Current mood:
calm After my horrible Tuesday, the week continued to go downhill. By the time I left school on Thursday, I was ready to pack up and leave. I couldn't handle any more ridiculous co-workers or violent kids. I was done. The joy of teaching was gone. I hated having to go to school each day. I dreaded going to school each day. I ended up on my knees that night begging God for help, straining to hear His voice through the madness that was raging in my mind. I didn't hear God's voice that night, but He came through in a big way on Friday.
I was in desperate need of some humor at school on Friday. I was doing okay, but I wasn't enjoying teaching - just kind of going through the motions, which isn't a whole lot of fun for anybody. About half way through our reading time, I was sitting beside one of my students and we were reading a book together. My room is really cold (stupid thermostat) so my students will often pull their arms inside their shirts (like kids do outside on cold days - pull their arms inside their coats and leave the arms hanging). Wallace was wearing a long sleeve shirt and had pulled his arms in while he was reading. Halfway through the book he looked at me and said, "I'm stuck." Nothing big, nothing exciting, just "I'm stuck." He had crossed his arms inside his shirt and put his arms through the opposite shirt sleeves. He had somehow gotten his arms all the way through (his hands were coming out the ends). Then he realized that he couldn't get them out again (his shirt was not overly big). He was stuck and couldn't move his arms. I started chuckling as I pulled on his sleeves enough for him to get his arms out and uncrossed. When he got his shirt on correctly again, he looked at me with this impish grin of his and we both bust out laughing. Helga (another student) was sitting at the same table reading and had watched the whole thing; she started laughing, too. Wallace and I chuckled our way through the rest of the book. All we'd have to do is look at each other and we'd start laughing again. Right before the end of the day, I was reading the class a book based on the song, "On Top of Spaghetti." Those of you familiar with that song know that a meatball tree grows at the end. I asked them if they had ever seen a meatball tree (as a comprehension check). Wallace said that he had and launched into this story about how he and some other people had been out on a four-wheeler and seen a meatball tree and they went home and got buckets and then went back and picked meatballs off this meatball tree. He was dead serious about it. I asked him if he was sure it wasn't an apple tree or berries or something. No, he was sure it was a meatball tree and they had picked meatballs off it. It was the funniest story I have ever heard a 6-year-old tell. I was a little concerned about having him in my class, but he is the funniest kid. Both of those incidents gave me a much-needed reason to laugh. Oh, and the kid who had been hitting others (several times a day, every day)? He didn't hit anyone on Friday. It was blissful.
Yesterday, I was enjoying the day off, not thinking about school, wanting to get outside and do something but too lazy to do anything about it. Anna (one of the teachers) came by and said she was going to have a bonfire at Nex Creek and wanted to know if Katie and I wanted to go along. I ended up going with her. The walk was short, 15 or so minutes, and it was beautiful on the beach. It was right where Nex Creek meets the Bering Sea. A light breeze kept the bugs (mostly) away, and it was nice just sitting beside a fire, listening to and watching the waves, chatting with someone that I don't get to talk to a lot. John and Katie showed up on John's four-wheeler some hours later, and then Mark showed up sometime after that when he got done fishing. It's something I don't do a lot - sitting and talking with other people, especially with the added perk of being out in a beautiful setting, with a small bonfire going. We didn't leave until after dark (almost midnight). I love having long days! I didn't walk back; I hitched a ride on John's four-wheeler. It was a break from kids, a break from school, a break from being in the village all the time. God came through again! (FYI - I have a few pictures that I will post as soon as I find the cord to connect my camera to my computer. . . . I know it's around here somewhere. . . . )
I was in desperate need of some humor at school on Friday. I was doing okay, but I wasn't enjoying teaching - just kind of going through the motions, which isn't a whole lot of fun for anybody. About half way through our reading time, I was sitting beside one of my students and we were reading a book together. My room is really cold (stupid thermostat) so my students will often pull their arms inside their shirts (like kids do outside on cold days - pull their arms inside their coats and leave the arms hanging). Wallace was wearing a long sleeve shirt and had pulled his arms in while he was reading. Halfway through the book he looked at me and said, "I'm stuck." Nothing big, nothing exciting, just "I'm stuck." He had crossed his arms inside his shirt and put his arms through the opposite shirt sleeves. He had somehow gotten his arms all the way through (his hands were coming out the ends). Then he realized that he couldn't get them out again (his shirt was not overly big). He was stuck and couldn't move his arms. I started chuckling as I pulled on his sleeves enough for him to get his arms out and uncrossed. When he got his shirt on correctly again, he looked at me with this impish grin of his and we both bust out laughing. Helga (another student) was sitting at the same table reading and had watched the whole thing; she started laughing, too. Wallace and I chuckled our way through the rest of the book. All we'd have to do is look at each other and we'd start laughing again. Right before the end of the day, I was reading the class a book based on the song, "On Top of Spaghetti." Those of you familiar with that song know that a meatball tree grows at the end. I asked them if they had ever seen a meatball tree (as a comprehension check). Wallace said that he had and launched into this story about how he and some other people had been out on a four-wheeler and seen a meatball tree and they went home and got buckets and then went back and picked meatballs off this meatball tree. He was dead serious about it. I asked him if he was sure it wasn't an apple tree or berries or something. No, he was sure it was a meatball tree and they had picked meatballs off it. It was the funniest story I have ever heard a 6-year-old tell. I was a little concerned about having him in my class, but he is the funniest kid. Both of those incidents gave me a much-needed reason to laugh. Oh, and the kid who had been hitting others (several times a day, every day)? He didn't hit anyone on Friday. It was blissful.
Yesterday, I was enjoying the day off, not thinking about school, wanting to get outside and do something but too lazy to do anything about it. Anna (one of the teachers) came by and said she was going to have a bonfire at Nex Creek and wanted to know if Katie and I wanted to go along. I ended up going with her. The walk was short, 15 or so minutes, and it was beautiful on the beach. It was right where Nex Creek meets the Bering Sea. A light breeze kept the bugs (mostly) away, and it was nice just sitting beside a fire, listening to and watching the waves, chatting with someone that I don't get to talk to a lot. John and Katie showed up on John's four-wheeler some hours later, and then Mark showed up sometime after that when he got done fishing. It's something I don't do a lot - sitting and talking with other people, especially with the added perk of being out in a beautiful setting, with a small bonfire going. We didn't leave until after dark (almost midnight). I love having long days! I didn't walk back; I hitched a ride on John's four-wheeler. It was a break from kids, a break from school, a break from being in the village all the time. God came through again! (FYI - I have a few pictures that I will post as soon as I find the cord to connect my camera to my computer. . . . I know it's around here somewhere. . . . )
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