Cold Winds and Warm Fuzzies

Cold, wet, and rainy. That was my week. Adjusting to the constant expectation of rain in this city has been not so fun. Seriously, it rains here almost every day. But the days when the sun shines are even more wonderful because of it! Plus, the leaves are changing, so it is absolutely beautiful in western PA these days.

I love this especially because fall is my favorite season. I love it. Hot apple cider, colorful leaves, crisp apples, cool air, and football. I just love it! Although we did have to turn our heat on in our house. We are frugal and didn't want to do it, but it was 56 degrees in our house. 56! Flipping freezing. So we bit the bullet and turned it on. Happiness and warm fuzzies! That's what I'm feeling now, literally!  :)

School this week was very hectic and unexpected. I had 2 students gone all week, one on vacation and the other out because of illness. Plus, other events/issues arose at school, adding to the craziness that ensued. I have learned a lot, over this past week, and over the past 2 months. I have learned about relationships, family, community, my students, education, and life in general. It is so crazy to look back at the beginning of school and see how much I didn't know or what I thought school was going to be like. Now I am a full blown teacher, with a bit more knowledge than I used to have. I guess that's called growth huh? Well, I have grown.

My students continue to surprise, challenge, teach, and amuse me. It is awesome to get to look at the world through an 8 year old's eye. One of my favorite moments of the week happened on Friday during math class. I had planned math centers as something fun to do to review a few of the concepts we have been going over the last few weeks. I was nervous, however, because this requires my students to be pretty focused and self managing, which doesn't always work out so well. Turns out my students LOVED it! They worked so hard at every station and even begged me to let them do everything longer. Success! I love it when a lesson goes so so well. Fellow teachers, you can identify with that feeling.

Below are some pictures of my students and their aluminum foil reptiles they created for a lesson in science. We have been studying animals, and specifically on this day, reptiles. I had them each create 1-2 reptiles out of foil, then dip them in hot and cold waters, and feel the differences in their creatures temperatures. We then related this to reptiles being cold-blooded, and going to warm or cold areas to change their body temperature. I had to take pictures because their creations were awesome! Some of them gave me a "reptile face" in the picture. Girls after my own heart :)

"Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."                      Psalm 9:10