This is the Home S-t-r-e-t-c-h

Well, I logged onto my google homepage today and noticed that I have 10 days until I come home! That is absolutely unbelievable! The time has absolutely flown by - and yet I am ready to come home - to family, to pets, to routine, and to my own bed! The next 5 days will be absolutely intense. I have almost completed the lesson plan for my final project in Victorian Narratives --- 50 pages and counting! It was a massive undertaking, but I am so glad that I pushed myself to try it. I have no idea if it is what the professor is looking for --- but it will suit my needs when I decide to teach Lady Audley's Secret at school. I now have an entire unit - including vocabulary lists, tests, discussion outlines, writing assignments and rubric, etc --- for the book It is 13 sessions long -- that is a month's worth of lesson plans! YIPEE!

The Chaucer paper has me stumped. I met with the professor and she revised my focus -- but now I seem more lost than before -- NOT a good sign. I have a lot of research completed, but not in any order whatsoever. I think I may use my original thesis - and tweak it to represent her suggestions. I think that is the only way that I can write the 5-7 page paper by Friday and still keep whatever sanity I have left.

It is not like the only thing I have to do is write final projects -- we still have the daily lessons to complete as well. I feel like I am barely able to keep my head above water --- but I know that God will not give me more than I can handle, and I know that this time next week I will be breathing a sigh of relief. In fact, my roommate has rented a car for the week, so perhaps next weekend I can go see some of the sites of the southwest.

While I have learned an enormous amount while I have been here, I think the most valuable information I will take away is how to read for the classes next summer. I will definitely register EARLY so that I can get started on the reading early AND....I will be using the dialectic journal technique that I teach to my students (much to their chagrin). I'm telling you, guys, IT WORKS!

Well.....enough chit chat --- I must go prepare for the last week of the session. I SO appreciate all the prayers that you have sent my way. I have truly been encouraged the entire time I have been here.

PS -- Photos are slightly different this go around. One of the projects I have included in the lesson plan is to have the students look at paintings and determine what gothic and/or sensational elements are represented. These are a couple of the paintings that I will be using

PPS ---- just in case some of you have been wondering -- I did receive my first set of grades and I received an A- on each paper --- I was absolutely thrilled!!