Saturday, February 28, 2009

Caberfae ski trip

Last week we took the 5th through 12th graders skiing at Caberfae. All but the Sides kids skied for the first time ever. I didn't ski. Good thing, though. I would have missed seeing all the kids learning and trying out their new skills. I was so proud of them! Even though it rained and snowed quite a bit, no one complained. Many of the students said they had found their new hobby. It was a long day, but definitely worth every minute just to see the joy on the kids' faces. The only bad part was that my camera batteries died just after taking pictures of the lesson so I didn't get any pictures of actual skiing! =( So sad. The pictures I did get are fun, though and I am glad to at least have them.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Word of Wisdom

If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
– Anatole France

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Big Game

Last night was the final game of the season for our high school basketball teams. My class supported Alex Green all week as our adopted player of the week. We decorated her locker, gave her notes and gifts, put posters up in the hall and the gym, and baked her cookies. We also made t-shirts that spelled her name! It was way fun. As usual, I sat with Abby at the game.


This Thing Called Love

Not only have I been given the gift of God's abundant love, but He has also blessed me with many earthly relationships full of love and joy. He has given me parents who love me always and unconditionally; students who love me even when I am totally wacky; girl friends who show their love by listening to my struggles and sins and by praying for me; cousins who love me more like a sister; older women who love me and pray for me like one of their own daughters; little kids who love to hug and cuddle with me; friends to laugh with, cry with, watch scary movies with, shop with, travel with, and share secrets with; dear friends from college days I still keep in touch with and visit; couples in church who like having me around even though I am single; people who speak the truth to me in love; families who would love for me to live with them should the need arise; parents who love having me be involved in their kids lives; people who love me enough to give of their time, energy, and money to help meet my needs. I could sit here all day listing for you the hundreds of encouraging, uplifting, loving relationships God has given to me. All these people whom I cherish are gifts from God. I don't deserve them! I am so loved! Praise God...

Romans 1:21-25

For although they knew God they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him; their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another; they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.

My Momentary Lapse of Insanitary

There's a book called The Chaos King written by Laura Ruby. It's prequel is The Wall and the Wing. Two of the weirdest books I have ever read (listened to actually), but I enjoyed them. In Chaos King there is a bird named Pinkwater's Momentary Lapse of Concentration. I believe there is an explanation for the name in the book, but I don't remember it. Anyway, until I looked it up just now, I could not for the life of me remember Pink's full name. I loved to say that phrase (Pinkwater's Momentary Lapse of Concentration) but couldn't remember the last word. For some reason what I always say is "Pinkwater's Momentary Lapse of Insanity", which, of course, makes even less sense than the original phrase. Well, today I was working on something and had an "aha!" moment. My students asked what and I said, "Oh, I just had a momentary lapse of insanitary." Oh my. It gets even goofier, if that's possible. My "super hero name" from a silly little game thing on Facebook is......can you guess?......Pink Water! All of this is total, utter nonsense, yes I know. But it's kinda funny and ironic too. So this Pink Water did, indeed, have a momentary lapse of concentration, insanity, insanitary, or something, today!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Spelling Game

So I totally made up a new game today for spelling review. Yeah, seriously! I did it with my three kids, obviously, but you could do it with any number of kids. You could even split a large class into two or three teams if you want. Ok, so, I had a small, soft & squishy ball (a must for 5th grade!=) that started out in my hands. I said a spelling word then tossed the ball to one of my students. That student said the first letter of the word then tossed the ball to another student who said the second letter of the word, passed the ball on, etc. The person who said the last letter of the word tossed the ball to me. I would say the word again, then start a new round with a new word. The kids loved the game. No kidding! I think it is also a worthwhile game because, rather than one student spelling a word at a time, all the students had to focus on every word. And, throwing the ball randomly back and forth forced students to pay even closer attention. They would try to see how fast they could spell and throw without missing a letter or a catch. What a blast! I felt momentarily brilliant, until I realized that someone, somewhere had to have already thought of this game. Oh well, it was new for me and I thought of it on my own, so there! I hope some who read this blog will be able to use it in their classroom, or even with your kids at home who need help reviewing their spelling words.

Undivided

The past many months God has been moving mightily in my heart to surrender several areas of sin and stress to Him. One by one the deepest issues of my heart have been brought to the surface, and one by one I have gladly, finally!, thrown my burdens at the feet of my loving, forgiving Savior. With some of my heaviest burdens gone, I have been able to focus better on living my life in a way pleasing to God. Last week I came across some verses that really sum up how I now want to live for God. The first was Psalm 86:11 -Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. The second, 1 Corinthians 7:35 -I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. Now that I have given to God those sins that drew my eyes away from Him, I have a great desire to live for Him and Him alone. I know I can't do it alone - in fact, I finally understand that I can only change by letting God have His perfect way in me. So I am praying each day for an undivided heart and undivided devotion to the Lord. You can pray, too, and certainly you are welcome to ask me how it's going. Praise Him!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Romans 1:18-20

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth with their wickedness, since what may be known about God has been made plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

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Thursday, February 5, 2009

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

I have recently added some new features to my word blog, Salmagundi. Check it out and you'll find music that fits the "words" theme, new colors and fonts on the blog's layout, and the best of all, links from each post entry (each word I add) to the dictionary definition!! If you like words or want to expand your vocabulary or just want to kill some time, please take a look at Salmagundi.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Teacher Things

I am not by any means an organized person. When I lived at home I always knew where my keys were, though...on my bedroom floor by my night stand! Organized chaos? Maybe. As God works on my heart to reveal areas in my life that need "organizing", He has helped me to see areas in my classroom and with my students that need some organizing as well. Here are some things I started doing this week in an effort to bring glory to God through my teaching and other classroom areas:

1.Individual filing trays so the person who passes out papers at the end of the day has somewhere to put the papers instead of on the desks or table where the person cleaning those is working!

2."Duties" (pass out papers, erase chalkboards, etc.) for the end of the day are on long craft sticks. When a student picks his or her duty the stick will go in that student's tray. Before the students leave I can check their tray to make sure the duty was accomplished.

3.When some students had a hard time remembering some of our Europe countries and capitals, I let them keep the flashcard to peek at throughout the day. At recess, they had to tell five people "The capital of ___ is____." Just a strategy to get those facts better cemented into their brains!


These things are major breakthroughs for me. I feel as though I have been relieved of a heavy burden. Some of them require more work and conscious effort from me than before, but I need that. I need to be more involved especially with the process of wrapping things up to go home. I tend to get working on a project and kind of just holler at the kids about homework and duties then feel badly so I get up and see them out the door right at 3:10. Bad teacher! God has convicted me to be organized and to help my students learn responsibilty as well. Organization in all areas of ones life really does help keep the mind focused on God, I think. Now for my desk drawers...

Monday, February 2, 2009

Too Fun

Today in science we discussed the water cycle. (see Job 36:27-28!) Two things the book mentioned, among many other things of course, were that the process of evaporation is not something we see happening, and that during a 2 hour visit to somewhere such as the Gulf of Mexico about 10 million gallons of water evaporates. So, I told them about my trip to Florida in May and that my friend and I spent at least four hours at the Gulf...think of all the water that evaporated during that time! But, I told them, of course we didn't see it happening, right? Josh replied, "You were havin' too fun." Oh how we laughed! Such a sweet comment; he was so serious! I love teaching, I love these kids. =)