First Two Days of School

Can I just say how surreal it is to be back in school??? Even though my brain is so crammed full of new information at this point, it still feels like I am suppose to be going back to work soon... I suppose that feeling will go away as soon as the kids come...
So Sunday afternoon was the orientation for my Masters program. We met at the Education house on campus and, along with munching on your typical veggies, crackers, and cheeses, we were introduced to some of the staff. They are changing department chairs this year, and I have a feeling that might be shaking up the dynamics of the staff a little bit, so we'll see how that all plays out. Anyway -- then we split up into Elementary and Secondary groups and I was astounded to find that I am one of only 6 people in the Elem program. I was a little disappointed to find out that there were that few of us, just in relation to having a little more diversity in the group, but everyone seems very nice so far. Miles, our token male, just graduated from CC (that's Colorado College, get use to the abbreviation!). Crystalyn just graduated as well and moved from Pennsylvania, but loves Colorado (I think she was born here) and is here to stay. Jessica also just graduated from somewhere else in Colorado and is married to Jordan who is in the 2ndary ed program. Marci, like me, has been out of school for a little while. She is also married and has a 15mo old boy who she has been home with since he was born, so this is a big adjustment for her. Pam is coming back to school after 20-something years. She has 3 kids. So while there aren't that many of us, at least we do have different backgrounds and experiences to draw from. For the post part we will not have much interaction with the Secondary Ed people, so you'll be hearing a lot about this crew I am sure!
Monday morning we all (Elem and 2ndary) met on campus for registration. I was apparently one of the few people who had actually turned in all my stuff that I was suppose to turn in ahead of time because, while we had 2 hours, I was done in like 20 minutes (18 of which was probably just waiting in line). Jessica was done too, so she and Jordan and I went and got our student IDs, books ($$ouch$$) and then sat on the porch of the Education House and chatted until 10ish when we went to our respective classes. We're starting with Language Arts and Social Studies, along with picking a topic for our masters paper (the outline of which is due Friday! yikes!) We also will be spending the next 4 weeks with a Gifted and Talented Elementary Camp that comes to CC every summer. Talk about cramming it all in!!! So Monday was spent going over 10 million different things (yes, I counted) like the syllabus, online assignments, masters papers, evaluation scales, etc. I was elected to be the "I.T." person for the class (setting up the laptop/projector system) as I was the only one who could figure it out. We also talked a lot about the structure of the entire program, which is insanely intense, but still sounds really cool. My brain was overflowing by the end of the day.
Today we met in class again first thing and were introduced to the teachers for the GT Camp and they pitched their classes to us (along with wonderful bribes: food, food, food, art supplies, shiny rocks, and food) The classes are grouped by age (1st grade, 2-3rd, 4-6th) and range from oceanography, around the world in 80 days, geology, China, etc. etc. Then they all left and we got to pick (half choice, half luck of the draw) what class we wanted to assist. I got my first choice which is a 4th-6th grade group of kids who will be performing Shakespeare's "As You Like It." I am super excited and the teacher seems awesome. Now I have to come up with two official lesson plans that I have to teach amongst the learning of lines, designing of the set, and making of costumes. I am thinking something about Jesters as Touchstone is a main character in the play... we'll see. Anyway, we also get to perform the play for both the other kids in the camp and for parents. AND we get to use the brand-spankin-new theatre to do it! It should be a hit!
The rest of this week we will be in class, then helping set up the room for our GT camp, then back to class in the afternoons. The kids come next week at which point we will be with them all morning and then have class in the afternoons. Strangely enough the Secondary Ed people are just taking one regular college class right now (expanding their background in whatever subject area they plan to teach). I am sure eventually I will be jealous that they have so much less stuff to do, but right now I am so tickled about this camp, and getting more real/hands-on experience with the kids, that I feel sorry for them not to have something similar to work on (and they are all jealous of us!! :) hee hee).
The other thing we did this afternoon was we got to meet up with the teacher we are teamed with for the school year, and also (in my case and maybe one or two others) the principal of the school we'll be at. My teacher is actually leaving next week for a 5 week trip to Paraguay to study a rain forest eco-system. Funnily enough she has no background in bio, so I thought it was so awesome that she chose to do that, I can't wait to hear all about it! And she and the principal seem to be good friends, so I felt super comfortable with them already.
Ok so that's quite enough for the first blog entry... not to mention I still have to read a good chunk of Shakespeare tonight. Sherlock was tickled that I did my first two hours of reading out in the park near my house while throwing his ball for him :)
By the way... I figured this (blog) would be the best way for you all to keep tabs on me for a while since (as you can see) I am going to be insanely busy for a while!
More to come soon!!!!!!!!