Chaotic Joy

Ramé is a French word meaning "something that is both chaotic and joyful at the same time." 

I think most teachers would use the word "chaos" for this school year. I don't blame them. It is quite accurate. As a first-year teacher, at a new school, in a new state, chaos is what I feel most of the time. It can become rather overwhelming, honestly. This week, new restrictions are in place, adding a whole new level of chaos to everyone's lives. (Yes, it is possible!) 

Yet, chaos is not the only feeling. 

There is also joy. Unspeakable, amazing, overflowing joy. I walk into my classroom, be it my temporary classroom, every morning as the sun is just coming over the mountain. I see nine little desks, with nine little chairs each with the name of one of my precious little students, and all I feel is joy. There is no chaos yet. It is quiet and calm. The calm before the storm. I set up their desks for their morning work, make sure I have enough copies for phonics, math, language arts, and science, pick out our read-aloud books for the day, and smile. For a few hours, those nine little lives are mine. I get to share the gospel with them. I get to love them. I get to see them learn new words, break through walls, and make new friends. I get a few hours a day to impact their little hearts. This is one of the deepest joys I will ever experience, and I like it that way. 

While my world seems chaotic and constantly out of control, those nine precious children only need to see the joy. They need to see the peace that God can give, even though their world is falling apart too. They need the calm, not the storm. God has placed these sweet, amazing students in my classroom for the purpose of me showing them His love, peace, and joy, no matter what chaos is surrounding them. 

Yes, this school year is chaotic, but it is also joyful. This school year is ramé and it is a blessing. 

Worship and Work

This week in Bible class, I was teaching the students about the importance of work and rules and how they relate to worship. While they are only 6, it is an important concept to learn at a young age and to start practicing doing their best in everything, while the consequences are still small for not doing their best. Every time one of them would hand me their paper, I would ask them, "Is this the best you can do? Is there something you can do to make this paper better?" At the beginning of the week, almost every paper set on my desk was taken back to a student's desk grudgingly to redo something or to finish the activity. As the initial questions started not getting work redone, I started asking, "Do you think this is good enough for God? Would you give this paper to God and tell Him it was your best work?" Papers started returning to desks, but it happened less and less often. They have begun to turn in their best the first time, 

All of this got me to thinking, do we as adults and people claiming to be Christians always do all our work as if we are going to give it to God? Do I write my lesson plans to have God review? Do I love my students as if God is sitting right there watching everything I do? I think for most of us, the answer is a resounding no. Did I do my dishes to the glory of God? It sounds silly sometimes, but that is what the Bible says to do. To do all of our work to the glory of God. This is how work becomes worship. Otherwise, it is just day-to-day boring old hum-drum. Yes, it may still be boring and tedious, and it may take some extra time to do things our best the first time, but then it is also a joy when it is finished and you see the work that is completed and you know, for sure, that it is the best you could possibly have done. 

One of my students brought me their handwriting page at the end of this week and waiting at my desk for me to mark the letters and parts of the sentence that needed changed. I asked them the usual questions, and he answered, "yes" to all of them, so I checked the work. When I told him, "Good job! It looks great!" and set the paper in my pile of work to put in their take-home folders, his face lit up. He had never had me accept his work the first time. He said, "I'm going to do my best every time the first time! It is so much easier!" My little six-year-old learned a valuable life lesson this week, and, as his teacher, it was a joy to watch. 

Testing and Falling Trees

Since this week was a short school week, enough exciting events had to occur in order to make it feel like five days. 

The grades that would have done their standardized testing in May last school year had to take their tests this last week. No big deal for me, because my students were Kindergarten last year and would not have been tested. On the other hand, all of the other grades were testing, so my kids had to be basically silent for the first half of the school day. Nine six-year-olds, sitting still, all day. We turned on "ninja mode" and they had to be quiet and quick about everything they did. It worked quite well, honestly. 

There was a very large storm here during the week. I came home from school with no power, and recess was canceled due to the dangerous winds outside. The next day, there were fallen trees on both of the school playgrounds, so people were working hard to clear our playgrounds for recess. It was quite the event for my little first graders to have trees falling down and winds so strong they couldn't stand up when the gusts kicked up. 

Hopefully, soon we will be moving our classroom into the permanent classroom, but as of right now, I am still setting it up and making it as organized as possible before the students come in. One of the walls has been painted bright green and the walls are decorated with different posters and Dr. Seuss pictures. 

The students are extremely excited for the upcoming week because they get to go to their first class store to use their points that they have been earning so far in the year. Some of their prizes will be pencil sharpeners, scented hand sanitizer, mechanical pencils, markers, notebooks, shaped erasers, and coupons for things like bringing a stuffed animal to school, not having to wear shoes in class, and a homework pass for a night. Hopefully, it lives up to their expectations! 

20 Fun Facts About Me

 It has been a while since I have posted anything regarding random things about me, so here are twenty random fun facts about me!

1. My favourite colours are purple and teal.

2. I love books. Adore books. Cannot get enough books.

3. My ideal day includes lots of music, coffee, mac and cheese, and a few close friends.

4. I prefer mountains over beaches. (I really don't like sand very much.)

5. I do not like wearing jewelry because it is constantly getting in the way.

6. I am a pretty equal mix of girly and tom-boy. 

7. Les Miserables is my favourite book and musical.

8. I color code EVERYTHING. (Even my students have caught onto this!)

9. I spend very little time on social media, but will go on when I have used all my energy.

10. My favourite season is fall because I don't like cold weather, but I don't like hot weather either. Fall is a nice in-between. It also comes with maple leaf cookies and the world becomes much more colourful. I can also wear sweatshirts without everyone asking if I'm too hot. 

11. My favourite kinds of food are Cajun and Chinese.

12. I do not have a favourite genre of music, because there is a little bit in every genre that I like (typically...there are some exceptions.)

13. My favourite genre of books is fantasy.

14. I prefer hot coffee over iced coffee, but frozen coffee over hot coffee.

15. I write everything down, but then forget where I wrote it down, so it doesn't do me a lot of good.

16. In the past 4 months I have had 4 addresses. 

17. My favourite animals are tigers, llamas, and owls (Oh, my!) 

18. I do not like watching movies, except on certain occasions.

19. The first book I remember reading on my own was Junie B. Jones.

20. It takes me forever to trust someone, but once I do, it is 100%. 

Hard Topics and Young Minds

 

Some people think teaching first grade would be hard because you have to sugar-coat the big topics, but honestly this is not true. They do indeed ask hard questions, typically ones adults don't have the answers for, but that does not mean the answers have to be simplified in a way that makes it not true. 

Since I work at a Christian school, one of the main subjects taught is Bible. All of my students have a foundation in Christianity and are thinking long and hard about what their parents have said and what is being taught in the classroom. One of the hardest parts is when they ask what a deep theological term is without having any idea what they are asking. 

Albert Einstein said, "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself." 

As a teacher of six year olds, I am learning I don't understand very much. There are questions I don't know how to simplify the truth of the answer for them. We are going over huge questions that are relevant to the world they live in, and it is my goal and job to help them understand these concepts. We are talking about racism, police officers, and government. My little six year olds understand more than people would think. They have been soaking in all of the information around them, and are struggling to find ways to ask questions and understand what is happening. Their classroom is now a place that is becoming safe to ask questions and discuss hard topics that "grown ups" won't discuss with them. 

Do I bring up these topics with them? No. My lesson plans are first grade. We talk about Rosa Parks not being allowed to sit where she wanted because she looked different, then her changing that. I don't plan on covering police brutality or people being killed because of their skin color. And yet, we have discussed these things in our class because that is what is happening in their world. One of my dear little ones said, "That must make God very sad." in the most sincere and saddened tone a six year old girl can use. My response, "Yes, sweet girl, it does." 

Adults don't often realize that these things are affecting the little minds and that they are still shaping their view of the world. We cannot protect them from everything, but someone has to realize that they are processing all of this too and has to be willing to let them talk it through and give them a good framework. We don't study "history" in first grade. It is called "social studies." First graders don't need "social studies", they need a framework for what they are observing in the world around them; their own studies of their societies. 

This is the goal. This is the aim. To help little minds grow into minds that can process the world and understand that everything has consequences and those consequences shape the world they live in. 

First Grade Adventures

August 12th, 7 small children walked into a classroom with desks six feet apart, face shields and hand sanitizer (hanitizer) on their desks, and a first year teacher anxiously awaiting their arrival. 6 of these children went to Kindergarten together and were very excited to see each other once again. There were 3 boys and 4 girls . Once they all found their desks, took of their masks, and put on their face shields, they looks expectantly at their teacher, wondering what this school year would hold in this weird time. A nervous teacher said to the students, "Hello! My name is Ms. Short and I am going to be your teacher this year." 

Since that day, two more little boys have been added to the class. The students range from 5-7 years old, but are all about academically at the same spot. I teach them the pledges, how to read a calendar, bible, phonics, handwriting, math, reading comprehension, and social studies. Every quarter we will switch from social studies (or as the students say it, "shosheal shtudies") to science. Due to COVID, we are in a temporary classroom, also known as the 8th grade social studies room. Hopefully after Labor day, we will be entering our permanent classroom for the rest of the year. Although I am definitely happy to have a little more time to work in my permanent classroom before the students will be in there. 

Having restrictions makes teaching a different kind of challenge this year. The students cannot touch their faces without washing their hands, which with mainly six year olds, they are going through hanitizer like water. Face coverings are required inside and the students are not allowed to be within six feet of each other. Thankfully, we have reached two weeks together, so the students are considered a cohort and can be within six feet of each other, as long as there are face coverings. They can also share toys now without me having to clean them. Since their favourite thing to play with is the hundred of tangrams we have, this is a great pleasure to me to not have to wipe them all down every time a student touches them, just every night. The student's favourite subjects are math and art. Some of them like reading best, but most of them will agree that math and art are their favourites. All 9 of them are extremely athletic, which means that sitting at desks all day is not possible. They get to stand up and do actions for something every subject. We also tend to have "wiggle breaks" every half hour. We typically do class bathroom breaks too, which gets them out of the classroom, though they have to stand quietly in the hallway. Recess is my favourite part of the day, because it gets them running, no one has to wear a mask, and we are not in the classroom, sitting six feet apart. At recess, I get to interact with the students like children should be interacted with and there are not so many rules that I have to tell them to stop doing something every few seconds. They just get to run and be kids for a while. 

Overall, everyday I am still a little nervous when the students enter the room, but there is an excitement now to see my kids that I have started to bond with. There is a routine now, mostly, which makes the days run smoother. Everyone knows this room and schedule are temporary, so everyone is a bit hesitant about getting too comfortable with what we are doing now. 

Upcoming excitement in the first grade classroom: 

 Moving to our permanent classroom!!! (Also, air conditioning) 

 Standardized testing 

 Our first class store for Class Dojo points

 FALL (No more 100 degree days!)

The Start of Something New

About two years ago, I decided I wanted to move to New Mexico. Little did I know, I would be here in two years. It seemed like a distant thought or dream, but now it is my reality. On June 2nd, my family set out from Illinois to drive to New Mexico. It was a very long first day, and an equally long second day, but we made it! As of June 3rd, I have officially lived in New Mexico and it has been wonderful. Nothing has really gone the way I thought it would go, but God has had His hand on everything along the way. I trust that everything is turning out the way God wants it to turn out, even though it is not exactly what I had planned. This is out of my comfort zone, but I am learning and growing, even just over the past couple weeks. 

My Life Amid COVID-19

It is over a month into quarantine now, and somehow I am just getting around to writing about it. At first I thought this quarantine thing was only going to affect me for about two weeks. Boy, was I wrong!

My life right now...

Student Teaching: 
Since schools cannot be meeting, I have been working online with my host school in order to receive the rest of my hours. This has meant many hours of setting up classes, writing assignments, texting other teachers, grading, and many Zoom meetings. It is not a format that I would prefer, but it has freed up a lot of my time to do other things that I would not get to do otherwise. Teaching in a classroom is by far more preferable in the end though.

Babysitting:
Whoever heard of an e-nanny? Well, that is my new job! Social distancing makes working with small children difficult, so I FaceTime and Zoom with my kiddos. As will teaching, I definitely prefer being with the kids. No hugs or snuggles is rough on them and me. :'(

Church: 
My church is meeting through Live Streams on YouTube as of right now, which has its ups and downs. I like watching church with a snack and in my pajamas, but I definitely miss being gathered in a congregation of believers. Being at home is extremely different, and church is probably where I feel it the most.

Summer plans:
As most people know, I am planning on moving to New Mexico this summer, and as of right now that is still the plan. I have had a lot more time to pack and get prepared for all the craziness that will begin soon. There have been some small changes, as well as some bigger changes, but it is all working out okay in the end, even if it is not how I planned at first.

School:
It is finished!! As of May 8th, I will officially graduate, but all of my classwork is done. Being online to start with helped dramatically through all of this.

Free time: 
What is free time? I have not heard of this concept. In reality, I don't usually have much free time. Before all of this started, I was out of my house at least 12 hours a day. Now I am constantly home. This is a new concept to me, so I am learning how to practically handle free time and be productive. I am starting a bullet journal, packing, spending time outside, student teaching, nannying via FaceTime, and cooking A LOT. At first I watched Netflix fairly often, but I have grown tired of that, so I find other things to do with my time. I spend much of my time cleaning and organizing my room as well, since I am going to be packing it all up in the next month. Some things are packed, but other stuff is still being determined if it will be mandatory or not.

Overall, I am not really enjoying quarantine, but I am finding ways to cope with all the change and fluctuation occurring in my life. God is still good. He is still constant. Those are the things I am leaning on throughout all of this, whatever happens. 

2019 in review

This is extremely late, but life has been pretty crazy, and has finally slowed down enough for me to be able to write this post.

Highlight reel of 2019:

• Many, many Skyzone adventures with my Nunkey girl
• Eddie turned 3!
• Finny turned 4! 
• Left the country for the second time, this time to Bavaria
• The twins took over the world one list at a time :) 
• Katie Grace came to visit over my birthday 
• I surprised Katie Grace (and Maggie...and Emma surprised us lol) in ABQ for her birthday
• The twins conquered ABQ
• My precious Misty passed away
• I met the infamous Chloe ;) 
• I began my final year of college with Liberty
• Bella turned 9!
• Ella turned 8! 
• Si turned 7! 
• The twins turned 22 (insert Taylor Swift here) 
• I met Squeakers!!! (My precious baby cousin) 
• Went to see the Jane Eyre ballet
• Went to see John Crist
• Went to the Ark Encounter
• Attended the much anticipated wedding of Grace and Hudson :) 

So far in 2020: 

• I began student teaching, which I am loving!
• Attended Kylee and Lemar's wedding
• Enjoying the last little bit of time I have with my littles
• Preparing to move

Coming up in 2020: 

• College graduation!!! 
• Moving to New Mexico!!!
• And lots of other exciting adventures...

And now for some pictures...

Nunkey girl

John Crist show

The only picture I have with Chloe lol

Ark Encounter

Twins conquering the world

Adventures with Eddie bear

All the amazing Semester people at Grace and
Hudson's wedding. 

Finny and Si

ABQ Surprise for Katie Grace's birthday

Jane Eyre ballet with Josiah