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...

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. =)

Read in Your Pj's

Today was finally Pajama Day and Reading Day! What a lazy, sleepy day. We had a great time and the time flew. After an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, Gram and Gramps came in to the classroom so Gram could read to us. She raid three stories, including The Pokey Little Puppy and the Patchwork Blanket which was a favorite of mine growing up. Throughout the rest of the day we read and discussed "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll, listened to a few chapters of Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, read to the k4 class, read while drinking hot tea and cocoa, and listened to a story read by Pastor Mark. Busy, busy day! What better way to spend a pajama Friday? I can't think of any better way. Reading is a gift from God, and I encouraged my students to use it well. You, too!

The Doll House

I brought my old doll house to school last week...the girls loved it! And I loved that they loved it =)

"This Guy Needs Grammar!"

That was Josh's comment after reading a sentence in our language book today. The sentence read, "Haven't we got no more art paper?" The students' task was to correct any mistakes in the sentences, and being bright as stars, they were able to pick out the mistakes with no trouble at all. Josh laughed at the incorrect sentences because they sounded so funny, and finally voiced his thoughts with the comment, "This guy needs grammar!"

Yummy Creations

Lori Rickle made (yes, made!) gorgeous gingerbread houses for her sons class and mine as well. A few weeks ago she brought them in and set them up on our lunch tables with four bowls of candy for each student to use for decorating. The icing was homemade, also. So yummy! Lori made houses for me and Nancy to decorate, too. My first gingerbread house! I took it with me to Anhalt's that night and we sampled the sugary goodness. What a fun Christmas activity!

Deck the Classroom

OH sNOw!

Snowy Day...NOT a Snow Day

we don't really want visitors...just kidding, we never really used this front door =)

everything is so white!

my car is just behind a pile of snow, not actually buried!

mom's Jag has been sitting for a couple days

Snow has been falling on a regular basis these days and lots of it. We didn't see too much during the day today, but just before school let out it started coming like nobody's business. I barely made it home. Actually, I am not even home yet, just at mom and dad's. It is beautiful, but treacherous. As I was driving here, I was amazed by the power of my God. He makes the seasons come and go. In His hands is the authority and majesty and might that is, to me, incomprehensible. Michigan is blessed to see so much change in the weather that gives glory to our great God alone. Don't fear the snow and ice; don't despise the cold. Praise God for His omnipotence, and trust in His steadfast love!

Spirit Day

A casual day topped off with an hour and a half of fast- paced all- school competition. The cheers and smiles were at an all time high today!

Write On!

I updated my class's writing blog, so take a sec to check it out today. The assignment today was a fun one, and they got pretty creative. My students enjoyed sharing them with the class; I think you will enjoy reading them as well.

Sometimes You Just Have to Watch Veggie Tales

Today was one of those days for a multitude of reasons.

#1 My throat still very scratchy and I have a bit of congestion in my lungs so I don't feel real swell.

#2 Last night I hit my head on a cabinet thingy at Jeff and Sam's, and Jeff said I had a concussion (maybe he was joking?). My head still hurts today; actually everything from my shoulders up hurts, even my face. I know that's ridiculous, but you try hitting the very top of your head with all your strength and see if your face doesn't hurt.

#3 A third of my students was out today for one reason or another. That's only two students for me, but with a total of six students, two missing is a big deal!

#4 Snow was falling incessantly today and I was of the opinion that we should all be sent home to lie around and watch movies.


So there you have it. I had plenty of good reasons to watch Moe and the Big Exit with my class the last half of the day today. Actually, they did have band for about an hour, so it wasn't the entire afternoon. And it's a good, wholesome movie. Some days you just have to do that.

Last Two Days of School

I can hardly believe that school is over! After today I have a year and a half of teaching under my belt. Wow. Time has flown by so quickly my head is spinning. Yesterday I took my class to Crazy Bounce in Holland. Crazy Bounce is a play place full of huge, gigantic inflatable slides, obstacle courses, etc. There is one huge room full of all these things. We spent two hours there, and could have easily made it three. The slides are so high and fast! I played hide & seek and tag with the kids and went on all the "toys". It really is a kids place I guess, but I had a blast. =)
After lunch at Wendy's we went on a class bike ride on our beautiful bike path by the school and came back for ice cream sundaes with all the fixin's. It was a gorgeous day outside, and a perfect day all around.

At the end of our half day today I took my class outside to play with some new toys I bought. I found these soft, flexible, cloth disc things that are 2' in diameter. They are light as a feather and fly really far. My kids had a blast throwing them to eachother out in the school yard.

On a more serious note, I had my students write letters to me criticizing my work as a teacher. One of our vocab words this week was criticism, so we talked about the fact that it means evaluating both good and bad points. They were a little nervous about telling me negative things, but I assured them I wanted to learn from them and hear what they had to say. I knew there were some things that many of them would write about, such as my impatience, my tendency to get overly frustrated, etc. But reading the letters was hard! I don't like to be criticized (does anyone!?) but I knew it was good to hear from the students. They were so kind and loving in their criticism, too. I can tell they love me very much and just want me to be the best teacher I can be. God truly blessed me with a great class this year. They handled this letter- writing assignment so well, I am truly thankful for each one of them. I also praise God for the work He can do to help me become a better teacher as I yield to His dierction.

When a Teacher Stand Up for a Student

You'd think that in a Christian school teachers shouldn't have to deal with bullying. Well, we do. Christians may be filled with the Holy Spirit, but we are still sinners by nature. The past several weeks some of my students have been picking on each other, mainly one boy in particular. Today it just went to far, actually to the point of bullying. Don't worry, no one was beat up or hurt, just picked on too much. I was going to address the issue with the individuals involved, but I decided to talk to the entire class about the issue. I took the class to 1 John 4:7-8, 11, 18, 22, etc. We talked about the love of God that should be in us if we claim to be Christians. The verses pointed out, too, that our love for other believers should be especially strong. How dare we say "I love God" then turn around pick on another believer alongside whom we are too be sharing the Gospel message?! I can only pray that the Word of God touched the hearts of those students involved, and the rest of the class as well. I don't like to confront even youngsters, but I had to stand up against sin and stand up for right. Now my students know that I will not, and cannot, tolerate bullying of any degree. And it's not just because I personally don't appreciate it, but because it goes against the Word of God! That is what I wanted my students to see today. I explained why we were having the discussion, pointed them to the passage, then let the living Word of God do the talking. His Words are a thousand times more powerful than mine. His Words can pierce even to the dividing of soul and spirit. Only God's Word can change my students' lives so that's what I showed them.

Graduation...Looking Back

Tonight Alicia and Lana graduated from LBA as the 20th graduating class of the school. That means I was the 14th graduating class of LBA. Six years since I graduated from high school. Six years of learning and growing, six years of heartaches and joys, six years that sped by so fast I can hardly remember what happened! Of course, my biggest memory of the last six years is the four years I spend at Maranatha. Those were the "growing-ist" years of my life. The people, the classes, the experiences all worked together to mold me into who I am today. I should say, God used all those things to mold me. When I look back at who I was when I started college my heart is full of awe at what God has done. Moment by moment, day by day, year by year He has graciously, tenderly stripped away the dirt in my life to make me a vessel clean and ready for His use. Tonight Alicia quoted 2 Timothy 2:21 which says that those who cleanse themselves from everything that is dishonorable will be a holy, honorable vessel prepared for every good work. As God has worked in me, so I have had to make choices to get to this place. It is my choice to separate from all that is ungodly to all that is holy. Quite a concept: I must make the choice, but it is only in God's power that I can follow through with those choices!

I was so proud of the young women who graduated tonight. They are far beyond the spiritual level I was at when I graduated. These two, Lana and Alicia, have already stepped out of their comfort zone many times, taken risks for Christ, and thought about how they will live for Him in the future. They are ready to go, ready to stand up and shout out Christ's holy name. I wish I had been there when I was a high school senior. But, I am grateful that God took me from where I was at that time and pushed me to where I am today. Still growing, still learning....a sinner saved by grace.

Education for Eternity

Friday.....the day every working person looks forward to; the day the work- week ends and the weekend begins. Today was a good Friday. During the second half of the day the entire student body participated in a field day. Praise the Lord, we had a clear and sunny day to play. One of the benefits of having a small school is the ability to get everyone together at the same time. We were able to create teams with kids from K5 to 12th grade on them. I love watching the junior and senior high students step into the leadership roles and come alongside the younger students during the games. Our students at LBA have awesome school spirit. I praise God for the safe, godly environment in which our students receive a well- rounded, Bible- based education. And I am blessed to be part of the ministry of LBA.