Love

This is the sweet little bit of encouragement one of my show choir babies left me yesterday. Talk about sweetness.  Ooooo, Lawd.  I can't tell you enough how much I love these kids.  Even when they get on my last nerve because they won't listen when Karen gives instruction or won't clean that last move we worked on or forget to enunciate their words on "Havin' a Hunch" or when they get an attitude with me.  They are so precious to me! 

Thankful Tuesday

Today was good for many reasons, and I'm thankful.

A) Breakfast duty in the lunchroom.  Ok... real talk.  So... most days, you'll hear me bemoan this dreaded daily task.  I lose 25 precious minutes in my classroom... not a few weeks out of the year like most teachers but EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  Many days I'm a little bitter sad about it.  But MOST days I'm thankful.  I've been able to build friendships with two of the coaches on staff who share my duty post.  We argue over who's going to make the kids take off their hoods.  (Most often, the last one to arrive on post has that task!)  We gripe about teacher issues.  We discuss life goals.  And today?  Today we the coaches gave dating advice.  And we laughed.  A lot.  :) My favorite quote of the morning?  "Well, you seem pretty charming.  You've definitely got that going for you!"  Haha!  So even on days when I'm harried because I don't feel quite together because I didn't get to school early enough to turn on my computer much less prepare my mind for the day before jetting off to the cafeteria, I love breakfast duty.  Especially on mornings like today filled with laughter!

B) I launched Unit 2 today: Defining Courage.  It was a fabulous day in Room 314.  I found nine quotes that I thought best embodied Martin Luther King, Jr., and I had my students analyze them.  They worked in pairs to determine the quotes' meanings and then shared them with the class.  I had them determine the central themes running through the quotes.  Then they guessed which time period in US History they fit... and then they guessed at the author of the quotes.  It took them a minute, but they eventually came up with MLK, Jr.   Dead on.  We started reading and annotating "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."  I'm excited because Pam Williams, our Instructional Support Specialist and former Georgia Teacher of the Year, is coming tomorrow to share with them about Dr. King's life and death and to do a demonstration of a nonviolent protest.  I so love my job.


I'm not gonna lie.  I teared up a little bit talking about Dr. King and his contributions to our society.  And I ensured them that if they came to class this week with an open mind - willing to think and talk and participate and learn and discuss - they would be forever changed.  And the best part?  I know some are already headed in that direction.  I could see it in their eyes while we talked. 

C) The quote "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" led us to talk about slavery.  I was able to talk about misconceptions of slavery and share the End It Movement with my kids.  Do you know about End It?  If not, please check it out!  There are 27 million men, women, and children enslaved in our world today.  Get involved!  Spread the word!  END IT!

D) I was home by 4:00 p.m., and I'm gearing up for a night of productivity.  Cleaning, laundry, EdS work, and a home cooked meal is coming my way!  (Trying to get my life in order before heading to Birmingham with my show choir babies for competition this weekend!)

E) My spirit's been a little restless these past few days.  Some opportunities and changes and different things coming up.  I've been caught up in anxiety and worry and fear and stress.  Today I'm relaxed.  Happy.  Stress-free.  Maybe because I took a minute this morning to ask a few friends to pray for me.  Maybe because I realized that I wasn't trusting God enough and gave Him back the little bit of control over my life I'd slowly taken away from Him.  Thankful that I'm sure who I am and whose I am.

Good stuff, y'all... and it's only TUESDAY!!!  :)