Back to the Grind!

Oh it feels so good to be back at ECA! I missed my students so much! However, I think they forgot most of the procedures I had in place! Matt had this great idea to divide all the students into Bulldog Lines (the school's mascot is the Bulldog). That is a super easy way to go through attendance, it gives the students a specific spot to stand when they come into the gym, and it is a great way to divide teams, all you have to do is say Bulldog lines 1 and 2 over here and 3 and 4 over there. Then they know exactly where they are suppose to go. When the students stand in their BDL, they are suppose to keep their hands to themselves and be quiet so they can listen to instructions and I can take attendance. The last few classes this week it has taken upwards of 15 minutes to get them to settle down. So we had to practice standing in our BDL.

I find it fascinating how I can reason with some of the kids. One class period the third graders had a really rough time getting along and there was/is a lot of blame going around. So I actually sat them all down and gave them a chance to express what they were thinking and feeling. We did not get to be very active but this was more important. The students were given a chance to actually work out their issues. Yes, we still have a lot of blaming going on but they seem to deal with it quicker. I love that each class is different. My third graders are very logical. Last class I told them all to look at the clock and I said we got to play our warm up game till the clock said 12:00. When it got to that time, I stopped the game and had them clean up. They were complaining that it wasn't fair and they didn't get much time to play. I asked them to repeat the time I said we could play till and asked them what time it was. When they remembered what I had said, there was not any more complaining. I also mentioned that if they argue less then they get to play more.

Recently I experienced my first major complaint. I just started a unit of volleyball with 3rd and 4th grades. I had a third grader come up to me and tell me that he did not like volleyball and that it was boring. I asked him why he thought it was boring and that I do not allow the word boring in my gym classes. He thought it was not fun because all we are doing is passing the ball back and forth. So I tried to reason with him by saying we need to practice the skills before we can play games with the skills. He said, well what kind of games and I tried volleyball once and I didn't like it. 'Well go try it again.' 'I did and I didn't like it.' So I asked him what sports he liked to play. His response was swimming and baseball but only when he's the batter. Oish! So he asked to sit out. I told him that we were going to be doing volleyball for the next three weeks and he cannot sit out for the whole unit. Plus, what was he going to do for the rest of the classes when we are doing other sports he doesn't like? His answer was to sit out. No way! So I talked to him about how if he didn't practice then his partner wouldn't have anyone to pass with either. Anyways, this took almost 20 minutes. He was so persistent. Wow! Actually almost the whole class was groaning when I told them we were going to play volleyball for the next three weeks. Thankfully by the second class period with them, they seemed to really enjoy it! This particular student in the next class kept holding his neck when we played dodgeball (they ask to play almost every day). I had other students come up to me to say that they thought something was wrong with him. I said if it really hurts, he'll come tell me. Naturally right after we were finished with dodgeball and we started volleyball, he came up to me and said his neck hurt. I told him if it was okay enough to play dodgeball then it was okay enough to play volleyball... 'yeah but I just tried my best'... 'okay so you can try your best at volleyball'. And that was the end of it. The third class period I had them, he didn't complain at all! Praise the Lord!

On Friday, I had a surprise evaluation with my Kinder class. They are the ones that give me the biggest issues because of the language, the age and they are crazy sometimes! We have some great resources at school in various people. One lady, Glenda, has been teaching for years and years. She is also working specifically with ELL (English Language Learners) and helping integrate English Language Learning into every area of the school. Anyways, she came once before and observed my Kinder class because I had asked her for some strategies to help them learn to listen. She was going to come on Wednesday possibly but that didn't happen. So she showed up on Friday. My Friday Kinder class is only 30 minutes long, which is a much better time frame, there is usually only 5 or so minutes of chaos towards the end instead of 10+. Anyways, I wasn't super excited about my lesson plan but I was just going to do my best and take her advise openly. The first observation did not go well, the kids were running everywhere, not listening, playing with equipment when they were suppose to be listening... it was terrible, I cried after the class and a bit during my evaluation review. I was scared that if I got a poor evaluation that they would fire me. I told that to Glenda and she said if a good evaluation was all I needed to stay that she would always give me a good evaluation. So that was kind of encouraging in a strange way. Anyway, back to Friday's observation/evaluation. It was so much better. The kids listened much better! No it wasn't a perfect class but I would say they had 85% of their attention the whole class period! We practiced how we walk into the gym. We practiced responding to the whistle. We did various balance/locomotor challenges with our bean bags. If they did not listen then I took their bean bag away and if they did listen then they got it back. They practiced tossing their bean bags into hula hoops. It went really well. Yes, there was a small conflict with two boys stepping on each other's feet. So I separated them and asked them to go sit on lines on opposite sides of the basketball court. One, who gives me issues sometimes, sat on the line I told him to sit on and sat their with his hands folded in his lap and his bean bag on the line, like I taught them to when we are sitting in a circle and have bean bags. The other boy did not sit on the line at all but on the grass instead. So I followed him and repeatedly asked him to sit on the line till he obeyed and told him if he sits nicely without moving or talking then he only has to stay for 30 seconds. If he moves or makes noise then the time start over. The first boy got to come back and play while the other boy had to sit there much longer because he kept moving. It was a great example for Glenda! Plus the other kids were listening, for the most part, and continued their activity while I was dealing with the other two. When it was time for the second boy to come back and join the class, I made sure to stop him and ask him how he could honour his classmates, reminded him of what the instructions were, then reminded him again when he began to do something else. There were a couple of things I could work on but they were completely doable and applicable for sure! I need to work on getting the kids to repeat the directions. For example, if I want them to put their bean bag on their head... I would model it and have them repeat "I am putting the bean bag on my head" while they do the action. That will help them learn more English and allow me to check for clarification of the instructions. Oh, and I am starting to go into their classroom on Fridays and read them a story. It is great for me to see them in their classroom, listen to Kylie teach them and what strategies she uses that I can repeat in PE, plus they love story time so they pay attention pretty well.

Okay I really am trying to write less but apparently I have a lot to share! I mentioned how different my classes are, the same goes for middle school and high school. There is a huge difference in the 9-10 boys PE class and the 11-12 class in particular. Let's put it this way, when I help with those two classes, in the 9-10 class I fulfill more of a crowd control/teaching role whereas with the 11-12s I am a bit of a teacher but more of a participant in a way. Instead of walking around giving instructions and reminding the students what they should be doing (i.e. playing volleyball and not soccer), I am invited to join their passing circles or play on their team, even if they have enough players. The 11-12s are super sweet. They are the class that I go help out with when I need to lift my spirits! I tell Matt after almost every class that they make my heart happy! That is the best way I can think to explain it, they make my heart happy! So I baked them cookies for their class on Friday! They were stoked! Here is another example. I helped out with their class on Monday and on Tuesday a couple of them came up to me and started talking to me! What? Some of my cooking class students still ignore more in the hallways and these guys are initiating conversation! That's awesome! It also helps that Eric, the climbing senior that Matt is now officially mentoring, and a bunch of his buddies slackline at lunch. So naturally Matt and I are out there a few days a week hanging out with them. We get to know them that way. I want to encourage them to positively influence the younger grades because they are much less respectful. Wow! Such a huge difference.

I am feeling much better now! I would say about 95% healthy. I am starting to sing again, which I am so grateful for. It's been tough being in chapel and not being able to sing. :( I am still trying to be careful about how loud I am and how much I use my voice. I really do not want to lose it again. Thank you for your prayers!

Oh, we have booked our tickets to North America! We are going to be flying back to Detroit on Dec. 19th and staying in Ontario at Matt's parent's till New Years. We are leaving for Denver on Jan. 1st then on to Nebraska, where my parents will meet us for my cousin's wedding. Then heading back to Bogota on Jan. 9th! I am super excited to see everyone again. I mean I love it here and am not ready to leave for good but it'll be nice to see family again... and take a bubble bath and eat really tender beef and peanut butter M&Ms! Funny, I do not like regular M&Ms or any other kind but the peanut butter ones are probably my favourite candy... other than jelly belly jelly beans and white chocolate peppermint hershey's kisses... just in case anyone was curious! Okay, well we are getting together with some other teachers for Mexican food tonight then over to Mel's house (where we stayed the first week we were here) to make ice cream! Yum! Matt is out climbing with Eric, so I'll meet him at the Mexican restaurant... if he gets back in time. I love you all!

Living Life As A Joy-Filled Adventure!

PS: Some of the seniors are interested in going to TWU next year! That is so exciting!!!! Naturally Matt and I have been talking up our school and I am pretty sure we have one gal convinced!!! I think she would fit the school really well! :)

September 7, 2011 - Being sick in Bogota

Well it has been over a month since my last post and for that I apologize. When we signed up to come down here on this adventure, we had no idea that we would be so busy! We get up every school day around 5:40 am and catch the teacher van by 6:25. There is a meeting of some kind every day at 7:15 (7:00 on Fridays). School is over by 3:00 but for us, we have some kind of after school something going on every day. For me, Monday - Spanish class, Tuesday - The Truth Project (a video series that will help us get our full fledge ACSI teaching certification), Wednesday - Spanish class, Thursday - I lead fitness classes (which haven't started yet because I've been sick but we'll get to that in a minute or two) and Friday - Spanish class. Most of these go till 4:00 and then the first teacher van leaves at 4:15, which gets us to our apartment between 4:45 and 5:00. Then if we need any groceries or have to stop at the mall for whatever reason... we are home even later. It gets dark around 6:30 or so, which doesn't give you much time to do anything outside in the evenings. Plus we are usually so exhausted from school that all we want to do is eat then go to bed. We have been even more exhausted the last few weeks because I have been sick and Matt has been taking on some of my class, above and beyond his already overwhelming course load. Next year he is going to ask to teach less classes. I personally am quite happy with the number of classes I am teaching, when I can actually be at school and teach them. So about two weeks ago, I started to notice that my throat was hurting and my voice was not as strong as it usually is. I mean I thought I was use to using my teaching voice (i.e. my challenge course voice) but it is not quite the same. Anyway, after a week of fighting that off, my body gave in. On July 28th, I stayed home from church because I was not feeling well. I put some Vicks Vapour Rub on my throat to try to help it feel better and ended up getting some kind of allergic reaction or chemical burn on my neck. I went to school on Monday and felt worse so Matt took me home right after school. I stayed home from school on Tuesday and Wednesday, trying not to talk and keeping an ice pack on my neck to try to get the burn to feel better. Then came back to school on Thursday. That was a poor choice of days to come back on. That is my busiest PE day with four out of five of my PE classes. At least my burn was feeling better. However, by Friday (with only two PE classes), my voice was fading quickly, plus the cold that I was also fighting was starting to win. So we spent the weekend resting, watching movies, doing lesson planning and trying not to talk above a whisper. Well let me tell you something, whispering is just as bad as talking when you do not have a voice. Monday went pretty well at school. I would whisper to one kid then they would relay it to the class or I would model something and have them follow along. Even my Kinder class (which Matt came to help with), listened better than most other days. I show up to school on Tuesday and the nurse pulls me aside to check up on me. Her name is Sol, which is Spanish for Sun and is a wonderful person, a great nurse and an incredible prayer warrior (we go to the same church). She has been checking my throat every day to see how it is doing. Today it was bad enough to pull me in to her office, with a translator. Basically, she told me that I needed to find someone to cover my classes, she was going to call the specialist to get a prescription over the phone but if she could not get it over the phone then I needed to go to the hospital and should be ready to leave whenever. In Bogota, they are big on having people wear medical masks if they have a cough, are sick or there is too much smog. So I went upstairs with my mask to find Matt and let him know what was going on and of course I am a crying mess. Sol also told me that I was not allowed to talk or teach. So I spent the next few hours making sure everything was planned out for the people who were taking my classes for the next three days and waited for the ladies to get things sorted out. At first my principal was going to take me home, then another lady who had another errand to run. After Sol got off the phone with the specialist (there were a lot of kids in the infirmary so she was rather busy), they decided that I need some kind of an injection to go along with my list of meds. They wanted me to nip this thing in the bud as soon as possible so I could go on the staff retreat this weekend. Anyway, I guess I was able to get the injection at the pharmacy but Sol would rather do it herself, which would mean coming back to school unless they would let Sol come with us. So then they went on a search for another lady who works with the learning centre but is also a pediatric nurse. Once they found her then they had to check with other principals, one of which was not in that day, to make sure they knew what was going on and to make sure it was okay... anyways, about 40 minutes after they said we would leave we left. We stopped at a university bank so that Lucia (the gal driving, assistant to the principals and lives in our complex) could pay her rent (which was a good reminder for us to check on our rent). Then we went to a pharmacy and Sol got out to get my list of prescriptions, which came to a grand total of 26.500 (about $14-15 CND). We all went back to our apartment and she gave me my injection, in my bottom, which I cannot remember ever having done. Man alive did that hurt! I love Sol though, after the injection, she prayed for me while rubbing my bottom as well as my back. It was really relaxing. The ladies left me in bed and I tried to sleep but it was almost time for me to take my first round of meds. So I took them and made lunch, then watched a movie and slept.

I do not know if any of you have ever lost your voice or have been told to not talk but wow is it challenging. It really makes you value verbal communication. I have had people respond differently to my not being able to talk. They all know I have lost my voice but that doesn't stop some reactions. I had a friend tell me that he thought I was incredibly boring to grocery shop with because I didn't say anything. Another said it was so weird to be talking to me but me not respond. Others kind of enjoy just being able to talk about whatever and all I can do is listen. I find it funny trying to communicate without talking to people who don't always speak English. I guess in a way it isn't that much different than how I try to communicate normally when I don't know the Spanish word for what's going on. One encouraging thing is how loving the community at ECA is. When I was waiting for Sol and Lucia, countless people came up and asked how I was, that they wanted me to get better, glad I was going home, and were going to pray for me. It is amazing how close I feel to the ECA family even though I have only been here for less than 6 weeks. So I am at home and have time to sit down and write a post. Looks like you benefit from my incapacity.

Other than being sick and staying home a lot (I have only ever had one sick day in my life... here I will have at least 5 by the time this week is over) and being at school, we have been busy. Yes, that B word again. We've been attending church regularly as well as a bilingual small group (although right now there is more English than Spanish). We've gone on the Transmillenial transit system to visit another couple teachers for dinner. We've gone curtain shopping in South Bogota (the poorer area) with the leader of our small group, who use to teach at ECA and has two girls at the school (one in 3rd grade and one in 5th - so Matt and I teach both of them). We've had countless movie nights with other teachers. We've hung out with Brady and Delainye, our good friends who live in the next building over. We can actually see into their kitchen window from our kitchen window. They are great. We clicked instantly. We met them as they were actually coming to look at the apartment we now live in. I think their plane had arrived a few hours before we me them. I am so thankful for them. We are very similar so we get along really well and are at similar places in life; both couples have been married for 2 years, thinking about having kids, and a bunch of other things. So they've been great to have around. We also went on a little hiking tour to Guatavita, which is theoretically the location of El Dorado (city of gold). It was neat and so great to get out in nature. I personally don't really feel like I live in a huge city; it really seems pretty similar to home. I mean we are in a city in a valley and there is quite a bit of green around. But nothing beats a 'hike' in the green mountains. We gained even more elevation, so this little hike was a good starter hike. Then went out to eat in the town of Guatavita and did a little shopping. The pictures are posted on my facebook page. Our internet hasn't been running well enough for me to post any pictures here but I'll give it another try.

Us at Guatavita Lagoo

The whole trekking group

Kylie and I doing a little mountain pose on the mountain. The security guard did not approve of our idea to go on the top rail so we settled for the second rail. Oh well, this is still fun!

Where we ate lunch. I guess it is very Colombian. At least the chicken was good. You had better like chicken if you come to visit because the beef is tough to say the least.

Kylie and Leroy aren't too impressed while the rest of us (Brady, Delainye and myself) seem to be enjoying ourselves!

Hurray, it worked! So that's a little taste of our Guatavita adventure. Oh and we have been bouldering! There is a student at school who does climbing competitions and has a bouldering wall in his backyard. It is incredibly challenging. I mean it doesn't help that I have been sick the last two weeks and haven't exercised much, plus I have not been climbing in two months... but that was the most challenging wall I have ever been on. It also doesn't help that Eric is an amazing climber! Wow! I have climbed with some really good climbers but wow, he is incredible! We are trying to convince him to come visit us next summer in B.C. and go climbing! He has taken Matt to a bouldering gym a couple times but this was my first time participating. His family fed us dinner and we climbed for a bit. The cold air was NOT good for my health and now my body is incredibly stiff. I think other than family, the thing I miss the most from North America is a bathtub. So far, I have not seen a single bathtub. There may be a few in some of the bigger, fancier houses but I haven't seen any in the apartments. That makes me so sad. I miss bubble baths so much. I think that would help me get better faster. :) So that serves as a warning to those we are visiting over Christmas... I will be taking LOTS of bubble baths! We are still trying to sort out all the details of our North American visit over break but once we finalize those, we'll let y'all know.

Well I think that's long enough of a post. I will work on posting more often but having the posts be shorter so it isn't such a task to sit down and read through it. No promises but I'll give it a shot. I love you! Feel free to email us, we now have what we think is a more reliable internet provider. Please continue to pray and support us. We figure that this month things have settled down enough to actually keep a detailed record of what we spend to verify that our budget is enough. We'll keep you posted and may be asking for more money, I hope we don't have to but you never know. Continue to keep your eyes focused on Christ and everything else will fall in to place!

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
James 1:2-8 NIV