New Beginnings

The first week of the second semester of my second year at BFA is complete!  This week has been a week of relearning routines and settling back into "normal"... but it has also been one of new beginnings.

Here are some new additions to our classroom...

"Miss Brown's Fridge" is where I am going to hang excellent work, along with a picture of the featured student.  (Some parents hang good work on their refrigerators... my parents always hung it on the pantry door, but I'm guessing that "Miss Brown's Pantry" would make even less sense!  Haha!)

This is the new bulletin board in our classroom for our science unit on layers of the earth, earthquakes, and volcanoes.  The students will "travel" to the center of the earth as we study different topics in this 3-week science unit.

We also set goals for the coming year.  I encouraged the students to think about how they could accomplish these goals, so that they would be achievable, meaningful resolutions.  Here are some that they came up with:

-- I would like to call my grandma more.
-- I want to love my brother.
-- I would like to read my Bible more.  I will put my Bible by my bed to remind me.
-- I want to have at least a B in each subject.
-- I will wake up earlier so I can talk to God more.
-- I want to help others more.  I will look for people who need my help.
-- I want to study for tests.  I will show my mom the study guide and study with my family.
-- I would like to know more about God.
-- I want to get better at spelling and math.
-- I would like to read my Bible 20 minutes every day for the rest of my life.
-- I want to invite friends to my house and share the Gospel with them.
-- I want to use better punctuation.
-- I would like to get better at soccer and keep in better contact with my friends.

Great goals, right?  It's really neat to see the spiritual changes in these students, even in the last month!  I posted the goals that the students were willing to share on the bulletin board out in the hallway.  The students' pictures next to their resolutions are adorned with party hats, "2012" glasses, and other decorations!  They get a kick out of these festive photos.

Above these goals, I put the verse 1 Timothy 4:12 to encourage the students that God can use them even when they're young.  While typing up, cutting out, and posting this verse on the wall, I realized its significance to my own life, too.  As a young single woman, inexperienced teacher, and new BFA staff member, I sometimes allow myself to feel intimidated or inferior.  Instead, I am called to "set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity."  This year and every year, I pray that my attitudes and actions will point to Christ.

Here's to the new beginnings of 2012!