Sunday, August 10, 2008
Asher Chappell
Please pray for my sweet sweet friends Dan and Casey. Their little one went to be with God last night.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I Made a Scrapbook...
It's been over a month since I finished my first year of teaching. I'm going back in less than a month! Crazy. There was about a 2 week period where I didn't think about school at all, but then a few days ago, I got a little creative wave. It doesn't happen often, rarely in fact. My friend Erin always says crafts give her hives, and generally, I'm in the same boat. However, once every 2 or 3 years (Is there a word for that? You know how fortnight is a word for 2 weeks? Let me know if there is a word for several years) I will feel like I want to take some picture and stick them in a book using rubber cement and stickers and cut out construction paper to make it pretty. What I'm trying to say is what the title of this blog has already told you. A few days ago, I made a scrapbook. Mine are not exactly pretty scrapbooks. I'm ok with imperfection, which is good, because it almost looks like a kid made it, but I'm fine with that. So anyway, I made an official "My First Year of Teaching" scrapbook. I won't do one every year (for reasons previously stated), but I wanted a memoir of as many memories and funny stories and pictures that I could think of to remember those 30 kids, the ones that made my year crazy and hectic but also very funny. They don't know it, but they played a giant part in my sanctification process.
During the 7 or so hours that the creative waves were flowing in my mind (when they come, I can't stop them, or they may never show up again), I decided that I needed a "Quotes and Stories" page. After looking back at my blog for funny anecdotes about the year, I found that I actually blogged shockingly little between the Chicken Pox phase and when school ended. Because of that, I decided that once I compiled all the stories into my scrapbook, I would finally blog the ridiculous things that happened this year. So, here is a random smattering of things kids said, and stories that have to have some background info in order to be appreciated.
Quotes and Stories from the year:
While I was reading Prince Caspian to the class, we noticed that a main character said, "Eh?" a lot. One of my students said, "What is he, Canadian?" Then all the kids just laughed like that was the best joke they'd ever heard. I said, "What kind of stuff do you guys know?" These were the same kids who didn't know if
"Mr. Gambler's a riot." Wilmer
"Mr. Gambler said you have a present for me?" Wilmer (There was no present.)
"Can I go tell my mom if I can ride the bus?" All my students said this, and I hated it. As a teacher, it was just so hard to know where to begin with how to correct that statement. At least 4 kids per day would form their questions exactly like that, regardless of how often and in what ways I corrected them.
"My hair's looking a hot mess right now." Harold
This is one of my favorite moments: We were watching a really dumb movie (I was on the verge of turning it off, even though I had so many report cards to do and it was basically the last week of school). It was about a Granny who rode down a rapidly flowing river in a rocking chair while moving west along the
One day, Ms. Moyer stepped in for a moment to relieve me so I could run out for a minute, and when I got back, she said, "Who's that kid?" Turns out my little Wilmer had definitely brought his neighbor to school with him. I sent them to the office to get it straightened out, and it turns out no one had noticed, and he just got on the bus. He was a 6th grader that I guess didn't want to go to his own school that day. It almost worked for him.
Toward the end of school everyone pretty much loses their minds. One of my students, Shane, didn't realize I was in the room as the class came back from lunch. I was sitting at my desk, and he didn't see me. Apparently, when the room is empty, that is the prime time to jump up on a table and start dancing and yelling, "Check me out! Hey guys, look at me!" That was such a great teacher moment. I coughed slightly, and he absolutely froze and turned ever so slowly to look at me. He got down and walked over, and I told him to come sit by me. I turned my head away from him just in time so that he didn't see me laughing. That moment solidified me (in my mind) as a real teacher.
"Ms. Christie, when you turn around to write on the board, Quortez dances around and says, 'Drop it like it's hot.'" Alcious
"I'm glad you called my mom yesterday, and I got grounded." Jake (This one statement has so much baggage with it, it's actually not all that funny.)
"Ms. Christie, have you ever had a valentine relationship?" Malak
"I speak two language. My first language is ghetto." Peyton
I had this conversation with Wilmer on my first day back after the Chicken Pox:
"Ms. Christie, I want to show you something."
"Is this an inside trick or an outside trick?"
"Oh, I can do it inside."
Wilmer proceeds to do a spin around and grab dance much akin to the famous Michael Jackson move. He then runs away before I can say anything and goes to his bus.
The next day -
"Um, Wilmer, you know when you did your little dance yesterday? I know you were probably just trying to be funny, but - "
"Oh, I wasn't trying to be funny. I was dancing."
"Oh... Well, either way, please don't dance that way in the classroom anymore."
"Ok, Ms. Christie."
And finally, one more conversation with Wilmer:
"Did you know my dad's name is Wilmer, too?"
"Oh really? That's great. Are you going to name your kid Wilmer, one day too?"
"How should I know? I can't tell the future."
I love kids. I also love not teaching during the summer. But after writing this blog, and creating my bi-yearly scrapbook (does that mean one every 2 years, or 2 per year?) and only remembering good memories, I just might be ready to go back in 3 weeks. Now let's just hope I don't have 30 kids in my classroom this year. Call your congressman.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Teaching and Being Taught
Over the past eight months, I have been privy to some really interesting experiences and observations as a teacher. I sometimes feel like an anthropologist, curiously watching their behaviors and comparing them with my own and those of others in my life.
After observing some patterns of behavior over the past school year, my mind automatically begins to analyze what I see. Here are some observations: When someone pushes them, they push back. "Your mom" comments are used (but usually saved for the most extreme situations). They blatantly seek for their own name to be known and themselves to be seen as great, or at least greater than someone else around them. In fact, almost all of the problems I see in the classroom are centered around them wanting to be seen as "the best."
Here is one scenario that displays this idea perfectly:
Driving to the beach on a field trip, we pass a kid skateboarding. One of my students yells out, "That's right, cause you can't skateboard anyway!" to the kid. I often correct these behaviors, but I was too distracted by thinking of how similar we all are at our very core. I said something like, "That is really interesting to me that you don't even know him, and yet you still want to be better than him. I think we all do that in different ways. That is just so interesting. You should try to think of why you feel that way."
As grown-ups, somewhere along the way, we learn to disguise these in socially acceptable ways. This tendency to want attention and be the best doesn't just go away when we mature, it just expresses itself differently. As we grow up, we do mature, (thankfully millions of adults aren't running around shoving people and saying Your Mom), but even so, our hearts are still as wicked as they once were when we were younger. We have simply learned how to hide what was once so obvious. We mask our selfishness behind false kindness and other ways of disguising slander and pride. If we are angry with someone, we will smile and be kind yet still keep bitter hatred in our hearts. I don't know many (if any) adults that would come right out and say, "I'm better than you." Kids actually would. We will often form it as a gossipy story or even, disgustingly enough, a prayer request that is in actuality motivated by our desire to be seen as better than another.
Knowing this is true because of Scripture and then seeing it played out in the lives of 30 random students from all over the world (Sudan, Mexico, Nigeria, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates, and the USA) stuck together in a classroom has been particularly fascinating. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick? Who can understand it?" This is not specific to race, gender, or age. Only Christ can change these hearts. This change cannot simply come with age. How humbling to see that I am so similar to my little 5th grade punks (a term of endearment), and that I can learn so much from my students. It does me no good to hide my own sinfulness, or try to disguise it in a "socially acceptable" form.
As Derek Webb puts it:
I repent...
for the way I believe that I'm living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent
I pray that as my students grow up, instead of learning new ways to mask their sins, they will one day learn to confess their sins for what they are and run to Jesus for hope.
After observing some patterns of behavior over the past school year, my mind automatically begins to analyze what I see. Here are some observations: When someone pushes them, they push back. "Your mom" comments are used (but usually saved for the most extreme situations). They blatantly seek for their own name to be known and themselves to be seen as great, or at least greater than someone else around them. In fact, almost all of the problems I see in the classroom are centered around them wanting to be seen as "the best."
Here is one scenario that displays this idea perfectly:
Driving to the beach on a field trip, we pass a kid skateboarding. One of my students yells out, "That's right, cause you can't skateboard anyway!" to the kid. I often correct these behaviors, but I was too distracted by thinking of how similar we all are at our very core. I said something like, "That is really interesting to me that you don't even know him, and yet you still want to be better than him. I think we all do that in different ways. That is just so interesting. You should try to think of why you feel that way."
As grown-ups, somewhere along the way, we learn to disguise these in socially acceptable ways. This tendency to want attention and be the best doesn't just go away when we mature, it just expresses itself differently. As we grow up, we do mature, (thankfully millions of adults aren't running around shoving people and saying Your Mom), but even so, our hearts are still as wicked as they once were when we were younger. We have simply learned how to hide what was once so obvious. We mask our selfishness behind false kindness and other ways of disguising slander and pride. If we are angry with someone, we will smile and be kind yet still keep bitter hatred in our hearts. I don't know many (if any) adults that would come right out and say, "I'm better than you." Kids actually would. We will often form it as a gossipy story or even, disgustingly enough, a prayer request that is in actuality motivated by our desire to be seen as better than another.
Knowing this is true because of Scripture and then seeing it played out in the lives of 30 random students from all over the world (Sudan, Mexico, Nigeria, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates, and the USA) stuck together in a classroom has been particularly fascinating. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick? Who can understand it?" This is not specific to race, gender, or age. Only Christ can change these hearts. This change cannot simply come with age. How humbling to see that I am so similar to my little 5th grade punks (a term of endearment), and that I can learn so much from my students. It does me no good to hide my own sinfulness, or try to disguise it in a "socially acceptable" form.
As Derek Webb puts it:
I repent...
for the way I believe that I'm living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent
I pray that as my students grow up, instead of learning new ways to mask their sins, they will one day learn to confess their sins for what they are and run to Jesus for hope.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Barack Obama
In my classroom, when something exciting happens, or if someone does really well on a problem, I will hear a resounding "yesssssssss" travel through the class. Sometimes annoying, sometimes cute, depending on the kind of day I'm having. This was happening in my math class today, but apparently there's a new phrase to say whenever you do something well or get a problem right. Today, every time one of my math students did something well, they would say in a half-whisper, "Barack Obamaaaaa..." and pump their fist in the air, as if the presidential candidate's name is synonymous with a job well done. I could hardly turn around without laughing. I just closed my eyes and breathed in and moved to the next question we were going over. TMTH? I think so.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Blog-a-licious
It has been a very long time since I've blogged. Over 3 months. It's not that I haven't attempted or tried to. Maybe it's a sort of writer's block for the technology age. Maybe it's that I am too tired to think clearly some days. At any rate, I'm blogging now. But it's an awkward transition, sort of like when you haven't seen an old friend for a while, and in the first 10 minutes or so, you might not really know what to say. I think that's what this particular post will be like.
I am in a thoughtful mood this evening. When I say "thoughtful," I mean contemplative, not considerate. I feel sort of 'heavy' tonight. I can't explain it. But I'm thankful for it. I feel like after a long period of feeling grossly (and inaccurately) self sufficient, I actually feel my need of God right now. That's a good place to be, since "all the fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him." I haven't blogged very much about my mom on here, but I feel the need to pay tribute to some things about her life that God continues to use to teach me. Every time
that we sing Come Ye Sinners in church, I am struck with the rememberance of my mom and how much I condemned her when she was alive. God is so quick to remind me that while I was condemning her, she was recognizing her need of God, no matter her faults and continuous "falling short." She knew her place before God and was humbled before Him. I am so glad that God is still using her to humble me, even 3 years after her death. And even now, some of the things that I judged her for the most are the things with which I am struggling. Ironic. I often find that the areas in life that I judge someone over will eventually show up in my own life as a struggle. I suppose that is another way to be humbled and kept near the cross of Christ, so as not to think I am anything other than a sinner deserving of wrath but instead receiving mercy and all the blessings that come along with knowing and being loved by Christ. I read a quote today that made me feel hopeful in the middle of some despairing thoughts over sin. "There is no sin and no evil too great that God in Christ cannot bring from it everlasting righteousness and joy." That's encouraging. I feel like I should clarify, kind of like Paul did, that by no means should this make us want to sin more! It does give hope, though, for those who would otherwise have none.
That's all my thoughts for now. I am glad to have gotten through this awkward "first blog" after several months of internet silence. To all of my friends who consistenly reminded me that I need to blog again, thank you for your endurance with me. There should be more to come this month.....
I am in a thoughtful mood this evening. When I say "thoughtful," I mean contemplative, not considerate. I feel sort of 'heavy' tonight. I can't explain it. But I'm thankful for it. I feel like after a long period of feeling grossly (and inaccurately) self sufficient, I actually feel my need of God right now. That's a good place to be, since "all the fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him." I haven't blogged very much about my mom on here, but I feel the need to pay tribute to some things about her life that God continues to use to teach me. Every time
that we sing Come Ye Sinners in church, I am struck with the rememberance of my mom and how much I condemned her when she was alive. God is so quick to remind me that while I was condemning her, she was recognizing her need of God, no matter her faults and continuous "falling short." She knew her place before God and was humbled before Him. I am so glad that God is still using her to humble me, even 3 years after her death. And even now, some of the things that I judged her for the most are the things with which I am struggling. Ironic. I often find that the areas in life that I judge someone over will eventually show up in my own life as a struggle. I suppose that is another way to be humbled and kept near the cross of Christ, so as not to think I am anything other than a sinner deserving of wrath but instead receiving mercy and all the blessings that come along with knowing and being loved by Christ. I read a quote today that made me feel hopeful in the middle of some despairing thoughts over sin. "There is no sin and no evil too great that God in Christ cannot bring from it everlasting righteousness and joy." That's encouraging. I feel like I should clarify, kind of like Paul did, that by no means should this make us want to sin more! It does give hope, though, for those who would otherwise have none.That's all my thoughts for now. I am glad to have gotten through this awkward "first blog" after several months of internet silence. To all of my friends who consistenly reminded me that I need to blog again, thank you for your endurance with me. There should be more to come this month.....
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
All Violators Will Be Prosecuted.....
.... to the fullest extent of the law.
Do you know what that statement means on our street? It translates into: break into anyone's house, steal anyone's car, pick up any prostitute and do any drug... no worries, you won't actually be arrested. As I write this, I must confess I am a bit jaded at our "justice league of Raleigh" aka the 5-0. It just seems that nothing is done to catch criminals. This does help me to understand better that God is the ultimate authority, and that our trust should be placed in no man.
So why are these thoughts swimming in my mind? This afternoon, our home was broken into. The following things were stolen: Nicole's week old Mac computer, $50 from Kristin, her bike, plus her smaller camera, and about $5.48 worth of change from my change jar (not sure if I'll recover from that loss...) They tried on one of my shirts and left it on my bed, but took off with the receipt and bag it came in. They grabbed Nicole's computer, but missed her Dell and her super nice camera. They grabbed Kristin's tinier camera, but left her super nice camera. They searched Kristin's wallet for cash, but left the credit card right in it's little slot. They didn't take any of our jewelry, even though most of it was in open view.
Poucha witnessed it all, but she is a dog and can't tell us the events of the day.
Shortly after Kristin came home, we realized that the person either climbed in through Kristin's bedroom window, or they came in through Nicole's back door and then rigged Kristin's window so that they could come back in more easily later. There are a couple of people in our minds that are possibilities for who could have done this. We meet a lot of women on the street and one or two of them have come into our homes briefly. It's sad to think they might turn on us so quickly for money, but when you are addicted to drugs, I suppose nothing is more important than that in the moment.
It's super late, and I just wanted to write my thoughts before I forget them all. They are not eloquent, but they are my thoughts, which is, I suppose, the point of a blog in the first place.
.... Nicole just told me that the police officer and the fingerprint people are coming over right now, so perhaps there will be some more to this story...
Do you know what that statement means on our street? It translates into: break into anyone's house, steal anyone's car, pick up any prostitute and do any drug... no worries, you won't actually be arrested. As I write this, I must confess I am a bit jaded at our "justice league of Raleigh" aka the 5-0. It just seems that nothing is done to catch criminals. This does help me to understand better that God is the ultimate authority, and that our trust should be placed in no man.
So why are these thoughts swimming in my mind? This afternoon, our home was broken into. The following things were stolen: Nicole's week old Mac computer, $50 from Kristin, her bike, plus her smaller camera, and about $5.48 worth of change from my change jar (not sure if I'll recover from that loss...) They tried on one of my shirts and left it on my bed, but took off with the receipt and bag it came in. They grabbed Nicole's computer, but missed her Dell and her super nice camera. They grabbed Kristin's tinier camera, but left her super nice camera. They searched Kristin's wallet for cash, but left the credit card right in it's little slot. They didn't take any of our jewelry, even though most of it was in open view.
Poucha witnessed it all, but she is a dog and can't tell us the events of the day.
Shortly after Kristin came home, we realized that the person either climbed in through Kristin's bedroom window, or they came in through Nicole's back door and then rigged Kristin's window so that they could come back in more easily later. There are a couple of people in our minds that are possibilities for who could have done this. We meet a lot of women on the street and one or two of them have come into our homes briefly. It's sad to think they might turn on us so quickly for money, but when you are addicted to drugs, I suppose nothing is more important than that in the moment.
It's super late, and I just wanted to write my thoughts before I forget them all. They are not eloquent, but they are my thoughts, which is, I suppose, the point of a blog in the first place.
.... Nicole just told me that the police officer and the fingerprint people are coming over right now, so perhaps there will be some more to this story...
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