How time flies

Well it's been a month since my last posting and that seems to have gone by far too quickly. Student teaching is wonderful but stressful at times. Lesson planning is not too bad except for submitting them occasionally because those forms are more on depth. Life is excellent but extremely busy with student teaching full time, working part time, going to school part time, and bouncing between two living situations as I spend time at my apartment and my girlfriends place. Now that spring break has arrived my calendar is already filled with lots of activities, to-do's, and work hours. This break isn't really a break at all with so many things going on but at least the weather is beautiful and should allow for some nice outdoor activities throughout the week ahead. Well that's all for now. Perhaps at some point I will post about teaching specifics and things related to that.

The first two days

.... have been fantastic but also a little eye opening. I have been waiting a long time to start student teaching and I'm extremely excited for the next 16 weeks. Things are going well but I do have some areas to improve. I think right now is the time I need to focus on my classroom management. I think a few more days teaching will help but I also feel like when I start my own lesson plans things will be going better because i will know exactly what needs to be covered each day.

A few positive notes...
- my teacher complemented my interactions with kids and said that I do a great job of explaining things but I do need to be sure how I position myself so I don't have my back to the classroom.
- I guess I do fairly well when thins start getting loud but the one thing to work on is getting full attention so I don't gave to explain the same thing multiple times.
- and my last positive thing is that my teacher is great. I get along with him very well and I think we have a good understanding of what each other is expecting over the next few weeks.

A little south of now

Today I went fly fishing for the last time in a while.  It was a cool, damp, and foggy day.  Spending time fishing is always good, but being outdoors is really my main focus this time of year.  Because I am new to the region I am having to spend a lot of time scouting new areas, and doing a lot of research and other legwork now in order to benefit more in the future.

During my scouting I visited three different streams; one of which was basically a bust because of low water and limited public access. The first location was a great section of water with a long stretch of public land. We only saw a few fish in this first stream, but it has a lot of promise for spring and summer. Things should also go better when I have a better understanding for trout fishing as a whole.  My technique and knowledge is limited in this area because I have really only been out for panfish on a regular basis.

A good portion of the day was really used up by trying to determine what is the best way to go about catching any fish and determining what type of fly might be the best.  A few times throughout the day I was able to spot a few varieties of bug stages and that was helpful because I was able to get closer to using a fly that mimics fairly well.  I still need to work on adding a few other fly styles to my collection, but I feel like I do have a good start on the basics for most seasons.

As I practice my cast I feel like I am getting signicantly better at casting around trees and aiming into specific pools and gaps in the water.  My presentation isn't the best with the two-fly setup but I am getting better with that.  I prefer using a single dryfly because I think that is what keeps me closest to my comfort zone with panfishing.

After seeing what seemed like thousands of deer tracks and trails throughout the day we did come across a carcass.  It was just a little yearling, but it had been there for quite some time as everything was removed and bones were scattered.  There was a lot of other animals that were active in the area.  A number of bird species were out as well as tracks of raccons and beavers.
  

Finishing the day out at the third stream of the day was pretty nice as well.  It is a medium sized stretch of water, but it does have a lot of promise because of the regulations the state has in place for size restrictions.  Here I was able to spot a few more fish, but was still unsuccessful in catching anything.  There were four other vehicles at this location so I feel like I was just in an area that is over-fished and I should probably find a different location, or walk deeper into the territory before I start to fish anything.  From brief conversation with one gentlemen it sounded like other people had caught a fish or two but it hadn't been an overly abundant day for them either. 

     I am glad knowing I am not alone in this matter, but it will be nice once I am able to catch fish (and more frequently).  Depending on the next time I am able to go out again, I will either scout a few more locations further south, or possibly return to one or two of the spots I have found in the past month of locating trout streams.

The final days

As the week winds down I inch closer to a real leap in my future. Student teaching begins and I become the teacher for 16 weeks. It is a bit scary but I do find that things will go well as long as I stay on top of everything else in my life. Hopefully over the next few weeks as I write my lessons and quizzes, and probably get involved in writing a test, things fall into place nicely as my content knowledge flows out and I keep those youth entertained. I feel like the biggest struggle will be making sure I am able to support myself on fewer paid hours while spending a large portion of my day teaching and paying to do it.

Another struggle will be making sure that I am supporting my girlfriend as I should, but also working on deepening our relationship in what will probably be less time together. I have faith that our time spent working out together will help our bond grow, but also that our faith will kelp us strong as we try to incorporate our weekly bible study into the chaos we will call life.

With all of the extra commitments in my life I hope that I will be able to spend some time fishing and be able to go outdoors to clear my head.

Tomorrow I will be spending my last free weekday fishing and then that will go on the back burner for a while with the exception of a planned ice fishing trip that I am very excited for.

Over the next few weeks, one thing I am hoping to become better with is the verse Matthew 5:25. Being too prideful is something I struggle with but I try not to be boastful. I think the reason I try to stay filled with pride is because I am without family nearby and I must not let anyone down. I always try to find success and not make mistakes but when I do I find it difficult to give a verbal apology that is heard.

The use of words is a concept I am not used to as I usually go with the silent giving unto others. Hopefully my apology reaches out but I will also become blessed with assistance on this difficult task.