Jack Frost brought his friends

Mornings are darker and the windshield is covered with a tenacious dust when I walk out of the apartment. It feels so early and maybe that is because I've stayed up later than I should have, but it's too late to fix that. There are students and papers and futures to deal with. I can't complain about the early hour anymore though, because, after 12 weeks of leaving my apartment at 6:45am, I can now leave at 7:20am. The prompted change is a long story so let's just leave it at that.

Yesterday, I didn't get to sleep in until 6. I got up at the old normal 5:35am becuase I had the privilege to go to a Foreign Language Teacher conference in Indianapolis with my supervising teacher. It was a great experience: it was as encouraging as much as it was intimidating. I was able to go to the session by Toni Theisen, the ACTFL teacher of 2009. Admittedly, one of the reasons I looked at the session more closely was because I saw she's from Loveland, Colorado. I am so glad that I went, though, because I had wanted ideas and guidance for using technology in the classroom. She had tons of stuff and I felt rather lost when she started throwing jargon around like "voki" or "toondoo." I always knew that I wasn't that technology savvy, but I didn't think I was that bad. Determined to prove myself capable, I came home and spent 8pm to 1:30am trying to figure out the voki tool. It shouldn't be that hard, but apparently I have a ways to go before I can use these great resources in the classroom.

One of the best experiences during the conference was being treated like a teacher. When people find out that you are a student teacher, they immediately treat you differently. It makes sense, but it gets old after a while... at least treat me like a first year teacher, please. This hierarchy is ridiculous. Anyways, I was paired with a Latin teacher in the technology session and it felt really good to be the creative one. Don't worry... I won't get a big head. I haven't taught Latin, but I took it and being creative with vocabulary and translations has got to be one of the biggest challenges a teacher can face.

I am so excited to try some of my new ideas out (as soon as I figure out the system that is educational technology, which will be a while considering my experience last night) but now it's starting to register with me... I won't be teaching these students for much longer. After this coming week, I have maybe two weeks before I start removing myself from the classroom. It's painful to think about. For over 10 weeks, I have been pouring myself into these students and I have grown to love every single one of them... even the ones who make me want to pull out my hair. I'm not looking forward to leaving them. I'm not looking forward to being a student in the classroom again. I failed at sitting still in the conference sessions yesterday. That never was a problem until I became a student teacher. Moving around the classroom and making large arm movements is what I do every day. That will look so different 3 months from now.

So, along with the frost and dark mornings, the season has brought nostalgia, the desire to curl up in blankets and watch Psych all day, and the desire to spend ridiculous amounts of money on cardigans and Pumpkin Spice lattes. Thankfully, student teaching makes me do something with my life, although I have found time for all of the above. It's kind of like my own magic trick. Just like backing the 18 passenger Post Office van up the library delivery dock driveway. One magic trick I have yet to master is the concept of time. The senior Education electronic portfolio is due at the beginning of December. I'm going to put myself out there and say I am no where near ready for this. To be fair, not many people probably are, they're just better at looking like they are. Kudos to them. I'll continue panicking, wasting hours of my life alternating between my new wikispace and the piclit and the other ideas that kick my butt. Thank goodness for an extra hour in my life tonight!