Soil...Who Knew

(after school gardening club...boys love that dirt)


Science class with 4th grade on Tuesday was filled with laughter. Mostly because we were talking about worms (because we just started talking about soil) and one of my girl says, "You know you can make medicine from worms." I'm thinking, really? Isn't that interesting. Then we discuss how her parents make medicine from worms, but city worms are no good because they are dirty, they have to be worms from a particular place. Then my other little mountain boy chimes in with a word in Karen that only one of my kids understands. They tried to work out what word he was thinking of (he couldn't remember it in Thai). Eventually we decide that he is talking about snails. His family makes medicine out of snails. I told them if I got sick I would ask them to make me medicine. They laughed and said, "Oh, we don't know how to make it, we just watch our parents." Apparently making the medicine involves squeezing the creatures in question. I'm not sure though because I think this was the point I directed the conversation back to the actual lesson. During that Science lesson I also learned the best way to catch termites for eating. I asked each of my students if they had ever eaten termites. Only one said that they hadn't. Not gonna lie I was a little grossed out. But mostly it was so funny. Anyone walking by would've thought we were crazy.


My favorite part though was when I asked the students what things we might not have if we didn't have soil. They answered, "houses, food, clothes, etc." But then one boy, the one who thinks he isn't as smart or as good as everyone else answered, "Well, if we didn't have dirt then we wouldn't be here because God made us out of dirt." I was amazed, I hadn't ever thought of that application. Then another student responded, "God did make us out of dirt, but He can do anything so He could have made us out of water if He wanted to. Then we'd all live in the sea!" They never do cease to amaze me.

Where They're Coming From

Knowledge changes me...

• she can't live with her parents because they have sent her away with the command to work hard and do the very best she can and they hope that she will have a better life than they
  


• he visited his parents last week...in jail...where they've been since he was five months old (about ten years ago) and they'll be there for ten more years



• he has a house key because he lets himself in and out on his own



• he is also separated from his parents because they live on the mountain, which means that he is in 4th grade and can't read in any language



• he's in 3rd grade yet actually should be in 5th grade but he's been held back because he's moved so much that he hasn't really been able to learn



• he is put down at home and basically told that there is nothing about him that is good or valuable and is publicly humiliated



• she isn't picked up from school because her dad is just not interested in putting forth the effort and her mom is just too tired to fight her dad anymore

"Teachers are their student's second parents." In a day we see them overwhelmed, victorious, tearful, laughing, mischievous, diligent, silly, serious. We see them hurt and insecure and we try our level best to convince them that they are loved, that they are valued, that they can persevere, and that they can overcome. The snippets of life written above are just that, realities of life that my students live with. Loneliness, rejection, abandonment, poverty, and abuse are not foreign to these children. The moments when their eyes light up or they share a crooked grin are worth more than gold. Many of them behave with a maturity far beyond their few years. They work hard to understand and learn and to make their parent's dreams come true. Their tender hearts look out for others and search for ways to be helpful. May God make me the patient teacher they need, the gentle encourager they deserve, and the person quick to see their worth that they desire. May my loving Father make me a loving "second parent" to these precious ones who know little to nothing of His love for them personally.

Meet the Gang

Meet the gang...the students and staff of the 2011-2012 school year! Wednesday we started off with twenty-six students which is more than double our beginning day of last school year. We are so thankful for our new students as well as two new Thai teachers. We even have a couple of students from summer school!



This year has seen some changes as we are short a few English teachers. I am now teaching Grades 3 and 4. I'm a bit sad to say goodbye to the little ones but I am excited for the different challenge of teaching the older kids. My new co-teacher Khruu Ning and I have nine students. Six boys and two girls. We have five students from last year, two from summer school, and two other new additions. About half the class understands me and the other half is completely lost...but such is the nature of what we do.



Khruu Nida and I are teaching Grade 4 and have three extremely quiet students. So quiet. None of the three of them understand or speak a word of English. But they are sweet and try very hard to do their best. The two girls are from the mountains and are sponsored to come to our school. They had to leave their families and move to Hang Dong. They are currently living with two very generous staff members of our school who virtually became single mothers overnight.


This school year has many challenges which we are already feeling as well as so many opportunities. Please pray that we would make huge strides toward meeting our three main goals for this year:

1) Share the Gospel

2) Provide Excellent Education

and through those things to...

3) Provide Hope and a Future

First Week of School!

The School of Promise had its official first day of school Monday! That is such a huge praise! All those hours of scrubbing, painting, building, and planning have finally paid off! I now find myself in a much more challenging role, that of teacher. I am again getting used to the fact that during the day I have five small people who depend on me to teach them and love them. Children who I remind to wash their hands and whose skirts I continually fix because they are about four sizes too big. I pray that I can teach them to speak and understand English, add 2 +2, and know how a plant grows. But even more than that is the responsibility to share with them about the Lord, to speak grace and love into their lives, and to trust the Lord to cause hearts to soften and change. It is times such as these that I see how inadequate I am and how desperately I rely on the Lord's strength.

This poem by Amy Carmichael has been an encouragement to me recently.

God of patience and endurance,

Steadfast as the steadfast stars

Stands Thy promise, Thine assurance

Unto Thine ambassadors:

"I, thy God, will strengthen thee...

Where I am, there thou shalt be."

Lord, we would endure; O sift us

Clear of weakness; make us strong.

Lord, we would endure; O lift us

Into joy and conquering song.

Cause us in Thy peace to dwell,

Seeing the Invisible.

Let us welcome all life's weather,

Whatsoever it may be;

And, or singly, or together,

Find our heart's delight in Thee,

Our Redeemer, our Adored,

Lover, and beloved Lord.

Anyway... more about the students. It is always amusing when you ask a question to have the question repeated instead of answered. This week we are learning about living and non-living things. I said a statement that the students were supposed to repeat and then I said, "That's a hard one isn't it." To which my class parroted, "That's a hard one isn't it" which caused me to smile.

My poor lone boy sometimes has a hard time focusing on our lessons. Apparently that is the case when my Thai co-teacher is teaching as well. Amy and I were standing outside the classroom waiting to help with dismissal time when my student looked up and saw me standing outside the door. He had been looking around and not focusing. When he saw me he did the gesture for our classroom rule #2 "Stay on Task." Which as he was not on task appeared as if he was turning himself in.

I have been experimenting with Whole Brain Teaching strategies and they suggest having a gesture for each vocabulary word you teach. Great! If only teacher could remember all the gestures. ;) In all seriousness I think that is necessary especially when teaching ESL or what we jokingly call ETL (English as a third language). Instead of thinking of my own gesture I did what the program suggested, which ended up backfiring a little bit. The word is green and the gesture is to point to the ground and say 'achoo' because the picture is of grass. A little odd I know. Well now I have the situation of anytime any of my students see anything green whether in the classroom or outside they starting pointing and sneezing. I'm sure the other teachers think all my students have a cold.

Here are some pictures to give you a taste of what the school is like and what we do everyday.

These are our 12 students Grades 1, 2, 4, and 5 with our director Joel on the first day of school.

This is FUN reading time. The next to last period of everyday we spend thirty minutes reading. I normally read two stories and then let the kids chose a book to look at. Often times they bring it to me to read which is what is happening in this picture. I can't tell you how many times I read Goodnight Moon and The Three Little Pigs this week.

These are Amy's three boys (and Amy with her head cut off.)

My five 1st graders are working on writing the letter Nn on whiteboards.

Everyday we start school with an assembly where the students raise the flag and sing the national anthem.