A foot is not always a foot

Here we are in July already, and I have not written a single post about my pre-practicum experience, which has been over for weeks. It went by remarkably quickly, and I don't think I ever lost the feeling of being an over-stimulated puppy dressed up in a skirt and heels. I went around trying to remember all those people's names, but all I really wanted to do was curl up into a ball and take a nap!

The "pre-" practicum is actually a really great idea. We spend 75 hours in a school, shadowing and observing, before we begin our "real" practicum in the Fall, when we can be put to work. The purpose is to get one's feet wet, to be exposed to the school ecology, to get acclimated. Even though I obviously attended Middle School myself, and visited many schools as a Case Manager, it is amazing how different each school can be, and how much we miss as self-absorbed adolescents. There is a whole buzzing hive of activity that goes on beyond the classroom, a whole network of relationships and conversations behind what we see as children, as students. I don't think I am quite "acclimated," but the initial shock has worn off. I do think when I return in September, there will be more of a feeling of "coming back," rather than the feeling of Beginning.

I also can't say that there were too many humorous moments, mostly because my brain was racing to keep up with learning the map of the school and remembering who was who, rather than noticing the funny parts. But here is one little parting tidbit, from a lesson about units of measurement:

5th grade boy: This ruler is a foot? (Holds up to his own foot) But my foot isn't as big as this, to tell you the truth!