Teacher In-service Week

With an amazing amount of effortless ease I opened my classroom door, turned on the lights and began to assess the work load that lay before me. I had been introduced to this classroom before, but hadn't taken the time to organize and put away. I had decided to save it for inservice week. I cannot tell, even after having lived through this week, whether or not that was the best of decisions. (Maybe that doesn't matter though. At least I MADE a decision! Just stick with it and then deal with the consequences. Stop trying to analyze every single cost and benefit. It takes too dern long.)

For several moments after turning on the lights I continued to stare at the bookshelves shoved in the middle of the room, the desks clumped in groups a few feet away from the bookshelves. I turned my attention to the cubbies taking up three-fourths of the east wall space. Cubbies were filled with children's books, teacher's guides, posters, boarders, craft items, puzzles, games, and the bookshelves were filled with even more. A sense of delight and gratefulness to the Lord flew through my being. The children would have a library to browse and books to read! Hallelujah! I would have books that would help me to supplement the students' understandings! Praise the Lord!!! Resources are beautiful things and yet I didn't know where to begin in the arranging of the items. Before breaking into this heavy job, I decided to pay a visit to the classrooms around me. My two neighboring teachers have both had one previous year of experience. Let me tell you, though it is only one year, that year experience gives you a focus. It gives you some wisdom that us greenhorns are yet lacking. After socializing for a bit, I returned to my room, filled with the excitement owned only by a first year teacher who does not yet realize the heaviness of the week lying ahead.

So, I enjoyed the teacher's meetings! Yummy breakfasts were prepared for us and then we could take the left-overs for lunch. I really enjoy the other teachers, administrators, and staff. We are all on the same spiritual mindset and page. We desire to see these students EXCEL in academics while we equip them for eternity during instruction. We all desire to see the Lord glorified in our lives and in the lives of the students. That's just so great. I enjoy laughing with them and talking with them and listening to them. I would say we have a variety of personalities and characters. I am thankful that (I believe) they have accepted me and are so WILLING to help!!! (I had about three people helping me move and arrange my desk items. Whew! So nice!!)

We had teacher pictures already. What to wear was a tough decision to make. What to wear?!! Students look back on these yearbooks for EVER. I made a decision, straightened my hair, painted the barn, and tried to smile like a teacher. We'll see what came of my efforts.

We had CPR/First Air training today. The BEST training EVER! The guy was SO great! He made a point that we are taking these class to be able to perform CPR, etc perfectly. Do I want someone to help a loved one if they only "kind of" know what they are doing, or would I prefer someone who could perform CPR perfectly? Of course, perfectly is preferrable. That takes practice...refreshing in my mind the steps of CPR. I will, indeed. I will be with kids EVERY day. I need to be ready and prepared. I don't want a lost life to be my fault when I have it in my power to possibly assist them in living.

Now, I have come to the end of the week. During this week I would arrive to the school between 8am-8:15am and leave between 7pm-9pm. Already the hours are coming at me! I just want that stinking room to be decorated and BEAUTIFUL! I have sixteen students and I am excited to meet them...yet that excitement also has a bent of nervousness within it. I have been praying for my students and my wisdom with them. The Lord has put me here and I trust and know that He will carry me through! This is His plan and will and I am confident will be the necessary learning experience for my sanctification and further reflection of Him. He is faithful and will complete the work He has started in my life as well as the lives of the students I will be meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Praise the Lord and may He be glorified in all things!! (I pray I would be His ambassador.)

Submissive Hippie Turns Teacher

Here I sit at my computer, warily typing words onto the screen in front of me.
You should not be typing this. I repeat to myself over and over again. The feeling of guilt begins to spread from my chest to my toes. You need to be typing in classroom procedures and plans for your reading language arts program. True enough. I should also be writing letters to people, sending emails to other people, reading great literature, updating myself on the Washington primaries. But I am not. I continue to sit here and type. I press through the feelings of guilt. I try to brush them away and focus my mind on the blogging job at hand. hah I have wanted to blog for awhile, but I couldn't remember my password.

Yesterday was my very LAST day of working at the YMCA. I am so sad. I am going to miss several of those kids very much. I really do enjoy the third through sixth graders. I also found that I really enjoy the boys. Boys will just play and you can have a good conversation, but girls are too...I am not sure what. Perhaps, emotional? Perhaps, touchy? Whiny? Needy? I don't know. Let's stop talking and just play a rousing game of...tackle for the shoe!! hahahaha The last few field trips we played that game. It was fun. I now have many bruises. It was a tackling type game. I gave a little boy a rope burn as I was trying to pull a hat out of his hand during the game. Oops. When playing football I also smooshed a boy into the cement wall. It was not on purpose. I couldn't stop myself at the speed I was going.

This week is teacher in-service (inservice? in service?) week. OH MY GOODNESS!!! I am an official teacher. I know that it is possible for me to fill the responsibilities and DUTIES of a teacher, but good grief. Am I planned enough? No. Do I know how I want my room to be set up? No.

Oh! At the Y, I had a very intellectual/philosophical conversation with some boys (one boy in particular) about the moral struggles of the characters in Spiderman 3. He was very insightful in his analysis. We talked about the power of bad/evil to easily over take us as we choose the small, "not so bad" stuff.
I also had a connecting time with another...angry/bitter boy. He lies a lot, but at least he will now speak to me and wants to spend time not calling people names or beating them up.
I also had an interesting conversation with a girl who is afraid of getting sick and dying. I told her about Jesus and why I am not afraid to die.

There was a time I was angry at the parents who left their children at the Y. Why aren't you taking care of them AT HOME?! They don't need more toys, better vehicles, fancier clothes, or a bigger house! They need YOUR love and consistent discipline and training. Now, my heart breaks for these children and their families. So many of them are single parent homes. Some of these single parents are by choice; others are not. These children will never know true instruction about right and wrong; only what is fair and best for them. That is the philosophy of our world.

I miss good conversations and debates.