Spanish Lesson

Bundles of color crayons --- check!
Glue sticks, bottles, & scotch tape --- check!
Scissors to go around --- almost check! (I could only scrounge up four throughout the house, but my goal was six)
Smiley-face stamp and inkpad --- check!

I'm curious to see how tomorrow's lesson turns out :)

I get to teach my class (meaning university students) a lesson on family members in spanish!
I hope I have enough visuals so that those who don't speak spanish aren't totally lost.
But, honestly, I think they'll be okay. The book we're reading is at kindergarten level and only gets up to 2-word sentences :)
How fun!

Small Revelations

I love small revelations!

It began with another meeting with Future Teachers For Christ. I left the meeting so encouraged. There's something about being able to talk about my "field" with other Christians in the field that makes me think that this was SO God's idea. There were just a few of us, less than a handful. But a testimony was shared, thoughts & desires were expressed, and words of encouragement were offered.

Aside from encouragement, I came away from that meeting with one other thing: a keen awareness of how young I am! By that I mean, how inexperienced and untried, how, where I abound in passion, I need more wisdom. I thought to myself, I am so grateful that God willingly gives wisdom to those who ask for it, cause I'll be asking.

Then, I was stuck with a chunk of time. Class was in an hour. I thought to call a friend, but that didn't work out, so I sat in my car (as odd as I think it is when I walk by someone who is passing the time in their car!) and was broken by God. I'm in the middle of reading The Calvary Road. It was the beginning of the chapter "Cups Running Over" that I read, and Isaiah 35 (in my new ESV Bible :P):

"And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray."
(35:8)

And I thought: I am that fool! I know so little, fail so often. I'm in training to teach children, yet I'm the youngest in my family, have never really baby-sat, and don't have children of my own. I know nothing, really.

But "even if they are fools, they shall not go astray." Hallelujah! The Lord has set me on the Highway of Holiness! "No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there...the wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom"!

And, even in the midst of this revelation, I heard the Lord say, "You call yourself a fool, but I call you precious."

Couple that with the song "Real Love" by Luke Wood playing on my mp3 player, and I was in a beautiful moment of realizing to a greater degree God's love for me.

A link to our cohort's weebly

CWU-Wenatchee Elementary Education Cohort

Winter Practicum!

I just heard from my mentor teacher for this quarter. She's a 3rd grade teacher! How exciting! This will be a new experience for me. I've never stepped foot in a 3rd grade classroom, I don't think, since I was a student in one!

On another note, I want to really enjoy this quarter. I want to be able to savor the assignments, knowing that I am in training. And I want to enjoy my classmates! Today, while I was grading some binders in a middle school, an ex-NFL player was speaking to the students. The first thing he said to them was, "Look to your left. Okay, now look to your right." He smiled, "You are sitting next to greatness!" I like that! May I realize that, when I am sitting in class, I am sitting next to people precious to God!

Another class, more to learn :)

I was so excited for my math games class today! Math War! (AKA math jeapordy. I downloaded it from this website)

But only two kids signed up for it :(

The sad face is only because it hurt my pride a little.  Really, we had a lot of fun, and because I was prepared for up to 15 students, the two that did attend got bonus candy :P The Mexican mango-and-chile paletas were a hit!

Something I learned, though: always, always, always set up the technology BEFORE the class starts. I was hoping it wouldn't be too complicated to hook up my PC to Mrs. Hand's projector, but, after stuggling with it for a good ten minutes, I gave up and just had the students crowd around my laptop.

I also want to note that I followed my suggestion to myself from last week's class (it was don't wear a backpack in a middle school)! I carried, rather than wore, my backpack today :)

 

 

Future Teachers For Christ Initiates

This morning was our first time meeting as a group, the "future teachers for Christ," or whatever we will end up calling ourselves: one veteran teacher with three prospective ones. :)

It was SO good. 

We laid out some plans, like inviting Christian educators and administrators to our meetings, praying, and discussing key topics, but my favorite part was getting to openly discuss with other Christians the field of education! I know now more than before why God put this on Dr. Bird's heart (not his real name)! If we are to live for God's glory as teachers, we need each others' support in this time of training!

Also, I was a little worried about the variety of denominations we all represent. But it was not an issue. We all love Jesus, and it's amazing how that one thing can unify us.

I am glad we all shared our testimonies. It is like when we shared at the beginning of the MC the process God took us through to get us there. By the end of that night, I knew that each member of my MC class, myself included, was meant to be there. Similarly, I see how God has orchestrated the composition of this cohort and the placement of our professors.

I am excited to see what God has planned for the CWU-Wenatchee cohort! 

Written November 17th, 2010

Hey, guys!  I have a cool story to share that testifies to the Lord's favor on our lives.

One week ago, Wednesday morning, I woke up and read the entry in Vertical Reality for the day.  (November 10th).  It's entitled "Spirit of Adventure" and talks about how we've got to, like Peter, be willing to get out of the boat of our comfort zone to walk on the water toward Jesus.  The entry ends with a challenge: "Speak out the next time you find yourself in a conversation contrary to the Kingdom way."  I knew God was highlighting this sentence for me, so I underlined it.

In my Foundations of Teaching class later that morning, our professor brought up the topic of religion in the classroom, something we had briefly discussed the week before.  He posed the question: "If one of your students brings up the topic of Wicca and wants to talk about it in class, would you be comfortable with that? Be honest!" Several of my classmates raised their hands, and soon someone was suggesting that, not only would they be comfortable with it, but they would be up for a whole unit on Wicca -- research papers, songs, skits, math lessons all related to Wicca, all for the sake of promoting diversity in the public classroom!

I was inclined to not say anything. I didn't want to start a debate. But I kept thinking about what I had read in Vertical Reality that morning.  "Speak out the next time you find yourself in a conversation contrary to the Kingdom way." This was a conversation contrary to the Kingdom way.  I had to speak out.  So I raised my hand. "I would NOT be okay with this." I went on to briefly explain myself, after which my professor posed the question: "Okay, but what if one of your students brought in a book about Jesus for Christmas and wanted to read it to the class?  Would you be okay with that?"

Hands rose, voices rose, and I said nothing. No one voiced agreement with me.  I didn't expect them to. The conversation went deeper into the need to be all-inclusive or all-exclusive. "If this was a private school we were talking about," my professor said, "it would be different!  But we're talking about public schools!"  I guess at this point my face gave away my thoughts, because soon my professor called on me again.  "Dahlia, you look confused.  What are you thinking?"

"I'm just totally against it," was the first thing I thought to say. "But nothing I say will sound right."  How could Kingdom logic sound right when weighed on the scale of worldly logic?  "I guess I'm just still up in the air about whether I want to teach public or private school, because there are so many issues I have with the public school system."

At this point, I was all shaken up. I don't know if it was noticeable, but my composure was about to give way at any moment to tears.  So when, a little later, my professor asked me again if I had anything else to add to the discussion, I just shook my head no.

I was grateful for the 10-minute break he gave us soon after.  I couldn't hold back the tears much longer, and I needed to talk to God. I went outside to take a walk around campus.  I prayed, "God, this is so hard! How long will it be before my convictions turn to wishy washy beliefs like my classmates? Have You prepared me for this?"

"Yes, Dahlia" I heard Him say. "You don't need to have all the answers.  You know My heart.  THAT's what I want you to share."

Later that day, one of my classmates asked me, "So you're not sure if you want to do public or private?"   "No," I said.  "Me neither," he said.

What?!  Turns out, he was raised in a private Christian school in Georgia. He's a pastor's kid.  I'm not as alone in this class as I thought.

Now, here's the good part:
The next day, Veteran's Day, I had an email in my inbox from my professor.  It was titled "Future Teachers for Christ."  Here's what he wrote:
               

                Dahlia

                You have been on my heart since our class yesterday. I've prayed for wisdom to
                share with you by the Holy Spirit's guidance.

                I sincerely appreciate your conviction and passion for Jesus and the way you
                seem to be uncompromising in your Faith. I, also, am led by Him and have had a
                personal relationship with Jesus for many years. In fact, I am in my current
                position specifically due to His leading and my submission to His voice to earn my
                doctoral degree (PhD) and be a light for Him at a public university.

                I have waited for a Christian student to come forward, as you have, for the last 16
                years of my university career. Each year I challenge all students, especially the
                Christian students, to confirm their beliefs within a group setting. You are the first
                to stand firm for Jesus.

                Within each elementary Cohort, year after year, their have been many students
                claiming to be Christian. I have always wanted to form a group of Christians in the
                field of teacher education , who would like to meet, pray, share their Faith, and
                learn ways that they can be disciples for Christ in the area of teaching. This
                mission field is where many of us belong, and I believe you are one.

                So, let me know what you think. If you would like to form a group of like minded
                Christians who are moving forward in their pursuit of teaching as a career, from our
                Cohort and others as well, I would be thrilled to find a church for us to meet in.
                This, of course, would be a "non-denominational" Christian group so as not to get

"bogged down" with MINOR differences in doctrine.

                Once I hear from you that you would like to move forward, I will secure a room
                across the street at the Free Methodist Church since it is close to campus. I can
                envision many areas that we could explore and have veteran Christian educators
                (teachers, principals, superintendents, etc.) share their perspectives and how we,
                as Christians, can make a difference in the field of education.

                Of course, I would simply be a facilitator. I would like this to be a group that is
                directed by the group and to focus on topics of your choosing, including a group
                name. "Future Teachers for Christ" is a group name that is a seed to begin brainstorming.
I was totally in shock!  I shared the story and the email with Ivory and my parents, prayed, then wrote him back saying YES! :D  He wants me to talk to some of my classmates to see if any of them are interested.

If you think of it, please pray for me, that I could live in surrender to God's will daily, always exchanging my weakness for His strength. I want to love my classmates and professors and not be satisfied with shallow interactions.

This is another reminder of God's sovereignty in my life. I don't know what to expect at all, but if He can turn an emotionally difficult day into a gateway of life, what else might He do?

B-I-N-G-O

Yesterday, I taught an after-school math class at Pioneer. Dr. Bird (not his real name) has encouraged us to keep a teaching journal, so I want to record how it went and what I learned for next time.

First, something I didn't use but that Mrs. Hand (not her real name) did when she interjected at one point is visual aids! She wrote everything she was doing up on the whiteboard, and the students were engaged!

The layout for the class was this:

1. Multiplication timed test
2. 5-10 minute lesson on multiplication tricks
3. Multiplication Bingo :)

At the timed test part, it worked well to hand out the papers upside-down and have them write their names on the back, then flip over the paper when I gave the cue.

(And something else I want to add is DON'T, Dahlia, ever wear a backpack inside a middle school again! The students were tugging and pulling at me from every direction!)

Bingo worked! I got to interject with multiplication trick reminders as we played. It was important for me to have a way to mark which numbers I had called and which I hadn't. The students needed proof when they insisted I had called a number that I hadn't.

At the end, I should have given clean-up instructions instead of just dismissing them, because I was left with nearly every one's bingo templates and markers to collect and every one's chairs to put up. :)

Also, I had until 4:45, but we finished at 4:00. Next time, I should go prepared with more materials. Always OVER plan! :)