Love

As a teacher you encounter all kinds of personalities. Often, you find yourself wondering (worrying is  more the accurate "w" word.)  about some of these "personalities" and asking "Why?". Of course, that is before you stare at yourself in the mirror and realize you are a member of that club. So, slamming down the gavel of judgment becomes a tad bit harder.

Well, this story is about one of my darling personalities that I had the privilege to teach.  A very intelligent, creative, humorous, but lonely and hurting child that has seen and heard way too much.  Has a mother who cares and wants only the best for her child, but previous choices have put a limit on her resources. And, let's not forget...dad. The role model of manhood seen on weekends.

As you can imagine, this bundle of joy saunters into class every morning ready to learn. Wrong! He may saunter and have a smile on his face, but it's not for learning... However, this little personality touched my heart the moment we met. I had little background knowledge of this angel, but as the school year did its own sauntering, more came to light and the more I prayed.  With all honesty, there would be some days I would go home disgusted and pray for God to remove this child from my class, and other days my heart broken praying for guidance.

I knew the only hope for this child was Jesus. As I witnessed poor behavior, bad attitude and low effort towards anything school related, the more I prayed. That old saying, "Prayer changes everything", well it didn't change the child, but it sure did me.  I started accepting this child and stopped trying to mold the angel to become this idea of a perfect student. Now, my transformation didn't stop this child from making dirty innuendos, cussing on the playground, bullying,  being disrespectful and etc... School attendance and work effort didn't improve either. But, I began to see  this child through the eyes of Jesus. None of us are deserving of His love, but he loves us anyway despite our bad choices.

Does this mean consequences for bad choices are now over looked? Absolutely not! However, it does mean more heartbreak and more praying on my part.  God promises us that our prayers will produce fruit and one day this child will come to know Jesus our Savior.

My Everything Folder

Yes, it's been awhile since I last blogged. For some unexplained reason, I decided to visit my blog tonight  and write an entry. I don't know what has come over me. Maybe it's that it's the eve before the last day of school and I don't have any papers to grade or emails to respond too and I'm just  bored. Wait! That sounds very unteacherous (a made-up word) of me.  Let me try it again. It's the eve before the last day of school and I have some extra moments to reflect on a most wonderful year teaching a group of the most wonderful students. Yep. That is more "teacherous" ( There I go making up words, again.).  I will stick with that.

So, what is it that I'm reflecting upon concerning these most wonderful students? I always have a story or two. So, let me see. Hmmm...OK. I have one. Well, it's really not my story, but it was so funny and cute that I have to share it. My teaching partner had previously taught our  students how to create folders in their Google Drive and on this particular day she was giving students time to drag the plethora of documents that they had created into those folders. This can be a laborious chore for 5th graders. Well, let me clarify, organizing anything is a laborious chore for most 5th graders.  Needless to say, there was this one very creative, outside the box thinking, disorganized student who understood his weakness and maximized upon it.  Instead of creating different folders for topics or subjects and color coding them, (which the girls love to do, by the way) he created one folder, named it his Everything Folder, and you guessed it, drug every document no matter the topic into it. So, as my teaching partner was monitoring the students' progress of document organization, she asked this particular child to show his progress, since he seemed to have finished the task rather expeditiously.   His response to her inquiry was, "Oh, I just put it in my Everything Folder."

As she relayed the story to me, I laughed, but then I thought, "Not a bad idea."  Being that I'm a tad disorganized myself, there seemed something appealing to an Everything Folder.


So, when we need to organize "stuff"  and  we can't figure out where to put it, we just say, "Let's put it in our Everything Folder."  Kinda simplifies things.  LOL!

A Dog's Life

Ever look out the window of your house into your back yard only to to see your furry friend stretched out on the grass, soaking in the afternoon sun? Those are the moments I envy my dog's life. She doesn't have a care in the world...other than hunting the shadows of butterflies. Yep. Tail out straight, ears up, and eyes focused waiting to pounce on the next unsuspecting shadow. I can say with 100% accuracy that she has never caught a one. Can you understand the envy of such a simplistic existence?

Needless to say, life has been busy and overwhelming lately. I could go into great detail and explain the complexities of my struggles, but then you would probably be thinking, as I would if had to read a diatrib of self-pity, "Join the club. We all have problems." So, to spare you the time of replying with some wity criticism concerning my whining, I'm going to reflect on todays sermon from church.

The pastor put it all in perspective today. In fact, I'm going to download his message onto my iPod and listen to it everyday. What was his message, you ask? Well, God is in control and this world is not the end. We were created to be immortal. We will live out eternity in either Heaven or Hell. Such a simple message, but profound. My eternity is secure in God's hands. I don't need to fret about trials and stresses of this life.I need to focus on Him and living for Him. He will take care of the rest.

I don't need to envy my little shadow hunter. I need to trust in the Lord and keep eternity in mind.

Love

I follow this blog titled "Teaching Paperless." The other day I reiceived and email from this blog with the following challenge:

You have been put in charge of creating a brand new education system. Whatever you decide will be done. You are the monarch. You have unlimited resources and everyone is mandated to do your bidding (and they love you and think you are a genius).

And they are waiting to hear your concept.

One caveat: This being the 21st century, you have to explain your entire concept in 21 words or less.

Hmmm... I wonder how people responded? I thought. So, I went and checked it out. I mean, wouldn't you? There were all kinds of posts, some very intellectual, some not, and others very humorous. I enjoyed reading them all.

WELL, this morning I had another email from this blog site. This time it was the author of the blog making his 21 words or less statement. Actually, he said it in one word...love.

Here is a quote from his site:
Let that be the foundation and you'll see humility.   Start with humility and you'll see authenticity.  Let those be your guide and you'll have paradox.  Real paradox.  Start with paradox and you just might have something that's sustainable.


This got me to thinking about 1 Corithians 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

He so right. It starts with love. Not just any love, mind you, but God's love.

Here's a challenge: Read 1 Corithians 13, the entire chapter, and ask the Lord to show you His love so that you can love others like He does. I don't want to be a clanging cymbal or a loud gong.

Life isn't about how far you climb up that ladder, the possessions you own, or knowing the "right" people. It's about love, Christ's love.

1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.

Joey, I loved you and will miss you.

A Role Model

I was coming in from car rider duty at the end of today and I started thinking about a particular student.  As I climbed the stairs to my classroom, I pictured this student in my mind and all the struggles he has been through this year.  I took a deep breath and let out a sigh, "What a role model of forgiveness he is." 

Let me start by sayting that he hasn't always been treated with respect and accepted by his peers, and yet, he comes to school with a smile on his face and an amiable disposition.  He doesn't tell on the other children when treated wrongly.  He doesn't return insult for insult.  He doesn't gossip. He doesn't seek revenge. Instead, he stands strong by being kind and forgiving. He doesn't try to "fit in". He is who he is and he is fine with it.

I have such respect for this boy, that I find myself becoming his defender, but he doesn't need  that from me because he forgives. I saw this in action when a couple of students made fun of him. I stepped in and made them apologize. Instead of seeking revenge, he responded to their apologies with, "I forgive you."  Other students have told me that they have seen him offer compliments to those who insult him. They, too, were impressed. 

He has so much wisdom for being so young.  He lives the example of what Christ wants us to be...forgiving.

Going Ape

This has been a very busy week, but hey, it's Friday and all is forgotten. I'm looking ahead to next week. Roller Coasters! Not the real things, but good substitutes. My students are heading into the next science unit titled Motion and Design. We will be studying different types of forces and their affects on objects. So, what better way to learn about force than studying roller coasters. Because we can't go experience the real thing, my students are going to be building their own. And get this. The mighty coasters will be made of card stock. How cool is that! Well, they are pretty excited and ready to get started. unfortunately for them, they have to have a test over the science unit we are getting ready to finish up BEFORE going wild with the coasters.

The other day, I was talking with a parent. She told me that her child was sooo excited about this next unit that he's been on the computer researching and looking at roller coasters ever since I mentioned it last week. That was very encouraging to hear. In fact, when a student gets excited about learning, it's ALWAYS encouraging. Learning is so much fun and seeing my students hunger after it is better than BBQ Pizza... and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE BBQ Pizza (Needless to say, I was very disappointed when Pizz Hut discontinued this item.).

You can probably guess that I'm just as excited as my little darlins' when it comes to this next unit. In fact, I'm constructing my own roller coaster at home. Made of paper, of course. I plan on bringing it into class...if it's presentable. I'm thinking of BBQ Pizza as my roller coaster's theme. Then again, I might settle on something more simple, like Wolverine. He's my all time favorite X-Man comic hero. What am I saying! Why don't I just make my theme a mixture of both. A picture of Wolverine scarfing down a slice of BBQ pizza. How awesome is that! STOP THE PRESSES! I've got an even better theme...Planet of the Apes (The Charleton Heston version). OMG! That is probably my most favorite movie of all time. I watch the marathon every year. Can't get enough of the Ape. Yep, I think that's it. I'm going "ape" for my coaster.

I plan on posting some killer photos of their creations. So, be on the lookout.

TTYL

Never say "Yes" to a question you don't completely hear.

The other night I was dining on some chicken at Chick-Fil-A. Hmmm...imagine that? Well, as I sat in the booth savoring the spices of my poultry sandwich, I was not alone. A friend and collegue from work joined me. We were talking about this and that when she brought up an event that happened at school earlier that day. The Marine Corps Jazz band came and put on this amazing performance for our students. She expressed how much she enjoyed the "New Orleans" style music. I had to agree, it was fantastic! However, her facial expression changed from one of excitement and pleasure to disgust within a nano-second as she brought up a particular happening during the performance. But, before I tell you what that "happening" was, let me do some prep work to add some flare to her uprising.

As mentioned, the Marine Corps Jazz band played some awesome tunes for our students the that day. The music was loud, the teachers and students were clapping, and everyone was in good spirits. At one point in the performance the band danced down the center aisle playing their tunes. They convinced some teachers to join them. It was great fun! No, I wasn't one of the "dancing" teachers. Moving on. The performance continued and the teachers glided back to their duty stations making sure no one got out of hand. The end was near. This is where the story takes an unexpected turn.

As the band was playing their final piece, backing down the middle isle, a student came up to me. Remember, the music was loud so it was hard to hear. I leaned down to hear what he was asking, but couldn't understand him. So, in teacher fashion, I said, "WHAT? I can't hear you!" He repeated the question and this is what I heard. " Mrs. Brown, can I rown?" Being the expert interpreter of children's questions, I took that to mean , "Can I go to the bathroom?" My response was "Sure, go ahead." The performance was almost over anyway. And "go ahead" he did. Right to the middle aisle in front of the freshly starched Marine Corps Jazz Band. Not the bathroom, that is, but a break dance move called "the worm". Yep, doing "the worm" in front of the Jazz Band while everyone was watching. My jaw dropped to the ground, but I couldn't say a word. I gave him permission.

Now, back to Chick-Fil-A. My collegue and friend went on to explain how appauled she was at the sight of that student doing "the worm". She didn't know it was my student. "How disrespectful." She iterated. " I can't believe a student would do something like that!" I winced, not because I was offended, because I was caught. At this point I'm thinking should I agree with her and cover-up my sin or confess. Well, I did the admirable thing and confessed. She gave me this look like, "What?" I quickly defended myself by saying, "The music was loud. I thought he was asking to go to the bathroom."


To all those who desire to to work with children, never say "yes" to a question that you don't completely hear.

LOL!!!!