Learning to Walk.

Last week I lost my favorite red pen.

This qualified as a tragedy. Panicked I started cleaning my desk. Asia, you have stolen my sigg, my sunglasses, and given me nothing but bruises from stairs and motos! You can't have my pen too!!!

After my desk was clean I found my pen.

Granted I found it in a completely different room, but I found it nonetheless.

I've noticed some things lately.

I'm on the verge of panic less often these days.

When I first started teaching I felt like I was drowning. I felt like I could hardly stay on top of all the grading, the lesson plans, the kids names, it was a lot.

But here we are. Quarter three, week three. My lesson plans were finished on Sunday and they didn't take me all day. My grading for everything except today is done and entered in the computer. I know my kids names, I can even recognize their voices without looking.

Instead of knowing what is happening on The Office or on How I Met Your Mother, off the top of my head I can tell you what page each of the four groups is on in their reading books. I can tell you what period each of the classes have Khmer. I can tell you who is going to need more help, and who needs to sit in the front row.

I don't come to school early to GET organized for the day, I come to school to make sure everything IS organized for the day.

I still definitely have a lot to learn, the next step is probably following my lesson plans. I'm bad at listening. Even to myself.

But I don't feel panicked anymore. I'm not stumbling around in the dark. I'm not crawling.

I don't feel like posting near as many, "I don't know what I'm doing!!" updates on facebook.

I might run out of patience, but I won't run out of activities. I'm keeping up. I'm getting ahead.

I think this is, how you say, growth.