1. Student teaching I got my student teaching placement! To protect anonymity, my students, W&M, and the high school I am in, I am not going to reveal which high school it is or my cooperating teacher. However, I will say that I will be teaching government, both regular and AP, come spring time. I am mostly doing observations this semester. Of course, the school is somewhere in the Tidewater area, within an hour's drive of Williamsburg. That's about 10 plus possible school districts. ;) Naturally, I am very happy with my placement, and I think that this will be a great year. I will meet the kids for the first time next week.
2. Christian life I have been attending services at New Town UMC since June, and I still really like it there. I also started going to their Wednesday night Bible study with some friends in the end of July. We are doing an expository study of the book of Philippians, and we're still in chapter 2, haha. Seeing as we only discussed one verse this week (2:25), this is not surprising. I really admire NTUMC's commitment to fellowship, doctrine, worship, prayer, and the needs of the congregation. The church really feels like a family to me, and I've only been there a short while. I'm seeing God's blessings everywhere I look, and it's just amazing. I've been attending the Bible study with a couple friends and we're hoping to get more people to join us as the year progresses. The great part is that we don't just see each other for Bible study, we try to get together outside of church, too, so that we're involved in each other's lives. This is so important in Christian community. I have also started singing at Bruton Parish on Sunday nights. A friend found out that I sing and invited me to sing in the student choir, and it's been really interesting and fun so far. Definitely a different experience, but one that has been beneficial for me, especially considering my experience with TFC. I'm glad to have this opportunity to be in open dialogue in that setting.
3. Working hard I'm working for a different professor during the school year, and I'm having a lot of fun so far. One project I worked on a few weeks ago was to create screen capture videos as an explanation for how to use Wikispaces. W&M education students use Wikispaces to create electronic portfolios of their progress throughout the year. I had a lot of fun creating these videos, so check them out.
4. Reading ... not for pleasure My month of pleasure reading has ended. While I have been finding some time to read through the last book in the Twilight series (Breaking Dawn), I have mostly been reading for my various classes. I'm hoping to write a blog about the Twilight series once I finish it. :) I will likely offer some thoughts on other reading materials for my various classes, but I do have a lot to do, so those may be more infrequent.
5. Time for play Despite the work, I'm still a social person. The C&I bunch has become even closer than we were over the summer, and I think we're starting to scare some people because we know each other so well. It's fun. :) I also went to UVA this past weekend with a friend for my first Cavalier football game. I really like Charlottesville, and thankfully we managed to avoid Tropical Storm Hanna! The rain stopped an hour before the game started. Fantastic. I'm going to Virginia Tech this weekend with my friend Laurie and her family, and I'll also get to see Jesse and Caelah! So, I'm really just having an orange identity crisis between Tech and UVA. Who do I cheer for? ;) There have also been Wii game sessions, dinners, bowling, poker, movie nights, and endless conversations.
Needless to stay, I've already built a life here, and I love everything about it.
