What's Up August

Happy Last Wednesday of August!  Today I am joining  Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for their monthly What's Up Wednesday link-up party. 

 

Every month we answer the same few questions based on how things are currently going in our lives. 

The questions are...

 

What am I eating this week?

Monday - Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice
Tuesday - out with friends
Wednesday - Hamburger & Fries
Thursday - Turkey & Cheese Wrap with Chips

What am I reminiscing about? 

Summer... I spent 5 glorious weeks in the USA with my family. What a treat!

What am I loving?

I'm loving my new classroom. In case you missed it, I gave a little tour HERE. And actually, I rearranged/reorganized my room this past weekend (thanks to a friend for her help). So it looks a little different than in that "tour" post. But Y'all... I am seriously loving being in this room, especially after what it took to get to this point :)

What have I been up to?

We made slime yesterday. It did not work out well. But that's okay. We will just tweak the ingredients and directions and retry it on our experiment day next week.

What am I dreading?

Geckos like the one who fell onto my stove the other night. I seriously thought I was going to have a heart attack. It scared me so bad! The funny part is they normally don't bother me. Yes, they're ugly and gross. But they eat mosquitoes. And in this malaria rich land, anything that kills the mosquitoes is a good thing. But  this guy landed on my stove, with such a loud, that made my heart feel like it was beating out of my chest. Eek!

What am I working on?

Learning to rest and be un-rushed...

What am I excited about?

We get a day off from school on Friday for Tabaski. I love my kids. I do. But I must say... I'm pretty excited to be able to have a lazy-ish day, not working :)

What am I watching?

I've been having trouble sleeping, thanks to  this cast causing me to not be able to find a comfortable position. So last night, I watched most of the 73 Questions videos on Vogue's YouTube channel. I think Simone Biles' interview (see below) is my favorite. 

What am I reading?

I'm not actually reading anything at the moment. But I have 2 I'm planning to read over our long weekend this weekend. Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch and While the World Watched by Carolyn McKinstry. One will be light-hearted and one will be the complete opposite. I can't wait to dig into these two books.

What am I listening to?

The song, Sweetly Broken, has been on repeat in my head for a while now.

What am I wearing?

This.

God is totally teaching me a lesson (well, more than 1) through having to wear this thing. So yes, while I do honestly dread encountering things I can't do on my own... And trust me, there is a lot! I'm not giving up. I'm learning to set aside my pride and accept help from others. And most of all, I'm surrendering my brokenness to my Savior.

What am I doing this weekend?

As little as possible :)

What am I looking forward to next month?

The top two things?

* getting the cast off my arm and 
* welcoming my new student :)

What else is new?

I want to do better this year at staying organized. So the newest thing in my classroom are these newly labeled binders, which will help me on my quest to stay organized.

So what are YOU up to this month?

Sweetly Broken

2 Sundays ago at church, the worship team sang Jeremy Riddle's Sweetly Broken and ever since, this song has been playing in my head. It's as if God put the semi-ironic words in the song, knowing I would need to hear/read them at this exact time in my life.

You see, I wore this thing for 10 days.



I fell on the first day of school and hurt my left wrist. 

I'm left-handed. Did I mention that?

Y'all... It's been HORRIBLE. 

The pain... 
The inability to do even the simplest of tasks...
The frustration over the inability to do my job like I need to...
The discouragement over having to ask for help for so many things...

And so on. And on. And on.

I've had x-rays. The radiologist here looked at it.
I've had a doctor on our staff look at it. 
She had her Orthopedic friend in the States look at it.
She asked me to have more x-rays done.
The radiologist confirmed there's no fracture. 
The doctor on our staff looked at it again.
She had her Orthopedic friend in the States look at it again.
Then she re-examined my wrist yesterday, based on her Orthopedic friend's recommendations.

And that is why 11 days after my fall, I got a diagnosis

Apparently when I fell, I injured the radio-ulnar joint - either fracturing it or dislocating it. We're not necessarily sure of which. So I had to stop moving my wrist ASAP since it was causing more harm than good in doing so. 

And, I ended up with this new "accessory" too...



My arm is wrapped from my elbow to the middle of my hand and will stay that way for at least 2 weeks. Maybe more, depending on how it heals in that time.

And in my warped  reasoning, I feel like having this makes it all justified. 

My pain...
My inability to work like I need/want to...
My discouragement over having to ask for help...

And yes, I realize how stupid it sounds for me to say that.

But y'all, I've spent more than my fair share of time crying (literally) about this. 

And I'm still frustrated.

But yesterday, in the middle of me crying my eyes out (or so it felt) from the frustration of all of this...

In the middle of my incredible broken/weak state, I realized something.

God doesn't ask us to come to Him in a state of perfection.

It's okay if we're broken.

It really is.

And yes, I'm preaching to myself here.

It's kind of ironic that Sweetly Broken has been playing on repeat in my head all this time.

It's like the song says...

I'm sweetly broken, wholly surrendered.

I've realized God is teaching me a lot through this time of injury and recovery.

And do you know what the first lesson He's teaching me is?

I'm broken. 

And that's okay.

But I need to surrender my brokenness (along with my pain, my frustrations over what I can't do right now, my fears of failure, my discouragement at being dependent on others, and so on and so forth). I need to surrender it all to Him.

And that, my friends, is a hard lesson for me to accept/learn.

It's easy for me to give grace to others.

But it's so difficult for me to give grace to myself.

So I'll continue to accept my brokenness. 

But I'll start to wholly surrender it to Him.

And just solely deciding to work towards that was a weight lifted.

So I can only imagine how "free" I'll feel when I am fully able to surrender this brokenness, pain, frustration, etc. to Him. 

So I guess I'll wrap up this really long blog post, I'll ask a question.

Will you help me pray?

Help me pray for healing. And as I wait for that healing, help me pray for patience and guidance in steps to take. Help me pray for strength and the ability to either do the things I need to do. And when I encounter things I cannot do on my own, help me push my stubborn streak out of the way, and be willing to ask for and graciously receive the necessary help.

And most of all... 

Help me pray that I open my heart and mind to see God even more clearly than ever before...all in the midst of this brokenness.

Monday's Letters

Today I'm joining Kristin and writing a few "letters" to the randomness that is my life :) 

Dear Classroom Tour, You're what I gave on my blog last week. Setting up this classroom has been so fun! I can't wait for the school year to start! 

Dear It's a Puzzle, You're the best way I can describe trying to create my daily schedule. When you have students in different grades coming in and out at different times, requiring different levels of assistance, it can sometimes be a bit tricky. But as with any puzzle, if you stick with it long enough, you'll get it all put together. And I finally finished mine up yesterday.

Dear  New Storage Piece, While chatting with our new 2nd grade teacher, she mentioned getting rid of you and asked if I wanted you. I instantly  knew you were perfect for my supplies area. How fun you were to repurpose for my kiddos' use :)

Dear Sweet Tea, I hadn't made you in forever. I'd honestly began to not even like you. But being back in the land of sugary sweet tea this summer renewed my lost love. Oh you and your sweet, caffeinated self is dangerous though. So I won't be able to enjoy you too terribly often.

Dear SPED, You're what was printed on the label attached to my school computer, which I was given the other day. It's amazing how 4 little letters could bring such a smile to my face. I've loved every single class/subject I've taught. I honestly have. But because of all that's gone into planning for (and seemingly fighting for) this class... Well, seeing SPED right there was an amazing thing :)

Dear Progressive Dinner with Co-Workers, What a fun time you were this weekend, getting to meet new co-workers and to hang out with "old" ones.

Dear Brazilian Food, Thanks for being the deliciousness I had for lunch yesterday. 

Dear Lighthouse Wallpaper Border, You're what's decorating the walls in my bathroom. But I'm thinking of making a change. Hmm... Decisions, decisions.

Dear Rain, Wow! You sure did let your presence be known the night before last! I must say, I don't mind you staying outside. You actually cool things off a bit. But when you come indoors, I'm not really a fan.

Dear Busy, You're what I was today and will continue to be tomorrow, between Professional Development, IEP Meetings, other various meetings, lesson planning, etc. But that's okay. It's all worth it. Why? I'm planning for some pretty amazing kids. So I'm excited :)

Dear Friday, You're when this post was originally supposed to be published. However, life happened. So thanks for being flexible and letting Monday hold the title of Date Published :)

Back to School Ready

Happy Thursday Y'all!

I've been working a lot this summer, gearing up for school starting back. But I officially start back tomorrow with our first day of All Staff Orientation.

Want to see the room I'll call my second home this school year? I will probably spend as much time, if not more, here as I will at home :)

If you remember from way back in November, I shared about a dream God laid on my heart for this class. In that post (which you can read HERE), I shared that I'd be starting almost completely from scratch. This was my empty room around that time...

As time went on, I answered questions about this new class in a few Q&A posts.

Q & A #1 

Q & A #2

Q & A #3

Q & A #4

And now... 

Now it's like a completely different room.

See? :)

So let's get on with the tour.

I bought this nameplate off amazon from HERE. It was super inexpensive, super cute, and has that signature puzzle piece addition. 

My furniture is perfect. I love how my desks fit together so well. And look at that kidney table! It's HUGE! And it's perfect for working with the crew I'll have this year. I LOVE it!! 

Next up is my THINKING STATION. At a workshop this summer, a presenter reminded us how some kids like mine need more time to think than others. So she recommended giving students space (and time) to do so. So I had this idea and ran with it. In this cabinet, there are various types of paper, whiteboards, writing/art utensils, manipulatives, etc. 

My goal is for students to use this area to help in the brainstorming stage of writing, working through more difficult math assignments, take a learning break if overworked, etc. 

The next step over is my desk and work area. I'm setting a goal for myself to actually keep it neat and organized all year. We'll see :)

There's our pineapple reminders on that back wall.

I bought that large IKEA shelving piece from the family of one of my former students. It's huge and it's perfect for all of my books, standards and students' data binders, and all the students' learning materials too. And I can display gifts from students on top too :)

You can also see a bit more storage in the background, along with my teal-ish rolling cart too. I got both of these from a friend who was leaving the country. They will definitely be put to good use this school year. I'm sure of it.

Over in the alcove is more storage, which contains the chromebooks and iPads people so generously helped me purchase for this class. In the mesh bag is a bunch of balls and other "active" equipment in case I end up having kids who won't go to the typical PE class. In the filing cabinet, is the music equipment/items for the same reason - in case they don't go to the typical music class. On the wall are my Speech/phonics posters. We'll be able to offer students who need it, a tele-Therapy Speech option with someone in the States. And then I'll be able to do the follow up on the days they don't have therapy. So I thought I'd have a separate section of the room set aside for that.

At first, I couldn't figure out how to store our headphones and earbuds well. But then a friend was selling this scarf hanger and I had an idea. Since students will be primarily using the chromebooks/iPads at this table, I'll hang the headphones from this scarf holder. 

On the next wall are my kids' bookshelves. These shelves hold their books. Between these books, and the ones we'll get on the ipad(s), we've got all sorts of fun reading planned for this year. And look at the fun seats/cushions we have too :)

  

Here are my favorite books... our Bibles :) 

And here's our Worry Eater. You write your worries on a piece of paper, put them in his mouth and zip it up. He eats your worries and they "magically" disappear at the end of the day. And yes, I know it's silly. But seriously... How fun is this? :)

I love this hanging storage piece. It's bright and colorful and perfect for storing random supplies.

I have my word wall, ready to add all the new vocabulary words we'll learn this year.

There's our class clock.

Class Rules/Rewards/Consequences

And then other random decor that livens/brightens up the room.

Things like our Biblical Character Traits, which will be our first unit in Bible. 

There's this awesomeness :)

There's a basket of animal puppets on storage trunks, covered with fabric that will be transformed into a puppet show stage. 

And there are little inspirational quotes here and there too. I'm a big fan of bringing in quotes to inspire both my students and myself.

 

And as I sit at my desk, overlooking my room, I can't help but smile (and maybe even get a little teary eyed) thinking about how God has orchestrated everything to fall into place for this class to happen this year. To say I'm humbled and grateful is a huge understatement.

COFFEE DATE

Today I'm joining Erin for her monthly Coffee Date link-up. Want to join the fun? Grab a cup of coffee, tea, or whatever you'd prefer and pull up a chair and let's have a chat.

If we were on a coffee date, I'd probably be close enough to you that I wouldn't mind asking you to come hang out in my classroom. I've finally unpacked everything and now I'm just waiting on my furniture to be assembled and delivered to my classroom. Until then, here on the floor, I sit and work (well, I'm blogging at the moment, but once I'm finished with this, I'll be working) :)

If we were on a coffee date, I'd tell you that today is day 1 of the 365 days I'm giving myself to kick my tail in gear. That's why I'm chugging my water from such a big cup. Wish me luck :)

If we were on a coffee date, I'd tell you that this is probably my new favorite saying...

If we were on a coffee date, I'd probably ask you if you've read any good books lately. After all, I'm always on the hunt for a new one. I'm reading two books at the moment. I'm reading You Are What You Love by James K.A. Smith for work and I'm reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells for fun.

If we were on a coffee date, I'd tell you that this is the first time in 8 years of flying back and forth multiple times a year that my luggage didn't arrive with me. When I arrived Tuesday, none of my bags were there. Not my 3 main pieces of luggage... Not my carry-on (which was checked through in Birmingham like always... None of them came. Wednesday night, they delivered my 3 big bags, but there was no sign of my carry-on. So I called back each day and was told the same thing... We haven't seen it. Finally, yesterday, I went to the airport, and voila! There was my carry-on. I choose to believe it was my birthday miracle since yesterday was my birthday :)

If we were on a coffee date, I'd tell you that I had a great birthday yesterday. I finally got my carry-on. I went out for lunch with two friends. I took a nap (always a good thing). I had dinner with 3 other friends. I received a few birthday presents. And I opened the present my mom sent with me, too. Oh and I made my favorite flavor of cupcakes (strawberry cake with strawberry frosting). All in all, I'd say it was a great day!

So, if we were on a coffee date, what would YOU share with me?