It's a Small World After All

Today was great!

We went to church this morning at New Life Bible Church and sang some old and new songs about God's holiness. Definitely struck me how we don't treat him with the fear, respect, and reverence he deserves. Good reminders. 

Lunch at Heaven, which was the same place we went last time. Still delicious! I did some more shopping at the gift shop. Hi. My name is Connie, and I'm a shopaholic. At least I can admit it. 

While we were at Heaven, Jean-Pierre, the brother of a man who attends Grace Bible Church, met us there. He is from the Congo, and he and his brother, Emmanuel, have been separated since 2006 because of strife in their country. They didn't know if the other was alive or dead and had no way of ever knowing. Emmanuel is now in the US and Jean-Pierre is in Rwanda. Enter: Facebook. (Facebook changes lives people.) Last year, some mutual friends thought they saw a photo with Emmanuel and told Jean-Pierre about it. After some messaging, the brothers were reconnected. We brought a laptop, some English tutoring books, and some clothes to Jean-Pierre that his brother had sent from the states. So fun to see the Lord's plan unfolding in front of us. 

We went back to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which was still tough, but helpful in clarifying some of the history that I had forgotten. The graves had flowers laid on them from family members. I also had more time to look around the gardens outside that I wasn't able to appreciate last time since I was so overwhelmed.

We went to the money exchange, which is cool because they have these money counting machines. Technology...

When we came back to the guest house, my friend Kelly from high school came over. I know what you're thinking...a friend from HIGH SCHOOL is in RWANDA?! Yes, yes she is. We weren't able to work it out last time I was here to meet up, but this time we had some more time to plan. That was pretty cool too. 

Dinner. That's always amazing...I am going to come back as big as a house. Pastor Fred came over to eat with us. (He's the pastor of New Life Bible Church.) Having some fellowship time with him was really fun and I love listening to him talk and answer our questions.

Today, we had lots of teacher conversation. There's 2 of us from each level, 4 different states, and all different teaching styles. I have already learned so much and shared so much. It's only been a day. God is teaching us all great things. It's going to be an amazing 2 weeks. 

Also, technology is awesome...

Let me know what you think of the trip so far in the comments! If you missed any posts, there's a Rwanda tab at the top. Hugs!

The 24 Hours of Travel

We've made it to Rwanda! It feels like home. <3

Now that I have traveled for 24+ hours in a row three times now, I feel like a pro.

This is how it’s done:

• Red satin eye mask
• Bright orange earplugs
• Hot pink neck pillow
• Hot pink slippers
• Neon pink jacket
• Stolen blanket from the first flight

I’m a sight for sure. Don’t care. I slept GREAT!  :)

All the flights were fine. No glitches, delays, or cancelations. Thank you Jesus!

Interesting things from the day:

• The Lego Movie is awesome.
• The sweet little French man flight attendant on plane 2 called trash “rubbish”.  That was amazing.
• I made a friend with a 10 year-old boy who had a Darth Vader t-shirt on.
• There’s a strike going on in Brussels with the catering company for the airlines. We were worried we might not get our VERY important “pick-me-up” ice cream on plane 3. We did…no worries.
• I only had 1 pat down today. (although she was thorough…fun times)
• John and Yvonne from trip 1 picked us up from the airport. It was like being reunited with family!

People I’m doing life with for the next 2 weeks:

Wes: Wes is the missions pastor at my church and the official leader of the trip. He has been to Rwanda a couple more times than I have and pretty much travels all the time. He taught 7^th grade math and was a Teach for America teacher for two years. He likes to leave us to get good wifi in the united premier club. He’s “working”. I’m kidding. He’s great!

Janet: I sat next to Janet on plane 2. She’s from Idaho. Her travel time is 36 hours. (not jeal jeal) She teaches Government and 9^th grade social studies, Common Core.  In a matter of hours, we had discussed some of the lowest points in our lives and how the Lord overcame them and used it to make us love Him even more. Cool stuff people. Can’t wait to spend two weeks with her!

Lauren: Lauren and I were Biology partners and we did a project together in World Geography our freshmen year of high school. We also agreed to take a stand against evolution on our test in Biology. Now, Lauren teaches 4^th grade in Katy.

Jessica: Jessica teaches 3^rd grade in my district, a mile down the road, so she and I definitely understand each other’s struggles in the classroom. She just finished her first year of teaching, and she’s going to be the bomb on our trip.

Zach: Zach is from Portland, is married with 3 kids, and teaches middle school social studies. This is the longest time he’s spent away from his kids, and they wrote him sweet notes. 

Emily: We just met up with her in Brussels and immediately got on the plane. She’s from Chicago, and she teaches 8th grade special education.

So now you can be praying for each of us by name…not just me.

New prayer requests now that we are all together:

We are all feeling a little uneasy because we don’t know what situations we are walking into. Will it be one-on-one with teachers? Will it be each of us alone with a group of teachers? Will we be teaching a lesson? We’re just uneasy, feeling inadequate, and fearing the unknown. Pray for the Lord to calm our fears. Seriously, we have no reason to be afraid, but we’re human.

Love you guys! XOXO

#BackToRwanda

It's only official once it has a #hashtag! :)

TODAY is the day!!!!! I am off to Africa AGAIN!

Can you tell I am SUPER DUPER EXCITED!!

Ok, I am calm....maybe.

Today, I leave to go back to Rwanda to work with the teachers there. We will be helping them improve their lesson planning abilities by working one on one with them in the schools. We will also be assisting with a spiritual leadership conference for the teachers from all four communities with child sponsorship (Kigali, Bugesera, Kageyo, and Kayonza).

Be praying for:

1. My health. Diabetes complicates EVERYTHING, but God's got this. He did last time. I'm not worried, but it doesn't mean I don't need to be praying for it. 
2. My heart and the teams heart, that we will be humble to be used in whatever way God has. So often, Americans go into places thinking their way is the best, but in reality we have so many things to learn too. Pray for humility and flexibleness.
3. The hearts of the Rwandans we come in contact with. Pray that we can share God's love with them in a way that they understand, that only comes from our perfect, loving Heavenly Father.
4. Safe travels for the next 24 hours.
5. Pray for the Lord to teach me(us) new things about His character. He has also been leading me in new ways in my prayer life and the precious time I choose to spend with Him. 

I will miss you all but will be back in 2 weeks!

XOXOXO, Connie

PS The Dream Boys are up for sponsorship now that they have completed the program to get off the streets. If you feel lead to sponsor one of them, click here and search under "Dream". They remind me so much of my NHS boys, it's insane. I was crying just looking at their beautiful faces last night, wishing I had more money to give every month. This particular boy threw some sass at me the afternoon we spent with the Dream boys on trip 1. Kinda adore him, so this is me finding him a sponsor. :)

New teaching challenges

All I could think on Monday was, "Why didn't people warn me about how hard teaching is?" Problem: It had nothing to do with classroom management, students being challenging, or lesson planning. It really had nothing to do with "teaching" but was more about all the other little things that aren't necessarily blatant in our job descriptions. It was nothing I had ever experienced before in three and a half years.

Teaching has been a place for me to build special relationships with amazing children. Some of those children drive me nuts and some of those children love me so much that they call me mom (some of those children are one and the same). Sometimes I even feel like their moms. I cheer for them at sporting events and applaud at their concerts. I buy all their fundraising junk and try to sell it to my friends. I'm a parent to teenagers at 24 years old. CRAY.

But loving teenagers unconditionally is a frightful place when you know heartache is a possibility.

On Monday, I found out that one of my students currently enrolled in my class died over the weekend. He had been fighting his most recent battle with leukemia since early December. He was enrolled in my advisory last school year during the spring semester and later ended up in my Math Models class last fall. I was thrilled to have him in class again and to have the opportunity to get to know him better.

Other students have passed away since I started teaching, but this was a first for me and my classroom. I'm not really sure what the best way is to find out about terrible news, but finding out about his death from a student who saw it on Instagram in the middle of class was not ideal. I was instantaneously a mess. *Connie, weeping in front of your students will not help the situation. Get it together!* Thankfully I waited until Tuesday to talk to the class he was in; I didn't cry, but it was close.

I'm not sure if I didn't realize losing one of my babies would be hard, or if I just didn't let myself think about it. Probably the latter. I now know first hand what it's like and this is your official warning: losing a student is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to experience. I hope I never have to experience it again because I love my kids more than I realized.

It's a love that makes my heart hurt when they are hurting and rejoice when they are rejoicing. It has helped me understand how the Lord feels when we face troubling things, reject His plan, or celebrate His perfection. His love is much more perfect than the love I have for my kids, but I can see how much more he hurts and rejoices in our situations, good and bad.

His funeral was Thursday, and I was glad I was able to go. As I drove up and saw the hearse, the tears were uncontrollable as they are now as I write this. The funeral was full on Catholic mass in Spanish, so I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Honestly, it didn't matter. His mom was weeping and hurting along with his family. I know how much I've been hurting this week, and it doesn't even compare to the love his mother has for him and how much his family will miss him.

I was pleased that his heart came through during the funeral even with the language barrier. Since he knew he was going to die, he had written letters to his mother and siblings to be read. I understood bits and pieces, and the heart that I had seen in my classroom was the same loving spirit I heard on Thursday.

I will miss him, but more importantly his life will have an effect on how I behave. Life is so short and the way I treat my students makes a huge impact on their lives. Every day with them is a gift, and I want to use each moment to be a positive influence in their lives. His death made me want to love on my kids even more and be more patient with them since my time with them is so temporary.

My challenge to you:
1. Love your kids a little more than you do right now
2. Be more patient with them because they are kids after all
3. Be a positive influence in their lives, you might be the only one

It's hard to love them as much as I do knowing that my heart can be so easily broken, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

Puzzles are Puzzling?

This week, we've been state testing. (YAY...not) I have been pushing the kids a lot over the past few weeks to prepare for the Algebra 1 End of Course Exam and praying that they finally pass this time. I teach a low group of kids. They struggle with math and always have. We fight the battle every day of giving up and not trying if it gets the least bit hard. It can be frustrating, but many days my eyes are opened to where their struggles began in math. Such was the case today.

Since we're testing, I knew throwing new information at them was useless. I decided to make them do some puzzles. I figured this will be fun, they will work together, and they will finish in no time. WRONG. A few thought it was fun, a small number worked together, and they didn't finish.

Here's how things went down.

Monday:
4 kids and I worked on one 1000 piece puzzle. I told them to find the edge pieces, and they looked at me with bewildered expressions.

Me (in my head): ARE YOU TELLING ME THEY'VE NEVER DONE A PUZZLE BEFORE?! Ok, Connie, calm down. Teach them.

So I proceed to show them what the edges look like. We move on and the four kids begin to figure it out. They are enjoying themselves and work silently for 2 hours. MAGIC.

Tuesday:
The whole class of 19 is back in my room, so we will continue the puzzle trend since it was so fun the first day.  I have three puzzles around the room, one already started (from Monday) and the other two still in the box. I let them choose which puzzle they want to work on, I say go, and they all get started.

Then, the complaining begins.

Me (in my head again): ARE THEY REALLY COMPLAINING RIGHT NOW? They are doing puzzles.

So as patiently as possible, we have a mini lesson on doing puzzles. I explain it's a little overwhelming to approach the whole puzzle all at once. Start with the edge pieces. Then move through the puzzle focusing on smaller portions.

Do they listen? Of course not.

They continue to complain that the puzzle is too hard and sit there chatting instead of working.

A little frustrated at this point, I sit down and work with each group hoping they'll get an idea of where to begin. Most of them don't.


Why is this so puzzling? *excuse the bad puns*

Taking a step back, I try to figure out why this is so difficult for them.

1. Many of them haven't done a puzzle since they were young, and it was probably a very small puzzle.
2. They lack logical and spatial reasoning. (things we've learned in Geometry but obviously not mastered)
3. They don't try to simplify things. They just get stuck at the big picture and refuse to move on. 
4. Problem solving skills are lacking. 
5. They don't want to work together as a team.

This is convicting for me. What have I taught them this year? Did I teach them skills or just how to pass a test? Or are they just not able to transfer the skills they have learned? How could the year have gone differently, if we had done this first? 

I have to remind myself that I did my best with a tough group of kids and remember where they started in August. 

But let's come back to the last question. How could the year have gone differently, if we had done this first? I think it could be a really great activity for the first week of school. It introduces team building, geometry (edges, rectangles, shapes fitting together), and problem solving in a simplified way (breaking big problems into many smaller ones).

I'd definitely start with smaller puzzles (~300 pieces). Since the kids struggle already, start small, and build up to a more challenging level. Each team would get a puzzle all with the same number of pieces, they have one/two class periods to work on it, and there would be some incentive for the team that finishes first. 

The other thing I must remember is not every kid agrees that my way is the best. They may be slow, but they are struggling through. This is a good thing. I'm really trying to not be Sheldon... :)