Recipe for Spring Break

Deep cleaning, early mornings, fresh snowfall, and giving a presentation.  Does that sound like the normal recipe for a teacher's spring break?  Perhaps not.

Deep cleaning:  Sweeping and vacuuming, cleaning the refrigerator, wiping doors and furniture, washing windows... you name it, we did it!  On the first two days of spring break, BFA staff members gathered for "spring cleaning" of the high school campus in preparation for the International Christian Educator Conference (ICEC).

Early mornings:  Each morning of the ICEC began earlier than a normal school day, but the speakers proved to be worthy of our attention.  This conference was especially meaningful for me as I reflected on how much has changed since the last one of its kind.  Three years ago, I attended the ICEC at BFA as a college senior, having just committed to come to BFA to teach that fall.  I was eager to meet my future co-workers, see the campus, and gather as much information as I could.  Now, three years later, I am loving my life in this community and am continuing to learn about what it means to serve missionary kids.  This conference also brought a special Grove City College mini reunion!  Several other GCC alums work at BFA and another school in Spain - plus, one of my education department profs and two current seniors came over to present several workshops!  Sharing meals and conversations with them was a true blessing.  Needless to say, the early mornings and long days of processing and reflecting were well worth it!

Fresh snowfall:  Isn't it spring already?  We Kanderners are beyond ready for warmer weather and sunshine, but the two days of snow during the ICEC were a real treat for some of our African visitors who had never/seldom seen such weather before!  Now, please, let it be spring!

Giving a presentation:  I'm sure that many of you are familiar with Pinterest, a social media tool for bookmarking hyperlinked images of favorite things on the web.  Pinterest is often used for recipes ideas, travel inspiration, and home improvement.  However, Pinterest is also a marvelous resource for teaching ideas!  My friend CB (an elementary teacher) and I presented a workshop at the ICEC about making teaching "Pinterest"ing.

Now it's REALLY time for spring break to begin!  I'm thankful for time to catch up on grading, rest, reading for pleasure, and just being.  That's the recipe for the rest of spring break!

Opposite Day!

Almost all of the middle school students and teachers participated in our school-wide spirit day on Friday... Opposite Day!  Here are some snapshots of our sixth grade opposites:

Princess and Frog

Goofball and Businessman

Nerd and Gangster

Gangster and Nerd

These two did their own opposites:

black and white / dressed up and casual

Happy (pink) and Sad (blue)

The teachers participated, too!

Coffee and tea, Texas and China, city and country, winter and summer, and two teachers dressed as each other

Exclusive CD Release Party!

Welcome to the VIP lounge!

Yesterday we welcomed the chapel band students to an exclusive CD release party for Hillsong United's newest CD project, "Zion."  Brittany decorated our classroom with balloons, streamers, and colored cloth.  The students enjoyed music note- and star-shaped pastries, popcorn, cream puffs, and punch as we watched the lyric videos of the new releases.

How much do you know about Hillsong United?  I tested the students' knowledge of this well-known worship band with some trivia questions.

Too bad you can't see my guitar pick earrings in these photos. :)  #welcomezion

Who Am I: Identity

 Who am I?  It's a question that we ask ourselves at all stages of life.  On its heels are a myriad of others... What am I good at?  What is my purpose?  Where am I accepted and loved?  What do I have to offer?  Who or what defines me?  Am I beautiful?  Am I enough?

You are created with a purpose, designed by the Creator of the world!

He has gifted you uniquely.

He values you.

He loves you.

He accepts you.

His grace defines you, and it's more than enough!

These are the truths that I wanted to convey to my small groups girls and other high schoolers this Valentine's Day.  So, I asked three BFA staff women with different life experiences and family backgrounds to share bits of their stories and to answer the students' questions about identity.  The panelists were honest, encouraging, and full of love for the girls - what a blessing to see!  The Lord was definitely at work.

Each girl left with a rose, a reminder that they have been created beautifully!

Part 2 of this panel series is coming in April on this theme: "You and I: Intimacy."  Pray for God's work on the hearts of the young women at BFA as different adults share about their relationships with God and others.

Note: The frame used for the event advertisement was taken from Hello Literacy.

Snapshots of School Life

It's been almost a month since my last blog post... what have I been doing?!  Take a look at these snapshots of life at BFA Middle School!

We welcomed 2 new members into the chapel band for the spring semester, so we now have a new vocalist and keyboardist.  Just for fun for the first chapel of the new semester, we had all 10 students participate in leading worship!!  (6 vocalists, 1 guitarist, 1 keyboardist, 1 Cajon drummer, 1 on drumset) We totally maxed out the sound system, but it was great to see them all working well together!  

For the second semester of the Classroom Economy program that I've been using in Advisory, I decided to have the students go through an application and interview process for their new jobs.  I recruited my roommate, Brittany, to help me interview the students.  The newest position for this semester is the Insurance Broker.  I am introducing the students to the way insurance works and will be simulating natural disasters and vandalism/theft.

Here's our class auction, which is the culminating experience of the Classroom Economy each month.  Instead of using the normal auction format that I used all fall, January's auction was a first-price sealed-bid auction.  Students wrote their bids for various items on slips of paper and placed each slip in the item's corresponding jar.  Then, I read each of the bids and announced the highest bidder.

The students created pipe cleaner "grammar glasses" for our nouns and pronouns unit.  Here we are modeling our glasses!

To practice what they learned about nouns and pronouns, the students completed a "grammar lab."  They read a children's book with a partner, then identified all of the pronouns in the story.  They also stated common, proper, and compound nouns in the story.

After learning about the three main learning styles, I gave the students an opportunity to study our week spelling list in the style of their choice.  The kinesthetic group did stretches while spelling the words and acted out their meanings, while the auditory group chanted after one caller.  Pictured below is the visual group working on posters of each word with a meaningful sentence.

I have also added another class to my schedule!  I now teach German to the sixth graders during third period.  This class alternates with P.E., so the boys and girls are in two separate classes of seven students each.  I have organized each class into three leveled groups based on their background with the German language (which ranges from very basic to fluent!!).  Sometimes the students do individual practice using Rosetta Stone (pictured below), other times I work with small groups on topical lessons, and occasionally we are all together for a special application activity.  I am excited for the opportunity to help the students grow this semester!  (And meanwhile, my German is improving, too!)

Chapel Band Fun!

Because there is a special chapel at the high school tomorrow, the middle school chapel band didn't need to prepare songs to lead worship this week, which left us with two extra chapel band elective periods!  Here's what we decided to do...

Learn new songs!
I played some of Chris Tomlin's new CD ("Burning Lights") for the students, and we attempted "Lay Me Down" together.  (Check out the video below for a clip of this song!)  We also played 3 other relatively new songs together - "One Thing Remains" (Jesus Culture), "Find You on My Knees" (Kari Jobe), and "Cornerstone" (Hillsong Live).

Try new instruments!
We challenged the students to play their secondary instruments or even a totally new instrument to them!  Amazingly, they had no problem playing the new songs on new instruments.  These middle schoolers are incredibly talented!  In the picture below, I teamed up with one of our usual singers on keys.  She wanted to play the keyboard, but only knew the C chord... so she played C, and I played everything else!

"Play" the iPad!
Brittany (the other chapel band teacher) showed students how to use Garage Band to play along with the other instruments.  Each student had a turn with the iPad guitar, keyboard, drums, or stringed orchestra.

Jam together!
We have had a BLAST just playing together this week!  Take a look at the video on my Facebook for a peek at our jam session.

Sharing My Story

Many of you are familiar with my "story" of learning about opportunities to teach at BFA, applying to serve with TeachBeyond, and beginning my life overseas.  This Christmas break I have enjoyed catching up with friends and family who know my story well, who have committed to pray for me and have given sacrificially to enable me to serve overseas.

I have also had the unique privilege of sharing my story many times this Christmas break.  I spent 5 days right after Christmas at InterVarsity's Urbana missions conference, which happens every three years.  I attended as a student in 2006 and 2009, and I believe that the speakers and experiences at those conferences greatly impacted my understanding of missions and desire to be a part of God's work in the world.  It was so exciting to be in the St. Louis dome filled with 16,000 missions-minded students!  In the afternoons, I had conversations with many who are interested in teaching abroad or serving at a school in some way (residence life, nurse, chaplain, etc.).  How encouraging to not only share a bit of my story, but also hear their stories and personal passion for serving God overseas!  Please pray with me for these young adults as they prayerfully pursue God's leading in the years to come.  May they (and we!) be faithful to listen to His voice and follow His direction.  (And as a side note, if YOU are interested in serving with TeachBeyond, I'd love to talk with you about it!  I know a lot more about our schools now!)

The TeachBeyond booth - ready for students!

Our silly shot :)  Can you tell we had fun together?

I also had the opportunity to visit a German class at the high school I attended.  It's hard to believe that nearly 7 years have passed since I sat in those same seats!  I opted not to do the presentation in German (phew!), but instead shared stories about the Kandern area.  I talked about Kandern's geographical location, nearby cities, local festivals, and cultural tidbits, as well as the unique multiculturalism of BFA itself.  Very quickly, the hour-long class was finished!  How fun it was to see my former German teacher again and share about BFA in that context.

In 24 hours I'll be boarding a plane to return to Germany.  I'm so thankful for the time I've had on this side of the ocean, making new memories and reconnecting with people.  Thanks, God, for your faithfulness and provision, wherever we go!

Creative Christmas Stories

My students make me smile!  I hope you feel the same way. :)

Prompt:  Something pops up behind you while you are sledding!  What is it? What happens next?!

I was at the top of the South Street Hill on my new sled.  It had a steering wheel, brakes, and plenty of leg space.  I jumped on it, then I went down real fast.  I was only a quarter down the hill when my cat, Bilbo, pops up behind me wearing a Santa suit and says, "Meeeowy Cwismeows," and I was amazed.  So, we kept going down the hill at about 20 mph.  At the end, we went back up and did it again.

A chill went down my spine.  Someone was behind me on my sled.  I didn't dare look back.  This was the most dangerous slope.  You had to dodge tree after tree and brake at the end to avoid going down the ravine.  I swerved around the first tree, trying to throw whatever it was off the sled.  It didn't work.  I went off a jump but my passenger was still there.  I was nearing the ravine.  The thing put an arm on my shoulder.  I bailed out, turned around, and watched as Santa Claus, riding my sled, went down the ravine.  He yelled, "You're getting coal this Christmas!"  Oops.

Prompt:  Explain to Santa why he should use the iPhone, iPad, etc. that you are sending him.

Dear Santa, I'm sending you a this laptop so that instead of having to write all these letters and get writer's cramp, I can just send you emails.  Also, instead of the elves having to make all the toys, you can just order them on Amazon.  And if you insist on making some of the toys, you can use iTunes to put on a happy Christmasy tune to make it fun.  And one last thing -- all the kids will think you're cool.  Sincerely, B.  P.S.  I'm hoping this will get me extra good points!

Dear Santa, I'm giving you this iPad to help you through this journey.  It can help you because it has a GPS app to help you get around.  Another use for an iPad is you can take pictures with the camera on the front and back.  You can also listen to Christmas music like "Let It Snow" and "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town."  Also, I know how long of a trip it is to get from England to America, so you can also play games on the way!  I hope you will like it! Your friend, L.

Prompt: Tell about your experience from the perspective of a wise man or shepherd.

I was walking down the street when I saw a star.  I went to my friends and told them about it.  We decided to go check it out and figured out there was a new king.  We went to Bethlehem and told about The King to the king, and he seemed to have a real weird face, but whatever.  By the time we found Him, He was about 2 years old.  So, we worshiped Him and felt His presence in us.  We gave Him gifts: myrrh, gold, and frankincense.  We felt joy and went home and had hot chocolate.

Yo!  I'm the one that's bringin' gold 'cause dat's how we roll.  So far it's been perty rough.  We be cruisin' all day, first one of the wise men got motion sick, then one got dehydrated and was talking about the stars being aliens.  Ain't nobody got time fo' that!  Then we made it after years of travelin'.  Boy, that was hard!  (I promise, this student actually has great grammar!  It's just well-written dialect!)

Christmas in Kandern!

I've been delaying this blog post in hopes that I could load some photos to SHOW you Christmas in Kandern... and it magically worked!  Mysterious.  Hope you enjoy these highlights of Christmas celebrations in Kandern!

The picturesque view of snowfall from my bedroom window last week.  Unfortunately, the rain we've had the past few days has completely rid us of the winter wonderland.

My small group went Christmas caroling last Wednesday.  We visited 5 other small groups and 5 BFA families.  This was one of my favorite small group times ever!  We had a lot of fun together as we drove around to the different houses.  We even sang to everyone as they arrived back at the high school at the end of small group time, and snow began to fall gently.  How delightful!

The middle school and high school choirs sang carols together at the downtown Christmas market last Thursday.  It was c-c-cold, but they did a great job!

The middle school parents blessed us with a middle school staff luncheon last Friday.  My classroom was transformed and we enjoyed cheeses, soups, and yummy desserts.

My roommate Brittany and I ventured into downtown Basel for their Christmas market last weekend!  It was fun to walk around a look at the different stalls.  We even got to participate in a flash mob (singing "How Great Is Our God" in German) organized by an alliance of churches in Basel!

Brittany and I had the middle school chapel band students over to our house for a Christmas party on Monday after school.  We played several Christmas carol games and ended by playing this favorite, Whoonu.  What a fun group of middle schoolers!

Wednesday was the annual small group Christmas party.  My group joined with Brittany and Justina's group to eat yummy soup, watch Home Alone, decorate cookies, and sip homemade hot chocolate.  It was a fun, relaxing time for everyone!

We did a major locker clean-out this week... some of the students needed it more than others!

During the last two English classes before break, the sixth graders wrote creative stories about different Christmas-related prompts.  I'll be posting some of these soon so you can hear how hilarious and clever they are!

Next time I write, I'll be on the other side of the Atlantic.  I'm looking forward to spending this Christmas in PA with some of YOU!

Thanksgiving Recap

So, Blogger is telling me that I have reached my maximum photo storage for this blog... no!  I have been wanting to update you on the latest events, but I've been putting it off in hopes that Blogger might change its mind.  It hasn't.  But here is the latest update anyway!  (And here's hoping that I might be able to fix it for the future...)

The past few weeks have flown by with activities nearly every day and big responsibilities on my shoulders.  On the heels of Operation Christmas Child, I switched gears to plan a motorized scavenger hunt for my small group and six other high school girl small groups!  My parents have lots of experience writing and participating in scavenger hunts like these, so I asked them to help with the planning.  They wrote the story line about a missing Thanksgiving dinner, which took groups to my favorite cafe, the kitchen of a BFA dorm, a guys small group, and the town square.  I wrote clues, contacted people at the different sites, and assembled sealed envelopes.  The girls gathered at the high school and were sent out in their teams of 7-9 people.  It was hard to sit still once the vans pulled out... I so hoped that all of the clues would work and that they would all finish in time!  From everything I have heard, it was a success and the girls had a blast!

Two days later, we hosted 18 of our friends in our living room for our 3rd annual Thanksgiving celebration!  We provided the turkeys (three of them!) and friends brought side dishes to complete the spread.  After a delicious meal, we read some Psalms and sang worship songs together, another Thanksgiving tradition of ours.  While eating delicious desserts - and long after we had put down our forks! - we chatted and laughed.  Yes, it was loud.  What would you expect with a group of 18 girls?!  You can see a picture of all of us around the table and read my friend's summary of the event on her blog.

Our Christmas tree is up and our living room is splashed with red and white, yet I am still overflowing with thanksgiving.  I am grateful for a community here in Kandern that makes this feel like home.  I'm grateful for my community on the other side of the ocean at Grace Point, which makes it possible for me to serve here at BFA.  I'm thankful for wonderful students, inspiring mentors, and a job I love.

"Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."  Psalm 16:5-6