First Day of Junior High

I. Love. Teaching. Junior High.... so much.

This was it. The first day of my official teaching career, the first day to teach junior high, the first day to teach in Africa, and it was incredible. Praise God, for He has blessed me with such amazing students that I am ridiculously impressed with and amused by, and I am so thankful for the way He's prepared my heart to love them already.

5 a.m.: Woke up out of excitement, so I decided to get up and get ready, get my stuff together, jump around with excitement, and squeal just a little bit.
6:45 a.m.: Off to finish making copies and put any finishing touches on my classroom, and stand in there counting down the seconds before my students come...
7:45-8:30: First period - 20 7th graders who cracked me up. It was a bit overwhelming - they have SO much energy, but I loved it, and it was fantastic to put the first faces to my names...
8:30-10:30: Break! Planning periods, Chai time. Came back and tried to release some of my excited energy...
10:35-11:20: Fourth period - 23 8th graders. I was absolutely SHOCKED at the difference between the 7th and 8th graders. These kids blew me away at how prepared and calm and ready they were.
11:25-12:10: I would normally have 7th grade Study Hall during this time, but it was cancelled today, so I went to lunch early and ate on Cassie's porch in the beautiful weather...
1:30-2:15: Sixth period - 23 more 8th graders. A couple kids in this class blew me away with how much they knew - I'm going to have to study extra hard to be able to teach them! Also, they spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how old I am...
2:20-2:35: Chapel
2:40-3:25: Seventh Period - 19 more 7th graders, probably the funnest class of the day. We talked a lot about me eating bugs...
3:25-3:55: Eighth period, which is really just used for discipline/make-up work, so we didn't have it today...

I absolutely love my schedule. I have nice breaks in between to gather my thoughts and prepare for the next classes. And my students are amazing, have I mentioned that? It's going to be really hard to go back to elementary kids. But I am confident that God placed me in elementary education for a reason, so I'll have peace that this is where I should be for now, and He'll bring whatever is good in the future :)

Asante sana - thank you very much - for all of your prayers. I cannot express how much peace I felt today - not once was I nervous or anxious, just extremely excited! I am so blessed to be supported by so many people and by our God and to feel His perfect peace.

And so the adventures of Miss Scott's Junior High Classes begins... :)