So, my class memory verse for the week is Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." In unpacking what it means, we've had some good discussions this week.
One of my most favorite lessons from this verse, though, was when one student accidentally recited it like this: "Let us not become weird in doing good..." I laughed to myself, but thought about how true this is! Sometimes, when we do good things for our own sake or of our own effort, we get weird. Cranky, exhausted, bitter, selfish.
Let us not become weird, my friends!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
*placeholder*
The Lord has been trying to force the idea of surrender down my throat lately, and I've been consciously resistant...mostly because I haven't thought it all the way through yet.
But I needed to put this much on here, so I'd have some accountability on actually writing about it at some later point.
But I needed to put this much on here, so I'd have some accountability on actually writing about it at some later point.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Growing Pains!
Got an email today that I am getting another new student tomorrow! That puts us to 18 students, from Korea, China, United States, Japan, and England. Makes for interesting dynamics, that's for sure!
I know for those who teach/have taught in the States, 18 sounds ideal. And I'm sure I will come to appreciate a class that size...but I have been so spoiled with small class sizes that I have come really love it!! I'm still adjusting mentally to the different energy it takes to plan for and teach 18 kids, and I am not thrilled about the amount of time it takes to GRADE!! I am definitely becoming choosier about what I actually grade and record.
Praise the Lord, though, for a growing school! Growth is the kind of problem a school WANTS to have!
I know for those who teach/have taught in the States, 18 sounds ideal. And I'm sure I will come to appreciate a class that size...but I have been so spoiled with small class sizes that I have come really love it!! I'm still adjusting mentally to the different energy it takes to plan for and teach 18 kids, and I am not thrilled about the amount of time it takes to GRADE!! I am definitely becoming choosier about what I actually grade and record.
Praise the Lord, though, for a growing school! Growth is the kind of problem a school WANTS to have!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
September and Autumn
Autumn is my absolute favorite season of the year. I love the crispness of the air and the leaves, I love pumpkin, cinnamon, chai flavors of anything. I love wearing long sleeves and the wind blowing. Hay rides and pumpkin carving and campfires just make me smile.
But alas. I live in southern China. In my attempt to bring a mid-west Autumn to my classroom, I decorate the windows with colored leaves and read them books about squirrels and scarecrows and pumpkins. We talk about the seasons changing, but it's still not the same. Today I had a laughable moment with a student who has always lived in more southern parts of Asia.
We were reading a book simply called "Fall", and it's about the different colors things change when it's Fall. At one point, it was talking about how frost makes things look white. I asked her what she thought 'frost' meant, and she wasn't sure. When I told her to use the picture (which had snowflakes) as a clue, she stared, and thought, and looked, and said, "I don't know what that is!"
My poor children, who live in such a climate that falling leaves and snow are foreign concepts.
Another laughable moment of the day was when one of my students wrote the date today. He wrote: 9-1=8...whoops. I guess I've hammered math facts into him a bit too much.
Last one for the day (my kids made me smile a lot today). In Bible class, we were talking about Cain & Abel and why Abel's sacrifice was acceptable. I asked if anyone knew why we don't have to make sacrifices anymore, and many of them had ideas. My favorite one was "Because it's GROSS!" We all giggled for a while at that one, and then one of the others raised her hand with the right answer--because Jesus died. Praise the Lord for our Lamb of God!
But alas. I live in southern China. In my attempt to bring a mid-west Autumn to my classroom, I decorate the windows with colored leaves and read them books about squirrels and scarecrows and pumpkins. We talk about the seasons changing, but it's still not the same. Today I had a laughable moment with a student who has always lived in more southern parts of Asia.
We were reading a book simply called "Fall", and it's about the different colors things change when it's Fall. At one point, it was talking about how frost makes things look white. I asked her what she thought 'frost' meant, and she wasn't sure. When I told her to use the picture (which had snowflakes) as a clue, she stared, and thought, and looked, and said, "I don't know what that is!"
My poor children, who live in such a climate that falling leaves and snow are foreign concepts.
Another laughable moment of the day was when one of my students wrote the date today. He wrote: 9-1=8...whoops. I guess I've hammered math facts into him a bit too much.
Last one for the day (my kids made me smile a lot today). In Bible class, we were talking about Cain & Abel and why Abel's sacrifice was acceptable. I asked if anyone knew why we don't have to make sacrifices anymore, and many of them had ideas. My favorite one was "Because it's GROSS!" We all giggled for a while at that one, and then one of the others raised her hand with the right answer--because Jesus died. Praise the Lord for our Lamb of God!
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