Tired.

I'm too tired to write a long blog post.  Today was awful.  I put my flash drive in my computer only to realise that all of my files had been corrupted and I couldn't open any of them.  All my planning - gone again.  You would think I'd learn, eh?  So that was the start of my day and it was all downhill from there.  I spent almost an hour planning a lesson for tomorrow (making worksheets and everything) only for the year 2 teacher to tell me that my kids need to be in Christmas play practice during that time, so we aren't even doing that lesson.  So annoying.  On top of that, Tony comes to observe me on Friday.. I've almost reached my breaking point.  Student teaching is not fun.

Full-time teaching

I've really been slacking at the blogging lately. I've just been so busy!

Recap of the last week -
Wednesday was my birthday.  Mat came down and made a big Thanksgiving dinner (complete with Poppa Keys' stuffing) and it was magical.  Thursday, I had to do a Thanksgiving assembly at school.  10 minutes before, I put my memory stick into the computer and ALL MY PLANNING WAS GONE. All of it.  Erased off my memory stick.  Kate and Megan had used it the night before and something happened and all of it was gone!  Tragic.  So I had to throw together an assembly in 10 minutes.  Then, we had a morning long workshop of all Thanksgiving/American things.  We made mini pumpkin pies, wrote thank you prayers, made American flags, made hand turkeys, and made pilgrim hats/bonnets.  The next day, I ask my kids what we made and this little girl raises her hand and goes "African flags!"... so close.

Thursday night, we had to go to Thanksgiving dinner at our supervisor's house.  That was fine.

This past weekend, I went to London to hang out with Mat on Friday.  Then Kate, Mat and I went to the Christmas Market on the South Bank in London and looked around.  Then Kate and I went shopping on Oxford Street (and managed to lose each other in the Underground, where there is no cell service) so that was interesting!  Then we met a teacher from Kate's school for a few drinks in Piccadilly Circus.

This week has already been stressful.  Full-time teaching really takes its toll, especially in a foreign country.  I feel like I'm trying so hard to get everything done, but I also want to take advantage of being in England, so I don't want to lock myself in my room and plan all the time.  It's hard to balance everything.  Also, crazy that we only have 3 weeks left!  Where has the time gone!?

Past week/weekend

Time just flies by!  I can't believe it's been so long since I updated my blog!  I can't even remember anything about last week, so I won't update you about that.

This past weekend, Kate, Mat and I went to Epsom to meet up with Megan and Jamie to go out.  It was pretty fun, but not too exciting.  Saturday, Kate, Mat and I went to eat in Covent Garden, and then went ice skating in the moat at the Tower of London... yes you read that right.. ice skating in the moat at the Tower of London.  Pretty sweet, huh?  Then we walked across Tower Bridge and down the river to London Bridge (which is not very pretty, by the way).  We sat outside in a pub and drank wine while staring at the pretty London skyline.  Pretty good day =)  Sunday, Mat and I just hung out, and then I planned my life away.
Here are a few pictures...

My mother sent me my family's faces on sticks for my birthday.  They live by my bed and help me with my homework.

Mathew and I out in Epsom!

Kate and I with a Christmas tree in Covent Garden.

Ice skating rink with the Tower behind it!

Mat and I before skating.

Kate and I getting ready to dominate the ice at the Tower.

Mat and I with Tower Bridge in the background.

I started full-time teaching today and I'm already exhausted!  Also, it's Thanksgiving this week, so I have to plan an assembly to teach the whole school what Thanksgiving is (they obviously don't celebrate Thanksgiving in England).  Then, the whole school is doing a workshop where we're doing all American/Thanksgiving things (making mini pumpkin pies, hand turkeys, pilgrim hats, American flags, etc.).  Then the whole school is going to sing the song Albuquerque Turkey in the afternoon.  Should be a good day!

This week is really jam-packed.  Tomorrow night, all the teachers at my school are going out for dinner in Dorking.  Wednesday night, Mat is coming to cook Thanksgiving/birthday/going away dinner (it's Megan's last night).  Thursday, we have Thanksgiving dinner at the Educators Abroad people's house.  Friday, Tony is coming for a 4-hour observation.  It'll be a miracle if I sleep at all this week.

On that note, I'm off to plan!

Burned out..

It's pretty safe to say I'm burned out on teaching.  Or, more specifically, I'm burned out on being observed teaching.  I don't mind teaching.  I just hate that even when you have a brilliant lesson, there's always someone there to tell you what you should have done differently, or what could have been better.  I do understand that that is part of the job, constantly trying to improve.  But to be completely honest, I'm exhausted and don't have the energy for every lesson to be a brilliantly executed hour of fun for the children.  Also, it would be nice to not constantly have someone looking over my shoulder.  Oh the joys of student teaching.. only one month left!

Today we attempted to make balloon rockets at school (we're learning about force).  It didn't go as well as I planned, but the children still thought it was fantastic.  Now I'm staying up late to plan the next few days.. the "bl" sound, data handling (pictograms), dance, tools on colour magic, and moving pictures are all on the agenda!

Yes, for those of you who didn't catch on, I do have a British boyfriend these days.  Grandpa, I know you thought this day would never come, but it has!  I don't need you to find me an Amish boy now =)

... monday

My observation last week was a success!  He said he thought I was coasting through my placement because I'm capable of much more than I'm actually doing.. so that's good?

Another Monday over.  Nothing exciting happened, really.  I had planning this morning, so I didn't have to go to church assembly (once a month the whole school walks over to the church for assembly, basically a mini service).  I taught this afternoon and it went really well.  I don't know what got into the class, but they changed back into their school clothes after PE in absolute silence. So odd! I start full-time teaching this week, so that's going to be nice and stressful.  I'm not too worried about it though.

I spent the weekend in London.  I dragged Mat shopping on Oxford Street on Saturday.  We spent 4 hours going in and out of H&M, Top Shop, and a million other stores and he didn't even complain once, bless him.  He might be a keeper.  Then Kate and Megan came up on Saturday night and we all went out.  Pretty uneventful evening.  Sunday I was forced to watch the Grand Prix, and then came back to Dorking to do all my homework.

I've started applying to grad schools in London.  I feel like if I'm going to pack up and move across the world, I might as well do it when I'm young!  So we'll see how that goes.

Awful day.

Today was awful, from start to finish.

First, I woke up at 8:04.  My head teacher picks me up at 8.  I couldn't call her because her cell phone is dead.  So I got ready in 5 minutes and ran down the street just as she was pulling away (good thing she saw me!).  It was downhill from there.  I lost my memory stick (with all my planning on it), and spent an hour looking for it this morning.  Found it in the bottom of my school bag.  I had a crap lunch (Ramen noodles in the microwave) because I didn't have time to pack on this morning.  Then, this afternoon, I was teaching ICT and I look up and there are 20 prospective parents watching me!  It was Open Day today, so the parents were just going in and out of the classrooms.  They stood there for almost my whole lesson!  That's not distracting for the children at all, having 20 strangers watching them on the carpet.  How annoying.  I spent hours after school planning for my 4-hour observation tomorrow (which is not exciting at all) AND, to top it all off, I'm sick.  Can't breathe, can't sleep.

And that's the end of my crabby post.

Things I miss....

THINGS I MISS

(in no particular order):

1. Driving

2. My cell phone

3. Drying my clothes (we air dry everything here)

4. Having my own straightener/blow dryer

5. Driving (yes it needs to be on the list twice)

6. My family

7. Target (seriously)

8. My credit cards

9. An easily accessible clothing store.

10. My nose ring/earrings

11. Correctly spelling words ("favour" and "centre" will just never look right)

12. Sleeping (that doesn't happen much these days)

13. Emergen-C (to fix the effects of the lack of sleep)

14. Mountain Dew

15. My friends

16. Stores that stay open past 6 pm

....and last, but not least,

17. Singing out loud in my car

..... feeling just a little bit homesick tonight.

9/11 (British dates, so really November 9th)

Another day another dollar.... oh wait. No dollars, just days.  I'm extremely broke, actually, since my credit cards still haven't arrived from America.  I'm down to £60.  Hopefully I don't need to grocery shop in the near future! =/ My new credit/debit cards should be on their way to England.. should be here by this weekend.

School is school.  My kids have been drawing me all sorts of pictures lately.  They're so cute.

I love how they spell my name phonetically.  K-ee-s.  They are so clever!

See the resemblance?  This is supposed to be me.  I particularly like my large green body and red eyes.

Not much else is going on at school.  Open Day is tomorrow, where all the prospective parents come to look at the school, so everyone is extra stressed out.  I attended a real tea party today!  It was one of our teacher's birthday, so we had a surprise tea after school.  Tony comes to observe me on Friday.. and not just one lesson like normal.. he's coming for a full 4 hours.  Terrifying.

Fun fact - In England, it's spelled "kerb" instead of "curb".. weird, right?

Also, funny conversation I had with little Poppy while they were changing for street dance (yes, street dance):

Poppy is sitting in her underwear and starts putting her shoes on.

Me: "Poppy aren't you going to put your pants on before your shoes?"

Poppy: *blank stare*

Me: "Your pants.. you should put them on before you put shoes on."

Poppy: *blank stare* "but Miss Keys, I already have my pants on!"

...... I always forget that pants are underwear in this country.

November already!

What a crazy week it's been!

I lost my wallet in London last weekend.  So, I canceled my credit cards.  I still had my emergency card at home, BUT...... when I was cancelling my cards, I accidentally canceled my emergency card instead of the card I actually lost!  Typical, right?  So now I have about 20 pounds and 100 euros (which are no good in England) to my name.

We were supposed to be going to Paris this weekend, but we aren't going anymore.  The other girls have too much school work to do this weekend.  I'm not too bummed about it, because I've been to Paris, but it sucks we wasted all that money!  If I was brave enough, I'd just go by myself, but I'm not.  I don't want to get kidnapped.

Teaching is going just fine.  It's Guy Fawkes Day tomorrow, so we taught the children about that today.  A bit tricky since they don't know what Parliament is, or what treason means, and I didn't want to introduce them to the idea of torture and being hanged.  So we left out big chunks of the story.  They were mostly concerned about the fireworks/bonfires they'll get to see this weekend.

In 3 short weeks I'll be full-time teaching.  That is terrifying, isn't it?  I think so.

I've been hanging out with a boy (Grandpa, I know this is a shock but it's true!).  We'll see if that continues to go well (and if I can talk him into moving to America!).

Not a lot else is going on in good ol' England.  I stole Kate's Rome pictures, so they'll be up sometime this weekend.