Through careful analysis (well, more like daily phonecalls), and a little research, my mom and I discovered that my family probably has a genetic mental processing disorder that makes remembering and producing spontaneous speech difficult. When I was the SALT notetaker, I could take pages of notes without realizing what had been said. And I always feel a little panicked when someone approaches me for an unknown reason, with an unknown topic of discourse. It always feels like I preparing multiple answers for any scenario that could occur without really wanting to be that prepared. It's also why huge social gatherings are like work for me- it's all mental multitasking:) And it's exhausting. I was starting to feel like a...I don't know what, but now that I know that it's actually inherited, I have something to fight against. I may need to become a slow-responder, or an um-could-you-repeat-that-er, or just clueless.

Anyway:) I love my job. I really really do. All that stuff I thought about teaching not being mentally challenging enough: so wrong. I am consistently on my toes- especially since I teach in four different rooms and 8 separate classes. How do you teach a child English in 30 minutes a day, you may ask? I hope I figure it out. There are a million things to do behind the scenes too. I am part of at least 5 groups that meet at least twice a month, and countless others that meet less frequently. We are constantly bombarded with statements like "you should be spending at least x minutes on this type of reading instruction" or "there should never be children off task" or "we need to improve comprehension across the grade...let's make an action plan!" So it's a guessing game as to how much and to what extent I should incorporate any of the methodologies and as to when I should just wing it. One of my students got in big trouble today, too. I really hope to be an caring adult in the lives of my students, as well- goodness knows, some of them need one.