Officially Blogging

Hey everyone, not sure who is going to read this, but I am starting an online journal. It has been a crazy past couple of weeks with everything that has happened to my mom and starting my teaching credential program at the same time. Many thoughts have been rushing through my head with new experiences and information coming at me each day.
I am going to begin observation at Tamalpais High School this week and I am excited. I am very interested in learning about teaching from other teachers willing to share information. My teachers from high school have a tendency to complain about teaching, but I am a new teacher and I have to focus on the positive. A positive attitude has been my motto as I have ventured into the field of education. Things certainly aren't going to be easy, but I am going to try my darndest to do my best. My classes are covering some very interesting material as well. I am sitting here at Sonoma State's computer lab about to go to a class about learning and literacy. I think this is going to help me a lot to be able to teach all types of learners. Some of my biggest challenges substitute teaching have to do with unmotivated kids or those who have trouble reading. I have not been able to spend significant amounts of time with these kids, so I am sure when I am able to make a connection to students they will try more when they see the effort I make to teach them.
Much of my thinking has been about education due to the inundation of reading material I have for all my classes. I am trying to take it all in, but my mind keeps wandering off to Memphis. My mom is sitting in the hospital essentially recreating her life. I only wish I could be there to help jog her memory with all the information she has given me throughout my life. I am going to have a hard time without my mom by my side which she has always been. I understand that things happen for a reason sometimes and I am taking this seeming tragedy and it has become my motivation for living productively and doing my best at everything I can. I know it is what my mom would want me to do because that is the example she has set for me my entire life. I miss her so much, but I know she will get better... it is going to take time and my mom taught me one thing and that is patience. We must all have patience with my mom as she reorganizes her brain and bounces back. We must also still treat her like Donna, not someone who has lost their mind. Anyways, it is off to class now and then I get to read like the dickens about teaching kids. I got a lot out here, so maybe more later...