Yesterday and today have been full of parent/student/teacher conferences (where the student is in the conference with me and their parents). I was scared to death...students' parents are scary! Now that I am a good 80% through with them, I am finding that I am much more bold than I thought I would be. Shocker, I know :) Even with the good kids, I am challenging them to step up and be the Godly role models that they can be.
So far I have made three kids get teary-eyed and one mom and one student full-on cry. The kids who got teary-eyed are kids that I see being drawn into the peer pressure of middle school (gossip, bullying, making stupid choices, etc.). I told them that I expect more of them. With every single student, I have praised them for the gifts that I have seen in class--from their attitudes to their friendliness to their respectfulness toward me. No child has gone without hearing words of encouragement from me during their conference. However, there have been several of the students that I have called out and spoken the harsh truth to. I told them to "man up" or (for the girls) "step up" and work toward attaining the Godly character that we talk about every day in devotions and weekly in chapel.
The mom who I made cry...It was a GOOD thing. I told her son that I SOOOO appreciated who he was. He is smart, kind, funny, hard-working, and on and on. But I also told him that he is a leader, and with that comes certain responsibilities. I told him that he needs to start walking away from bad situations and from wrong conversations. I told him that he could be THE example of a Godly young man in my classroom, but that I feel like he's letting that slide so that he is seen as "cool." His mom starting tearing up and said that they (his parents) had been telling him exactly that for several months now. She thanked me profusely for seeing in their son all of the amazing qualities that he has, but she thanked me even more for caring about him enough to speak the truth into his life.
Wow. I've just really felt like the Holy Spirit has guided these conferences and that the Lord wants me to not baby these kids, but to challenge them to go above and beyond. Here's the deal...I have them for one year--two at best. It is not only my job to teach them the facts and subjects they need to know to move on, it is also my responsibility to see that their character grows while they're in my class. Part of my job as a Christian and as a teacher at a Christian school is to do everything in my power to make my kids look like Jesus more by the end of the year than they did at the beginning.
That's a lot harder to do at this middle school level than it was when I taught preschool!!! And I am sure that a few of my students are mad at me/hate me. I know that certain kids will be shooting daggers at me with their eyes come Monday. But the truth is, part of teaching is speaking the hard truth into a child's life...No matter what their reaction may be. If I ignore their character and behavior outside of class simply because they are getting good grades and being "good" while they are physically in my classroom, I am doing them a huge disservice!! And I am not doing my job as their teacher!
Am I wrong in this?! I don't regret anything I said. And maybe absolutely nothing will change in those kids' hearts or behaviors come Monday, but I've done my part and not ignored the Spirit's leading in calling them out. Luckily, every single parent was on board with what I said. Ok...I'm done with my rant now. Don't know if anyone will actually read this, but I just felt like I needed to say it.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
My Newest Addition
Ok, so those of you who know me know that I am BY NO MEANS a pet person. That being said, I have a confession to make...I now own a cat. Some of you have heard the story through my Facebook posts, but I'll repeat it just in case there's some random person following this who hasn't heard.
Last Friday night, we had a middle school event called Mad Mad Nights (the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders all get together for pizza and a fun activity). A few of my 7th graders found a kitten wandering around the school. It was soooo skinny that you could feel every one of its vertebrae. I asked to hold it and it immediately burrowed its head into the crook of my arm. I held it the entire time. When it was time to go home, none of the other teachers would take her. I told my coworker/best friend up here in MT that I would take her for now if she would come with me to pick out some cat "crap" from Walmart. I thought she would back down and offer to just take it home with her (since she already has 2 dogs and a cat)...but, she didn't. So...I have a cat.
At first I was going to name her Annie after Little Orphan Annie from the movie. That name just didn't seem to fit her, though. Annie seems like a name for a playful or spunky kitten. Mine just likes to eat and sleep--which is fine with me! So, with the help of some friends and family, I finally decided on Kali. Where did that come from, you may ask? Well, I moved from CALIfornia to KALIspell. Her full name is Kali Jo. It fits her perfectly.
She's kind of temperamental. She gets mad at me when I have to leave her in her "house" while I'm at work. She punishes me by hiding under the couch for at least 30 minutes when I let her out. Then she eventually peeks her head out and decides to forgive me. Last night, I came home for a little over an hour, but then had to head back out to a volleyball game. She freaked out when I put her back in her house! She knocked her food and water bowls over trying to claw her way out. It was soooo sad.
My friend's husband said I might as well name her Sfen--meaning Single ForEver Now. He thinks that I have sealed my single fate by getting a cat. I tried to tell him that I would happily give this cat up for a man, but he didn't seem convinced. I may not even keep her...we'll see. I have to pay more for rent every month if I keep her. I could probably get away with just keeping her inside and not saying anything to my landlady, but I just feel like that's dishonest, ya know? So, we'll see.
Hope you're all doing well! I'll try to upload several videos I've got in the works (first snow, first fishing trip, Kali, family reunion, and more). I've just been swamped at work...
Oh! I almost forgot! My very first California visitor is coming up on Thursday!! I'm so excited! My good friend Michelle is coming up until Sunday and I cannot wait to see her! And, I'm hoping to show her off to my peeps up here to prove that I actually had friends down in CA :)
Last Friday night, we had a middle school event called Mad Mad Nights (the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders all get together for pizza and a fun activity). A few of my 7th graders found a kitten wandering around the school. It was soooo skinny that you could feel every one of its vertebrae. I asked to hold it and it immediately burrowed its head into the crook of my arm. I held it the entire time. When it was time to go home, none of the other teachers would take her. I told my coworker/best friend up here in MT that I would take her for now if she would come with me to pick out some cat "crap" from Walmart. I thought she would back down and offer to just take it home with her (since she already has 2 dogs and a cat)...but, she didn't. So...I have a cat.
At first I was going to name her Annie after Little Orphan Annie from the movie. That name just didn't seem to fit her, though. Annie seems like a name for a playful or spunky kitten. Mine just likes to eat and sleep--which is fine with me! So, with the help of some friends and family, I finally decided on Kali. Where did that come from, you may ask? Well, I moved from CALIfornia to KALIspell. Her full name is Kali Jo. It fits her perfectly.
She's kind of temperamental. She gets mad at me when I have to leave her in her "house" while I'm at work. She punishes me by hiding under the couch for at least 30 minutes when I let her out. Then she eventually peeks her head out and decides to forgive me. Last night, I came home for a little over an hour, but then had to head back out to a volleyball game. She freaked out when I put her back in her house! She knocked her food and water bowls over trying to claw her way out. It was soooo sad.
My friend's husband said I might as well name her Sfen--meaning Single ForEver Now. He thinks that I have sealed my single fate by getting a cat. I tried to tell him that I would happily give this cat up for a man, but he didn't seem convinced. I may not even keep her...we'll see. I have to pay more for rent every month if I keep her. I could probably get away with just keeping her inside and not saying anything to my landlady, but I just feel like that's dishonest, ya know? So, we'll see.
Hope you're all doing well! I'll try to upload several videos I've got in the works (first snow, first fishing trip, Kali, family reunion, and more). I've just been swamped at work...
Oh! I almost forgot! My very first California visitor is coming up on Thursday!! I'm so excited! My good friend Michelle is coming up until Sunday and I cannot wait to see her! And, I'm hoping to show her off to my peeps up here to prove that I actually had friends down in CA :)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Single's Toast
So I know that I created this blog to share with you my adventure of moving to Montana. I had no intention of turning it into a personal journal, but I'm starting to change my mind. I thought I'd maybe share something with you that has become very special to me.
You see, over a year ago, I had a best friend named Gina. She and I were both single and loved to go out together. We would almost always order a glass of wine (or a girly, fruity drink in my case). One night, we decided that we should have a specific thing to toast to every time we got together. I volunteered to write the toast. I took it very seriously :). I went to a park, sat down for about an hour, and came up with the following. I know that it's mushy and girly, but deal with it! Although God has answered this prayer/toast in Gina's life by bringing her an amazing man with whom to share her life, it is still a prayer for my own life that I hope to one day see answered. Be gracious when you read this...it had been awhile since I'd accessed my poetic side :).
A Toast
To surrendering our hearts to their ultimate Lover
To giving up our dreams to their original Author
To working faithfully on what our God has set before us
To our continued pursuit of righteousness and faith
To living this life we have been given listening to the voice of our loving Father and not that of the Enemy
To not letting our hopes for tomorrow speak louder than our divine calling for today
To building our character to that of Biblical proportions
To the sovereignty of the Creator’s hand and the perfection of His timing
To finding men like Timothy—passionate, mature in faith
and obedient to the Spirit’s leading
To men who are courageous in heart, adventurous in spirit, solid in faith
and strong in Godly character
To one day seeing the goodness of the Lord in the smiles of our children
and the embrace of our soul mate
And, finally, to having fun and faith while we wait.
To fun and faith!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
My Pocahontas Rant
So today in 7th grade History, we discussed the differences between the real Pocahontas and the Disney version. One of the differences we discussed was her physical appearance. We looked at a picture from the Disney movie next to a painting done of her when she actually lived. This took me on a rabbit trail about "real beauty." I gave them a whole schpeel (sp?) about how girls don't really have waists that a guy can put his hands fully around and still have their thumbs touching (real scene from Aladdin). I also talked about how tough it is as girls to grow up with those movies because it shows us a false view of beauty. We talked about how a girl/woman's heart is so much more precious to God--and therefore, should be to everyone else--than what she looks like.
Not sure if that was an appropriate conversation or not, but I thought it was important to address. Think I'll get any parent calls about it?
I was very passionate in my speech. It's a personal pet peeve of mine...for obvious reasons...
Not sure if that was an appropriate conversation or not, but I thought it was important to address. Think I'll get any parent calls about it?
I was very passionate in my speech. It's a personal pet peeve of mine...for obvious reasons...
Monday, September 7, 2009
Amazing Community
Ok, so I just have to brag on my co-workers and a few others for a moment here.
First of all, my room is in the basement. The basement flooded a few weeks ago, and so my classroom was thrashed. While everyone else was working on getting their classrooms set up, I wasn't even able to get into mine (carpet was being put in, paint was going on the walls, baseboards were being glued on). Therefore, I was WAY far behind. The day that my bulletin boards were put on the walls, five elementary teachers showed up in my room to cover the boards and put up borders. I didn't do anything and it was all done within an hour. Alone, it would have taken me at least 3 hours. Later that same day, a sweet lady who teaches here part time came and asked if she could treat all of the new middle school teachers to lunch at a local restaurant.
Second, I was feeling very overwhelmed by the novel I was supposed to start with the 6th graders. It's a horrible book and I was so overwhelmed. I went to one of the teachers here who used to teach my subjects. She was so supportive and said that she would back me if the superintendent asked her opinion. I talked to my boss about my struggles with this book. He talked through several options with me, none of which I thought would work. So, he and I went up to this teacher's room to ask her opinion. She said that she agreed with me that a different book should be chosen. My superintendent said, "Ok. I trust you both. Do whatever works for your kids." This means that I have to do a lot of last minute planning, but I still felt so supported.
Third, yesterday I visited a baptist church up here. There I met a sweet young girl (23 years old, married with a one-year old) who asked me to come sit with her during the service. She had to leave early because her daughter was making a ton of noise trying to fight off sleep :). Before she left, she got my name and number. At the time, I thought, "Well, that was nice of her. Maybe I'll hear from her and we could do coffee or something." Fast forward 24 hours to today. I get a call from her asking if she can bring the baby and help me in my classroom. She even offered to bring lunch and/or any supplies I might need. She stayed for a few hours and helped me sooo much! She's even going to find a table they have stored away for me to use up in the front of my classroom! Oh, and she said that she and her husband would be happy to store my tires for me when I have to switch to studded tires for the winter.
Lastly, out of the four teachers at the middle school level, three of us are brand new. I just met Matt and Rachel--the other two new teachers--a week ago. Already, we are so tight and they are going to be amazing friends. Matt invited me to dinner at his house last week and Rachel and I did pedicures and dinner on Saturday. They are absolutely amazing. God has truly had His hand in the three of us being placed here. They are fun, sweet, helpful and just absolutely precious. Matt's family has practically adopted me (inviting me to dinner anytime I want a home cooked meal, coming with me to Costco to find the best deal for a TV and wireless router, etc.). And even Rachel's husband has made it a point to try to introduce me to new people.
Overall, I honestly feel like this town/school has made the conscious decision to adopt me! I haven't felt homesick at all yet and I just feel like the people here are absolutely incredible. They are so sweet and supportive. Hopefully that won't wear off once I'm no longer considered the "new teacher." God is so good and the community of believers up here has definitely been an amazing reflection of Him. Thank you Kalispell and Stillwater Christian School!!
First of all, my room is in the basement. The basement flooded a few weeks ago, and so my classroom was thrashed. While everyone else was working on getting their classrooms set up, I wasn't even able to get into mine (carpet was being put in, paint was going on the walls, baseboards were being glued on). Therefore, I was WAY far behind. The day that my bulletin boards were put on the walls, five elementary teachers showed up in my room to cover the boards and put up borders. I didn't do anything and it was all done within an hour. Alone, it would have taken me at least 3 hours. Later that same day, a sweet lady who teaches here part time came and asked if she could treat all of the new middle school teachers to lunch at a local restaurant.
Second, I was feeling very overwhelmed by the novel I was supposed to start with the 6th graders. It's a horrible book and I was so overwhelmed. I went to one of the teachers here who used to teach my subjects. She was so supportive and said that she would back me if the superintendent asked her opinion. I talked to my boss about my struggles with this book. He talked through several options with me, none of which I thought would work. So, he and I went up to this teacher's room to ask her opinion. She said that she agreed with me that a different book should be chosen. My superintendent said, "Ok. I trust you both. Do whatever works for your kids." This means that I have to do a lot of last minute planning, but I still felt so supported.
Third, yesterday I visited a baptist church up here. There I met a sweet young girl (23 years old, married with a one-year old) who asked me to come sit with her during the service. She had to leave early because her daughter was making a ton of noise trying to fight off sleep :). Before she left, she got my name and number. At the time, I thought, "Well, that was nice of her. Maybe I'll hear from her and we could do coffee or something." Fast forward 24 hours to today. I get a call from her asking if she can bring the baby and help me in my classroom. She even offered to bring lunch and/or any supplies I might need. She stayed for a few hours and helped me sooo much! She's even going to find a table they have stored away for me to use up in the front of my classroom! Oh, and she said that she and her husband would be happy to store my tires for me when I have to switch to studded tires for the winter.
Lastly, out of the four teachers at the middle school level, three of us are brand new. I just met Matt and Rachel--the other two new teachers--a week ago. Already, we are so tight and they are going to be amazing friends. Matt invited me to dinner at his house last week and Rachel and I did pedicures and dinner on Saturday. They are absolutely amazing. God has truly had His hand in the three of us being placed here. They are fun, sweet, helpful and just absolutely precious. Matt's family has practically adopted me (inviting me to dinner anytime I want a home cooked meal, coming with me to Costco to find the best deal for a TV and wireless router, etc.). And even Rachel's husband has made it a point to try to introduce me to new people.
Overall, I honestly feel like this town/school has made the conscious decision to adopt me! I haven't felt homesick at all yet and I just feel like the people here are absolutely incredible. They are so sweet and supportive. Hopefully that won't wear off once I'm no longer considered the "new teacher." God is so good and the community of believers up here has definitely been an amazing reflection of Him. Thank you Kalispell and Stillwater Christian School!!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
I'm Drowning!!
So here I am beginning my second full week here in Montana. It was great at first, but now that the real lesson planning has begun, I feel like I'm drowning. I have two grade levels, two subjects each. Plus a 7th grade skills class (geography, vocab, spelling, maybe some math facts...not sure yet) and an activity period every Friday for the whole middle school. Oh, and did I mention that my school doesn't believe in using textbooks? So I am having to do all of my own research on everything from the fall of Rome to exploration of the western hemisphere!
How in the world am I supposed to get all of this done and ready for the kids? Not to mention figuring out homework assignments, quizzes, tests, projects, fun activities. I don't know what the heck I am doing and I'm not sure that I'll be ready for the kids on the first few days of school--let alone the first quarter!!
AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
How in the world am I supposed to get all of this done and ready for the kids? Not to mention figuring out homework assignments, quizzes, tests, projects, fun activities. I don't know what the heck I am doing and I'm not sure that I'll be ready for the kids on the first few days of school--let alone the first quarter!!
AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Working on the Apartment
Hi, everybody. I hope you're all doing well. Sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile, but the internet guy is booked until September 4th--so I have to pirate internet from a nearby inn. And once they realize that I'm not a guest, they cut me off. Logging on after 3AM seems to work.
So the last few days have been spend unpacking and decorating the apartment. You'll see some of it in the latest video (which I will post as soon as it decides to take less than half an hour to download!). Yesterday we got to go on a ski lift up to the top of a mountain by the town of Whitefish. If you want to look it up, we were at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Then, while my mom drove the car down to the zip line base, my dad and I did a slide/luge run down to meet her. It was a blast, but I could have gone faster...next time! Then the three of us joined up with about ten other people to do a zip line tour down the mountain. It was amazing--videos and pictures to come. Anyone who wants to come visit, I'll pay for us to do the zip line tour :). It was that incredible.
The first part of today was spend shopping and decorating the apartment. I'm sure some of you out there love that stuff, but my mom and I HATE it, so it was kind of a long day. We decided to reward ourselves by going to the Northwestern Montana Fair that is within walking distance from my new place. The Tilt-A-Whirl, always my favorite, made me laugh hysterically. I have a few photos from that I will download once I get my camera back from my folks. They are headed to Glacier National Park tomorrow and asked to borrow my camera to take some scenic photos. I decided not to join them this time--I think they need some alone time. I'm sure I'll be uploading some of those photos, too.
Anyways...it's past 3:30AM on Friday morning and I just can't seem to get tired! I've already drunk (??) two glasses of chick wine and watched a sad episode of CSI on Netflix--the one where Warrick dies--and I still can't seem to get tired enough to fall asleep. Oh well. Until next time, ya'll...
So the last few days have been spend unpacking and decorating the apartment. You'll see some of it in the latest video (which I will post as soon as it decides to take less than half an hour to download!). Yesterday we got to go on a ski lift up to the top of a mountain by the town of Whitefish. If you want to look it up, we were at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Then, while my mom drove the car down to the zip line base, my dad and I did a slide/luge run down to meet her. It was a blast, but I could have gone faster...next time! Then the three of us joined up with about ten other people to do a zip line tour down the mountain. It was amazing--videos and pictures to come. Anyone who wants to come visit, I'll pay for us to do the zip line tour :). It was that incredible.
The first part of today was spend shopping and decorating the apartment. I'm sure some of you out there love that stuff, but my mom and I HATE it, so it was kind of a long day. We decided to reward ourselves by going to the Northwestern Montana Fair that is within walking distance from my new place. The Tilt-A-Whirl, always my favorite, made me laugh hysterically. I have a few photos from that I will download once I get my camera back from my folks. They are headed to Glacier National Park tomorrow and asked to borrow my camera to take some scenic photos. I decided not to join them this time--I think they need some alone time. I'm sure I'll be uploading some of those photos, too.
Anyways...it's past 3:30AM on Friday morning and I just can't seem to get tired! I've already drunk (??) two glasses of chick wine and watched a sad episode of CSI on Netflix--the one where Warrick dies--and I still can't seem to get tired enough to fall asleep. Oh well. Until next time, ya'll...
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Blessed
I would really like to thank all of the folks who took time out of their busy schedules to show up at my Going Away Open House. I feel so incredibly blessed and will treasure your words (and for some of you--your video clips) always. You are such a big part of who I am and, therefore, why I am choosing to take this new step in my life. It warms my heart so much to know that I am loved and will be missed. So, from the depths of my heart, thank you for being an amazing blessing in my life!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Middle School Nightmare
So last night I had a horrible nightmare that I showed up at my new job and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. My first class was a group of three (yes, three) sixth graders. I was supposed to teach them about the explorers who first came to America, but my map was completely wrong. The kids kept referring to their textbook, but I hadn't been informed that there was one, so I had no clue what they were talking about.
Then a full class of seventh graders came in. They were the size of high school seniors and all very scary looking. I had flashbacks of "Stand By Me" and such movies as I looked out at my classroom full of gangster-looking students all ready to tear me apart. They were soooo disrespectful and I remember thinking, "What the **** did I get myself into here?!"
Then a full class of seventh graders came in. They were the size of high school seniors and all very scary looking. I had flashbacks of "Stand By Me" and such movies as I looked out at my classroom full of gangster-looking students all ready to tear me apart. They were soooo disrespectful and I remember thinking, "What the **** did I get myself into here?!"
Middle schoolers aren't really like that, right?! Yikes.
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