One Step At A Time

And so begins my second week at Swanson School. It already feels as though we've been here for ages, despite the fact that, in all reality, it's only been a little over a week. Strange how quickly time goes by. After a fun weekend in Sydney, it's good to be back to what already feels like home. New Zealand's labor day has already come and gone after being long awaited, and today begins the next week already.

It may be the first day of the week, but it definitely wasn't as bad as the mondays that are normally dreaded by so many. I have to admit that I've been somewhat overwhelmed by some of the differences between my previous placement and this current one. With my first real "mini-lesson" with one of the math groups today, I'm definitely starting to realize that this may not be as terrifying as I originally foresaw it being. With having to plan for the four different groups for both math and reading, I know it will be a lot of work, but I feel as though I'm starting to get a better understanding of how to best approach the planning process. Like any normal Tuesday, we spent the better half of today at Bruce McLaren School for some tech classes. While the students were busy as bees crafting things, Amanda and I were able to sit down and discuss everything so that I can start planning for the weeks ahead. It all starts taking off especially next week with me taking over for all the math sessions and then moving on to the reading sessions the following week, along with everything else.

There will be a ton of planning involved in all of this, but certain units/activities easily take up several sessions making time seem like it will pass by extremely quickly. It also seems as though it will be easier to plan out sessions due to the fact that the topics are more simplified than what I'm used to doing with high school. The majority of the time will likely be spent explaining simpler ideas as the students are still not extremely advanced. I'm also excited for some of the activities I began planning today as they're going to be fairly hands-on and I believe the students will enjoy them.

I feel as though I'm starting to enjoy the middle school level much, much more than I had ever anticipated. I know I'll be working my butt off over the next couple weeks, but this will definitely be well worth everything that's gone into preparing for this experience.