*What a great week. Ended by a 3 day weekend of rest, cleaning my house, spending time with friends, suprise visits from family, getting things done, and RELAXED time with my hubby!
*My hubby and I are contacting Agencies about possible Foster Care--our hearts are really softening up and we are praying like crazy for the Lord's Will to be done. Of course we are taking things REALLY slow and not jumping into anything. I went running the other night after school to pray that God give me a sign. Since December I have felt SURE that this is what is right and what God is calling us to. I just needed God to remind me that this is the right time, etc. I got home from my run, sat on my porch swing and wrote in my prayer journal. That night my husband was volunteering at a free clinic and I was alone at home. I cleaned the house/started laundry and didn't want to watch TV. I started to watch Foster Care YouTube Documentaries. One of the Foster Parents in the video said: "If I could tell people thinking about Foster Care one thing it would be: If not you, who? If not now, when?" I paused the video. That is the EXACT thing I wrote on my last blog post & have been thinking. THOSE EXACT WORDS. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is. We have only talked to a few people about it, and it is so sweet to see how protective people are, but it's also helped me to realize that sometimes the people closest to us want what's "best" for us and the "good/relaxing" life to make us "happy"....but the truth is what we're really called to is to give our lives AWAY for the Lord to use. And that sometimes that is messy and doesn't look very neat. But ultimately--THAT is what gives us joy!! Just thinking.
Ok...onto my sweet Kindergarten stories :)
*We are working on Make Believe Stories in class. We read a story, mapped it out, thought of ideas of what characters/problems/solutions/settings we could think of (they were SO creative--again--thank you cartoons) and then we wrote a class book together. We decided our characters would be a frog and a lizard (although most of the girls wanted it to be a princess) who were at a pond eating flies. On page 2, I asked what the problem should be. The kids throught of several ideas, and then we all settled on "There were no more flies to eat, so the frog and lizard had no food at home. They were really hungry". That's right....my 5 year olds thought of that problem. Breaks your heart.
*Wednesday was our Principal's bday...every teacher asked their kids to write "wishes" to her so that she could read them throughout the year. My kids wrote: "I hope you get to go outside today." "I hope you get to eat some candy today". "Your hair is so pretty". "You are the best principal in the whole world" "I hope you get a hug today" "I hope you get to come in our class today. It is so fun." <--Although that's cute, let's not be beggin the principal to come in! ;) Just kiddin...
*I went to walking club again this week. The kids ask me EVERYDAY if it's walking club day :). We started to walk, and my sweet girls all wanted to walk with me again. I decided I should walk with my boys, though. These boys are sort of naughty and annoying in class sometimes, so I decided we needed some good time together when I didn't need them to "perform"....when we could just talk. I hooked the girls up with some 5th grade girls to talk to & went up to one of my boys. He was walking with perhaps the most "ghetto" looking 1st grader I could imagine. This was the boy last week that I was getting on for talking about disgusting things. I asked the boy how school was and asked the first grader to tell my student about what to expect. "Aiight Mrs. I can do that!" He put his arm around my student and went on and on about 1st grade: "Do you know what 10 + 10 is? If you don't, don't worry--you'll learn that in 1st grade." :) Seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen. My student went on to ask lots of question: "What do you do after writing? We go to lunch"...etc. A few minutes later, both boys had grabbed my hands. We were holding hands, walking down the street talking about things they like to eat/what they do after school/etc. I don't know who had more fun-them or me. :)
*Yesterday was "Kindergarten Roundup"...where preschool kids come to school to enroll for next year and visit our class for an hour. As I explained to my students that they were coming, I was explaining to them that next year, they were going on to 1st grade--that they would have a NEW teacher and a NEW classroom...with different kids. We've talked a lot about 1st grade, but I guess I've never explained that I'm not going too-They looked at me like I had BETRAYED them. Several kids' jaws dropped and said: "WHAT?!" I tried to calm them down and asked...friends--I have to stay here to teach the NEW kids coming to Kindergarten. You are going to go on to an awesome teacher for 1st grade." :) I guess that's a better reaction that them cheering. haha
*My kids are reading. They write books. They add and subtract. They count to 100 by 1s, 5s, 10s and 2s. They know how to write their names. They sit still on the carpet. They listen to each other. My kids' schedule is down so well--somedays I feel like I could leave the room and they'd be fine without me. I'm proud of them! This year I feel like I've taught preschool, kindergarten and 1st grade all in one year. When the preschoolers came in....it reminded me that in a few months, we start ALL over. One was crying, they were all shouting out during the story, but they had SO much fun and they were SO cute. I forget where we started. I read them a very short story (they shouted out answers to my questions while my kids sat perfectly and raised their hands! ha), then we had a snack before they broke up into groups to play with blocks/color pictures & play with playdoh. My kids were ADORABLE as they helped the kids/talked to them...several of my Spanish Speaking students were talking to those students. The hour FLEW by. I could tell that some of my students were a little bothered that I was giving so much attention to the newbies. When parents came to pick up their kids...they didn't want to leave. It was so sweet. By the end of the time, the kids were raising their hands, helping us pick up the messes, and my kids were trying to show them how to write words on their coloring pages. MAN it would be a lot easier if I could keep my class AND teach a new class next year. These kids would be so helpful ;).
*The best part of the afternoon was one student...I'll call him Bob. Bob is VERY whiney in my class. He throws fits, does not get along with the other kids very well and likes to act like he is a 2 year old. He has frustrated me a lot, but I am really trying to build a strong POSITIVE relationship with him and to give him attention in positive ways. I want him to understand that throwing fits does not get you attention, but that he is loved. Last week he was playing dumb on worksheets/centers in order to get attention. During K Round Up we had 1 kid who was crying a lot. He didn't want to eat a snack/do anything. All the other kids were smiling at their tables having so much fun, so I sat this kid next to Bob. Bob speaks Spanish too, so I asked him to speak in SPanish and that I needed his help with this child. I looked over 3 minutes later and the child was NOT crying, but smiling. Bob was helping him color a picture and the two were talking quietly. I walked over to Bob and whispered in his ear: "I am SO proud of you. THIS is the kind of friend I have been wanting to see in you. I LOVE how you are helping this child. I am SO proud of you." He grinned from ear to ear and went back to helping the child. Bob was my Star Student this week. :)
*We are blessed to host a Bible study at our house with 4 other couples who are AWESOME. We know them through Med School, so they live the same insane lives that we do. I was just really blessed last week to spend over an hour studying the Word and talking about Christ's call for our lives to give ourselves away. Even if that means living a life that society thinks is insane.
Praying for the Lord's provision and grace in areas of this city where people have close to nothing. No hope/no food/no love. EVERY child deserves a childhood and love.
Only 4 more weeks with my students. I am going to embrace every second.
:)
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