Well, my last day as a 5th Grade Teaching Assistant for the UCLA Lab School has finally passed. I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to do something like this; when I applied I think there were around 80 or so applicants.. don't know how I got the job, maybe because I slipped a 5 in with my application. I LOVE working with the 5th grade age group though, to the point I hope I don't regret choosing to teach high school math. If I do, I can always go down to 5th grade, right? That's actually what one of the teachers in my class did, so it's not like it's impossible. I don't ever want to feel "stuck" in a job, so if I don't enjoy the high school level, who knows, maybe I'll be a 5th grade teacher. :) No lower than 5th grade though, then they get too young even for me. I don't know how my Grandma did Grade K for 40 something years..
Being a teaching assistant is a unique experience, because you get to know the kids so well. I think you develop a different kind of relationship with them than the teachers (I'll know this for sure after I've been teaching for a while). I definitely got to joke around with them more and just talk to them more than the teachers did though, and I'll miss that about being a TA. It's only been a couple days, but I already miss my class a lot. Hopefully I'll get to work at the school again part-time next year so I can go visit them.
Anyways, I'm back at home now, and I've become extremely jumpy because of the recent reports of waterbugs seen in my area of the house. I've been doing scans before I enter a room to make sure they're not there.. The other day I was doing a scan before I went into the bathroom, and what I think was a piece of dust moved on the floor, and I literally jumped. I need to calm down a bit.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
End of Chapter
I have once again reached the end of another chapter in my life. This chapter was a year long and is now finally coming to a close. Mentorship events are over and is winding down, I have 2 weeks left of being a TA at UCLA Lab School, and Unicamp meetings are over as well.
Although I will definitely miss being Program Director for Mentorship, a large part of me is just plain relieved that it is over. I feel like I've sacrificed a lot of relationships with friends, and I'm excited to get my old life back, in a way. That means finally hanging out with people that I kept saying I was too busy to hang out with. And, catching up on my shows/video games of course. One thing I learned about myself this year, among other things, is that I definitely value my "me time". Even if it's just a few hours of a day, it's nice to just sit around and do nothing for a while.
I am going to miss my 5th grade class. A lot. This year was unique, and I probably won't get another chance like it, since I'm going into high school math. The 5th grade is such an interesting age, because you can have real conversations with most of these kids, and a lot of them are so funny and quirky. Knowing that there's only 2 weeks left, I'm really valuing my last days with them. Some of them are already telling me that they wish I could stay and asking why I'm leaving. I hope I get to stay in contact with them and see how they're doing in the years to come.
In other news, I'm excited to move home for the summer. This might be the last summer that my whole family is living in the same house. I never laugh as much as I do at home with my family, so I'm going to savor it while I can. Example: last night, we were playing Loaded Questions and Mom was the guesser. The question was: "What muscle would you flex to impress someone?" My brother and I both said "brain", and my dad and sister both said "butt." Pretty much sums up the family. :P
Although I will definitely miss being Program Director for Mentorship, a large part of me is just plain relieved that it is over. I feel like I've sacrificed a lot of relationships with friends, and I'm excited to get my old life back, in a way. That means finally hanging out with people that I kept saying I was too busy to hang out with. And, catching up on my shows/video games of course. One thing I learned about myself this year, among other things, is that I definitely value my "me time". Even if it's just a few hours of a day, it's nice to just sit around and do nothing for a while.
I am going to miss my 5th grade class. A lot. This year was unique, and I probably won't get another chance like it, since I'm going into high school math. The 5th grade is such an interesting age, because you can have real conversations with most of these kids, and a lot of them are so funny and quirky. Knowing that there's only 2 weeks left, I'm really valuing my last days with them. Some of them are already telling me that they wish I could stay and asking why I'm leaving. I hope I get to stay in contact with them and see how they're doing in the years to come.
In other news, I'm excited to move home for the summer. This might be the last summer that my whole family is living in the same house. I never laugh as much as I do at home with my family, so I'm going to savor it while I can. Example: last night, we were playing Loaded Questions and Mom was the guesser. The question was: "What muscle would you flex to impress someone?" My brother and I both said "brain", and my dad and sister both said "butt." Pretty much sums up the family. :P
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