My life as I know it

It has been a couple of weeks and there has been lots of exciting things going on here in Chicago. My classroom continues to evolve and I feel more comfortable as a teacher everyday. There is something new I learn everytime I am in the classroom, from how to reach all my students in my lessons to appreciating all my student's personalities.

On Sept. 8th my Kindergarten class along with pre-school and 3rd grade had a chance to go to the County Line Apple Orchard in Hobart, Indiana. It was fun to get out of the classroom and see how my students enjoyed the experience.

We also had a Walk-a-Thon Fundraiser on Sept. 23rd to raise money for our school, Our Lady of Charity. To see parents get involved and the students excited about the school was great for me. I had a chance to talk to all the students 2 weeks before this at our Walk-a-thon pep rally. To be able to address the students and let them see the importance of help out OLC by raising money reinforced the idea of giving back.

On Oct. 31st, we had a Halloween Party and the students were able to dress up in their costumes to parade around the school and go in each classroom. I was able to show my goofy and fun-loving side by dressing up as 'The Newest Member of the Hannah Montana Band." I borrowed a guitar and played each class a song and sang to them. The students got to trick-or-treat around the room. It was a really fun day.

My student Ricky who is new, is still having behavior issues. The other day, Ricky said a few things that struck me and made me realize how much my students go through, even though they are only 6 years old. Ricky was talking about getting drunk and then about how he isn't good enough.

Prayer Requests:
1. For my students and their lives outside of school that God will watch over them .
2. For Our Lady of Charity of School that it will be a school who exhibits the Light of Christ in all things.

Truly,
Gina

My Students

Thinking

The last couple of hours I have been trying to lesson plan and the same question keeps coming in my head. A question of whether I am called to be a teacher. During the day when I am with my kids I love what I do, but on Sunday when I go to plan my week I want to be anywhere but planning lessons. I know that there are ups and downs to everything that we do in life, but lesson planning is a MAJOR part of teaching.

There are so many parts of teaching that I didn't know about---I have to ask myself and search for the answer to the question, are those parts that I don't enjoy worth the part that I love. The part of being with my students, helping them, and seeing their development and growth?

Lord,
I am calling upon your name
Your Holy name, Your guidance, Your unfailing Plan for my Life
You are Good and I am coming to You for rest.
~gmac

My Classroom

These are in backward order, so as you scroll down it is the most recent.





*My students helped decorate the bulletin board with colored coconuts for the Rain Forest Themed Room.









*The bulletin board right outside my room. It shows what a good teacher is and what a good student is.












*Me in the morning at my door before the students arrived. (I was getting lots of butterflies at this point.)















*The students' name tags to go along with the Rain Forest Theme Classroom.













*My teaching aid, Mrs. Jones, who has been helping out at OLC (Our Lady of Charity School) for over 15 years.












*My roommate Megan Sweeney who teaches first grade at my school. She is right across the hall, just in case I need anything.













*My book border bulletin board where I will be teaching my students daily phonics, so they will be able to read.











*My 'Jesus Loves You' bulletin board which I will be using for Religion class and doing a character word of the week.













*My 'Who lost a tooth?' poster to keep track of all the new beautiful smiles that will happen throughout the year.

















*My 'Happy Birthday' bulletin board, with my cute birthday bears!









*My 'business-y' bulletin board. This one is my favorite...it's official...I am a teacher!













*My morning routine board where my students learn the months, days of the week, weather forecast, and the number line.



















*View of the class from my desk












*Paint area













*View of my class from the morning routine board












*Reading area/Class Library













*View of class/my desk from the front door














*View of class from right inside the door












*View of play area













*Another view














*Another view of the room from my desk













*BEFORE pictures...Everything was packed away because our school got new windows. I had 3 days to get my room ready. yikes!











*BEFORE--View of play area on right side and view of class library on left















*Students cubby area



















*BEFORE--view from my morning routine board











*BEFORE--the view from my door










So, this is my classroom. My first day went well, I am so thankful and am looking forward to the school year. My motto for this year is "I will do it and it will be good."

:)
~gina

The Day before my 1st Day of Teaching

"He is my Refuge"
I can't believe I am a day away from starting a new chapter in my life...as a Kindergarten teacher. I don't feel prepared, but there is a truth that I am clinging onto. It comes from Scripture in Deuteronomy. "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33:27

Something that I am learning from this past week as I was getting my room ready is that I will have curve balls thrown at me when I expect something else and my attitude has to be "okay, then I will do this instead." I have to be adaptable to change from the original schedule and learn to work around things that come up.

I have to lean on God as my Refuge, my shelter, my guidance, my protector, my everlasting God. I want my resting place this year and forever to be the everlasting arms of God.

My prayer for my school year at Our Lady of Charity comes from my devotional "Arms, sheltering Arms, express the loving tenderness that I need from My Father in Heaven. During my troubles and difficulties as a first year teacher, I need nothing so much as a refuge. A place to hide in. A place where none and nothing can touch me. God is my Refuge. This is the truth that is in my very soul. I want to feel God as my Refuge until fear goes, and Joy ripples through in its place. Refuge. Everlasting Arms so untiring, so safe--so sure."
--Amen

Words that I want to be true of me:
*Respectable
*Loving
*Effective Teacher
*Organized
*Prepared
*Christ focused
*Light-hearted spirit

Update & "We all want to be LOVED"

UPDATE

It has been awhile since I have updated and I wanted to fill you all in what has been going on.

I am finally settled into my new house. I live 10 minutes from downtown Chicago and I am loving the area that I am in. It is an interesting area with a younger aged crowd but with pockets of older Ukrainian families. My house is great and I have been BLESSED with 3 amazing roommates--Kath, Megan, and Kathleen.

Kath was my roommate over the summer when I was on Loyola's Lake Shore Campus. She is from New Jersey, went to school at Notre Dame and is teaching 4th grade.

Megan is a 2nd year LU-Choice student and she is from Michigan, also went to school at Notre Dame and is teaching 1st grade at the same school as me (Our Lady of Charity) I am so thankful for Megan because she has been a huge help in acquainting me with the staff and how things are done at OLC.

Kathleen is a 2nd year LU-Choice student as well and she is from Minnesota, went to school there, and is teaching middle school math.

I get into my classroom for the first time this Tuesday September 2 to setup, put up bulletin boards, and get organized. I start teaching Monday September 8. I am getting anxious to start, but the thing that makes me most nervous is not knowing how I will be as a teacher and how my days will look. I am trusting God for each step.

This past week (Aug. 22-Aug. 30) I had a chance to go home to Mexico, MO for one of my best friend's bachelorette party and to visit my family. It was a great time to see high school friends and catch up. Then I had a whole week to be home, sleep in my own bed, hang out with my parents, and I was able to go visit my grandma and eat lunch with her.

We all want to be LOVED

As the storm continues with my brother John, it is never easy to go home. It is a reality, not something that I can avoid. His struggle with drugs and alcohol is something that I don't fully understand. The way that he disrespects himself translates into how he is disrespectful to my mom. Something that was brought to my attention during a discussion at the young singles group that I am a part of at my church is "Those who struggle with addiction are not able to have healthy and holy relationships." This is a repeated theme in my brother's life. Always hanging out with different people and never being happy where he is at. Something that was interesting to me, was one night my mom and I had to go pick John up and something that he kept talking about was "I just want a relationship with someone." At this moment I realized that my brother, like the rest of us are always seeking for meaning in our lives, our friendships, our relationships and above all we want to be loved.

We all seek for acceptance and love from others. It seems that everyone looks for love in the places that seem the most fulfilling, the easiest, the places that are familiar to them...in material things, money, physical relationships, addictions...and the reality of it all...is that Jesus has love for all of us if we are willing to ACCEPT it...that is the tricky part....willingness to accept Christ's Love...in healthy friendships, relationships, and from our families and communities that we are a part of.

When I think about my brother John and how he is desperately searching for meaning in his life, my heart is in constant battle because I get so angry, frustrated, and overcome with hate for how he lives his life, how he treats my mom (someone that I love, someone that is my best friend) yet at the same time I want to represent Christ with my thoughts, actions, and words. Encouraging him, helping bear his cross, his hardships.

At church last night at Old St.Pat's Father Tom spoke about 'storms' in our life. How we as human beings want to avoid them and we want to rebuke them. It would be great if I could take domestic violence and addiction in the back yard and tell it to go away, that it isn't welcome. But this is the card that my family has been dealt and through this storm that has been going on over the last 1o years, we ask you to pray with us, to take the journey with us as we try to encourage my brother with love and truth. Fr. Tom spoke about prayer last night too and how we can't expect that just because we pray that God answers it in the way that we think He should, that everything will be fixed. But instead prayer is a way for us as a community of believers...a body of Christ to come together, to be one, that in a way we are each others' strength, that we give each other faith when we have lost it.

The hope that we all have in the midst of storms in our lives is in the passage in the gospel of Mark when Jesus "stepped into the boat." Not that he will necessarily always calm the storm, but that He steps into our boats with us, by our sides, guiding and comforting us. That through our friendships, family, and those people that are placed into our lives, give us hope that we need...that they also "step into our boats." Through prayer and conversations, hugs and kisses. Will you always accept the opportunity to step into others' boats, when they are suffering, need hope, or need the love of Christ?

Here is a song that I found by Lifehouse, which talks about the storms of life. I hope you all enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_jSSVJwGek


Prayer Requests:
1. For the start of my school year, that it will be a smooth transition
2. For my Kindergarten class, that it will be a faith-filled year
3. That I and my family will continue to trust Christ with the situation with my brother John


~gina

Being a successful teacher

It seems that every time I have an assignment due for one of my education graduate classes, the same question pops into my head, "how am I going to be a teacher?" More so, how am I going to be a teacher with only 3 classes under my belt? I feel lost every time I try to work on an assignment and Satan really attacks my confidence. I try to tell myself "Gina you will be great, you are more than capable to do this" and then 2 seconds later there Satan is again filling my head and heart full of lies!

This questioning of is this where I am supposed to be, this stirring in my stomach, a place where failure is in the forefront of my mind. Why am I so afraid of failure?

How do I work beyond this into God's presence? No anxiety. No worries. No questioning. INTO a confidence in God's Will for my life. To be teaching in under resourced schools with no background of education. A place of peace. Of trust.

God is truly asking me to lay down my questions of the future at His feet, to allow God to carry me, to serve Him, and to not worry.

Sometimes, it is okay to just BE. To sit at the table of the Lord and to be still, not thinking a million thoughts and to breathe.


A revelation that I have been having is my presumption that teaching is easy and fun has proven to be quite the contrary. Teaching is a lot of work, this whole idea of assessing students learning to see if they are understanding the material. And after being a student for 17 years and now I am on the opposite end of that as a teacher is like switching gears from first to fifth. I commend my teachers, they truly are heroes.

I am here on this journey and I surrender.

Character vs. Personality

Recently I have been pondering the difference of personality and character. Wondering what makes them different. When I hear someone say "Bob has a honest character," vs. "Bob has a honest personality." The phrases take on different meanings for me.

According to dictionary.com I found the definitions that describe what character and personality are.
Personality-1. the visible aspect of one's character as it impresses others: He has a pleasing personality. 2.the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual.
Character- 1. moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character. 2. qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity: It takes character to face up to a bully.

As I continued to think about this it seems that personality and character are used interchangeably, but the main difference I noticed is 'moral' quality of a person is included in with character more of an internal presence where as personality is external, what is visible to others.

What do you all think?

Witnessing for Jesus

Christ be the center of our lives, be the place we fix our eyes.

Over the last 2 weeks I am finally settling into the city life, God has been revealing himself to me more and more. Giving me a peace about being here for the next 2 years to be a part of God's plan and .

I am already seeing the blessings that are being bestowed upon me and I stand in awe of how PERFECT God's design for my life truly is. This Wednesday July 2nd Megan (one of the second year LU CHOICE students) and myself were in charge of shared prayer and spirituality sharing for our group. We decided to dig a little deeper and talk about being witnesses for Jesus and what that looks like in our lives. We talked about the passage in Matthew 16:13-19, Peter's confession of Christ. It is a beautiful picture of telling others about Christ and His love. As a group we discussed how can we be witnesses for Christ in our ministry as teachers and in our communities in which we will live. One of the guys Matt mentioned a quote from St. Francis of Assisi "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." Matt also gave us something to think about "If we are the only Jesus that people encounter let it be one of love." As we all begin teaching this fall in under resourced schools to bring the message of Christ it will be our actions that will speak volumes to the children. Another quote from the great St.Francis of Assisi, "It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."

I started 2 education methods classes on Monday June 30th , Literacy and Social studies/fine arts. For the first week, they have been going well. I have been learning a lot about how to be an effective teacher. I am reading Esperanza Rising and the Dinosaurs of Water House Hawkins for my literacy class and am researching photography as an art for my social studies/fine arts course.

I believe where I saw God most this week was when some of us first years decided to go watch the movie Wall-e in nearby Evanston. We decided to not print off any directions because we knew that it was fairly close and Doug had a GPS system. It turned out that when we got into the car the GPS system, Sean, didn't want to cooperate and wouldn't find a signal. This forced us to work together as a team in a stressful situation, to stay patient and not become frustrated. After driving for over an hour, almost hitting a fox and deer, we arrived at Century Theater to watch Wall-e. (which is such a cute movie!) On our way back, it only took us about ten minutes and we were able to laugh about the trip there.

The area I have not been able to find God in the last 2 weeks is being able to love fully and not being able to trust fully.

It has been fun being here in Chicago for the July 4th festivities. Danielle, Elle, and I went to Navy Pier yesterday for the afternoon and stayed to watch the fireworks. We got to the Pier around 3pm and sat by the water and read while listening to a live band, so enjoyable. Then we ate at a fairly cheap cafe and when we were done we decided we wanted to ride the Ferris wheel, but it was quite expensive for 3 college students, so we went back to where we were sitting earlier. This posed a problem because we could only find 2 chairs and there were 3 of us. It turns out that a lady needed 2 chairs and was willing to give us $20 so we took it and went back to ride our ferris wheel! It was perfect and Chicago looks great at night! The fireworks show was spectacular and patriotic music accompanied them. After the show was over, it was quite the experience of going through over half a million people. We budged our way through to a quick exit and made it out in about 15 minutes.

Life is all about problem solving! :)

Prayer Requests:
1. The LU CHOICE group (12 of us) would continue to grow together as a group spiritually
2. That I will fully Trust God with ALL areas of my life
3. That our group will be Witnesses for Jesus at all times


In Christ's endless Love,
Gmac

1st Week @ Loyola!

Well my journey has begun.
I arrived in Chicago last Thursday June 12. It was quite a move. My parents and I left at 4am and made up here by 11am. First we pulled right up to Fordham Hall and the 2nd year LU CHOICE teachers helped move all of my stuff up to the 6th floor, room 608. My mom and I started putting my things away into the afternoon until I heard a knock on the door and it was Kath my new roommate for the summer. Kath is from New Jersey and went to school at Notre Dame. She is super nice and I knew we would get along great. A week in and it is going great!

Shortly after getting the apt. put together my parents and I left to go to my great aunt Cathy and uncle Gene's for dinner. Little did we know it would be 3 hours later and still trying to find their house which is actually only 30 minutes from my apt. Once we got there I had the best Chicago style deep dish pizza from Lou Mahnti's.

Over the next 3 days the first and second year students had orientation and a mini retreat. This was a great time for me to get to know the other people in my class and also in the class above us. It was a great time to reflect on the process of applying for the program, how we are all ordained to be here by God and to go through this experience together. We participated in many get to know, team work, communication activities and before I knew it Sunday was here and I was preparing for my 1st day of graduate class.

I have now been in Educational Psychology with the lovely Dr. Schiller who is great with many innovative ideas to bring into the classroom and a way to integrate many content areas at once, like math, literature, religion, etc. for one lesson plan.

Through this course we have been working with students from Swift school. I have been working with 2nd and 3rd graders and it has been nice to take the ideas that we are learning with Dr. Schiller and immediately applying them with the students everyday.

Yesterday June 18th was the first day that I was in a 'funk' and I began to have thoughts of second guessing my decision to come here. Questions like..."God are you sure you were calling me here, to do this rigorous program?" "Are you sure you chose the right Gina?"

Feelings of inadequacy and wondering if I am going to have enough patience for the kindergarten students. When thinking about educating the younger ones, I think is it really going to be teaching them? Will I feel like I am accomplishing something?

Then I go back to what I know. When praying about what to do after college at Northwest I told God I want to GO where there is a need. And this program places us in areas where there is a hard time finding teachers because of the pay, conditions, stability. Then I think about how faithful God is and how He will provide me with what I need. I have to go beyond myself and be someone for others.

Last night our community (the 6 1st year LU CHOICE teachers) decided to go play a game of whiffel ball and that was really fun to get out by Lake Michigan on a beautiful night and enjoy one another and do something fun!

As the first week comes to a close I am thankful for where I have seen God in every moment and how I continue to realize and God reveals to me how much I need Him.

Reality

As I came home from Maryville and have been spending needed time with my family some heart breaking realities have come to my attention.

My older brother John who is 26 has a son, Dillon. Dil is the cutest thing! Here are pictures.















My brother and Ashley (Dillon's mom) are not together and don't have the best relationship. Before a couple of weeks ago, Dillon would come over almost every weekend, however an incident happened and now Ashley doesn't want Dillon coming over.

On Sunday May 25 there was a knock on the door. I thought it was some child wanting to sell us something so I made my dad answer the door. ( I am horrible at telling little kids no) I went into the kitchen and when the door opened it was Dillon. My mom and I ran into the living room and my mom knelt down and gave Dillon a big hug and kiss. Dillon was with his grandpa and they were in the neighborhood and decided to stop by.

I picked up Dillon, and gave him a big hug. He looked me in the eyes with a grim and sad look and said "I've missed you auntie Gina." Tears swelled in my eyes. Then Dillon went to John and said, "Dad, I want to come stay with you but mom won't listen or let me." For the first time I realized how sad this situation is. This is not how God intended "family" to be. We have to make the best of what is going on and my prayer has been that Ashley's heart will soften.

My next thought was...this is what most of the children that I will have as students will be going through with divided households. I pray for courage and love to show these children.

Today on facebook I think that the daily bible verse is great. It gives us a picture of how we are supposed to live...as salt of the earth. :D

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:13-16

Simplifying

For the last couple of months, I have been trying to simplify my life. It all started when I took on this task of organizing my room. I borrowed this how-to book from my friend Megan at work and ever since then, I can't stop giving things away. These are things that I simply don't need in my life and it feels so good to have less. The other reason I am simplifying is for my move to Chicago. I am only going to be able to take what can fit in my dad's truck, which doesn't give me much room to work with.

These are 2 quotes that I have come to love and strive for everyday.

"Perhaps there are times we are called to live simply so that our focus of reaching the destitute cannot be swayed by our worry of losing material possessions."

"We have all known the long loneliness, and we have found that the answer is community."
-Dorothy Day

God's Provision

As I think about how God provides for my life it gives my soul a feeling of peace and reassurance knowing that my journey to Chicago will have God's hand in all I do.

I have been able to quickly see this provision when on Mother's day, My parents and I went to Grandpa and Grandma Talken's house when I found out that Grandpa has a sister that lives and works downtown, right where I will be. This immediately calmed me and I was able to let my nervousness about being 7 hours from home go away, knowing that I had family so close. Katherine is Grandpa's sister and I can't wait to meet her, Grandpa called her and let me talk with her and she was nothing but sweet!

Day after my college graduation

I am sitting here alone in an empty apartment...when just yesterday it was filled with family and friends...Life is changing so fast, faster than I can understand. I am listening Martina McBride's song "Trying to find a reason," It explains my feelings of leaving Northwest. "maybe it is time to walk away if I am trying to find a reason to stay...all I know is it can't go on forever..." There is so much waiting for me in Chicago and I am ready for the adventure...the adventure that is at my feet. I am ready to dive in, both feet first! :)

As I look back a couple of months ago in August 2007 when I started a job to 'just pay the bills' I never knew that it could change my heart and life forever. I was hired as an after school teacher at St.Gregory's school. From the first day of meeting my co-workers, parents and students I loved it! I finally saw what I enjoyed and was good at. To my surprise I would stumble upon an opportunity of a lifetime to be able to receive my Master's in Education from Loyola University. The LU-Choice program is setup to help financially and at the same time be in the classroom teaching. The best part is living with other participants while growing together in our struggles as teachers, doing bible studies, making meals together, and experiencing Chicago!

God has given my heart peace about moving on, pressing forward to this new time in my life and I will be helping out in an area where there is a need for it, the inner city schools of Chicago. Service teaching is going to be challenging in ways that I don't even know right now.

It hasn't seemed like 4 years ago I was moving up here to NW. Time just passes us by without us even noticing. I have enjoyed my time here and the past week of saying good-bye has been bittersweet. I am ready to start the new chapter of my life in Chicago. This chapter is one of excitement in the unknown, I don't know who I will meet along the way or who will touch my life. I am trusting God to guide my path and meet me there.

Fondly,

Gina