I miss them

I miss my students from last year.

I miss their cute personalities.

I miss the bonds I had with them.

I miss the way they understood me, knew what I expected, knew all about me.

I miss the way I understood them, knew their abilities, knew their weaknesses.

I miss their maturity and the way I could joke around with them.

I miss the way I understood how to teach them. I knew just the way they needed to learn and tried to teach them that way.

I miss knowing all about their families.

I miss knowing what certain looks on their faces meant.

I miss their parents who seemed to genuinely care about me.

I KNOW that all of these things will come with time with my current class.

Its just hard to start all over again.

Experienced teachers, is it always like this? Does it get easier?

Pure joy

This is pure joy for Toby...getting to run and get his ball. Over. And over. And over. Not that I'm complaining. Watching him have so much fun is one of the highlights of my day!

Something

I just have to write something so that my crazy pictures will not be the first thing I see when I look at my blog!

It was AWESOME to stay up late last night! I watched my favorite show, ER, off of Surf the Channel. And then I slept until I woke up naturally, at 10:00! I've only been back to school for a week, and I can already appreciate that!

You want to hear something I've learned this week? The importance of being grateful and thankful. "Thanksgiving is the antidote to worry." Worry and anxiety are opposing forces to prayer. It seems that thanksgiving could be the answer to a lot of my anxiety this week. Want some examples?

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. - Philippians 4:6



Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. - Ephesians 5:4



And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:17



always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. - Ephesians 5:20


Good stuff ~ life changing stuff.

Stress - relief

I admit, strange things distract me and make me feel better.

Can you guess the years? We have me in: 1950, 1980, 1990, 1992, and 1996.
Sorry Mom, I think you have a picture just like the 1980 one! (But with straighter hair!)

That was FUN!

http://www.yearbookyourself.com

Feeling down

tr.v. op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es

1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny.
2. To weigh heavily on: Poverty oppresses the spirit.
3. Obsolete To overwhelm or crush

OK, maybe I'm being dramatic. I've been known to be a bit dramatic at times. But the word "oppressed" keeps coming to my mind. That's how I feel this afternoon!

That's what happens when you walk on eggshells all day in fear of doing something wrong. And then you go out of your way to be helpful, and you get yelled at. And everyone you talk to has been yelled at for something they've done wrong. And you didn't know that it was wrong when you did it.

I just feel yucky. If only I could just TEACH CHILDREN I wouldn't have this problem. This feeling comes from interactions with adults!

I'm still alive

Today was the second day of school, and it really went well. The first day is so stressful for me (I'm sure for the students as well) and I'm glad its DONE! I'm not a big fan of "fluff" and that's all we've been doing so far! But, its necessary, because the students are learning exactly how to walk in line, get a pencil, ask for help, and so on. Its worth it to spend the time teaching these things at the beginning. Then, when we begin the academics, everything *should* flow smoothly!

I have to say that my class has been EXCEPTIONAL! I haven't had any issues at all. The kids do exactly as I ask and seem to be warming up to me and my cheesy smiles all day.

I don't know if its still the honeymoon period or if this class is just plain awesome! I'm hoping for the second. Its got to help that I'm pretty specific and clear about my expectations...so they know what I'm looking for.

Oh man but I'm tired! Its hard to go from
sleeping in + naps + couch time
to
getting up at 5:30 + no naps + on your feet all day!

Which is why I'm going to bed at 9 tonight!

I'm anxious to actually TEACH! I still have a couple of fluff days left and then I will be back in my element.

New Beth Moore!

I am such a fan of Beth Moore! So, I have to share this promo for her new Bible study, Esther, Its Tough Being a Woman.


Beth Moore's Esther, Web Promo from Greg, LifeWay on Vimeo.

I can't wait for it to come out!

Met the students

And they are going to be great! I met 18 out of 20 kids, and that is seriously impressive for a Meet the Teacher night. I think it is very indicative of the kids and families in my class! I can't wait to get to know all of them.

I have to admit that my heart is still attached to my kids from last year. So many came to visit and they were just so cute...I miss them! But, I know that the same thing will happen this year. It just takes a little while.

I'm going to start praying for my kids, and praying about my love for them. I want to love every single one of them and nurture their little hearts.

Here are some pictures of my room, this may be the last time it will be so clean once the kids "move in!"

Socks?

Our first day back to school was today and we have to bring a clean pair of socks. With all the creative minds in the room...we had lots of ideas of how we would use those socks. But we never guessed the reason: we went on a field trip to a bowling alley! And I scored a whopping 19 points!

It was fun and of course there were all sorts of parallels that our principals described between bowling and teaching. You wouldn't guess it, but there's lots. :)

I have yet to get a full class list but I've got a little info, good and ... lets just say interesting.

• I have 5, five! teacher's children! It is very flattering because teachers get to request a teacher, so that means a lot. It also means that I better really be on my toes and mind all my p's and q's and all that. Not that I wouldn't do that normally, but there's just extra pressure.
• I had a mom call me today and she wanted to know if there's anything EXTRA I need that's not on my class list. Whoa! She also let me know that she would be happy to help out in any way. How cool is that!?
• I have a very special child in my room. I'm very nervous about this...I've never had a student like this and I hope I can not only handle him but make a difference.

I will meet my students and parents on Friday night~wish me luck!

Steven Curtis Chapman Video

Last night I wrote about the Chapman family on Larry King Live, and today I found a video of them on Good Morning America. You need to see this.

Trial = ?

I just watched Larry King Live with Steven Curtis Chapman and his family. Their daughter, Maria, died in May... and I was amazed by their faith.

Then I read this:

The strength of the vessel can be demonstrated only by the hurricane, and the power of the gospel can be fully shown only when the Christian is subjected to some fiery trial. If God would make manifest the fact that "He giveth songs in the night," He must first make it night. - William Taylor

He's quoting Job 35:10.

Now, I've experienced a bit of trial in my life. Nothing like that of the Chapmans or Job, but painful nonetheless. And I can say without a doubt that God's power was shown through that trial. I know Him in a deeper way because I've had to trust in Him, it seemed at the time, for every single breath.

Something to think about...

I love organizing

In case you are wondering what I've been doing lately!

Girls Weekend

Oh the joys of insomnia

OK ... it is past 4:00 am and I am STILL awake! Believe me, this has never been an issue before! I love my sleep and I can't remember the last time I was up this late (early?). Have I ever been up this late?

So I tried the whole mindset of, "I'm not getting up. I'm going to lie here no matter how bored I am until I fall asleep."

I actually tried that mindset twice, but obviously it didn't work!

Then I decided, I might as well be productive if I'm going to be up. So I worked on my back-to-school plans and parent letter, cleaned the kitchen, and even read my Sunday School homework.

The only thing left was to blog about it! But I'm still not sleepy!?

Put this one down in the record books

I. Cooked. For. Myself.

Yes, this is a monumental event!

For some reason I decided that I would make chicken tacos tonight. They were delicious! And I was the only one who ate them.

Now, in the past, I was pretty good about cooking dinner, but that was for someone else and me. I enjoyed the whole sit-down-at-the-table thing. But that kind of loses its charm when its just one person sitting at the table! And when there's no one else to eat, who cares if you have cereal or oatmeal or even ice cream for dinner on occasion? I know, I'm so healthy, right?

. . .

In other news, I went back to school today for the first day since summer school. I got a lot done and I just LOVE being in my classroom. I started getting things out and it was so nice because I didn't have to organize anything, I had already done it as I put it away. I'm excited about having an organized classroom this year. Last year I was organized, but this year I'm going to be ultra-organized. Haha I'm such a dork!

And I did my least favorite chore today: mowing the yard. Yuck! If I had the extra money I would definitely pay for lawn service.

One last thing: I ordered something exciting today! It is a 3 CD set with the David Crowder Band's Remedy Club Tour CD/DVD, Chris Tomlin's Hello Love, and Charlie Hall's The Bright Sadness. Those are some of my favorite groups and singers, so I would have probably ended up buying the songs off iTunes anyway. I can't wait for it to come it the mail! And it was free shipping!