First Grade recently began a study of Mexico. One afternoon this past week we were talking about the symbols in the Mexican flag and what they mean. Then our conversation expanded to the flags of each of my students' countries and the meaning of the symbols on them. When I got to my Indian student, he described the orange, white, and green bands on the flag quite well. Then he declared, "And it has a wheel in the middle!"
Of course, I asked what the meaning of the wheel was just to find out the extent of his knowledge. "The wheel is there so the Canadians will come!" he said with great excitement. "Oh really???" I think to myself. "Yes," he said, "And they will speak Canadian!"
I'm not going to lie, I laughed out loud then. "O__," I said, "Canadians speak English."
"No, they speak Canadian," O___ insisted.
"O___," I said, "I am Canadian. Canadians speak English."
There you have it, if you happen to be in the Canadian portion of my reading audience and you have felt a sudden desire to immigrate to India, you must be responding to the call of the wheel. Make plans to immigrate now. But before you go brush up on your Canadian, eh!
Part of the First Grade memory program at Sahel is to learn the first five books of the Bible. For such big words, music is always the way to go. I stumbled across this song and thought I would try it out this year mostly because I love the simple truth that is communicated between all the big names:
The Books of the Bible,
Time tested and reliable.
Scripture has a power that's undeniable.
The Books of the Bible,
their wisdom's verifiable.
Scripture has a power that's undeniable.
Here's what it's supposed to sound like:
It has absolutely been a hit in the classroom. So much so that if I would, they would have me play it over and over again. When I stop playing it well they just keep on singing it themselves. The evidence is all here.
So obviously, we haven't quite mastered all the names. In fact, at one point they were singing about the book of "Eccludiastes". And of course, there are times when you get lost in all those big names so why not start all over again when that happens! Don't worry if you never make it to the end!
Love that they are learning important truths about God's word through song!
It seems there is a little "Welcome Home" tradition developing when I return from home assignment. Upon my return from my last home assignment, I woke up one morning to a flat tire - a little "happy to see you again" gift from my car. This time I gave myself the gift in a much more dramatic style by running over a six inch pipe sticking out of the ground - a nice pop and "psssssszzzz" as the air fizzled out and all of this in front of a truckload of soldiers. Oh me, oh my!
The wonderful thing about Niger is that help is just around the corner. The security guard called the guy on the corner who fixes tires to come and he changed the tire after borrowing a workable jack from one of my friends. So help came quickly. Not only that, I now know that I need a new jack and four new tires. So I'm thankful for the wisdom God provides even out of my dumbest moves!
I sat down on the floor in the Atlanta Airport to stretch my legs out for a bit and watch the world go by. After a few minutes, along came two older gentlemen who sat down just opposite of me. One took off and deposited on the seat beside him a very interesting carryon filled with well loved bears.
As I listened to the conversation, I could tell that each bear had a name. And then, snack time began. One of the gentlemen opened a package of cheese and peanut butter crackers and before helping himself, he offered a cracker to each bear, even the small one in the back was not to be overlooked.
After the crackers came a snickers bar which was also offered to each bear before being consumed. And just in case there were any hungry bears left, they got one more chance at a nibble of a cheese and peanut butter cracker.
Things that make you go "hmm" and surreptitiously take a few photos too!
Back when I was in the Fifth grade my Mom threw me an April Fool's Birthday Party and the crowning moment was the beautifully decorated birthday cake which I cut into and suddenly realized was nothing more than a beautifully decorated cardboard box. Someone caught me right in the moments after. It was a pretty spectacular joke!
And apparently, I'm rather susceptible to it.
My friend Karen, who was at that first birthday party, had told her kids about that cake and they wanted to try their hand at it. I stood in the kitchen and watched Karen make a cookie cake in a 9X13 pan so I did think it pretty strange that the cake came out in a square but you know maybe it was double stacked!!! Anyway, here's the video proof of my falling prey to the joke a second time.
Did you hear me say, "How do I approach this? (referring to the cutting of the cake) I don't know what's under here." Oh, the irony!
My take away from this is that...
1. I have some awesome people in my life who always help me celebrate the life that God has given me in fun ways and
2. I'm never going to trust another birthday cake that doesn't come out with chocolate icing on it! And especially not if it's pink...don't mind me while I stab this thing to see if it's real. :)
Since I have no teaching stories to share this year, I thought it would be fun to share a gem of a story that we ran across while reading some letters to my Grandmother, who was a teacher in a one room schoolhouse in West Virginia. This story came in the form of a letter from one of her students.
Dear May,
In this world of growing up and going to school I am sure everyone has memories to treasure. Some are fond and some not so fond. Some are funny and others not so funny. I have one that hinges between funny and disastrous.
This little bit of memorabilia happened at High Rock School on Kesner Mountain. I, being a growing boy and having an appetite like a horse, became hungry well before lunch time. Knowing there was a fresh slice of chocolate pie in the top drawer of my lunch pail temptation got the best of me and I proceeded to remove it in preparation of an early snack.
No sooner had I secured it from my pail then I noticed my school teacher, namely May Kesner, proceeding my way. In desperation, I put the slice of pie on the top of the school bench behind me. By that time May had arrived and proceeded to park her backside smack dab on top of my pie. Needless to say, my slice of chocolate pie had become squashed and glued to the backside of her skirt. After a few kind words to me stating that I had been a bit noisy, she walked back up front to her desk. As she made her way back to her desk the chocolate pie was depositing itself on the floor in spatters. Everyone in school was bursting a the seams with laughter - except May and I, who was scared half to death. After our teacher asking numerous students what was so funny and receiving no answer, she finally gave us all two minutes to laugh at the end of which time total silence was demanded. We didn't waste a second of it!
Well, May, if you can forgive me for messing up your skirt, I can stand the loss of a delicious slice of chocolate pie.
I had a moment of panic last night which has now become the motivation for this post. You see, one of my students last year drew an amazing picture at the end of the year, full of detail and humour and I thought I had downloaded it and so I deleted it off my camera. But then I couldn't find it anywhere on my computer. Thankfully, my external hard drive saved the day and I can share this gem with the world.
My students were reflecting on how God had helped them in the past year and this is what this little guy had to say.
Note the towering stack of paper, the rubbish bin full of scrunched up attempts and the one about to hit the trash. Clearly it was hard work learning to write in Korean!
This little guy is Italian. He came into my classroom with no English at all. He had already begun to learn French so I could communicate with him through that. I have to say I have never seen a student learn a language like this guy did.
Have you been longing for love but just not finding it? Have you had your eye on a special guy but he just doesn't seem to notice you? Perhaps you've already hooked him but you just need some tips on how to make him feel loved. Good news! Just in time for Valentine's Day, we've located an expert on love who will answer all your questions. You might be wondering how we discovered this expertise in our midst. Well, you see the First Grade is exploring "How To" Writing. This, of course, began with a discussion about what it means to be an expert at something.
Following the discussion we each made a list of our areas of expertise. And voila! Just like that, we have a love expert in our midst.
(In First Grade expertise in the field of love is directly proportionate to the number of hearts you can add to your picture so don't be afraid to overdo it! The more hearts the more qualified you are!)
A timely topic, indeed! Don't worry. If I gain any meaningful insights, I'll be sure to pass them along to the lovelorn among you with an extra large helping of hearts!
Tomorrow is the first day back to school for us here at Sahel Academy. Back to school always means that there are many new friends to be made. What better time to get some advice from a Second Grader about how to best go about making a new friend! So with out further ado, I give you a short "How To" on making a new friend.
1. First you say hi. Then shake hands.
2. I think you should play with your friend if you want to know him better.
3. Then your friend will have to leave. But don't be sad. He or she will come back tomorrow!
4. Then you can play with your friend after you to to sleep.
5. Later at school in recess, I recommend you play soccer with him.
6. You can teach your friend how to spell April, Saturday, January, May, backstroke. (All words from the Second Grade Spelling book...too funny!)
7. And that's how you make a new friend. The end.
There you go, my friends, get out there and play some soccer and spell some words. Today is a day for making new friends! And by the way, if you happen to meet and make friends with Xopop be sure you tell him he's got quite the cool name!
Just a month or so ago, Miss Schmidt and I were reviewing our weekly Bible Verse. It just so happened that the week's verse was Matthew 4:19, "Come follow me," Jesus said, "And I will make you fishers of men." We were discussing the context a little bit and Miss Schmidt then posed the question to our First and Second Graders, "Am I the one that's going to teach you how to fish for men?" Of course, we all had a good laugh at the silliness of that, knowing full well that it was Jesus talking. One little First Grade Girl piped up and said, "Yeah, Miss Schmidt's going to teach us how to catch boys!" Since then I've been telling Miss Schmidt she will have to write a little book entitled, "How to Catch Boys."
In January, that little First Grade Girl might have needed such a book but the month of February has been a good one for her. The marriage proposals have been pouring in, the little boys lining up for the privilege of writing their name beside hers and then today, the first love letter arrived. (All names have been blotted out to protect the innocents.)
My favorite part of this letter has to be the pregnant pause before the "BIG" declaration..."You are the prettyiest girl in class." I'm equally amused by the last sentence, "and did you know I love you better (than) best friend's name?" Let me just tell you that these two best friends are tighter than tight so that's a big declaration!
Well, there you have it. It's February and love is in the air! We'll try to keep the dating to a minimum though. After all, it is only First and Second Grade!
About a month and a half ago, I found this big bug going into a restaurant. He was deader than a doornail so I decided to pick him up, wrap him in a tissue and put him in one of the little compartments between my car seats. I planned on showing him to my students when we talked about insects. We have yet to talk about insects so there he sits all wrapped up in his tissue - at least that's the way it was until this morning...
He happens to be sharing a compartment with my school gate pass. This morning my friend, Bev and I drove up to the school gate. Someone was in front of me and someone behind me. I reached down to grab my pink gate pass and couldn't find it. Feeling pressured because of the car behind me I began searching a little bit more frantically. I grabbed the tissue for some reason, thinking to search every possible place the card could have gone. I unwrapped it quickly having completely forgotten what was inside.
When I saw the bug I freaked out (just a little bit) and yelled, "What is that?" Being the thoughtful, nice friend that I am I then proceeded to throw the bug away from me and onto Bev's side of the car. As you can imagine, I wasn't the only one freaking out any more. Bev yelled louder than me, "What is that???" and started dancing in her seat. By this time it had registered with me that it was just my dead bug and I was laughing hysterically. I don't think Bev had the benefit of that knowledge...
However, she is still speaking to me so I say, "What's a little bug between friends?"
Some things to be noted:
1. This kind of experience will get your blood pumping in the morning.
2. This might have been the best laugh I have had in a long time!
3. Bev's crazy eyes are pretty CRAZY!
The drive home is never dull and today was no exception. We learned how to catch a runaway cow - Nigerien style and of course, this being knowledge that you might soon have need of, I am here to fill you in on the process.
Supplies needed:
runaway cow
four able bodied and fast men
two motorcycles
two ropes
Step 1: Get your cow good and angry so that he runs like a crazed maniac, slobbering and sending women and children scampering out of harm's way.
Step 2: Two men on foot should begin the chase with ropes in hand. As you get close to the cow, you may either throw your rope with a pre-tied loop around his horns or at his feet with the intention of snagging him. Don't expect to be successful right away. In fact, this will probably make your cow more determined to escape. Move on to step three.
Step 3: You will need to two friends on motorcycles to zoom up. Hop on the back as fast as you can and make sure your rope is with you. Follow your runaway cow onto the main street because of course, everyone - even cows know that you can go faster on the open road!
Step 4: Have your friends drop you off ahead of the mad cow so that you can lay in wait.
Step 5: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again....and don't worry this is Niamey, nobody but the crazy North Americans following you will think twice about all this going down in front of their eyes.
It's the most wonderful time of the year...Report Card Time! Did I just say that? I'm kidding really but I do enjoy report card time because it's when I discover these awesome little writing treasures in my student's writing folders.
First here are some of my little writers being very serious about the business of writing.
Now for the treasures!
The back story for this one is that one day my electrician (designated student to turn the lights on and off) went into our second classroom where he was to turn the lights on. Sitting right below the light switch was a big black spider. He screeched and immediately went to the other side of the room where he turned on the lights. Meanwhile, I killed the spider and teased him that one day he was going to have to be brave enough to kill spiders for his wife. A day or so after this incident, we went into the room again and he crossed to the other side of the room to turn the lights on. He didn't want anything to do with the scary spider light switch! So after all of that I found this little gem in his writing folder.
Telling it like it is, I would say! I'm convinced there's a brave guy in there somewhere.
This second one just makes me laugh because of his plans for the terrible creature of which he writes...not to mention the way the incorrect spelling of "like" changes everything. :)
"Why I don't like cockroaches they are ugly." And the little guy says, "Down the toilet!"
No argument here, little guy. You've definitely got the right idea!
Every year before the annual NUTS softball tournament here in Niamey, Sahel Academy celebrates spirit week. We break out our nuttiest costumes and our most amazing cheers. Here's a peek into 2015's Sahel Academy Spirit Week.
Monday was Sweets Day. I loved this little guy's fruit salad and then there is the most refreshing sweet of all - Coca-Cola!
I thought the bottle opener was an awesome touch.
Tuesday was Fanatic Day so the kids all dressed to show what/who they cheer for. Here's a picture of my whole class minus one student.
Wednesday was class theme day. We chose to be Minions. I made myself into GRU and even had a bald head. What!!!!
Better than that though was the Benji Minion pictured beside me in this photo. His costume was awesome. He had a bit of a hard time seeing through it which provided some very entertaining moments as he stumbled here and there and tipped from side to side. It was great fun!
Before school started that morning, I could hear my students all the way down the sidewalk and into my classroom yelling, "Banana! Banana! Banana!" You know you're in for it when....
And here's the whole bunch of Minions together.
Thursday was Futuristic Day. For all you saggy pants haters out there - this one cracked me up!
Friday was Sahel Spirit Day and that, of course is when all the fun goes down. For example, First Grade won an ice cream party for being the best dressed elementary class for class theme day. They were over the moon excited!
Then there were the cheers/dances. These guys had been practicing a dance choreographed by one of our seniors for over a month.
And this year the girl's kept the Sahel Academy Haka alive. Go girls! You were awesome!
In every First Grade Teacher's Life there comes a moment when you have to make a choice - correcting the spelling or letting it go because it's just too funny to change. I chose poorly here because this note literally read,
Daer Coach,
You are stranger than a high schooler...
Don't ask me why I didn't just focus on fixing the word "dear" and leave the rest of that awesomeness alone!
This note is pretty awesome too because it looks like coach is out on the field with his hair dryer.
Better than that might be the picture of the bulging bicep inside the card.
There is nothing like a note from a First Grader to bring a little joy to the day unless of course it's a quality quote. It just so happens that I have one of those too. We were talking about how the Israelites were always grumbling. So I asked the kids if they ever grumble. Mr. Vocabulary raises his hand and says, "Yes, I grumble when I don't get my duty sleep!" I laughed and said, "You mean your beauty sleep?" He was pretty confident that it was "duty sleep." So another little boy tried to help him out and said, "Yeah well it's dudey sleep cause he's a dude!" Clever little guy!
Thanks to one of my former students, I received a highly amusing gift on my birthday. She made her way into my house and filled my refrigerator with a bunch of silly characters.
A sign of things to come!
Ha. I love the bushy mustache and tie man. For my Sahel Peeps...makes me feel like Paul David Tripp is in my fridge and that's just funny! :)
The eggs are just too funny!
I realized today that the guy behind the mustard bottle is supposed to have bushy eyebrows...love it!
I surely do love to laugh and this is certainly the gift that keeps on giving in that department. Thanks for giving me the gift of laughter, HR! This might just be the best birthday gift I've ever received.
