My Heart is Now in Connecticut

This song is for all those affected by yesterday's tragedy:


Yesterday, December 14, 2012, was going to be a different kind of day. I had a lot of anticipation for it, since it was the last day of school before our Christmas break. I had minute-by-minute planned, as my students could see once they peered at the board for their schedule. I wanted it to be a fun day for them, and indeed it was.

By the time the school day started at 7:30 am Hawaii-time, 28 people would be killed in Connecticut, most of them being around the same age as my students. As for our class, the day began like any other. They swiftly entered in their math homework answers on their NEO 2 devices, we prayed the Morning Offering, said the Pledge of Allegiance, and then they took their spelling tests. Everyone was eager to get started on the day's events.

The first thing we did was make gingerbread houses. One of the families had donated kits for us so that we could enter a contest. The third graders did one while the fourth graders did another. The children had a great time, and the thing I feared did not happen: none of my children felt "left out" of the process. The only mishap was that the third grade's house collapsed beyond repair, but the children took it in stride.

Then we rehearsed our Nativity "Readers' Theatre," and the children gave a wonderful performance for Sister Janet's second graders, who now can't wait until they can do a play in third grade. It was cute, and my students showed their creativity, initiative, and ability to follow directions.

In the afternoon, after praying the 3rd Joyful Mystery: the Nativity, the children passed around papers with an outline picture of a gift on it. They were to write compliments for whomever's name was on the paper. I was grateful that we had spent time practicing how to pass the papers, because it went very smoothly. We then put the final "leaves" on our Jesse tree, ate our treats and passed around gifts.

My room parents were a big help for the day's activities. The children kept saying how much fun they were having, and it was great to watch them enjoy themselves. I went home, tired but happy.

Then I learned of the tragedy happening five thousand miles away, which ironically, didn't feel that far. I can't bear to think of that happening to my students, who feel like family. I love them all so much!

It is just so weird that the whole world seemed to stop in Newtown, CT, and things carried on like always over here, at least until someone turned on their computer or TV.

My heart and prayers are with those involved with the shooting. It is devastating.

~*~

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

Fridays are my busiest day. As such, they go by really fast. We start the day with morning prayer and mass, and then we have a half hour before the first bell rings, at 7:30am. I have no prep period on Fridays, and I teach p.e. to my students. Today, it was kickball. Fridays are also when I send out my weekly newsletter and when lesson plans need to be emailed to our principal. I must confess I haven't had time to do mine yet, but it goes faster now that I have the hang of it. Also, I over plan, so some of it is already written from last week.

--- 2 ---

I teach 3rd/4th grade, so my students are still at the age where they make me things. For a while it was pictures of angels, then drawings of hibiscus flowers, and now it is origami roses. It's really cute. They are so funny, too. They are getting to the age where they want to be treated like adults but I enjoy that they still act like the kids that they are.

 

--- 3 ---

 

My stepmom, Ginny, dried some fall leaves and shipped them to me. I was amazed that she didn't have to use wax paper and iron them. They weren't crumbly or anything! On Halloween, my 3/4 graders went to the kindergarten room to do a science lesson and a leaf-rubbing art project with them. It was so much fun to watch the children ooh and ah over the leaves! A couple interesting observations several of them made were, "Ew, they smell bad," and "they smell like something that's decaying." I immediately grabbed a leaf and inhaled a wonderfully nostalgic scent. I told them, "This is what fall/autumn smells like if you go to the northern states in the mainland!" :)



--- 4 ---

I was very amused when I learned that this was the Halloween Fun Day activity I would be in charge of with one of the eighth graders. We somehow managed to keep it from turning into a water fight.

--- 5 ---

 

Sr. Janet, Mrs. Thompson, and I took the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on a field trip to the Na ‘Āina Kai Botanical Gardens, all the way up in Kilauea. It was a long bus ride, but the kids enjoyed being able to talk story with each other. The field trip ended up being perfect for their age group! They were engaged the whole day. There was a big maze for small groups to walk through together, lots of nature to explore and learn about from our tour guides, a museum-like display of the earliest Hawaiians, a Navajo village (to compare the two indigenous groups), lots of bronze sculptures that they were allowed to touch, and a really awesome playground. We enjoyed watching the fifth graders because we got to see them acting like children (in a good way). They didn't have the older grades to impress.

--- 6 ---

Veterans Day was more meaningful this year. Our school is near the PMRF Naval Base, so some of our students are in military families. I have witnessed the bravery, pride, and courage of these families who have given so much of themselves for our country. We had a big Veteran's Day celebration at the school, and the kids got to learn about some of the science behind rockets....followed by watching rockets go off! They also got to go inside a navy boat and a mobile crime lab. We had a special flag raising ceremony, and Taps was played.

Anticipating the rocket launch!

 

--- 7 ---

I am so grateful that the we, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, have this mission in Kekaha. The people here are so inspiring with their devotedness to our faith. I love to serve them and to learn from them!

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

A Busy October

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written in this! It's almost like it's been a whole month.... ;) I need to write in this more. Here's all that has happened in the last month, in no particular order:

1. I climbed Sleeping Giant twice. The first time was with Sr. Carol Ann and Sr. Hannah, and the second time was with the St. Theresa Parish Youth. Both were wonderful experiences! I love hiking in the wilderness!
2. We attended mini retreat for religious educators. Actually, tonight, Sr. Carol Ann, Sr. Janet and I attended a spiritual talk for music ministers. It was very nice!
3. Speaking of music ministry, I started cantoring at St. Theresa. I have now cantored 4 times. I am enjoying it.
4. Also, the Christian churches in West Kauai recently gathered for a Festival of Praise. The different choirs, music groups, and a keiki (children) dance group all contributed to a wonderful night of worship. Our choir sang "In This Place." One of our band members played a tenor saxophone for one of the verses and it was amazing! It was a Spirit-filled night, and I was edified by all the talent on this small part of the island.
5. This month, we had Fall Break, STAR Testing (reading and math tests that give us instant data of our students' progress), standardized testing, report cards, and parent-teacher conferences. As a first-year teacher, I am happy to have made it through my first round of all that. Everything went well.
6. One of my students had to move back to the Mainland. It's been really hard on the children. We gave her a nice going away party though, and we are keeping in touch with her.
7. St. Marianne was canonized! It is so wonderful how much attention this has been getting on the news. We've been educating the children about her (and learning about her ourselves!) Now Hawaii has two saints: Sts. Damien and Marianne of Molokai.

Now we are getting ready for Halloween. Each year, there is a door decorating contest, and yesterday my students worked on our door. I read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak to them, and then used the following watercolor lesson plan that I found on the internet: http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/2008/01/wild-thing-watercolor-monster.html.

Their watercolor paintings turned out so cute! I am very proud of them! The students who finished early traced some letter-stencils that Sr. Charles Ann had given me and cut them out. A couple of them made trees. This afternoon, one of the moms helped me put everything on the door. The cool thing is that the kids did most of the work. They even voted on the title. They chose "Calling All the Monsters," named after a favorite Disney Channel song of theirs.

I watched the music video. It's kind of like a kids' version of "Thriller": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpoVbmx1qYU

Tomorrow is the "Trunk or Treat," and Wednesday is "Halloween Fun Day." I will write again about these activities!

Kauai Outing and School Feastday Celebration

I have much to write about and pictures to share! We decided that for our Community Outing, we would go to the National Tropical Botanical Garden. On the way, we stopped at Spouting Horn and Poipu Beach. 

On the right is a picture I took of Spouting Horn. It is a hole that the lava made, and water from the surf shoots up through it, making a cool site to see.

While we were there, we had a picnic that Sr. Hannah prepared for us. It was so good that we even had chickens come and beg.

Our next stop was Poipu Beach.  We are looking forward to our return!

Lastly, we went to the Botanical Gardens, where we had a fun tour. Everything was stunning, and I loved learning about the history of the  plant life in Hawaii. 

Our tour guide, Martin, was both entertaining and knowledgeable. Here he is sharing with us one of the many fruits he picked for us during the tour.

Also, today was a very special day at St. Theresa School! We celebrated the Feastdays of both St. Theresa and St. Francis of Assisi. We had a special mass, and Fr. Arnel shared with us at his homily how similar St. Francis and St. Theresa were, along with their messages for us who are living today. 

All students who wished could dress up as St. Theresa or St. Francis. Our principal, Mrs. Buza-sims, praised these students for expressing their faith for this special day....I had to use what I have learned from being a Sister to help the veils stay on!

On her Pilgrimage to Assisi this past June, Sr. Carol Ann generously picked up  Tau Cross necklaces for all the students. The seventh graders put them on the children.

We had a procession to the Statue of St. Theresa after Mass.

One of the things I like about this school is the mentoring program. The older grades  partner up with the younger grades for activities.

This is most of my class. They're fun!

St. Theresa with her beautiful flowers and leis. Notice the handmade  lei the kindergarten made!

The children were happy to eat their Lady Jacoba-inspired cookies!

Sr. Carol Ann distributed coloring pages to the teachers. It gave me an opportunity to teach my students more about St. Francis. It gave my students a chance to recover from their sugar-high and all the excitement of the morning!

The Weird Time Thing

 

My goodness, the time goes by so fast! Every Monday morning, I seem to enter into this weird time thing, because before I know it, it's already Friday. Each day is a breath and each week is 10 minutes.

 

"But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day."

- 2 Peter 3:8, NAB

I'm starting to know what he means by the second part of that verse.

 

I am enjoying my time here very much. I love my students, and the people here are so warm and generous. They have shared with us fruit from their yards, such as papayas, avocados, bananas and mangos. I am usually more of a vegetable person, but I love the fruit in Hawaii. I have had opportunities to use them in recipes, as we each take turns cooking. One of our parishioners shared with us a mango salsa recipe that I enjoy putting together.

 

Mango Salsa

1 Mango

1 Can of Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz), drained

Just over 1/4 cup Diced Onions

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix and enjoy! It tastes even better if you keep it in the refrigerator over night before serving.

I learned the hard way that I can't cut up the mangos myself. It turns out that I am allergic to mango tree sap. It's a relative to poison ivy, but not everyone is allergic to it. It just causes a similar reaction. I am glad that I'm not allergic to the fruit itself!

I plan on writing again soon! I hope things are going well for all of you!

My First Week as a Teacher

We have now completed the first week of of our ministries. I promised pictures of my classroom, so here they are:

I have a morning procedure for my 3rd and 4th graders as they arrive. The first thing they do is keyboarding on their NEOs. (If you look on their desks, it's those things that look like small black typewriters.) The Renaissance Program we use has a Keyboarding program that I am very impressed with. They were putting their fingers on the right keys from day one. The program teaches them typing at their own pace, and I just walk around to make sure that they are using the right fingers.

To the right is our prayer corner. Every classroom has one. We are supposed to include the color for the Liturgical season as well as the Principles of Catholic Social Teaching. A different principle is highlighted each month. I also have a rosary for each person in my class. We pray a decade each day so that by the end of the week we will have prayed the rosary. Last week, we did the Joyful Mysteries and this week we'll be praying the Luminous Mysteries. The children have done really well with this! They have even started to bring in their own rosaries. 

Below is a picture of my Accelerated Reading and Math motivation board. For Accelerated Reading, the students and their teachers work together to create individualized goals. For my board, as they get closer to their goal for the quarter (percentage-wise), they move from an egg to a caterpillar to a chrysalis to a butterfly. When everyone becomes butterflies we are going to make a butterfly craft.

In addition to teaching the general classroom subjects, each teacher teaches art and p.e. (Sr. Carol Ann is the music teacher.) I decided that we would start out with a basketball unit, so I pumped air into enough basketballs for everyone, and on Friday I taught them how to dribble. They are learning the fundamentals of the sport before they get to play the game. Those who already know how to play are my assistant coaches. Otherwise, they would be bored with going over the basics.

For a "Friday Evening Vacation," Sr. Hannah and I went to Salt Pond Beach. At first I was nervous, but there was a reef separating us from the sharks. We had a great time swimming in the water! I was surprised how deep the water was. In Lake Michigan you have to walk out a great distance just to get up to your waist. In the ocean, we were treading water before we knew it! The waves were pretty calm but we did try out the Boogie boards on them. It was probably good practice for me for staying on the Boogie board.

All in all, I like it here. :)

Greetings from Kekaha!

Aloha! I have been in Kauai for a few days now, along with Sr. Janet and Sr. Carol Ann. We are excited for Sr. Hannah's arrival this Saturday! Although we have been working hard, I have been enjoying the beauty that surrounds us. Even the shrubs are pretty!

The ocean is just stunning....it is a beautiful shade of blue, and I love watching the waves. The song "Ocean" by Ten Skekel Shirt comes to mind every time I look out at it. Here is a video that someone posted on YouTube with the song and pictures that they took of Hawaii:

What is even more beautiful than the natural surroundings is the "aloha spirit" that I have experienced in the people here. They are so warm and welcoming! I am glad I love hugs because they are plentiful here.

I have already met a couple of my students and their parents at church and at school, which was great. I have been setting up my classroom, so I was able to tell them that they already have a desk with their name on it.

I will take pictures of my classroom as soon as I am finished. In-service starts tomorrow (Monday) and the first day of school is a week from Monday.

Until next time, here are a couple pictures I have taken:

St. Theresa's Convent

View from our driveway