Monday, November 28, 2011

blessing #10 - failure

My class is ridiculously unable to sit without talking when it's just myself in the room, but when the principal is in the room, they are as silent as a newborn rock.

*sigh* ...


~this was taken during our archaeological dig expedition in the class ... aren't they just adorable? :p
Lately my quizzes and tests (well, the ones my students take) are incredibly either high or low, rarely in-between as far as grades go. :/   ugh.   I can't do much when half of the class fails and the other half - that studied! - passes with flying colors (whatever THAT idiom means ) ... suggestions?  they need to know the material, but a good portion of the class is having trouble listening in class, and i'm sure i'm just a terrible teacher. ugh .... but the failures are a good thing, because maybe this is the wake-up call some parents need to start paying attention to their babies ...


Saturday, November 26, 2011

Blessing #9 - routine

It is in the routine of life where we are really visible.

Establishing this routine - school, kids, dating, more kids, church, more kids, making new friends, more kids, maintaining relationships, more kids - has been changing who I am.

Each day, I have the choice - Joshua 24:15. I can choose to serve gods, or I can chose to serve God. Some days, I make little choices that serve gods like my students, my boyfriend, my family, or myself. Other days, I can jump up and down and spin in circles because I can honestly say I was serving Him - those are the best days. ... but they're still not as regular as I would like. I want to be at my 111% for Him. Not just 87%, or 94%, or even 17%. . . but 111%.   (That's my number - substitutable for whole-hearted.)

and part of being 111% is what I do in the routine, everyday bits that appear day after day after day.

the chaos of being a "first" (albeit, second) year teacher is wearing down and picking up at the same time. We've survived the first quarter, I've noticed both good and bad things that need tweaking in my classroom, and God's been reteaching me the importance of carving (and stealing, if need be) time for Him alone.

I've been trying to read a bit of Proverbs every day, along with a bit of various books and passages. I want to go deeper. starting with every little bit of every day God gives me - the big days and the small ones.