Life in June: Number 12

Catch up here!

 

Number 12: You may never know the impact of your influence.

If you get a chance to visit your past, take it. It’s been two years since my old school closed and over the weekend we got together for a little reunion.

These kids were part of my very first class. They were in second grade. Now they’re getting ready to walk into high school.

It was life giving for me.

To see former families. To hear that I made an impact in their families life. To know that I did a good job. To see that most of my students turned out exactly how I thought they would! That the problems we talked about in a kindergarten parent conference actually worked out for the better. 

Opportunities like this don’t always happen. You may never get to hear someone say Thank You after the fact. But your influence in a person’s life, that is something that can never take away.

Life in May: Day Twenty Two

*Blogging everyday in May*

Rant about something.

YES!! I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time, but I’m always afraid one of my parents will find it and get angry. But nothing is holding me back today!

To future employers: I love my job, I love all my students and their families. Everyone has stuff to get off their chest!

To my previous families who may find this: No, this is not directed at you! I promise!

-I’m not an idiot.-

I went to school college for four years, had to spend over 100 hours in the classroom before I could even student teach, student taught for 16 weeks, annnnd I need to complete 18 hours of continuing education every year.  Not forgetting that I spend 180 days a year with kids. So yeah, when I tell you your child is right where he needs to be, I know what I’m talking about.

-Yes, your kid would do that and probably did do that.-

The kid that you see at home is not the same student who spends over seven hours a day with the same kids who are the same age. It’s like a pressure cooker, everyone needs to let off a little steam. Children react differently to new situations. Trust me. I’ve heard all the excuses. And no, low blood sugar isn’t the cause of Suzy’s problems.

-Your child is not a genius.-

I know, I know he’s reading at home. I’m not pushing him enough. He’s bored. Heard ‘em all. I’m sure Jonnie is bright, I can see that, but pushing him will not help. Kids, especially young ones, have a tendency to level out. The child who is ahead in September may plateau in February. It’s ok, and totally normal. Did you hear me?? Your kid is normal.

-I love your child, but she’s not my whole world.-

Don’t get me wrong, I will celebrate Sally, hang up her artwork by my desk, and hug her every day. But when the day is done, I go home to my house and have my life.Trust me, I will love your child long after she’s left my room.  I also have to consider 15-20 other students and their feelings. Your child is not the only child in my class.

-If you (or your child) are having a problem please talk to me.-

Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a mind reader. If something is wrong, I want you to talk to me. If you’re uncomfortable, email is fine. And I beg of you, don’t come to me in the morning and say “can we talk tomorrow?” and not give me any warning of the topic. I will freak out all night long, guaranteed.

-I love your child.-

Each child is loved by me more than you know. When teacher appreciation week comes around, please let me know how you feel about me. I don’t need anything. A note from you and a drawing by your child is perfect.  I have a folder of cards and notes from every class. I’ll read them on the day you will inevitably yell at me.

-I don’t need another candle/lotion pack/bookmark/mug.-

Trust.

Life in May: Day Ten

*Blogging everyday in May*

Share your most embarrassing moment.

I was so excited for this prompt. Mostly because I already wrote this story last year. It’s worth another read, you won’t be disappointed.

 

(insert evil laugh here) This is a good one!

Now, I’m a firm believer that every person should have their first embarrassing moment at the age of five and preferably during the school day. That way, the rest of your embarrassing moments will only pale in comparison to that time when you truly felt embarrassment in full force.

That being said, I might feel this way because MY most embarrassing moment happened like this:

It was a dark and stormy night There I was sitting at my table coloring my bea-uu-tiful picture (of eh, a tree maybe?) when it hit me. The pressure was building. I couldn’t hold it anymore. I had to do something about it or there would be an emergency on our hands.

I had to go to the bathroom.

I raised my hand, like any obedient kindergarten student would. (HAHAHAHA!! I taught kindergarten for five years, NO ONE raises their hands when it’s an emergency!)

I politely asked my teacher, “May I please be excused. I need to visit the ladies room.”

My wonderful wise teacher responded back, “Why yes, my darling student, please do. And remember to wash your hands on the way out!”

Yeah right!

It was more like this:

“HEY LADY! I HAVE TO GO THE BATHROOM RIGHT NOW!”

“NO, SIT DOWN, YOU’RE GOING TO MISS THE DIRECTIONS!”

Now, this is the point in my tale where different versions have been known to verge off into folklore territory, and since this is MY blog, we’re going to tell it MY way!

Because my need was immediate and my teacher did not see this, I did what any good girl would do.

I stood there and cried while I ,clearly, created a river the size of the Nile in our classroom.

Nice, right?

To this day, twenty three years later, my friends can still recall what I was wearing (a pink skirt with white tights), where they were standing in relation to “the river”, and what I had to wear afterwards (my brother’s massive black jeans).

And now, nothing phases me!

Seriously, not even falling down the stairs in front of a huge group of people in college, falling down and breaking my thumb on my 21st birthday, or falling down at the zoo last week.

Eh, maybe I should avoid walking!

Oh and when I became a teacher, I swore up and down left and right that I would NEVER let a child pee his or her pants in my classroom. Because really, what is so important that they can’t leave for a few minutes?

On my first day of student teaching, a girl peed during circle time.

I’m amazing!

 

Life in Graduation

My little peanuts graduate today.

I’m always a hot mess by the end of this service. My eyes get all blotchy and red and my nose might be a little runny! Gross, I know.

Here’s a little preview of my speech from tonight!

“We have learned how to love, how to be loved, and how to live for others. I especially hope that we have learned more about our Savior Jesus Christ and His love for us. It is never easy for me to let my little birds fly. I know the names of all their pets, their siblings, and what they want to be when they grow up. I know how much they’ve grown and how much they’ve changed. Parents have 18 years to get ready to send their kids out of the nest, teachers only get 9 months.”

“May you live a life that is worthy of your calling and may everyone know…you were here!”

Life in Cleaning

Note to self…

 

NEVER STOCK PILE TEACHING RESOURCES!

 

Seriously guys, my classroom has been hit by a huge tornado. Who thought that I had so many resources. When I first started my teacher ed classes in college it made complete sense to start my teacher library because that’s what our professors told us. But come on, did I think there was going to be an apocalypse that was contained to just the teacher store? Did the internet not exist in 2006? There are better ways of finding ideas!

I’m almost too embarrassed to show you pictures. I think I’ll wait until the room is all clean and empty.

 

Until then, I’ll keep packing boxes and memories!

Life in Tears

Forgive me if I’m a little mopey again!

Tonight was the closing performance our last play at my school.  As is tradition with the closing of a play, the cast presents the director with flowers or a small gift during the curtain call. Tonight was no different. The cast called all the teachers up to the stage and gave each of us a bouquet of roses and a card.  One of the moms hugged me and said, “This is from all the parents”. Not knowing what to expect, I opened the card and started to read all the sweet notes.  The tears started to flow. I turned to the mom who gave had put this all together and said through my tears, “Why didn’t you warn me”? She laughed and started to cry herself.

I have a feeling that this moment will be repeated multiple times during the next two weeks. I even bought waterproof mascara in preparation!

I pray that I am able to take these next few days to stop and reflect whenever possible.

I pray that I can soak up all the memories that I can.

I pray that I don’t say “I’m too busy” when a child asks me to play.

I pray that I let the tears flow, because

It is okay.

Life in Art

Wanna find out how to turn this:

(Yes, that IS the largest coffee filter known to man! If you can find a machine that it will fit in, let me know!)

Into this:First you'll need to grab all your supplies.

Go...now...really...I'll wait for you!

You'll need:

Round Coffee filters of any size

Washable Markers

Spray bottle with water

Pipe cleaners or twist ties

*Pretty ribbon (If you are super fancy, I am not!)

Ready...Set...Craft!
My Mother's Day project for school turned into a "Shoot, you need to get something done...TODAY!" type of project. Thankfully, our art closet is full of awesome supplies and usually gives me some great inspiration. I like to do something different every year so my repeat moms don't have two or three of the same projects at their house. I usually like to make something with flowers and this year was much of the same.

We first started with the giant coffee filter and some washable markers. Which is basically super absorbent paper towel. In fact, you can use paper towel for this project, too. Smaller coffee filters do the trick too.

I told the kiddos to just color huge chunks the same color.

Grab a spray bottle with some water and go to town! The more water you spray, the more the color will bleed.

When they are dry, pull the center into a cone and tie it off with a pipecleaner or twist tie.

For some reason we only had orange left!

Add as many "flowers" as your heart desires. We found out that three worked well because our filters were so big.

*(Here is where the fancy ribbon comes in handy)

There you have it. Super simple art. What a fun way to spend a sunny day outside with your kids. Also a great way to get rid of all those extra markers you have lying around the house*.

*You know you have a ton!

Life in Fast Forward

May...really? May means the beginning and the ending for many people. High school seniors are graduating and moving on to the last summer of "freedom". College students are graduating and hopefully moving on new jobs and the like.

I, for one, was not looking forward to the month of May. I'm actually crying right now just thinking about all that is going to change in the next few weeks.

As of today, there are 13 days left of school. Most years that number would bring me joy and excitement. Sure, I would be melancholy and weepy at the thought of saying goodbye to my precious peanuts. But there would always be the promise of next year. The excitement of watching my little butterflies blossom and bloom in a new classroom. However, through circumstances of life and money, there will be no next year. We will close the doors at noon on May 25th and close another chapter on all our lives.

When I take a step back and think of all the things that mean the most to me, the past five years will be at the top of my list.
I moved to Phoenix an idealistic young teacher ready to take on the world.
What I found was not what I expected, but it's what I needed. God's hand has been incredibly close and I'm grateful that I've been able to feel it.

People ask me all the time if I was happy here. I answer quickly with a "sure". Happy is such a subjective term. Happiness is based on your circumstances. My circumstances were never easy, but God knew what I needed. If I based my whole existence on my circumstances, I would have little time to find joy all around me. I see joy every day when I get a hug from a student. When I hear them sing about Jesus. When I look into their eyes and know that they are loved children of God. These are the "happy" moments I choose to take with me. I will always be able to take my lessons learned here with me in my life. I guess that's true about all situations. Our memories are something we always carry with us. That, and a lot of pictures!

Last week, I found myself looking at each child so closely, wanting to memorize each little face and smile as best as I could. I've been trying to spend quiet time with each child. I wonder how much more exceptional my year would have been if I remembered to do that all the time. Once again, isn't that true about all aspects of life? Take it in. This is the last time to remember that exact moment in time.

One of my favorite quotes (and movies) is from Ferris Bueller's Day Off..."Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

So today, take time to look into the eyes of your child or a close friend. Tell them that you love them and are grateful for them.

Life in red heels!

I love shoes. I don't think the word love is strong enough! One of my favorite quotes is from the movie "In Her Shoes". Cameron Diaz's character is asking her sister Rose why she has so many shoes if she never wears them. Rose says, "Clothes never look any good... food just makes me fatter... shoes always fit." My obsession with shoes in a nutshell!

A few weeks ago I received a $10 coupon for DSW. A free $10. No strings. Money for shoes! It needed to be spent! As my mom would say, it was burning a hole in my pocket! I've been wanting a pair of fabulous red heels for as long as I can remember. This was my perfect chance. Someone was telling me to go out and buy shoes, I could not pass this up! I want to live life in the moment, right?! Anyway, back to the point, I found the pair. They were mine!

Sunday was the first outing of my fantastic red heels. I also wore them today to school. Nothing can be more uplifting then wearing red shoes to school. Little girls will think you hung the moon!
What really made me think was the passage from Isaiah 52:7

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"

I have a real problem with feet. It must have started when I was a dance teacher and I had to put on millions of pairs of tap shoes! I am very doubtful of the word "beautiful" being associated with feet, let alone feet from the first century! Talk about gross! However, being a messenger who brings good news qualifies you to have beautiful feet!

I still spend lots of time around shoes. I tie more shoelaces in a day then I can count! In fact, the inspiration for this post came while I was tying the shoe of one of precious kiddos. I used to think that in order to have an amazing faith story, I would need to move far away, give up the comforts of home and become a missionary. Because there is no way that I could spread the Gospel where I was, right? I'm not saying that people who become missionaries are more holy or more qualified, I just thought that their stories were so inspiring and I wanted to have that same zeal for God.

After tying my student's shoe today, I realized that I do have an amazing faith story. I get to tie shoes of 12 children of God each day! According to the above verse, I have beautiful feet. I proclaim the good news every day. How many people get paid to do this?
I do! And all while wearing sweet red shoes!

Living life for today

Here we go again! I've decided to retool and rethink my blog. Thanks Lucy for the silent encouragement!

We've all heard the old adage, "Stop and smell the roses." Or, "live life to the fullest." Or, "live like you're dying." In recent months I've noticed that I don't always do this. It has always been so easy to get bogged down in all the day to day busyness of being a teacher and a young person. I hardly take time to actually live each day.

The easiest place to find people living for today is in my kindergarten classroom. I have a theory that we are always the person we were in kindergarten! Children are so real and honest with one another. Children live in the moment, no matter the circumstances. They have little concept of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Today is all they have.

When I am able to sit back and listen to my children, I pick up keen insights of the Christian life. They are so quick to forgive and forget. Nothing fazes them, well, only when someone steals their favorite toy or takes the last swing! But even then problem is quickly solved and they move on. Total commitment to living life in the moment! When do we, as adults, forget this simple lesson? Why do we hold onto grudges that continue to hurt us and those we love? Jesus calls us to forgive just like he forgave us. If the God of the universe can forget all my icky sin, then why do I hold onto all this baggage?

I want my life to showcase a life of forgiveness. Forgiveness to others and remembrance of ultimate forgiveness won for me on the cross 2000 years ago! And, I dare say, I want to live life like a five year old! No holds bar, living moment to moment.

So, I challenge you, live life in the moment. Don't hold back. Forgive. Love fully. Smell the roses!