It's a new year - I've made some goals for myself

I'm not the type to typically make unattainable goals every time we turn the calendar from December to January, but this year I've decided to make a list of goals. I'm doing this in hopes of improving on my overall outlook on life with the ultimate goal of living a more fulfilling life. Sounds like a bunch of hullabaloo, I know, so bear with me.

As I began brainstorming for this, I ended up with a huge list of short, small ideas. I'm including everything I've come up with, hopefully organizing them in a way helpful to fulfillment. I'll likely split this entry up into seperate posts - as I have personal, professional, and health-related goals I've come up with.

Stay tuned.

I didn't actually get a B

Long story short, my prof made a couple of mistakes. I earned an A in the class, proved it to her (as well as her boss, as she was being non-cooperative in a bullying type of way). She changed my grade and I am back to having a 4.0. *breathes sigh of relief*

I got a B.

I just checked my final grades for my spring quarter and saw that I received a B in one of my classes. I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. I understand that a B is still a great grade to receive, but it's my first one in grad school. My first one in 13 classes. I have a total of 15 classes to take and I received a B in class number 13. I'm hoping with time I'll calm down and realize getting a B isn't all that bad, but to ruin a 4.0, especially this late in the game, is a bit sad to me. I'll take my 3.93 into my final 2 classes and hope for the best.

My job has been interesting

In an effort to keep this blog entry short (yeah, right), I'll try and give a cliff notes version of my recent experiences at work.

End of February:
Lead teacher in the infant room I worked in left on maternity leave. No real discussion on who would take over took place, but it was assumed that I would share the responsibility with the other gal who has been there since we opened.

March 10th-ish:
It was announced that the other gal would become lead teacher and was explained to me a couple of ways:
"You'd be our choice if it weren't for your student teaching in the fall" was the main one. What a bunch of crock. I was ready to quit for a couple of weeks, even working on my resume and looking at jobs on craigslist.

end of March-ish:
I was moved out of the room and became an assistant teacher in the Twos room (where I'd been working in the afternoons from 1-4). I couldnt have been more ecstatic.

Since then, I have totally enjoyed what I've been doing. I simply love my job. It's odd, annoying, unheard of, etc for me to say that, but I really do. What makes it better is my co-teachers in the room. Everyone in the room is really great with the kids and really takes a project approach when it comes to planning lessons and activities. What I mean by that, is that we look at what the kids are interested in and plan around that. This is what's so great about the younger age, as I don't know if it'll be possible with the older kids, where standardized tests take over our lives. But I digress.

In any case, there have been a couple of occasions, because the other teachers are so strong in this room, where I was worried I wouldn't be up to par in the room... but much to my happiness (not surprise, really) - I've not only felt welcome, but have had the other teachers proclaim their confidence in me. We are probably the strongest room in the center (4 infant rooms, 1 toddler room, 1 twos room, and 1 preschool room) when it comes to the teachers' abilities.

It's really great to be a part of this room and a part of a close-knit group of teachers. I'm glad the directors decided to make the decision to move me out of the old room, because I'd likely not last past summer in there if I weren't the lead teacher. Funny enough, I'm totally ok being an assistant in the room I'm in now because I have full respect for the lead teacher and his abilities.

To name change or not to name change....

Most women likely don't think twice about it. Many do it based on tradition. Many do it out of convenience - I mean, who wants to explain that Erica Smith is in fact Stephen Jackson's wife even though they don't share the same last name? Especially when children are involved?

This is something I never really struggled with as I was getting older. I find name changing to be an antiquated, sex-discriminatory practice that is all too easily accepted (and expected) by many in society. It simply doesn't make sense to me for me. In my opinion, at least with regard to how I feel about it personally, I don't understand why I'm expected to give up the past 32 years of my life, simply because I decided to marry the person I love.

That said, I assume many who do decide to change their name just don't take it as seriously as I do. Most likely they don't look at it as giving up their previous life, but rather committing to a future life. I think this is easily accomplished by saying your vows and getting married. That seems official enough to me, but can understand why it's not an opinion shared by everyone.

Finally, when the time comes, we'll have to figure out what happens with the kids. Is Daugherty that weird of a middle name?

I yelled back at the bus driver

So, I'm peacefully taking the 49 Western bus back toward home this evening. When the time came, I pressed the little button for my stop. Below is what happened immediately after:

Just before the stop, the driver pulls over and picks up a fellow CTA bus driver. They begin chatting.

Bus rolls past the bus stop.

I press the button again, at the same time saying, "Foster, please"

Bus driver: "Y'all gotta press the button before I get past the stop!"
Me: "I did"
Bus driver: "No you didn't, you just pressed it."
Me: "No, I pressed it before you stopped at the light back there."
Bus driver: "No you didn't"
Me: "Yes, I certainly did, maybe you should pay more attention to your customers than your buddies"

I then got off the bus at the back (where I was yelling from), stomped off the bus, and tried to shut the automatic doors.

I feel like I won.

I am bad at making decisions

Ok, so during one of my ECE classes this week, I was thinking about a blog entry I'd like to write. I thought about the fact that I apparently retired from this blog for now. I decided to still create this new entry.

So, I'm either incredibly over-confident or my classmates just made the wrong career choice. This semester, one of my classes is a practicum class, which requires us to observe and interact in a primary classroom for 3 hours each week. Now, I can't wait to get started. An environment entirely new, a group of students I've yet to meet, a teacher I am looking forward to learning from.

From the questions in class last week, it appears besides the two classmates who have actually been teachers for at least a year (and me) that everyone is terrified of going into the classroom. This got me thinking, "what in the world compelled you to go to grad school to seek an early childhood education degree?"

Maybe it's just me, but it's my opinion that we should be confident in our abilities with children. Sure, there will be some butterflies, and it can be intimidating to go into a new classroom, but if something as simple as writing and presenting a lesson plan is worrying some folks, I just don't get it. Maybe my decision to change careers to one where I work with children has boosted my confidence? A lot of my classmates are career changers who either work in the corporate world or nanny.

I know there will be struggles, but I also know that I'll be awesome at it. Perhaps it is a bit of overconfidence.

(You're welcome for this post, Mike)