and a great start to our work together. She's super sweet and also has a pet dachshund, so it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship!