a lesson learned...i guess?

So this past week, I got to experience something entirely new. In my Secondary Teaching class, we were given an assignment to write a differentiated instruction lesson plan, which is just fancy words to concisely say that I had to create a lesson, and then "differentiate" it, or write three to four different ways that I could teach the lesson. Let it be known, that at first, i was severely afraid of this assignment. But one Saturday morning, I sat down and cranked out one gem of a lesson plan...19th century French art, literature, science, and music...in one fell swoop. So I turn it in, and joy is mine....for a week...

The next week, I show up to class, and get my assignment back. I look at the rubric and notice a string of 4s down the sheet (everything's out of 4 points)...but then they mysteriously stop...as if my professor forgot to finish grading it. I look through my lesson plan, and see scrawled on one page: Mallory, Please see me. Hmm...

So I meet with my professor and she proceeds to say, "First of all, this is an excellent lesson plan...very well done. But I do have one concern. Did you write this yourself?"

BAM!

Smack in the face, no? Sure felt like it. The resolution of this problem was that I pleaded my case, and she closed the conversation by saying, "Well, I guess I have to give you the benefit of the doubt." How kind, I'm glad I have the appearance of such an immoral and dishonest individual. Really...does she honestly think I would throw away 16 years of academic integrity just for her class? It's not that hard, no matter what those math majors say....seriously.

Anyway, that's my lesson for the week...I don't really know what I learned from it...except that I should maybe not be such a good student, because it gets me into trouble.

the excitement is building....!!!

Tomorrow I get to see two of my most favorite people in the world! Lucas and Colby...and one awesome weekend...it's going to be so much fun! It's been almost 7 weeks since I've seen them, and that is way way too long. Ok, now that I'm done being all excited about that...here's the real boring news that's happening in my life...

I only have a few more hours of observations to do at the high school since I'm going on a field trip with them in November...I think only 3 more hours, which means two class periods :-D. Liz and I led our class discussion on the Holocaust this week, and we totally rocked it, which is awesome because we totally didn't do any work for it. I just wrote down random questions and people actually responded. Last night I made a double batch of cookies, and miraculously didn't burn a single one. So now there are enough cookies in my kitchen to feed an army...a small one...but still, an army could be fed. I also figured out how to put photos on my iPod...so that's pretty stinkin' sweet. Umm...what else...my hair is straight today...it's the first time I've straightened it since I got it cut, and the lady actually cut it pretty evenly.

Ok, I feel like this is getting more and more boring by the second...the end.

just a little posty post.

Lately I've been thinking a lot more deliberately about my actions towards others and how those actions may be interpreted by the world. I have been thinking more and more about how it is that I, a woman of God, should act. I have promised to guard my heart and give it only to the man I marry someday, but in what ways should I act to honor that commitment? For me the answers in regards to my physical interactions are quite obvious, but it gets a little confusing when the focus turns to my conversations and emotional interactions with guys. At what point do I need to stop and say that it is not my place to be in a position where they rely on me emotionally? I think only in the past month have I truly begun to see where that line is and made a concerted effort to change my interactions to honor my future husband, and I have truly been able to see God leading me to the right conclusion regarding this question.

In other news, tomorrow I am coming home, and ironically, it really is NU's homecoming. I've never been back for homecoming since I graduated, so it will be kind of weird...I really did like high school, but it has been a long time since I've seen most of the people I went to school with. I also have my interview with Pastor Small tomorrow afternoon at camp, which I'm anxiously awaiting, but as with everything I face, a little nervous for. (Yikes that's two sentences in a row that I ended with a preposition.)
But hopefully things work out, it does seem a little strange that I'm already engaging in activities that could determine how I spend my last summer out of the real world...but I really am ready to be a "big kid", or at least I want to try it out :).