Well, Friday was our last day, and it went well. Ok, it was hectic since it was a make-up day and students didn't really have to be anywhere after lunch. The whole afternoon they were either free to play games or play in the gym. I volunteered to let some kids watch movies in my room on Netflix. We watched "The Croods" and "Hoodwinked 2." Both of which were great movies.
Now it's summer time. Well, I have one more day of teacher inservice before then, but that's really nothing. I hope my kids have a good summer and look forward to seeing them next year. Kids are always much less squirrelly in August than they are in May. They really need the breaks to recharge and focus their energies so they can get back to learning in the fall. Those who decry school breaks don't seem to realize that children are not miniature adults who can just suck it up and focus like adults can. They have different needs, and there is no reason to not let kids enjoy being kids.
I have plans for one week this summer, and the rest is all a blur. Summer is always so different than the school year. Yahweh teaches me different things and it requires a different kind of faith to have nothing set to do with your time and still believe you are fulfilling your purpose. There is also a different type of freedom to not working in the summer that will allow me to do different things Yahweh might call me to that I cannot when tied down during the school year.
So Summer is always exciting, but so is the school year. It's a fun job where I have such dichotomous times in my years. But all times are Yahweh's times and we shall see what comes.
Have a happy, fun, safe Summer 2014!
Monday, May 26, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
I Love Life
I am realizing, recently, how often I wait expectantly for something. Once I'm married... Once I lose more weight... Once I have kids... Once (insert whatever here)...
I know we all know better. Be happy where you are. But it's so easy to fall into the trap, once having seen a vision, of putting off your joy until you receive it. Or trying to make it come to pass. Or even being anxious that it won't.
But here's the thing: I'm happy where I am. I mean, I never thought I could even reach this point let alone the visions I've seen for the future. And everything happens in its time, so trying to rush the future won't help. So I've decided to enjoy where I am. I know that where I am is for such a time as this.
And when I do get married, lose more weight, and have kids, I will have different responsibilities than I have now. I have this time as a gift, to redeem things I never knew I had lost. I have this time, this short time, to be free of all the weight and worry of the lies that beset me when I was young and yet still not have so many responsibilities that they themselves weigh me down. I am faithful over what's been given to me now, so in due time my metron will increase. In the meantime, I shall enjoy where I am and who I am. And have faith for where I will be.
For how good and pleasant it is to dwell with Yahweh. To know who I am and where I am and that I am exactly where I am supposed to be for the moment.
I know we all know better. Be happy where you are. But it's so easy to fall into the trap, once having seen a vision, of putting off your joy until you receive it. Or trying to make it come to pass. Or even being anxious that it won't.
But here's the thing: I'm happy where I am. I mean, I never thought I could even reach this point let alone the visions I've seen for the future. And everything happens in its time, so trying to rush the future won't help. So I've decided to enjoy where I am. I know that where I am is for such a time as this.
And when I do get married, lose more weight, and have kids, I will have different responsibilities than I have now. I have this time as a gift, to redeem things I never knew I had lost. I have this time, this short time, to be free of all the weight and worry of the lies that beset me when I was young and yet still not have so many responsibilities that they themselves weigh me down. I am faithful over what's been given to me now, so in due time my metron will increase. In the meantime, I shall enjoy where I am and who I am. And have faith for where I will be.
For how good and pleasant it is to dwell with Yahweh. To know who I am and where I am and that I am exactly where I am supposed to be for the moment.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Graduation 2014
I love graduations. I always cry at them. They provoke a whole gamut of emotions: pride, nostalgia, and a burgeoning hope for the future, all coupled with the sudden awareness that some of my favorite people just graduated and I won't be seeing them again.
Well, I will, but not like it has been.
Graduation is a line of demarcation between one period in your life and another. For my kids, it is a time to look forward to what is coming and fondly recall what has been. But I realized tonight that most of them have no idea what is coming. As our principal spoke of some life lessons that could benefit the graduates, I thought back to my own graduation. I forgot, almost, how much I didn't know then. (I wonder what, in the next ten years, I'll be thinking about this time in my life.) But when I was graduating from high school--and even from college--I had no idea what was coming or what life was really like. I had no idea how much a person could change or how much my perspective on the world would change. Most of that was Yahweh, but some of it was just growing up. (Which was also Yahweh.) I'm amazed at the idea of how much my kids will change in the next ten years. But even with all the advice they've been given tonight--from friends, family, and the principal--they just cannot fathom the future until they've been there. I know I never could've imagined how amazing and different my life now is from when I graduated. I hope the same for my kids.
For they truly are my kids. This is the first year I've had graduates with whom I've worked so closely. We have a history together, and I feel like I've played a role in their ability to graduate. Whether it was working for hours on an English paper with one girl or teaching another young lady enough Spanish that she can actually hold conversations, I have had a part in someone's education. I have made a difference! They told me it would happen when I started teaching but I just couldn't fathom it. Just as I cannot now fathom what these children will become. I am so proud of them!
Beyond the academics, I hope I've shown the graduates what life with Yahweh can be. I've spoken blessings over them and had real conversations with them about life. I know that they have good hearts and seeds have been planted and I expect a harvest. I expect that what they will become is great, but they will always be my kids.
May they become great, not in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of Yahweh, their Father. May they come to know Him and follow His righteousness. May they have the peace and safety that comes with knowing the Father loves and values them, not for what they do, but for who they are. May the eyes of their minds be opened to the Prophetic and may they submit to the authority of the Apostolic. May the Kingdom grow in them so that they can grow the Kingdom. May they find a life full of blessings, joy, and peace, and may the richness of the goodness of Yahweh blossom in their hearts so that they will reap an everlasting and perpetual harvest. May the graduating class of (our high school) 2014 be blessed! Amen.
Well, I will, but not like it has been.
Graduation is a line of demarcation between one period in your life and another. For my kids, it is a time to look forward to what is coming and fondly recall what has been. But I realized tonight that most of them have no idea what is coming. As our principal spoke of some life lessons that could benefit the graduates, I thought back to my own graduation. I forgot, almost, how much I didn't know then. (I wonder what, in the next ten years, I'll be thinking about this time in my life.) But when I was graduating from high school--and even from college--I had no idea what was coming or what life was really like. I had no idea how much a person could change or how much my perspective on the world would change. Most of that was Yahweh, but some of it was just growing up. (Which was also Yahweh.) I'm amazed at the idea of how much my kids will change in the next ten years. But even with all the advice they've been given tonight--from friends, family, and the principal--they just cannot fathom the future until they've been there. I know I never could've imagined how amazing and different my life now is from when I graduated. I hope the same for my kids.
For they truly are my kids. This is the first year I've had graduates with whom I've worked so closely. We have a history together, and I feel like I've played a role in their ability to graduate. Whether it was working for hours on an English paper with one girl or teaching another young lady enough Spanish that she can actually hold conversations, I have had a part in someone's education. I have made a difference! They told me it would happen when I started teaching but I just couldn't fathom it. Just as I cannot now fathom what these children will become. I am so proud of them!
Beyond the academics, I hope I've shown the graduates what life with Yahweh can be. I've spoken blessings over them and had real conversations with them about life. I know that they have good hearts and seeds have been planted and I expect a harvest. I expect that what they will become is great, but they will always be my kids.
May they become great, not in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of Yahweh, their Father. May they come to know Him and follow His righteousness. May they have the peace and safety that comes with knowing the Father loves and values them, not for what they do, but for who they are. May the eyes of their minds be opened to the Prophetic and may they submit to the authority of the Apostolic. May the Kingdom grow in them so that they can grow the Kingdom. May they find a life full of blessings, joy, and peace, and may the richness of the goodness of Yahweh blossom in their hearts so that they will reap an everlasting and perpetual harvest. May the graduating class of (our high school) 2014 be blessed! Amen.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
My Favorite Things About Teaching
I really do love my job, which is a total miracle and gift from Yahweh. My first two years teaching, I thought it would kill me, but once Yahweh told me who I am and gave me my identity, I could finally step into the role He graced me for.
So here are my favorite things about my job:
1) Speaking Kingdom to my students, and showing them through my life who Yahweh is and what He can do.
2) Making a difference in my students' lives.
3) Hugging them when they're excited or having a bad day, and knowing that I can bring them comfort when they cry.
4) Being called "Mom" accidentally.
5) Being told that I'm their favorite teacher.
6) Hanging out with students at events that aren't in the classroom, like dances or field day.
7) Making children laugh.
8) When they make me laugh (which is often).
9) Sharing my passion for language with them, and finding the few who are also poets and linguists and lovers of the art of language.
10) Telling students that their lives matter, they are valuable, they have a bright future, and anything is possible.
11) When they share their frustrations and problems with me, and I get to tell them about how the same thing happened when I was their age, that it gets better, and that hormones are sucky liars but they eventually go away.
12) Talking with my older students about their futures, and seeing how they've changed since when I first met them. Watching them become aware of the world around them and their role in it. Seeing maturity happen.
13) Graduation.
14) Celebrating student achievements, whether through awards or just patting a kid on the back or giving them a high five when they've done something well.
15) Seeing students improve either in academics, attitude, or behavior.
16) Providing a safe place for them and having them trust me.
17) Knowing that I'm right where I'm supposed to be.
18) When a child is excited to show me something they've done or something that has happened in their lives because they know I'm interested and want to share in their joy.
19) Feeling like I know what I'm doing.
20) Knowing that these kids are MINE to steward and I will stand for them and declare that they are also Yahweh's and He will find them wherever they are!
21) The way I feel at the end of a school year, that even if the kids learned nothing about language from me, they learned that they're loved, that they matter, and that they truly can do anything. And I hope they learned a little language too.
22) Each and every unique (and often strange) personality that comes into my classroom. :)
23) That I can be for my students what I wish someone had been for me: someone who has been through what they've been through and conquered. Who can tell them on the other side that the battle is temporary and the victory is permanent, and that the problems of the moment pale in comparison to the joys of a lifetime. And for this joy set before them, they must persevere.
So you see, though I love language and sharing it with students, the academics and test scores and other things that the world says matter are only secondary to my true purpose there. Though I want my students to have every tool they will need to be successful in whatever they decide to do for their futures--and I will provide these tools to the best of my ability--in the end, it is my love for my students that makes my job worthwhile. It is the purpose to which Yahweh has called me and for which Yahweh has graced me. It is the sympathetic ear, the warm embrace, the conversations I can have in which I share with my students something some of them have never heard before: "You matter. I love you. Now, go change the world."
So here are my favorite things about my job:
1) Speaking Kingdom to my students, and showing them through my life who Yahweh is and what He can do.
2) Making a difference in my students' lives.
3) Hugging them when they're excited or having a bad day, and knowing that I can bring them comfort when they cry.
4) Being called "Mom" accidentally.
5) Being told that I'm their favorite teacher.
6) Hanging out with students at events that aren't in the classroom, like dances or field day.
7) Making children laugh.
8) When they make me laugh (which is often).
9) Sharing my passion for language with them, and finding the few who are also poets and linguists and lovers of the art of language.
10) Telling students that their lives matter, they are valuable, they have a bright future, and anything is possible.
11) When they share their frustrations and problems with me, and I get to tell them about how the same thing happened when I was their age, that it gets better, and that hormones are sucky liars but they eventually go away.
12) Talking with my older students about their futures, and seeing how they've changed since when I first met them. Watching them become aware of the world around them and their role in it. Seeing maturity happen.
13) Graduation.
14) Celebrating student achievements, whether through awards or just patting a kid on the back or giving them a high five when they've done something well.
15) Seeing students improve either in academics, attitude, or behavior.
16) Providing a safe place for them and having them trust me.
17) Knowing that I'm right where I'm supposed to be.
18) When a child is excited to show me something they've done or something that has happened in their lives because they know I'm interested and want to share in their joy.
19) Feeling like I know what I'm doing.
20) Knowing that these kids are MINE to steward and I will stand for them and declare that they are also Yahweh's and He will find them wherever they are!
21) The way I feel at the end of a school year, that even if the kids learned nothing about language from me, they learned that they're loved, that they matter, and that they truly can do anything. And I hope they learned a little language too.
22) Each and every unique (and often strange) personality that comes into my classroom. :)
23) That I can be for my students what I wish someone had been for me: someone who has been through what they've been through and conquered. Who can tell them on the other side that the battle is temporary and the victory is permanent, and that the problems of the moment pale in comparison to the joys of a lifetime. And for this joy set before them, they must persevere.
So you see, though I love language and sharing it with students, the academics and test scores and other things that the world says matter are only secondary to my true purpose there. Though I want my students to have every tool they will need to be successful in whatever they decide to do for their futures--and I will provide these tools to the best of my ability--in the end, it is my love for my students that makes my job worthwhile. It is the purpose to which Yahweh has called me and for which Yahweh has graced me. It is the sympathetic ear, the warm embrace, the conversations I can have in which I share with my students something some of them have never heard before: "You matter. I love you. Now, go change the world."
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Prom
Well, another year, another prom. Ok, so it's only my second one. (I didn't go my first year teaching and I never went to one when I was in high school). Still, it was pretty cool.
The best parts: the kids, my coworkers, the decorations. Proms are so much more fun when there are people there you enjoy spending time with. Most of my Spanish II class was there (2 out of 3 kids!) and some of my Spanish I kids. There were also some girls I haven't really had in class, but whom I love and have bonded with. They all looked very pretty and were so fun to just chat with. I even got pictures with a couple of students, though I had to get one of them to sneak the other's phone away from her so I could get a copy of the picture!
I also got to hang out with some of my coworkers whom I enjoy. It is way different and more fun when you have friends at work with whom you can spend time at these social events. It's also more fun to go to Prom voluntarily rather than as a required chaperone. Plus I could leave at a decent hour so I can get some sleep tonight before ecclesia tomorrow.
The worst part was the music. Really, everything else was cool. Even some of the songs were ok, but for the most part the music was LOUD and pretty much the same style songs over and over again. Finally after an hour someone asked the DJ to play songs the kids could dance to, and after that the kids started dancing, though the music didn't seem to get any better in my opinion.
After this LOUDness, I stepped outside, where many kids were getting some air (or perhaps secretly also escaping the music) and I got to chat with more friends and students.
Also, I got free glo-bracelets.
All in all a good time. I hope everyone else is having a fun and safe Prom 2014!
The best parts: the kids, my coworkers, the decorations. Proms are so much more fun when there are people there you enjoy spending time with. Most of my Spanish II class was there (2 out of 3 kids!) and some of my Spanish I kids. There were also some girls I haven't really had in class, but whom I love and have bonded with. They all looked very pretty and were so fun to just chat with. I even got pictures with a couple of students, though I had to get one of them to sneak the other's phone away from her so I could get a copy of the picture!
I also got to hang out with some of my coworkers whom I enjoy. It is way different and more fun when you have friends at work with whom you can spend time at these social events. It's also more fun to go to Prom voluntarily rather than as a required chaperone. Plus I could leave at a decent hour so I can get some sleep tonight before ecclesia tomorrow.
The worst part was the music. Really, everything else was cool. Even some of the songs were ok, but for the most part the music was LOUD and pretty much the same style songs over and over again. Finally after an hour someone asked the DJ to play songs the kids could dance to, and after that the kids started dancing, though the music didn't seem to get any better in my opinion.
After this LOUDness, I stepped outside, where many kids were getting some air (or perhaps secretly also escaping the music) and I got to chat with more friends and students.
Also, I got free glo-bracelets.
All in all a good time. I hope everyone else is having a fun and safe Prom 2014!
Friday, May 9, 2014
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
Today marks the end of teacher appreciation week! Some of my kids even said thank you and the PTO gave us gift baskets. For all my fellow teachers, Happy Teacher Appreciation week! I know you are appreciated even if you don't ever get told. My kids tell me all the time, but that only really started this year.
But kids will be kids and it IS May, so everyone is a little more squirrelly than usual. Not that they're bad per se, but that they'reslightly very much less inclined to stay seated and focus on a reading passage. I've been asked 5 times by coworkers if it was a full moon since the 1st of May alone. Aside from the warm weather, we all know that the end is near. The end of school, that is, and so, somehow, we attempt to hasten it along by being disruptive and having much drama.
It helps that we didn't get a Spring Break this year, so everyone is extra tired.
So, blogging world, let me ask you a question. If you had a perfectly good shirt--one you can wear in public and not one of those ratty ones you use to bleach the toilet in--and you wore it to school one day, would you put staples in it? No? Well tell that to two of my most interesting students, who apparently during band class, stapled the bottom of their shirts with staples.
No, I don't know why.
Then, when one of them was done with their work at the end of the last class of the day, she asks me if she could stand by the trashcan and pick them out of her shirt. I, of course, said yes. She stood there and picked out all the staples and showed me the holes in the bottom of her shirt. I was all, "What did you think would happen?" She laughed. I'm pretty sure she didn't care. Of course, if I had bought her that shirt I think I would care just a tad. I expressed this view to her about her parents not liking this, but she said she got the shirt from her friend anyway... at which point I reminded her that her friend's parents probably wouldn't appreciate it either.
In other news, Prom is tomorrow and graduation is next week. For the first time, I have seniors in my classes, so they all have to take their finals Monday and Tuesday. I'm happy for them. Graduation always gives me a sense of nostalgia and burgeoning hope for the future. The end of a chapter has happened and the new one is fresh and without mistakes in it. For all we know, these kids are the next presidents and CEOs and farmers and librarians. They are the next stay-at-home moms and teachers to nurture the next generation. They are the next success stories, and we get to see it all from the beginning. It's exciting!
And knowing I had a part in this makes me feel very appreciated...or at least important... as a teacher.
But kids will be kids and it IS May, so everyone is a little more squirrelly than usual. Not that they're bad per se, but that they're
It helps that we didn't get a Spring Break this year, so everyone is extra tired.
So, blogging world, let me ask you a question. If you had a perfectly good shirt--one you can wear in public and not one of those ratty ones you use to bleach the toilet in--and you wore it to school one day, would you put staples in it? No? Well tell that to two of my most interesting students, who apparently during band class, stapled the bottom of their shirts with staples.
No, I don't know why.
Then, when one of them was done with their work at the end of the last class of the day, she asks me if she could stand by the trashcan and pick them out of her shirt. I, of course, said yes. She stood there and picked out all the staples and showed me the holes in the bottom of her shirt. I was all, "What did you think would happen?" She laughed. I'm pretty sure she didn't care. Of course, if I had bought her that shirt I think I would care just a tad. I expressed this view to her about her parents not liking this, but she said she got the shirt from her friend anyway... at which point I reminded her that her friend's parents probably wouldn't appreciate it either.
In other news, Prom is tomorrow and graduation is next week. For the first time, I have seniors in my classes, so they all have to take their finals Monday and Tuesday. I'm happy for them. Graduation always gives me a sense of nostalgia and burgeoning hope for the future. The end of a chapter has happened and the new one is fresh and without mistakes in it. For all we know, these kids are the next presidents and CEOs and farmers and librarians. They are the next stay-at-home moms and teachers to nurture the next generation. They are the next success stories, and we get to see it all from the beginning. It's exciting!
And knowing I had a part in this makes me feel very appreciated...or at least important... as a teacher.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
The Tarantula
 |
| This little guy visited me in class today. |
Just more proof that my students are crazy fun people.
Actually, this little guy visited two of my classes today. His name shall not be mentioned, as students tend to pick...off color...names. But yes, he is a tarantula. And I even touched him!
He comes with one of my students who just found him on the side of the road and decided to keep him. Why, I don't know. Why she decided to bring it to school is a bigger mystery. I know she wanted to show the science teacher, but still... (and just FYI I teach Spanish and English, not science.)
So what I learned about tarantulas today is that they are very active creatures. He kept moving his little spider fangs up and down while staring at me! He also scuttled around quite a lot. Usually, wild creatures in boxes are still but apparently not tarantulas.
They're also not THAT scary. I touched it and it jumped, and I jumped, and a random girl in my class jumped... yeah, it was a jumpy kind of experience.
Still, I wouldn't want to own one... and I'm still not sure why I'd bring one to school if I did.
I'm for nice safe class pets... like rodents! Mammals rule! I'm even good with reptiles. But not insects and certainly not spiders, which are arachnids, not insects.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Why My Students Are the Most Awesome Kids in the World
1) They're brave.
2) They're strong.
3) They're able to overcome anything.
4) They're still sweet, in spite of everything.
5) They're valuable and they matter.
6) They are smart.
7) They are funny.
8) They're really loyal to their friends.
9) They've made it this far and beyond.
10) They're MINE.
2) They're strong.
3) They're able to overcome anything.
4) They're still sweet, in spite of everything.
5) They're valuable and they matter.
6) They are smart.
7) They are funny.
8) They're really loyal to their friends.
9) They've made it this far and beyond.
10) They're MINE.
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