Reading & Assessment, Learning and More

 I am enjoying all three classes I am taking this semester. I feel I am really learning things I need to know to be a successful teacher. I do panic every time I am assigned something that is outside my comfort zone. But I feel so much better once I get the assignment finished and I always hope that I did it right. I understand that as a classroom teacher, I won't always have an instructor or advisor to fall back on for help. I need to learn to depend on myself and to know that it is okay to make mistakes. If I want my students to know it is okay to make a mistake and to keep on trying and not give up; I need to be willing to do the same thing. I need to not beat myself up if a lesson doesn't go like I planned. I just need to reflect on what went wrong, make notes about it to myself and do it differently the next time I teach that particular lesson.
  I am enjoying getting to work with a student this semester. The student I am working with is a sweet and smart little girl. I wish I could spend more than 45 minutes a week working with her! She seemed very disappointed when she found out I was only going to be with her on Tuesdays. I've had a lot of fun making up games for her to play. I am looking forward to reading her journal and see how well she can write.
  Along with my two reading classes, I am taking Language Arts this semester. It is the smallest class I have had here so far and I am loving it! I am able to get to know my classmates better because of our small size. I love getting to hear the stories that are read in class every week. Many of them are ones I haven't ever heard of before. I am making a list of the books I like to add to my classroom library. I feel I will learn a lot from this class to use in my future classroom.
 Ok I have one pet peeve I have to write about before I go. I have noticed a lot of women (who are going to be teachers!) not wash their hands after using the restroom. This really grosses me out. They are supposed to be role models for their students so they are going to be teaching them that it is ok not to wash your hands after going to the bathroom!  Ok I am off my soapbox now but I still find this a disgusting thing to do!!