A Crazy New School Year

This year has certainly not started like I had planned. After two weeks of school, I found myself flying off to Texas with my hubby as he went through more cancer surgery. During the prior week or so, I prepared detailed sub plans - two weeks of them. I really thought that would be more than enough. I also made all the photocopies I would need for the following week when I planned to be back in the classroom. It didn't turn out quite as I planned, but having prepared nearly everything I needed, it was pretty easy to extend the sub plans. We returned home Monday night, very late. I did laundry and ran errands all day Tuesday, worked in my classroom a good portion of Tuesday night, and started school again this Wednesday. It's been an intense three days, but I think I am caught up enough that I won't drown. I still have quite a bit of work to do, namely three sets of essays to grade, but other than that, I'm on it. Tomorrow the grandkids will be over for a while. It will be their first visit since surgery. We'll be ready for the little darlings; we've certainly missed them! I'm pretty sure they'll adapt quickly to their Grandpa's crooked little smile and new battle scars, none of which are very visible as yet. Bandages are good for hiding the wounds. I'm so glad it's Friday. I need the rest!

The Benefits

There are tons of benefits to teaching in a private school as well as a few limitations, but last night my husband spoke with a friend of ours who revealed one of the big benefits. Teacher friend has 37 students in her 7th grade classes. Oh my goodness! We had 25 (our cap) and then enrolled that beautiful, little, blonde girl, who became my favorite student this year because she allowed us to split the class! We have 13 in each 7th grade, and 16 in each 8th grade. Goodness, I seriously cannot imagine having 37 in any junior high class. Horrors!

A New Addition

I added a new blog to my Worth Reading list: Books That Heal Kids. It is so true that kids come to school with a ton of baggage. You may remember that last year one of my students lost her father to cancer. It was discovered in December, and he died in June. Shortly after, she hurt herself badly, falling down a 15-foot shaft. After a summer trying to do things that would help her get on with life, school started... and she broke her foot! I'm not making this up. Of all the kids who might have to wear a boot and use crutches, this one was not the kid who needed that kind of hassle!

One of the things I do in my Bible class is the Silent Study. I teach a curriculum published by Lifeway called Character Quest - I love it! Each week, I introduce another character trait that should be a part of our lives as Christians. In addition to that, I have gone through scripture (mostly New Testament) and found short passages that apply to the particular trait being taught. Students come in each morning to find a new passage on the board. They get their journal and answer two questions: What does this passage mean? How can I apply this to my life? We just finished the first week of school and the introduction to the textbook. The passage I chose this week was Colossians 3:12-14. Students wrote about verse 12 on Wednesday and verses 13-14 on Thursday. (Friday is chapel - no silent study.) On Thursday or Friday afternoon, I read the journals and jot short response notes to my students. The pain that came from Thursday's passage about forgiving... it took me by surprise. It always does. I know students have broken homes and lives, but I am constantly surprised at the open, intense pain that 7th graders are willing to write about in a journal.

At the end of the day, Friday afternoon, we held our traditional first week finished junior high party. Before we ate all the junk food that the kids brought, we played a game - Just Like Me - students noted their favorites: books, food, musicians, etc. and then had to find someone who marked the same answer. It takes about 15 minutes to play. The 8th graders were acting too cool for the game until I introduced the prize: 1 Free Homework Pass for any of my classes. Suddenly, they were all over it! One new girl had a tough time with the game. She wrote her answers and then wandered the room, from person to person. I could see she was trying. Basically, she placed herself next to someone different every minute or so, and hoped that person would ask to see her paper. Shy is an understatement. But I know a bit about her story (family members with addictions, abuse, moving, legal problems) and her sense of who she is, of what she's worth, doesn't match the beautiful little person I see. And she is having an awful time trying to write. It is as though she is bound with ropes and cannot move off a certain position. I ache for her. She's in my writer's workshop and has yet to get a full sentence on paper. I have a feeling that I need to get into poetry quickly, much sooner than I usually do. I think it will open her more than fiction writing.

Books are therapeutic; they can help children heal. They allow students to identify with characters who have survived similar pain and sorrow. We live in a broken world, with fractured lives and relationships. Anything that helps children find a pathway through the pain is a good thing.

The Visitors

There have been a few visitors to my class over the past few days. Our beloved private school welcomed lots of children back to learning on Wednesday. Our K-8 school is one of three schools on campus; the high school is across the parking lot from us. As you might imagine, several new 9th graders came back to visit their old junior high teachers. I love getting hugs from my former students. Today three boys came to visit... young men actually. All three had grown considerably over the summer. But the greatest thing happened... Mr. Principal happened to be standing nearby as two of the boys left my classroom and called out to them, "Hey guys, how are you doing?" To which one of my dear grads replied, "Very well!" Isn't that great? He said well!!! Knowing when to use the word good and well is one of the heralds grammar acquisition. And believe me, junior high boys are not terribly excited by the proper use of small words. But I was thrilled. I turned to Mrs. History Teacher, also standing nearby, and asked if she'd heard what he said. Oh yes... she had a big smile on her face too. She heard him. The casual use of proper speech - music to a teacher's ears!

A New School Year

Here we go... I've been working in my classroom for a few weeks. Friday morning --> afternoon was the Meet and Greet for K-8. High school does theirs Monday evening. One of the things I did differently in my classroom this year was the top of my bookcase. I have taken an idea from my young librarian friend, Andrea, and will change out the books each month. The first month, September, the display is entitled Super Series for September. This month I'll feature a few student favorites, including the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, a good selection of Roald Dahl books, the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, the Shadow Creek Chronicles by T. Elizabeth Renich, and several books from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I have many others I could have put on the top shelf but this is a good variety for the first month of school.


I've made a few other changes as well. Last year I placed my parts of speech posters on the back wall but I've brought them to the front again. Students kept getting out of their seats to check out the definitions and examples, so it is worth bringing them back to the front.




I posted a question on my facebook account about how to sort books in the classroom library and almost everyone said by genre. My initial reaction had been to do that, but getting the opinions of people I respect made it quite easy to follow up on the idea. I'm going to try to push the students to be careful with re-shelving. Right... Oh well, as long as they're reading!


There has also been a lot of renovation going on at school, notably the boys' bathroom near the school library and sixth grade classroom. The day before the Meet and Greet for students and teachers, that hallway looked like this:

Nothing says welcome back better than thrones in the hall for all!

Pruning

Saturday morning I pruned my vegetable garden. Earlier in the week, I brought my mother over to my house to show her my raised-bed garden. I was sooooooo proud of it! My mother is a master-gardener so I thought she would be impressed with my 2nd-time-ever vegetable garden. Well, she was impressed all right but not in a good way. She got right with the program, telling me that I needed to prune all the suckers off the tomatoes, cut off the remaining blossoms, in fact, cut the tops out of the tomato plants. If I didn't, my tomatoes might not ripen properly. I have LOTS of tomatoes and some are pretty big, but they are all green. Next, she suggested I remove some of the excess foliage from my one (huge) zucchini plant so I could actually see if I have any more zucchini in there. I thought I had two - ahem - I had seven. Then she said something that kind of hit me in a different way than she intended, "You've watched me raising tomatoes for years; I thought you knew this."

Saturday, as I pruned away at my plants, I thought about my mother's comment. How much am I counting on my children, grandchildren, students... knowing what to do because I assume they have paid attention to what I have done? The truth is that I did watch my mother plant and cultivate her flowers and vegetables for at least a couple decades. But I didn't really learn anything until I asked questions and she provided the answers. She was always willing to share her knowledge; I wasn't always paying attention.

We have to speak the words. Do we want our children to be polite, well-mannered? Instruction is needed. Do we want our kids to love books and reading? We must read to them. Are we hoping our children will find a valuable relationship with Christ? We have to talk to them, share our Christian experience, pray with them. We cannot assume it will be caught - it must be taught.

The other thing I realized as I was pruning was that it was taking a very long time. I spent well over an hour at the job. I realized that I could have nipped the suckers (little growths that appear between a branch and the main stems of the plant) as they appeared and it would have taken just a few minutes. Since I waited until I had fruit-loaded plants, I had to be quite careful when I cut, and the job was far more tedious than necessary. The same is true in our lives as parents, as teachers. If, from the very beginning, we start right and consistently do all that is required to raise up well-mannered readers who love Christ (my prior examples), the outcome may be what we hope for - fruit bearers. I'm grateful to my mother for all the lessons she has taught me over the years. I just hope I remember them better than I did the pruning.

Back at it

I've been working in my classroom for just over a week. There is so much to do to get ready for a two-week departure. We will go to Texas for my husband's surgery at some point - still don't have a fixed date for that. Yesterday, I spent some time talking with my principal and we decided on a sub for the time I will be gone. The sub I really wanted has been hired to teach 4th grade in our elementary building. I don't know the lady that's coming but her creds look very good and my principal mentioned that he hoped she wouldn't be too strict. I know what all my teacher friends are thinking right now, and yes, that was the comment that sealed my choice! Long live strict subs!

I have planned five weeks of lessons. I have photocopied all the work I will need, which has turned out to be a mixed bag... I was told my class was full, and I would have no more... and then, yesterday, we accepted another student. I was not happy as that means I get to go back and make one more copy of everything! But I got over it when I realized if we get two more, we'll hire another teacher so I'm really hoping that will happen. Plus the new student is fluent in French! How often does that happen?! Never in this neck of the woods. I'm excited to have her for that very reason. (For those who do not know, I'm also fluent in French - or I was!)

Yesterday afternoon, Mrs. History Teacher and I worked on student scheduling for junior high enrichment and elective classes. Mrs. H.T. is the same age as my youngest son, but we get along as though the decades of separation were not there. She is an excellent teacher, incredibly organized and creative, and I'm so grateful to work with her. We complement each other quite well; what I don't think of, she does - and vice versa. In addition to scheduling, I have the chapels for September all lined up with speakers, and I have my stuff out of boxes and on the walls, journals in the proper bins, books in the cases. Honestly, I could start tomorrow... but have another week to go. Meetings begin the 24th and students show up the 31st. I have a feeling that this is going to be an interesting year!

Poetry and Cancer

A few days ago, one of my Haiti friends, Ruth, posted about a book of poetry called The Radiation Sonnets. I had no idea such a collection existed but I think I'll have to get this book. A couple weeks ago, my husband and I learned that the dreaded "C" had returned. We know there is surgery in the future but are unsure whether it will be necessary or even possible to have radiation again. He had the maximum dosage the last time around and it's not a great idea to over-radiate any part of the head. So we'll see what happens. This whole thing is so surreal; we honestly thought we were done with this stuff. Oh well, he is alive and active and I am grateful!

Chi-ca-GO !

We are heading to Chicago in the morning so we can see these sweet people by afternoon.
Can't wait!

Family Heritage

This weekend has been all about family. Friday night I accompanied my 83-year-old mother to her 65th high school reunion. It was great to see her connect with friends from long ago and those with whom she lives life regularly still. Sixty-five years... wow! As you might imagine, there weren't a lot of people attending. Three other 'children' attended with an elderly parent; it's all about the designated driver! It was a good experience and I'm so glad I went. I know my mother would not have attended without me.

Today my husband preached both services at our church. He did an amazing job sharing the Word and some of his own story. God used him powerfully. After that, we attended my annual family reunion. My dad had 17 siblings: 10 brothers and sisters, 1 half-brother, and 6 step-brothers and step-sisters. Most left Kansas as soon as they could - around age 17 or 18 - and moved to Western Washington state. Every year since the mid-1940's, the family has come together on the first Sunday of August for a huge potluck picnic. As a kid growing up, I really looked forward to this event. My cousins were more than family; they were my friends. We had a blast as kids. Now things have changed a bit. The main thing is that we only have three of the originals left: Uncle John (90 in January), Aunt Margaret (87?), and Uncle Walter (79). All the others are gone... and we miss them. The stories are not quite so colorful or heart-rending. Many came from the old country (German Russia) and lived through the Great Depression. And every one of them made something exceptional of his/her life. All of us kids were able to go to college if we wanted to and most of us did. The stories we share are memories of them, plus it is good to see everyone again.

It's been a good weekend of reflection about my family and how they have allowed me to be the person I am today. I am so fortunate, so blessed!

Website Grammar

I'm really not trying to be picky - but - I just visited a website dedicated to a certain kind of homeschooling, one that emphasizes classical education by parents who know their students best and therefore are more prepared to help them succeed. I cannot count all the errors in grammar I found on that site. I am not against homeschooling, just against those who say they are going to do it and then don't really do much. I've had some students who've had excellent homeschooling preparation and others who were enrolled in my class because the parents realized they hadn't done anything to really prepare their student for high school and figured I could do it in a year. I know, I know, it's like anything else, always examples of good and bad. I just think that those who like to point out how good they are at what they do probably ought to have a proofreader.

Legacy

A few days ago, my eldest granddaughter sent me an e-card. Actually, every so often she sends a short note via email and I always write back. The last time, she asked me to send her little sister an e-card because she was sad that she never got any email. So I did... one with monkeys; it fits. Anyway, Kayla helped little Sierra choose an e-card to send back to me, thanking me for the card. The one she sent had this song playing in the background, just the chorus of it...

Legacy (Nichole Nordeman)

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

The chorus says exactly what I feel. I want my grandchildren to know that they are loved unconditionally, by Jesus and by us. I want them to believe that they can change the world - because they will - for good or not so good, we all do it. I love all five of them so much; we are so blessed!

Unfortunately... it's back.

On Monday of this week we learned that the lump under my husband's (empty) eye socket is cancer. We are so disappointed. If you want to follow his progress you can check this blog: http://restore-process.blogspot.com/ It's the easiest way I know to keep lots of people informed. Please keep us in your prayers as we again walk this all too familiar pathway.

Reading in 2011

Here's my list for this year... so far:

Books Read in 2011

1. Essays 1: First Series - Ralph Waldo Emerson
   
2. Stuck in the Middle (Sister to Sister) by Virginia Smith
   
3. Deeper Water by Robert Whitlow
   
4. Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry
   
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
   
6. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
   
7. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
   
8. Drums of War by Edith Morris Hemingway
   
9. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
10. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    
11. Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
    
12. Emma by Jane Austen
    
13. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
    
14. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
    
15. Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson
    
16. Invisible by Lorena McCourtney
    
17. The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen
    
18. Fated to be Free by Jean Ingelow
19. Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
    
20. Fated to be Free by Jean Ingelow
    
21. The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne
    
22. The Heart of Rachael by Kathleen Thompson Norris
23. A City Schoolgirl by May Baldwin
24. Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
    
25. I Have Lived A Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson
    
26. Evergreen: A Christmas Tale by Richard Taylor
27. “Hard Creek Bridge” a short story by Isaac Sweeney
28. Dandy Detects: A Victorian San Francisco Story by M. Louisa Locke
29. A Chance in Time by Ruth Ann Nordin
30. Summons From A Stranger by Debra Diaz
31. A Lady of Quality by Frances Hodgson Burnett
32. The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade
33. Teddy’s Button by Amy LeFeuvre
34. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
35. The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux
36. The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
37. The Fifth of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre by Ann Rinaldi
38. April Morning by Howard Fast

Through it all

Can't get this out of my head today, which is probably a good thing!

Through it All

You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness

And I look to You
And I wait on You

I'll sing to You Lord
A hymn of Love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all

Ending the summer month

July is the only true summer vacation month. We teach, work in the classroom, and have meetings until mid-June and start it all over again in August, so both of those months are short. Suddenly, here we are; this is the last week of July. It's a great month for our family. Both of our sons were born in July as were two nieces and three nephews. Our wedding anniversary (#38!) is this Wednesday, and both of our sons and their lovely wives have anniversaries this month. Scott and Kass celebrated #15 the same day as Brian's birthday and Brian and Erin will celebrate #9 tomorrow, the day before ours. I love all the partying we get to do in July; it makes it an expensive month but so much fun!

Summer Sleepover

We had a day at home to wash clothes and rest before we brought two of our five grandchildren over for a summer sleepover.


We played games at home and then packed a sandwich picnic and headed down to the lake to play and eat. Sitting on the dock, the two adorables asked Grandpa all kinds of questions about snakes, mosquitoes, and water lilies.



Tired children slept well and after french toast and a few morning cartoons, we headed out to Watershed Park to hike the two-mile trail. It was gorgeous, mid-60's, sunny, and sheltered with a canopy of greenery. When a boy sees a good climbing tree, he has to climb it. It's the law of the universe.



After the hike, the smiles were even bigger than before we started. A perfect summer day.

Finally: Home Again

This has been an interesting and sometimes difficult week. Several months ago, my hubby noticed a lump under his (empty) eye socket. For those who don't know, T had radical cancer surgery in 2004 which resulted in the loss of his right eye/orbit. Following weeks of radiation and almost five years of quarterly, then annual visits to MD Anderson Cancer Center (the best cancer hospital in the world!), he was told to go home and live his life. He was finished. And we did. Then about a year ago, the skin graft in T's orbit started showing infection and this lump got bigger. After messing around with over the counter treatments and less than adequate medical care, we went back to Houston.

I am more than happy to say it was a good week. All the tests were negative for cancer. We also learned a lot about some of the issues T will face with the orbit. We learned that the skin graft is far more sensitive than we realized and will probably always present some issues. Six weeks of intense radiation will do that. The only awful moment came when the doctor, our fabulous Dr. Esmaeli, decided that the lump needed a needle biopsy just to confirm her diagnosis. It was extremely painful and it had to be done twice! Not fun! However, the reason it had to be done twice was that the doctor doing the procedure was unable to harvest enough cells for the lab. After the second dig, getting what he needed, he informed us that usually when cancer is present, the fluid vomits into the needle. His word, not mine. This did not happen and the initial reaction is that the lump is part of the restorative process: scar tissue, for us laymen.

So we are home again and thanking the Lord for health and a future. I am grateful every single day, that I can grow old with his man, my high school boy friend, the love of my life.

While we were there (in 104* temps!) we did some vacationing. We went to Galveston for the first time and returned to Spring, the site of an old-time village, full of cool stuff. We think we found a coffee table to replace our hand-me-down of 11 years. We'll see. We haven't received the medical bills yet and they promise to be significant. Not that I care - I don't care - I'll pay them off over ten years if I have to; I have my husband!

T with his new buddy in Galveston

Quiet Morning

It's Friday morning and I've been working hard all week, getting everything ready for family visitors. This is my last quiet morning for several days so here I sit in my leather recliner, coffee in hand, still in pjs, enjoying the calm. I still have a few things to do but no pressure. Unfortunately, my husband, who has been working harder and longer than I have, doesn't get a break. I wish he could have a long quiet morning too... maybe in a couple weeks.

I read something on a blog that I am sure I have seen before but never written down: "Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me, and I may be forced to love you." William Arthur Ward.

I think the encourage part is the one that sticks out to me. Many years ago, during some of our initial days in ministry, I heard a sermon or read something about encouragement changing people's lives. Since that time in Vancouver, I have really tried to take that idea to heart and intentionally plant encouragement into the lives of others. I'm not always good at it. Sometimes the critical part of me takes over and I see everything negatively, but that is really not who I want to be. I deeply desire to see the world with optimism. I want to see the potential in people, especially children, and lift them so they can become stronger and have the desire to keep moving forward. As I deal with students and colleagues, I try to ask myself, What if this person was my child, my sister, my brother? How would I want someone to respond to him/her? That helps me a lot.

As much as I want to be an encourager to others, I also want to do it for myself. I want to tell myself that I can more than I can't. I want to forgive myself for my mistakes and keep trying to do better. I want to believe that I will make a difference in the world by making a difference in the life of one child or many, the number doesn't matter so much.

So... time to get moving and start the things I have on my to do list for this day.

Summer-time Yum!

Now all we need is vanilla ice cream to go with these!
Gotta love summer in the Pacific Northwest!