Lesson planning my life

So the last two days have been filled with sessions all about lesson plans.

We've learned the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, even the inside outs of good lesson planning. I never realized how much effort teachers put into all this stuff (I should say, the "good teachers,"). It's a lot of working mapping out what goals you want for the course and the mini-steps you have to take to get there. Actually, it's pretty exhausting. Throw in the fact that teachers are among the lowest paid professionals out there and it's pretty scary.

Anyway, I've managed to plan out an entire week's worth of reading lesson plans in the last two days. Along the way I've met and grown close to some pretty amazing future teachers. Sure we're all tired from getting up at 5:30 a.m. every day, but I rarely see anyone walking around without a smile or a positive outlook. It's quite the change from graduate school.

Technically today is the Fourth of July (since it is after midnight). So to celebrate, I'm actually leaving the confines of St. Johns University and heading out to the Hampton's for the weekend (I feel rich and famous just saying it). I'm spending a few days with friends from UF and going to see one of my favorite comediennes in Connecticut on Saturday. Then it's back to work on Sunday, and on Monday I teach my first class of middle schoolers at I.S. 143 in Washington Heights. Woot.