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
9.28.2008
9.08.2008
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
9.07.2008
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
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
9.01.2008
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
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
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