Technology Thursday.

I love to introduce my students to new technology in my classroom.

This gem is so cool:
To power on=open it
To power off=close it
To zoom in=move device closer
To zoom out=move device further away
You can also skip material by scrolling(or turning the page)

You are welcome for this classic but amazing technology introduction.

Teaching Matters

Sometimes teaching is hard. Sometimes I have to be nice. Sometimes I have to be a little less than nice. It’s a lot like how I have to be with my own kids. In fact, sometimes, in a lot of ways, teaching is like being a mom to a lot more kids than I actually birthed.

This is also why teaching matters. Some of my kids don’t have a lot of support at home. They come to look at me for guidance, direction, and support. Yeah, that doesn’t bring any pressure.

Yesterday, I played mom for about a half an hour while a student was suffering from a pretty intense asthma attack. It was scary. I didn’t know if I would have to call an ambulance or not kind of scary. Luckily, the student had an inhaler, but it took about five puffs to get them back to breathing semi-normally and enough to be able to talk. Scary. Draining. But I needed to be there to hold a student up while they were struggling. Struggling in this case to breathe, but each day I am hold kids up in some way or another as they struggle. Whether it is an in your face kind of physical struggle or an invisible struggle that causes them to lash out, be moody, or try to numb out by not participating, I have to be there to deal with that struggle. And I am saying it is not always easy and I do not always know what I need to do or be for them. And it is often, like yesterday, exhausting. But it matters.

I even slept much more than normal last night because my kid lost his first tooth and was actually excited to sleep, like the Tooth Fairy comes faster or something when you go to bed before dark. I rarely sleep more than seven hours and as I awoke this morning I am still tired. I want to dive under those covers for another few hours, but alas, I am about to get up and put on my “professional clothes” and again go to battle.

Battle for those who don’t have support. Battle for those who are anxious or depressed. Battle for those who are lonely. Battle for those who have lost their will to care about school. Battle for those who haven’t yet found their passion.

I’ll put that armor on again today, not because it is easy, but because it does indeed matter.

*If this has touched you in any way, reach out to a teacher today and say thank you!  To all my teacher friends...remember that those kids need you. Do all you need to in order to be ready each and every day for them. Armor yourself with faith, sleep, good food and all the other self care things you need. Thank you!!!

P-I-G

After practice today, one of my players challenged me to a game of PIG.  That means Pretty Intelligent Girl, Right?  Yeah, he didn't find that very funny either.  Another one of my players was watching, and I really liked how he said something along the lines of:  "Coach has a nice jump shot."  Earlier he had said: "You shoot like old school or something!"  I asked him what exactly that meant and he said, "Yeah like Larry Bird or Magic Johnson."  I then said to him, "Guess who I was watching play when I was younger?" 

Larry Bird was my hero.  I wanted to play like him.  I watched practically every game he played.  I would try to mimic him and play like him.  Of course, in my mind I was playing like him, but I am sure it was a lot more like just a normal kid with mediocre skills. 

I actually won the game of PIG today.  Does that mean he is a Pretty Intelligent Girl?  We were tied P-I for a long time, and then I took control.  Playing that game brought back a flood of memories about my basketball playing in the past.  

When that player said "Coach has a nice jump shot."  I thought about the countless hours I spent shooting the ball, and perfecting my shot.  I lived in bitter-cold Wisconsin and that didn't even stop me from going into the driveway and shooting, often times having to shovel off the court before doing so.  That though, is how I got that nice jump shot.  

I don't think kids realize how much it takes to perfect something, to make it become routine and second nature.  It takes hundreds of hours practicing.  

I thought of this earlier in the day too when a student in PE class wanted to give up while playing badminton for the first time.  Sometimes things are hard and we are tempted to stop.  By stopping though we guarantee that we will never become good at it.  That frustration isn't something that I necessarily can sympathize with because I really do feel I have a little bit of a gift when it comes to sport skills.  I'm not sure if I was actually born with that skill or if it has always just been my passion so I kept on repeating certain movements to get good at them.  I do feel that it may be a little bit of both though.  

How often do we give up on things because they become too difficult or challenging?  What if we took all the things that we struggle with and started to "shovel off the courts" of our lives and kept on shooting?

Maybe you struggle with patience, or kindness or sympathy?  What if you got your court cleared and played to be better at it?

Just a few thoughts as I went through my day.  And here is a little bit of a Throwback Tuesday for you...

I'm #15 going for the jump ball.  Probably 6th Grade at Lincoln School, Wausau, Wisconsin.

I drive past the old school most times I visit home.
I am not sure they still have this statue, which is one of my
fondest landmark memories of those hallways.

I spent hours playing.  Here I am on one of many recesses during my elementary days!

Meter Monday

I am a poet.  I said it.  I like to write poetry.  According to my mom, I am very good at it.  According to my poetry professor at Utah State, my poetry is worthy of lots of red pen marks.  Funny thing is that I let him convince me to quit writing poetry for over ten years.  I was young and didn't understand the value of feedback and editing. He happened to be a published poet, so at the time I just assumed I sucked.  And. I. Don't! I wonder what he really thought of my poetry.  Those red marks maybe meant he thought it could improve.  Mindset is everything, isn't it?

So, on Mondays I am going to share with you some of my poetry.  It may be new or old.  Here's one I wrote this week(and it is a work in progress and I now, after years of therapy(that therapy coming from being a member of The Central Utah Writing Project),  I realize writing is a process and really any piece of writing can still be edited.  If you have any suggestions about how to make it better, feel free to share it with me:

Sometimes You Need to Get Lost

My boots a percussion of steps
Crunch, crunch, crunch
Lead me through the falling snow
Wisp, wisp, wisp
To my favorite place to get "lost"
The literary goodness
Enhoused in Provo's hidden gem
Pioneer Book

Shelves stocked with treasure
I the miner who sorts
Organizing refuse from value
Thousands of books I'll never read
flanking the hundreds I will
A lottery is happening and there will be only one winner
I the crane in the crane game
must grab the chosen one
The one I will love or at least like

To read or not to read
That is the question
I open each carefully
Reading the opening sentence
Or a whole chapter
And I choose

Today it is teen fiction
But it won't always be
Thank goodness for weekly walks
And for thousands of choices
To become lost
And to find

All I Wanted for Christmas was....

This is the only thing I asked for, when Reuben asked me what I wanted for Christmas.

  

You may or may not know that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I have been since I was 18 years old and I still consider my choice to join my church the best one I have ever made.  (Of course there is another decision that is also very important and that was the choice to marry Reuben.  But that wouldn't even have ever happened without me first choosing to change churches.)

Each Sunday my congregation, or Ward(who happens to be the people in my neighborhood who are active members of the church because our church is organized geographically.), gathers at 9 a.m. for what we call Sacrament meeting.  Here we partake of the sacrament(commonly know as the water and the wine(but we use water)) and also we also listen to fellow members give talks about Gospel topics, testify of truth, pray and sing together. The second hour of our weekly meetings is either Sunday School, or Relief Society(Woman's Organization)/Elder's Quorum(Men's Organization. These meetings are set up in a classroom/discussion type of setting.  

Here is where my Christmas present comes in.  This year, we are reading The Book of Mormon and discussing it in Sunday School with one another.  I have been so excited for this, because this book as changed my life and when I found the journal edition of The Book of Mormon, I was even more excited.  Many of you learned yesterday that I have a horrible memory.  Well, having a space in the margins for me to jot down thoughts as I read really makes me learn and  remember more.  I also have a bible that has margins for journaling and it has been so fun this past year to read The New Testament again and be able to write my thoughts and inspirations as I read.  (Each year we read a different section of scripture.  Last year was New Testament, this year will be The Book of Mormon, next year will be The Doctrine and Covenants/The Pearl of Great Price, and the following year we will read The Old Testament, so every four years we repeat a section!)  Sure, I have read through these sections numerous times, but I learn something new and feel inspirations differently each time.  I guess that is because we experience different things in life so different passages hit us at different times.

For the first week we read the introductory part of The Book of Mormon.  My biggest question for myself is how can I be a better witness of Christ and his Gospel?  I'll let you know what the answer is as I keep reading.  But I have felt inspired to share my feelings about Jesus Christ more often.  So, here you are:  I do know that Christ walked on this planet.  I know that he willingly gave up his life for each of us to be able to gain forgiveness from our mistakes and shortcomings.  I know that he loves me and that he actually knows me.  He also made it possible for each of us to live again after this life.  The grave truly has no victory.  I, like the witnesses who left their witness not of seeing the golden plates that contained the writings of The Book of Mormon, also testify here that I do know The Book of Mormon is a true record.  It contains the fullness of The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  One of my favorite parts in the book is when Jesus appears to the people of ancient America and allows them to come one by one and feel the prints on his hands and feet.  I weep, as they did, when I read this record of a Savior that loves each and every one of his children/disciples.  If you haven't ever read this book, I invite you to give it a read.  But be careful, it may just change your life.

This post is part of my "Spiritual Sunday" posts.  Each Sunday I will write something spiritual. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about my faith or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  And may you have a very restful sabbath!

If you would like to learn a little more about The Book of Mormon, check out this video: A 60 Second Explanation of The Book of Mormon