Fourth Grade Lessons

Fourth Grade Lessons

I’m not sure how many people I’ve told, but teaching fourth graders was never on my bucket-list. All my life, I have wanted to work with little kids. My mom and mommom have passed on enough materials that I could teach preschool without much preparation. So when my two supervisors from student teaching in Haiti asked me to teach fourth grade this year, I was a bit skeptical (and if I’m being honest, a bit scared too).

Now that we are half way through the second marking period though, I can say that that has changed! Every day isn’t a piece of cake, but I love my fourth graders. I love how I can have real, deep conversations with them and really work through our material. In the process of me learning how to teach them in the most effective ways, they’ve been teaching me some things along way. I thought I’d share some lessons from fourth grade.

1.)            Be silly!

2.)          Be kind.

3.)          Don’t forget to play.

4.)          Ask questions.

"Miss Kacie, how many galaxies are there?““Are elk bigger than deer?” “How big is the sun compared to earth?” “What is the world’s biggest insect?” (Thank God for Google!) 

     

http://pics-about-space.com/

5.)          Love all of God’s creations.

Ok, so this one is kinda my fault. I'm one that cannot kill a bug without feeling guilty..It annoys people, but I can't help it, I promise! :P .I may have turned many of my students into that too. Where they used to freak out at bugs, spiders, snakes, etc. they now are curious and kind. Now, instead of screaming at a giant spider, they say, "Aww! It's so cute! Let's move our stuff so that he can be safe where he is." 

6.)          Dig deep into God’s Word.

This one goes alongside the questions one. They have so many impressive questions about the Word! Where did dinosaurs go and where are they in the Bible? (Genesis & Job in case you were wondering) What does the Bible say about angels? What will heaven be like? If Jesus was born in 4 A.D., how was He at creation? How can one God have three persons? I love these questions as it makes me dive deep into the Bible to make sure I am teaching them correctly. It is also evidence that they are thinking through these issues at a young age! 

7.)          Sing “Bless the Lord (10,000 reasons)” whenever it comes to mind.

This is some of my kids' favorite song (which I love)! We started adding in some worship song time to our Bible time recently. I've found that it really sets the pace of the day and makes everyone in a better mood. This song though, it's not just sung at Bible time...It is hummed while I am teaching. It is done as a duet, quartet, 11-tet as we are doing stations. It is begged for at chapel. It brings a calm across the room as we sing, "Bless the Lord oh my soul. Worship His Holy name. Sing like never before, oh my soul, worship His holy name." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtwIT8JjddM

8.)          Pray boldly.

One of the best decisions I've made this year is to turn from one or two people praying each day to doing "popcorn prayers." Though there are some that will whine that it takes too long, for the most part they offer up pure, bold prayers about so many things. I just have to give you some examples. 

"God, thank you for all that you have made and all you have given us. Please comfort those who don't have as much."

"God, thank you that we go to a school where we can grow more in you. Please be with those who cannot hear about You at school and with those who cannot even go to school. Help them find a way to learn about you."

"Lord, please come back soon so we can see the New Heaven and New Earth...but God give us enough time to tell more people about you so that no one will spend forever without you"

"Let the bad guys stop doing wrong, and turn to You so that others will see and do the same." 

"Thank you for loving us. Help kids without parents get to go home soon with forever families."

"Help the people dealing the flood so that they can fix their homes, find food, and a safe place to sleep." 

I'm telling you- when these kids really pray, I get the goosebumps and feel the Spirit in my classroom. I even told them that I don't care when it takes more than 5 minutes to pray because I imagine God listening and smiling in Heaven at us. 

9.)          Hug often.

If you have questions about this one, please see my post about my "clingy class." ;) . 

10.)        There is something way more important than lesson plans, conferences, and standards. These 4th graders "love Jesus deep down in their hearts!" ♡

"Doing Life"

        Hello and happy November! I have been in Haiti for almost 3 months now and I finally feel like I'm "doing life." Instead of just focusing on school work (which is honestly enough to keep me busy), I am able to make my decisions and add diversity to my life as I grow in relationship with the people here. Here's some examples:
        Doing life looks like a trip to the Potter's House to take a sick baby to the doctor. Little baby was malnourished with intestinal parasites.
        Doing life looks like weekend trips to Children of the Promise to love on and tutor some of the kids I met during my first trip to Haiti in 2014.
         Doing life looks like an impromptu trip to a nearby restaurant when your groceries don't arrive and you really just need a  girl's night.
         Doing life looks like a Halloween party, a week early, so that you can celebrate with friends.
         Doing life looks like stopping class mid-lesson to "rescue" the school's dog from her leash in the rain so my students could focus. (It was like a movie scene the way they cheered as she came running for them full speed.)
         Doing life looks like making flour & sugar free cookies with a student so that she can participate in our awesome class party that she "paid" for with her class economy money.
          Doing life looks like canceling your weekend plans to attend a co-worker's mom's funeral to show your support.
           Doing life looks like an exciting adventure with the radio station's president.
           Doing life looks like housing a co-worker and feeding her family because her house is flooded, school is cancelled and it's been raining for 4 days straight.
           Doing life looks like changing from our sweats (it was 84 degrees and we were cold) into shorts to run through the rain and stomp in some puddles.

These examples are only a few of what my life has started to look like...I am so thankful that I am learning to not be so busy that I miss what God is doing around me as a do life here in Haiti. 

What I’m Here For

What I’m Here For

          Everyone knows that a teacher’s life isn’t easy. There are endless lessons to plans, papers to grade, standards to meet, and students to reach. Even in Haiti, separated from mainstream education systems, these things can be exhausting. These past two weeks though, I’ve gotten many reminders as to my purpose of being here this year.

          My class and I have sort of an agreement. We can have fun and run things differently as long as we are safe, respectful, and learning. This works out well for us usually and allows for our small class bond to grow. I started to feel though, that maybe we were too close and that they were too clingy. It started with read aloud time where I just read through a fun novel. Instead of sitting at their seats, I allow them to sit on the floor or in the coveted comfy chairs. Now, most of my students want to be right up next to me or at my feet within reach. At snack/ first recess time, they want to spend it inside with me. At lunch, it’s a race to see who will ask me to sit with them first. Then recess comes and they still want to sit and talk with me. (Note: this is not every day and every time, they still play with their friends, but it is a very common occurrence). It was to the point where all my food/recess/break time that I use for prep was taken up each day.

          The teacher in me would groan. Didn’t they realize I had work to do, copies to make, lessons to plan? All the work that comes with giving them their education? Then I felt a nudge from God reminding me why I am here and why I ever wanted to be a teacher in the first place. I’m here for the relationships. I’m here for the hugs, the laughs, the drying of tears, the lunch table discussions. I’m here for the hand-in-hand walk down sidewalk in the mornings, for the “Miss Kacie, did you know”s, the never-ending stories, and lame fourth grade jokes. I want them to confide in me when they are frustrated with more than a math problem and trust me to know their fears and life questions. I want them to see how I live my life and think that maybe they want to follow my Jesus too.

          After this reminder, I found a lot more joy in my days and a lot less exhaustion. I am still definitely tired, but it’s that good fulfilled, satisfied tired. I enjoy sitting with them and taking part in their conversations. While some days the conversations are wacky, others bring a lot of nine-year-old wisdom. No matter what the case, our time is now being cherished a whole lot more and I look forward to what the rest of the year will bring to me and my clingy class.

Catching Up

January 7^th, 2016

Coming back from Haiti this time was different. Everyone handled it differently. My family had work and school on my first day back so it was just me and my dogs reconnecting as life went on around me. Even with friends though, at church and otherwise, I felt like I was getting a glimpse into the future. People said, “Welcome back to the States” or “Good to see you back church.” No one said, “Welcome home.” In fact, the one person who started to say that stopped himself and asked me, “Wait, or are you visiting here and Haiti is home now?” Other comments included, “How long are you here for?” “When do you go back?” And even “When do you go home?” And “I have a feeling that pretty soon we won’t be seeing you very often around here.”

As much as these comments caught me off guard, I wasn’t offended by them. I know missionaries who have lived internationally for years and their family and friends refuse to acknowledge their official “home-ness” of their countries. It just seems to me that everyone around me as just accepted my calling before I have. I have known this was coming but I think there was always a little part of me that hoped God would tweak my timing to be more convenient. You know, like after some teaching experiences or a husband, or paying off student loans…Fortunately, God’s ways and His timing are not my own and I need to let Him call the shots on this one. He has proved over and over that this is His voice I’m feeling and it’s not a call for I’m ready. It’s for now.

          I’ve stayed awake until 5am pondering my future to come to these conclusions…I’m hoping now that I’ve admitted it, I’ll be able to sleep.

August 17^th, 2016

          Well….as many of you know, I let God call the shots and I am headed back to Haiti this Saturday. It is currently 2:52 am on my birthday and I’m laying downstairs because I am literally hotter than Haiti and my mind is buzzing with emotions and thoughts that I haven’t gotten on paper yet. I’ll give you a quick recap of my year since that revelation and then hopefully update you from my new normal.

          January: Start working at TIA as lead infant teacher

          February: Start application process to get back to Haiti

          March: TIA closed so I moved to be the lead 3 year old teacher at Kiddie Academy

          May: get accepted to OMS! (Start fundraising)

          July: resign from K.A. to head to CROSS training in Indiana

          August: two week of VBS and this one week of prep before heading down!

** I think I fell asleep because that last sentence wasn’t even finished.

August 21, 2016

          It hasn’t been an easy road, but I’m finally back in Haiti. A quote I kept finding in random places is this:

 which is fitting because even though the transition will be difficult, it is not about becoming better, it is being who God created me to be. So anyway, after a lovely commissioning service by my church, last week was spent cleaning and packing and cherishing every moment with my family. I’m now in the process of unpacking and settling before I start back to school with the other teachers on Wednesday. This week I will hopefully give you a better update on my life in Haiti and what it will look like.  Thank you for your prayers! Stay tuned....