Will it be the same thing over, and over, and over again?

I was a little nervous and excited about going into my 8th grade dyad placement.  My first thought was I love 8th graders and their sassy personalities.  But, shortly after my first thought came my second...How will I be able to sit through the same lesson 3, 4, 5, or even 6 times a day?  I was imagining myself sitting in the back of the classroom trying to keep my eyes open after I heard the same lesson, same readings, and same conversation for the 4th time.  Would the crazy energy of the 8th graders be enough to keep me awake?

I was surprised to find that every period had its own personality.  The first class was the challenge group (AP), and the 2nd and the 3rd blocks were 8th grade reading and writing.  It was amazing to see the direction each discussion and debate take for all three blocks.  The afternoon block seems to be the most lively and willing to express their ideas and thought.  It seems like the middle block has a few more character and the conversations seem to have a light and fun tone to everything, and the challenge block seems a bit more reserved than the other two, and pushed me to think on my feet more often.  With each block being different it does not seem like teaching the same thing over and over and over again.  While it is the same material, each student looks at in a totally different way and makes each block interesting.

Still overwhelmed...but should I be?

During the first video WEB 2.0 I felt very overwhelmed by technology once again.  There is so much we can do on the internet, and on our computers and I feel as if I am lost when it come to most of it.  I struggle to find what I am looking for, and then it takes me forever to get the hang of something once I do finally find it.  Then I watched the TED: ideas worth spreading and was so amazed by the children.  I knew that people much younger than I can fly through the internet and do all of the crazy things I wish I could do, but I always told myself that they were able to do all of these things because they were born with a computer attached to them at the hip.  Then the TED video...some of these kids had never seen a computer or ever used one, and they were still zipping through like they had always had one.  This made me think, do I stink at working technology because I am not skilled in this department?, or Do I stink at technology because I think I am not going to be able to figure anything out?  I am just now starting to think that it is the latter of the two.