One month down

Well I am one month in to the school year. I have already experienced so many different emotions...one of which being "what did I get myself in to?!" Yes...about a week into it, I thought "This is crazy. I cant believe I signed up for this." but now, I am so thrilled I am apart of this. I have started all three grades on basic inquiry skills for science class. They all learned the 6 steps to the Scientific Method and got to see some of the lab supplies they will be working with. I love their enthusiasm to get started on the new content. We will officially start working in the textbooks this week. I have tried to plan a start off experiment for all three classes. It sure will be a lot of prep for me, but I know the kids will appreciate it. They are still learning how to work well in groups, so all experiments at this point are small and short...hopefully I can get to the point where they do well working together and we can get into more in depth experiments. 8th grade is starting off learning about atoms. In 7th we will start on force in motion and in fluids. 6th will take another week to build inquiry skills and then we will start on bacteria. For math, we are opening up the textbooks as well this week. I have spent the first month reviewing with all three levels. I have also been buying myself some time because the SPED pull out will begin this week. Most of the other students are at the average level to actively participate in class. It's already crossed my mind that I am still at a loss as to what I SHOULD be doing. Am I planning everything correctly? I find math and science easy...so how can I think like a middle school student to make it as easy as possible for them to learn?! Ill be shocked if I make it through this school year and the kids learning ANYTHING. Bruce is doing well with his not-so-new position at Farmers. He has been SO busy since they are started giving him the full daily complaint load. The complains have actually been coming in more than usual so he is spending a lot of time trying to keep up...as is everyone in the department. Insurance claims never rest... We had a great visit last weekend with Bruce's parents. They made the trip to KC and although it was a very quick weekend, it was so great seeing them. Traveling on September 11th definitely caused them a bigger headache than we could have imagined (all flights out of the Southwest gates were cancelled due to a crazy traveler) but they made it home after the long drive across Kansas. Bruce and I have a few lazy weekends coming up, and then we are headed back out to the Kansas Speedway for the race followed by a few wedding weekends. OH and also...our 1 year anniversary is coming up!!!! Seriously?! Where has the last year gone!? MB