So I should be doing my homework but instead here I am personalizing and pimping out my blogger profile...because it's important too.
My homework is writing up my own discipline plan for my classroom. There are other aspects to it as well but that's the gist.
Also, I have to teach Quidditch tomorrow. I know, right? Pretty awesome!
Aaaannd...for my last assignment due tomorrow I have to come up with a song that I can teach my students so that they'll remember something for their academics. For example, put the scientific method to the tune of Yankee Doodle. Hmm, we'll see. I want to do something with the 50 states.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
A year and a half later
I received the most wonderful message today on Facebook. A message that lifted my heart like no other!
"Hola hermana como esta? Ya fui bautisado hermana" Ya...fui...BAUTISADO!!!
What does it mean? It means that I got a message from an investigator I taught from June 2012 to mid July 2012 and nothing happened. My companion and I taught him almost everyday. We taught him with his girlfriend. I bore my heart and soul to him. I bore my testimony with all the feeling of my heart and when I left to go home, he was still not baptized. I was sad, yes, but I left satisfied that I had done all that I could at that time.
Each day that passes as I am away from my full time mission in Texas, my testimony of the Lord's timing increases. It grows. Because each day that passes that I am away from the city of Austin, the city where I was SO close to seeing people baptized I just hope and pray that the missionaries assigned to that area are continuing to look for those who are ready. I hope that they are working hard. I hope that they are in tune with the Spirit and will maybe one day find someone that I had to leave with just my testimony hanging in the air. That happened. THAT HAPPENED! The work continued after I was gone. The work forged on and my dear friend was baptized two Saturdays ago. He messaged me the message in blue.
He then followed it up with this when I asked him how his baptism was.
"Increible hermana es una esperiencia super increible despues de mi bautiso me senti super bien siento el espirito y me encanta.Estoy muy feliz con la decision que tome hermana"
He said it was incredible and that it was an experience that was super incredible and after his baptism he felt very good and he could feel the Spirit and he loved it. He said he is very happy with the decision he made. It was his decision. That is key. He was finally ready. No one could have forced that on him. If that were the case, he would have been baptized a year and a half ago!
The Spirit continued to work on him and the Lord softened his heart.
I know people who wait more than fifteen years before they hear any good news from a past area they served in. I know people who will never know. I may never know about the others.
But what do I know? I know nothing. This is not my work.
Moses 1:39. I am just one part of this work.
"Hola hermana como esta? Ya fui bautisado hermana" Ya...fui...BAUTISADO!!!
What does it mean? It means that I got a message from an investigator I taught from June 2012 to mid July 2012 and nothing happened. My companion and I taught him almost everyday. We taught him with his girlfriend. I bore my heart and soul to him. I bore my testimony with all the feeling of my heart and when I left to go home, he was still not baptized. I was sad, yes, but I left satisfied that I had done all that I could at that time.
Each day that passes as I am away from my full time mission in Texas, my testimony of the Lord's timing increases. It grows. Because each day that passes that I am away from the city of Austin, the city where I was SO close to seeing people baptized I just hope and pray that the missionaries assigned to that area are continuing to look for those who are ready. I hope that they are working hard. I hope that they are in tune with the Spirit and will maybe one day find someone that I had to leave with just my testimony hanging in the air. That happened. THAT HAPPENED! The work continued after I was gone. The work forged on and my dear friend was baptized two Saturdays ago. He messaged me the message in blue.
He then followed it up with this when I asked him how his baptism was.
"Increible hermana es una esperiencia super increible despues de mi bautiso me senti super bien siento el espirito y me encanta.Estoy muy feliz con la decision que tome hermana"
He said it was incredible and that it was an experience that was super incredible and after his baptism he felt very good and he could feel the Spirit and he loved it. He said he is very happy with the decision he made. It was his decision. That is key. He was finally ready. No one could have forced that on him. If that were the case, he would have been baptized a year and a half ago!
The Spirit continued to work on him and the Lord softened his heart.
I know people who wait more than fifteen years before they hear any good news from a past area they served in. I know people who will never know. I may never know about the others.
But what do I know? I know nothing. This is not my work.
Moses 1:39. I am just one part of this work.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Simple Minded
I was once told by someone that I was "simple minded". By my lack of response they quickly tried to follow up with how it was not a bad thing. I remember sitting there and trying to let it just fly away as an off hand comment. The only problem was, this was said by someone who was near and dear to me. This comment could not and would not just fly away as I wanted it to.
Now, even months later I still hear those words sometimes.
This week I had two observations by my teachers while I taught lessons. Not to toot my own horn, but *toot!* I received glowing reviews from both of them. From my Elementary PE teacher she told me my lesson plan was phenomenal. She told me that it was obvious I had taken time to think about the students' needs. She said I had studied each physical developmental level with great care. For my Early Field observation, my teacher came to see me teach my Kindergarten class. I taught about rain and rain clouds and the letter "r". I did an experiment with shaving cream, water, and blue food dye. The food dye was diluted and represented the build up of water particles in the clouds (the shaving cream) and I scooped it onto the shaving cream and we watched as eventually the clouds became saturated and "rained" into our bowl of water. It was neat! The kids really grasped on to it and enjoyed later coloring a cloud and filling in raindrops with the letter "r" to practice writing. My teacher gave me the biggest smile as she slipped away after observing my lesson. I felt like I was on a cloud! As I was about to leave, my head teacher of the Kindergarten class I work in came up to me and said "she had nothing but great things to say about you! She loved the lesson." This made me feel...like you wouldn't believe. I had done something amazing. I had taught these children! I had applied how to make an effective lesson plan, how to teach to my students needs and I taught a great lesson!
So maybe I can't sit there and discuss meticulously literature that I have never read before or I can't talk about the inner workings of computers and the hidden messages of Shakespeare but what I am learning about right now is for me. I am learning how to teach children. I am learning and studying how to take someone who should be reading at a third grade level but is at the end of Kindergarten year to be where they need to be. I am learning how to recognize if a child cannot hear the sounds letters make and what the next step is. I am learning how to help a 5 year old remember what the letter 'A' is and that for now it makes the "ah" sound and one day it will make about four other sounds. I am learning how to inspire young minds to reach out and learn more than they thought they could. I am opening their minds to see that if they work hard they can be a doctor, a scientist, a teacher, a librarian, a mechanic, a nurse, or an architect. If they don't want to be any of those, who cares! I can encourage their curiosity to try other careers and explore their talents. I am learning how to take a subject the child may have once dreaded and shed a new light on it so that a child will look at it and think- "yes, I can do this! I am capable and smart!"
I've decided that I don't care if I am simple minded according to some people. This mind is learning how to make a difference. This mind is stretching for ways to influence. This mind wants to take every day things and make them extraordinary.So I find joy in purchasing the fruit that I love. I find joy in stepping on crunchy leaves, in the laughter of a group of friends, and in someone holding the door open for me. I find joy in quoting movies, in staying up too late, in a cool breeze, in a funny youtube video, in playing video games and in making new friends. I also find joy in learning about Fred Jones and Spencer Kagan. I think that Jim Fay is amazing and I think that Andre Derain is inspiring.
I find joy in learning new things. I love to listen to others tell me about their interests and what excites them. Maybe that's why I don't seem like I have a whole lot to say. I enjoy listening to others. I get to know them that way. I get to experience their joys. I do share my life. I just share it in a different way. You have to be watching carefully to catch it. I often express through the written word.
So, again, who cares if people think I am simple minded.
I am happy.
I am growing.
I am being inspired.
Now, even months later I still hear those words sometimes.
This week I had two observations by my teachers while I taught lessons. Not to toot my own horn, but *toot!* I received glowing reviews from both of them. From my Elementary PE teacher she told me my lesson plan was phenomenal. She told me that it was obvious I had taken time to think about the students' needs. She said I had studied each physical developmental level with great care. For my Early Field observation, my teacher came to see me teach my Kindergarten class. I taught about rain and rain clouds and the letter "r". I did an experiment with shaving cream, water, and blue food dye. The food dye was diluted and represented the build up of water particles in the clouds (the shaving cream) and I scooped it onto the shaving cream and we watched as eventually the clouds became saturated and "rained" into our bowl of water. It was neat! The kids really grasped on to it and enjoyed later coloring a cloud and filling in raindrops with the letter "r" to practice writing. My teacher gave me the biggest smile as she slipped away after observing my lesson. I felt like I was on a cloud! As I was about to leave, my head teacher of the Kindergarten class I work in came up to me and said "she had nothing but great things to say about you! She loved the lesson." This made me feel...like you wouldn't believe. I had done something amazing. I had taught these children! I had applied how to make an effective lesson plan, how to teach to my students needs and I taught a great lesson!
So maybe I can't sit there and discuss meticulously literature that I have never read before or I can't talk about the inner workings of computers and the hidden messages of Shakespeare but what I am learning about right now is for me. I am learning how to teach children. I am learning and studying how to take someone who should be reading at a third grade level but is at the end of Kindergarten year to be where they need to be. I am learning how to recognize if a child cannot hear the sounds letters make and what the next step is. I am learning how to help a 5 year old remember what the letter 'A' is and that for now it makes the "ah" sound and one day it will make about four other sounds. I am learning how to inspire young minds to reach out and learn more than they thought they could. I am opening their minds to see that if they work hard they can be a doctor, a scientist, a teacher, a librarian, a mechanic, a nurse, or an architect. If they don't want to be any of those, who cares! I can encourage their curiosity to try other careers and explore their talents. I am learning how to take a subject the child may have once dreaded and shed a new light on it so that a child will look at it and think- "yes, I can do this! I am capable and smart!"
I've decided that I don't care if I am simple minded according to some people. This mind is learning how to make a difference. This mind is stretching for ways to influence. This mind wants to take every day things and make them extraordinary.So I find joy in purchasing the fruit that I love. I find joy in stepping on crunchy leaves, in the laughter of a group of friends, and in someone holding the door open for me. I find joy in quoting movies, in staying up too late, in a cool breeze, in a funny youtube video, in playing video games and in making new friends. I also find joy in learning about Fred Jones and Spencer Kagan. I think that Jim Fay is amazing and I think that Andre Derain is inspiring.
I find joy in learning new things. I love to listen to others tell me about their interests and what excites them. Maybe that's why I don't seem like I have a whole lot to say. I enjoy listening to others. I get to know them that way. I get to experience their joys. I do share my life. I just share it in a different way. You have to be watching carefully to catch it. I often express through the written word.
So, again, who cares if people think I am simple minded.
I am happy.
I am growing.
I am being inspired.
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