I IS smart!!

*It has been a LONG time since I blogged-partly because things have been very hard and I haven't been able to put things into words, and partly because I am consumed with this amazing toy drive. Get ready!

*I'll start with some amazing news-One morning a few months ago, when I was running on my treadmill, the Lord gave me an idea for a toy drive at the very poor apartments I write a lot about-the ones I worked at this summer. I had a vision of buying a toy for every kid in the apartments (about 260). I hadn't made any progress with the project, until one day my aunt facebooked me and asked if we were "adopting" kids for Christmas again, to buy presents. That got the ball rolling...long story short, less than 2 months later, we have collected enough money and toys so that EVERY child will get an (amazing!) toy, and enough money to buy shampoo, soap, deoderant, detergent, toothbrush, lotion, etc. for EVERY family. I can not take ANY credit for this-people have been SO generous, my mother in law has helped SO much, and the hand of the Lord has been VERY present! For instance, on the day before we were going to buy all of the toys, Groupon had an AMAZING offer for Toys R Us-the store we were going to buy all of the toys at, Toys R Us gave us a 25% discount....long story short, my husband and I left the store with 9 carts full of toys, and we saved $700!! It is AMAZING how much the Lord has blessed the drive. I am so excited to see how it turns out-gives me hope!

*Today in centers, one of my kids who just moved from China (and knew NO English at first, and has taken OFF!) was working on a 3 letter word puzzle. He was working on the word "map" and it had a picture to go along with the word. I heard him pointing at the map and telling another child, so excitedly, THAT IS CHINA!!! :)

*I have a student who is extremely neglected. When he came into my class in mid-October (first time enrolling in school), he was labeled as a HIGH behavior child. It is true that he doesn't know how to interact with others, he is the sweetest child. He gives me big hugs and gets along GREAT in my class. He does have trouble in the bus line, at the apartments, etc. One day, I heard that he was out of control in the bus line-that the teacher had to get the principal. I talked to him about it the next day-not angry at all....he hung his head and was so sad that he had disappointed me. He promised he would try to treat others more nicely. We haven't had a problem since. The other day, (while my other kids are counting to 100, writing numbers past 20, etc.), this student was working at the Counting Jar center. He counted his objects and then started to record in his notebook. He raised his hand SO excitedly, and said "MRS! I WROTE THE NUMBER 2!!!!" :) Small steps! :)

At the end of the day, a 5th grader comes to pick up our bus riders. I hugged them all goodbye and they left. The rest of my kids were in line waiting to go home. This student was still in line, even though he rides the bus. I said: "Mark, why didn't you leave with the bus riders?" His answer: "I really want you to drop me off!" I agreed (had a glimpse of how he lives, last week, and now will do pretty much ANYTHING I can to give him attention and love)....I walked my class to the corner of the hall and told him that's where I would "drop him off". He smiled SO big, gave me a huge hug, and drug his backpack down the hall to the bus line. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this kid!?

*Pretty much ALL of my kids are in crisis right now. It is UNREAL. Yesterday, a grandma came in and told me my kids' uncle was murdered. 2nd murder this YEAR! Today, that student brought in a picture of him and his uncle that he wanted to share with me. I choked up, and told him that I was so sad that had happened, and that I love having him in class, and that it's ok for him to be sad, too. His grandma also told me that she's been taking him to church. His Sunday school teacher told his grandma "He is so smart!" He turned to his grandma and said, "I IS smart. Mrs. Teran tells me all the time". She said: He used to be so shy and not know nothin. Now he can read and write. (He came in not even knowing how to write one letter or number, and now is one of the highest kids in my class). I smiled and hugged him so tightly.

*As I looked around my class during calendar time, they were all singing and counting so sweetly. I looked at each kids' face, and was struck that there is something VERY hard going on in almost every kid's life right now. It is so discouraging. If only their life was like it is at school, I know they would succeed. They are so smart and sweet and adorable. I can't even begin to describe how much it breaks my heart. These kids have become like my own kids, and to not be able to protect them, and just having a GLIMPSe of how neglected, hungry, dirty, and EXPOSED they are-just shatters me. I really can't write any more than that...I don't know how to process, I don't know how I can even help them. We're talking crisis..not like just a little hungry or could use a hug....we're talking HORRIBLE things.

*We had a thanksgiving feast last week. It was SO fun--my mother in law and a volunteer both joined us. We had LOTS of food and made some eggs together. We pushed together all of our tables and sat around them "like a family". The kids were very thankful, but were also sure to save some food. I assured them that they could eat it all-I was going to send home extras with them. Before we ate, they had to go around and say what each child was thankful for. It made me cry as EACH child could think of so much to be thankful for. The next week, in writing time, one of my girls was drawing a story and writing her sentence. I asked her what her story was about: "It's about when we ate all of that food that you brought for us. Remember that? I LOVED that!"

*After school, before Thanksgiving break, LOTS of kids (ages 5-10) came up to me and told me that they didn't want to have a break from school. 5th grade boys were telling me that they wish they didn't have to be at home for 5 days. :(

*We had a failed foster placement a couple of weeks ago. It was the hardest thing my husband and I have ever faced. Most of the nights that the child was with us, we fell asleep clinging to each other. I'm not sure where the Lord is calling us from here-but the more I see the need in my class, the more I am thankful that I have a license. Maybe someday it will be needed by one of my babies.

*We learned the sight word "they" yesterday. We talked about how we use the word to describe OTHER people, so I had 2 girls stand up (some of my most needy) and we used sentences to describe them. Without me even leading it, it became COMPLIMENT time--ex. "They are SO nice, They are SO smart. They are pretty. They make me laugh. They are good friends." Again...Mrs. is crying. :)

*My kids are obsessed with giving me gifts this year. The other day, as the other kids were hanging up their coats, backpacks, etc. a kid handed me a couple of dollars-I asked "What is this for, honey?" "It's for YOU!" I smiled and said, "I love that you want to give me a gift, but I don't need money. All I need is for you to be a good friend and learn ALL that you can today".

*Yesterday, one of my girls was having a ROUGH day. This child has a rough home life, and is always so hungry. She is not sure how to interact with other people very well. At the end of the day, she was being defiant, knowing that I would have to talk to her mom...I took her face gently,  in both of my hands, and quietly spoke to her: "You are a beautiful, smart girl. I was disappointed to see you acting that way today, because I know you are SO MUCH MORE! I want you to learn and do your best, because I know that you will do great things. You are SO smart. I am not going to let you fail! Remember at reading group, how hard you were working on sounding out words?! You KNOW your letters-you are READING. You are so smart. I care about you so much and LOVe having you in class. I am NOT going to let you fail! Tomorrow will be better". The most touching thing, is that, this little girl who I RARELY see cry, had tears coming down her cheeks, as she was nodding "yes" to me.

*The weekend after our foster placement failed, we had 5 of my students over to eat lunch and go to the park (a 5th grade boy, 3rd grade girl, 2 first graders and my kinder kid-one of the 1st grade girls was my student last year). We absolutely LOVE this family--they call me their "God-momma" :). Last time we took them out, we went to Pizza Hut and a free children's museum, but this time, we wanted to do something free. Nothing too special, just spend QT together. When we picked them up, as soon as we knocked on the door, we heard the kids inside screaming, "SHE'S HERE!!" When we got to our house, we played board games, while we got lunch ready. They were looking around my living room in AWE of everything-the older girl said: I've never seen a house this clean before!! It is beautiful! We ate lunch (They were so thankful and even washed off their plates afterwards). We talked a lot at lunch and then got ready to go to the park. We brought bread with us to feed the ducks. On the way to the park, a nasty song came on the radio. I told the kids I didn't want to listen to that song. They said, "Why, Mrs?! Does it have cussin' in it?!" I said-I want to show you some music that I like-this is Lecrae. Do you want to hear my favorite song? "YES!!! What's it about Mrs?" I went on to explain that it was about how much God loves us-that no matter what is around us-drugs, guns, hunger, etc. that God cares so much about us. As we drove, they started singing (rapping) along. Tears were coming down my face as I drove the car. Then the next song came on. "Is this song about God too, Mrs? Or about Jesus? I LOVE this God music!" I turned the music down, and told them: "Guys, please promise me, that no matter WHAT happens, you will NEVER use a gun or drugs. Don't even hang around people who do those things" And my 5 YEAR old answered: "Oh NO, Mrs! I PROMISE. Even if I see a TOY gun, I'll run away". The kids continued to tell me that shootings happen a LOT at the apartments and that one of their friends was killed last year, and that a baby was shot in the foot. "But we PROMISE, Mrs, we'll NEVER touch one, because those people who use guns to hurt people are consumed by SATAN, and we are consumed by GOD. We promise, Mrs!" We turned the music back up, and rapped about God the rest of the way to the park.

When we got to the park, the 5th grade boy told my husband: I never want to go home. My husband responded: I know we're having fun, but I'm sure you'll want to go home later. The boy responded: No I won't.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing on the equipment at the park (they were AMAZED by the beautiful park) and then we went to feed the geese. We fed them bread and the kids spent about an hour looking at the ducks and sweetly feeding them little pieces of bread. It was so sweet to see. My little first grade girl from last year was TERRIFIED of the geese and was clinging to me, but the boys were obsessed with them. They thought it was so fun. :) On the way home, we got a super cheap ice cream cup for each kid. They ate a few bites, but wanted to be sure to save the rest for later. When we dropped them off at home, they said thank you and went back into their apartments. My husband and I agreed that it was the highlight of the entire week.

*Today I spent recess (I wasn't on duty) with my student, who I found wandering around in the dark, hours after school got out. Not having any idea where his mom was. He is so desperate for love, and is such a smart boy, but doesn't hav a clue how to write letters/numbers. I made a book to trace and write letters and numbers and decided to pull him in from recess, everyday that he wants to and that I don't have duty. He EAGERLY agreed, when I offered. We went back to our room, and he chatted the whole way down the hallway. We started writing the letters and he made a lot of progress. We worked on A, B, and C today. Feeling very successful, and drinking his juice box, he grinned at me. He was very focused on writing his letters, but once in awhile, would look up at me with pride. Me: What did you eat for lunch?
Student (in a super "gruff" voice): Um, I can't remember what it's called...somethin yellow.
Me (knowing they had hamburgers today): Mustard?
Student: WHAT?! Why would I eat MUSTARD?! lol
When I first showed him the book of letters, he looked at me like I was crazy, and said: How am I gonna write ALL those letters?! :) I assured him that we were just going to do a few, today! :)

*When my mother in law was here for the thanksgiving feast, one of my little girls kept saying, "My teacher, she LOVEs me!" :)

*We practice our sight words every morning before calendar. When we get to the word "me", we clap it, and spell it, and then I have trained them to say this sentence, "My teacher loves ME!" Then they all smile so proudly. I respond: Yes, I really do!

For the sight word, "am", they clap, spell, etc. and then say "I AM awesome!!" And I respond (with MEANING), YES you are!!!

:)