I know it's been a few months since I wrote anything, but I haven't felt like my life has been quite as exciting since the last time I wrote. Also, I don't have access to a fast internet connection, so posting pictures is going to be rather difficult, but I wanted to let people know what is happening in my life. Since I got home from the Holy Land I have been focusing on teaching. School started for me the middle of August, which has kept me more than busy. I am living in Heber and driving to Provo every day. The past few weeks the leaves have been absolutely beautiful. I'm sure the snow and ice will distract from the beauty of Provo Canyon here very soon, but for the time being, I love the drive.
I absolutely love teaching, but I come home exhausted every day. I am the music specialist, and have Kindergarten through 6th grade. My biggest challenges are Kindergarten (with 29 students in a class who have never gone to school before, don't know how to make a line, etc.) and 6th grade (who have forgotten how to be respectful, and require just as much attention as the kindergarten students). It really is a lot of fun for me though. That is what I do every day, but the great thing is that every day is different. I have a super hero theme for my room, and it has been so much fun to implement that theme into management and little things I do with the students.
I have started making dinner with some friends down in Provo three nights a week and I also attend institute in Provo a different night, so I am spending more time in Provo than in Heber recently. Mostly because there really isn't anyone our age who lives in Heber right now, so any socializing has to be done elsewhere. It makes for late nights driving the canyon. I'm still figuring out the best schedule for myself--but it will all work out eventually.
On a good note, I had my first good experience with 6th graders this week. It was so exciting. We are working on Winter songs for our concert in December, and the 6th graders were not exciting to sing this song, and everything has been chaotic. I was been super strict with them trying to get them to behave, but I had to do something to get them excited. I found a copy of the song we are singing on iTunes, but they only had it in spanish, and we are singing it in english. I got it anyway. It is a pretty fast song, and I gave them the music and told them to follow along as best as they could. It was going so fast, they didn't have time to think about misbehaving, and they fell in love with the song. I know every day I won't be able to do this, but it was a great start, and it made me really happy to have one good day with them.
