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FINALLY AN UPDATE (you've all been DYING)

So I have officially completed three weeks of teaching in my own first grade classroom in Mississippi. It has been many things, including exhausting, busy and chaotic, but it has also already been full of moments that are shaping who I am and who I want to be as a teacher. I'm learning a lot, working a lot, fixing a lot, changing a lot and constantly reminding myself why I'm here.

This is basically what my life looks like down here (by the dubs I've been here for almost 3 months now. holy BUCKETS time flies, like WHAT?):

1. I teach first grade writing, language and science/social studies (mostly writing/language). There are 46 students in the first grade, 15-16 in each of three classes, and they rotate from classroom to classroom for the different subjects. Yes, they are so young for that. No, I've never heard of it anywhere else. But YES, they CAN handle it, they are BRILLIANT little children, resilient and flexible. We're all working together and doing everything we can to help these children and this school to grow.

2. I am the coach of the flag girls for the high school marching band. So after school 2 or 3 times a week, my four girls come to my classroom and hang out until I'm ready to leave, then we go practice in the field. Basically I yell counts and commands at them and they teach me about twirling a flag since I was never actually a flag girl. Haha. I'm learning from them and I'm hoping to the GOOD LORD that they are learning from me. They had their first game/performance on Friday and they did REALLY well for only having about one week's worth of practice. I was a very proud coach. :)

OH and this also means that I go to EVERY SINGLE football game. Even away games. On the bus with the band. Haha. It adds a lot of excitement to my life. And I get to hang out with my little ones that I see at the football game, which is the best.

3. I joined a church in town and have been going every week for the past month. I also joined the choir. It is the most peaceful hour of my entire week and it gets me through. The congregation is unbelievably caring and the choir welcomed me in with open arms. It's my safe haven and I am SO happy I found it.

4. I got a gym membership at the Y and have started going to Zumba. HECK yes. I love it. I think I might offer my kids a reward for good behavior: Miss Forster will show you her Zumba routine and  you can laugh at her trying to dance (since all of my kids can break it down FAR better than me...I think they'd love it).

5. My roommate, best friend and fellow hard-working teacher Ms. Bornholdt (Vanessa) is starting an art club at the high school (her students asked for it...how awesome is she?). So I'll be helping with that once a week. I know nothing about art but I am SO excited that Vanessa asked me to be involved.

That's the basic laydown of Ms. Forster's Mississippi life. Not too shabby.

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