school lessons (for me!)

9.13.08
we finished the FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL!! on my agenda, there is an unending list of things i desire for these kids to understand and truly learn. our time together at school is only from 9-1ish. this week, in that limited time, i wanted everyone to grasp the idea of creation, understand a calendar, learn to look at people when they talk, hold scissors, trace lines, experience all of our senses and know why God gave them to us, expand and use the mind in new ways, practice hygienic skills (teeth brushing, hand washing..), share our books and puzzles, feel accomplished, know they are loved.. it goes on an on.

the umbrella ideas, (teacher language - "themes"), this week were the story of creation and our senses. i want them to fully explore the world around us and know that God created everything we experience and the way we experience it all. how much of this was grasped? i don’t know. and might not. BUT for now i DO know i learned plenty from them:

1. stickers = big deal. i announced in front of the whole class that franchesca was getting a sticker for sharing her puzzle with carlos alfredo. man, did she stand tall or what.. big deal.
2. it IS possible to stay in a line.
3. i do not know every dance move there is. there are apparently all sorts of good ones..
4. vinegar looks like coffee.. and smells like “caca.”
5. cheerios can be SUPER interesting.. so interesting, in fact, that it is fun to feel, listen to, smell, look at, and eat a cheerio multiple times.
6. many of the kids are at completely different levels. God will continue teaching me through them where they are and how to meet them individually.
7. i make sense when i speak spanish sometimes.
8. apple cores are edible? (during a “guess the smell” game, one student decided to use his vision and taste senses to peak and bite an already-eaten apple. i mean, why not?)
9. we can get through first times and feelings of being overwhelmed. thank you, raidi, for your random bursts of tears.. and then for holding scissors quite possibly for the first time followed by your wide-eyed expressions of pure surprise and joy.
10. even when craziness is really quite humorous, there are appropriate times for it.. and i have to lay down the law, gosh darn it (even when all I want to do is laugh.. they are funny!)
11. it’s important to learn why it’s important to learn.
12. where I feel completely insufficient, God is more than enough.