I'm so ready for Thanksgiving.

Who would have thought that November came up so quickly this year? It still feels like early fall.

I've been having a successful semester so far. It's incredible to think about what I'm learning here--what I've learned about my students, my host teacher, teachers in grad school, all of it.

It's making me think a lot about post-college plans. People have been telling me to just go through with the idea of teaching. Go to a graduate school to get a master's degree in two years. I still have a lot to think about, though, so I'm not making any final plans yet.

I got all my classes for next semester! Very exciting. It'll be a good Spring.

This weekend I spent some time with family, walking around the West Side, eating a lot of tasty meals.

Last weekend Todd was here, and we had such a great time! We went to Katz' on the Lower East Side, and we also went to see Where the Wild Things Are. Max was able to drive him here and back home, which was great. It was also great to meet Max's family for their Sunday brunch.

My final projects look like this:

Modern Literacy: Research question -- How do interactive read alouds (read alouds that involve the listeners) affect reading comprehension?

---------I have to do a report on that, based on my "action research."

Family, Child, Teacher Interactions: Design a website for parents and teachers to use.

Practice & Theory: I get to make a video of my classroom and my final project. I'm having the students write their own ballads based on the historic figures that they've found in biographies. We've been reading ballads aloud and talking about themes in them as well as themes in the biographies. This has led to discussions on ballad structure, ballad storytelling, legends...it's been pretty great. My presentation will ultimately have a powerpoint, poster and everything.

Storytelling: Tell stories to the children!

Well, that's all. I'm hoping to be able to come back to Wes the weekend before my final project is due for the Practice & Theory. Also, if anyone wants to come see my presentation, it's on Wednesday, December 16. This, I believe, is during reading week. All are welcome, and please please please, let me know if you want more details.

I miss you all so much!