it just keeps on going

Just finished my first prac at a primary school. I got placed in a Year 6/7 class. Being very unfamiliar with what kids were like at that age my initial thinking was that they were like young adolescents, bratty, hormonal etc... I totally overestimated! They were the sweetest batch of kids, and I felt very lucky to have them as my students. While I loved the kids, I found it very very difficult to plan my lessons. I had many 'I didn't get much sleep' nights while writing out lesson plans, working them out in my mind, creating worksheets and tasks for them to do, etc. By the end of my prac I just felt that my brain was totally fried and wasn't able to plan another lesson. Although it was a lot of work, I really enjoyed the time I got to spend at the school... no, in fact I loved it. It's heaps more practical than the stuff I'm learning at uni, cuz I actually get to see the reactions and responses from my students, and that's just something theories can't prepare you for. Going back to uni on Monday... (the less enjoyable part of this course!) gotta teach a 20 min lesson of Mandarin in my LOTE/ESL class on Tuesday... and have massive assignments due later too!!! It just never seems to end. Over our lunch breaks during the prac, we (the student teachers) would encourage one another "don't worry, it'll all be over in November!"... Really? If I got a job next year teaching, I think I would be spending quite a bit of time planning what I will be teaching and assessing the students... I don't think the busyness will ever end will it?!... just have to learn to adjust and balance it all out! I'm just finding the whole situation quite amusing at the moment...