Kick in the Butt

I was convicted tonight by friends who live out their faith in very tangible, miraculous ways. "Don't be a lazy Christian. Don't let the little pebbles in the way stop you from God's will. Don't wait for a "Yes." Instead, wait for God to say, "No." The truth in this conviction is palpable. The Bible tells us what to do as Christians. We, meaning me, find millions of ways to be so busy that we convince ourselves that we are doing God's work. How do I really know when my mission/calling is less spectacular than relief work in Haiti - raising my kids to know the Lord and working on being the wife that God wants me to be and going to work teaching kids every day? How do I know? How do I know what other path might be God's will when the other tasks take all my energy? I feel like I"m in the right place. At least, I'm happy with my life, really happy and grateful for all that I have. I have to pray to hear God's still small voice every day, every minute of every day... Dear Lord, hear my prayer.

Prayer for people working to help in Haiti.

Watching the news out of Haiti, I am in awe of those people who just jump in and help. Financial assistance is all we can offer, and we are thankful that God has provided that for us to share. Those whose gifts are talents of nursing or building or flying or organizing or ... are the ones who really make a difference.

Please God, be ever present, providing safe travel and work for all those who are physically working to help the people of Haiti. I pray that your strength will be their strength. I know you will work all things for good, Lord. Help us to be patient and strong as we wait. Help us to be brave and faithful as we act. Help us to be yours in all things. Amen.

Thank you, God, for vacations

This is the first Monday of our spring break week. I have never been more grateful for a week off from the job that I love. The week before break was full of tragedy and craziness in our school community, and I am thoroughly enjoying the happy laughter and zany humor of my own children. I am hugging them a little tighter - thankful for every day that the Lord gives me to be with them. More than one death and a personal trip to the ER makes one reflect on this precious gift of life and love. I love my own kids so much, and I love the kids that I teach as well.

Success

I have successfully managed to create a wikispace that will work in my classroom. Our first challenge is to create a manual, of sorts, for incoming high school freshmen on how to be successful in high school. My ninth grade English students will create the page together. I only hope to find that all students will find stronger voices and with their voices will discover that they have something important to say.

So much for that idea

Well, as you can see, I have not posted every day, or anything close to it. I am enjoying the accumulating collection of thoughts that I can reread without losing my notebook. I'm thinking a laptop computer might make this more accessible for me. Oh, who am I kidding - two kids, a full time job, a dog, a cat, a hamster, and a husband (sorry, honey, you're not really last after the hamster on the priority list) make it pretty tough to follow through on anything for myself. Maybe if I changed the focus to a journal for my children, advice on life, etc.... I have always been able to do things for them easier than I can do anything for myself.

Good enough better than nothing

I have read that writers must put the pen to the page every day. The discipline of writing daily provides a pathway through mediocre writing toward the really good stuff that lies within the writer's mind. I guess that is the way I am looking at this blog right now. I log on almost daily. I click my blog and stare at the blank box waiting for genius to strike. After a moments have passed with no sign of my muse, or genius, or inspiration, or anything in particular to say, I log out without a new posting. I almost let today slip away without posting, but then I remembered the advice of inspirational writing instructors who remind us to write through the "pain." I decided that I would risk exposing my lack of genius and inspiration to the masses, and I would write/post as often as possible to stir up the ideas that I have hope still live in my brain. If this is just good enough, it is better than nothing.

Freezing Rain

School was cancelled today due to freezing rain. We missed our training on brain-based research. We were supposed to bring a lesson plan with us that demonstrated the ways we have been incorporating research on the brain since our last professional development. Putting that lesson down on paper was not easy for me. Yes, I plan for each day and post my plans on my teacher website, but the level of detail planning that goes in to the kind of lesson plan we all had to write for our Master's degrees is not something that experienced teachers do on a day to day basis. It is good for us to be reminded that we should know "what we want the students to learn" or what the "essential questions" addressed in each lesson are. We should consider the time spent on each activity and if it is during the peak retention time or not. We should consider each individual student's, all 70 of them, learning style and prior experience. I could go on and on. I really buy into all of the ways that this research could and should make teaching better, but I have to confess, it is also overwhelming. There are those gifted teachers who seem to manage all of it with ease, but what about those of us for whom the teaching dance is not a natural step. I want to be the best teacher that I can be; I absolutely love my job, but there is so much to do that I am constantly feeling inadequate. It's not so very different from being a parent to more than one child - someone is always getting short-changed, it feels. Add the parenting to the teaching and you have one tired, often stressed, but ultimately happy, person who just wants to do the very best she can.