Mission Accompished!

This is it. I've reached the end of my very first year of teaching! It has been quite the year and it feels AWESOME to have come to the end.

As I reflect on the past year, it is so cool to see how much my students have learned! They have worked unbelievably hard to accomplish all they have. In 2nd grade this year, we have made animal diagrams, memorized dozens of Bible verses, learned double and three digit addition and subtraction, labeled prepositional phrases, discovered what homonyms are, learned how to spell words from write to educational, studied people including Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King Jr., discovered how to write 2 point paragraphs, and so much more.

Whew! This group of kids worked hard to learn all this new content and I could not be more proud of them! Not only am I proud of all they learned, I am so proud to see how much they have grown in other ways in 1 year. They have become more responsible, more independent kids and I have gotten to witness it first hand! How cool is that?

These kids are so special to me. Not just because I got to teach them, but because they are my first class and will always be my first class. These children are hilarious, kind, loving, loud, crazy, smart, sensitive, caring, and a whole lot of other adjectives! I can't begin to even describe my relationship with my students. You spend 7 hours a day, 5 days a week with kids and you get pretty fond of them!

While watching RTCS's high school graduation, I realized the immense reward in being a teacher. We get to help our students find their way, figuring out what they want and who they are. Then we watch them leave, go into the world to try and conquer it! In what other profession do you get that joy? I have said it before and I will say it again. I love being a teacher!

Now I am going to start soaking up my summer vacation! Another reason I love being a teacher :)

I Have a Dream

Last week, my students were reading about and discussing the life of Martin Luther King Jr. This was the last story in our reading books and was a great story to end with. Everyone knows his inspirational story, and my students knew a bit about him. We talked especially about his dream's for the United States and his work for equality for all people.

I did a little experiment with my students to get them to understand how unfairly people were treated. I asked the oldest in the family to come up to the front of the room with their chairs. I gave them pillows to put behind their back and gave them some candy to eat while sitting there. I told them they would stay there for the lesson. I started to get back into the lesson when I started to hear some complaining. "Miss Ongna, that's not fair! I can't help it!" After hearing a bit of their frustration, I got everyone back to their seats. It was then that many of them realized why I did it. We discussed how upsetting and frustrated it is to be treated differently for something that you cannot control and doesn't make a difference to how you are. It amazed me how deeply some of these kids were affected and how they now had a bit more of an understanding heart.

The poster they made along with writing the paragraphs.

Following this experiment, we jumped into our project. I found an idea for a project online that I also turned into a writing project. I talked with them about his famous "I have a dream..." speech and read part of it. After dicussing Luther's dream for a place where his children will be judged by their character, rather than by their skin color, I challenged them to think of their own dream for the world. Each student made a poster, then wrote a paragraph writing their own mini "I have a dream" speech. The result was wonderful, heartwarming, and nearly brought me to tears. Their dreams were so pure and wise beyond their years. Here are a few of their paragraphs:

"I have a dream that no one will be bad which means no fighting, no gossiping, no stealing, nor anything else that involves sin. This dream will come true when Jesus comes again."

"I have a dream that someday everybody will treat each other nicely. That no one would say mean things and that no one will hurt other people's feelings."

"I have a dream that everyone would get along. I wish no one would fight. I wish for a land of peace.

"I have a dream that everyone will believe in Jesus. I have a dream that everyone will follow the ten commandments. I have a dream that everyone will be faithful to God."

This whole year, I've been working hard to teach my students the basics. Sometimes I forget the big picture, until assignments like this one help me to see it. I hope that my students know how to identify prepositional phrases, add 3 digit numbers, and write a paragraph. I also hope and pray that my students have learned more about themselves and their role in God's kingdom, that this school year has been about more than just learning facts. These are some amazing kids and I thank God that he has allowed me to play a small part in their amazing lives!

Almost there...

The end of the school year is coming. It actually popped out of nowhere and surprised me! I was just cruising along, teaching, teaching, teaching, and BAM! Someone told me there were 8 days left of school.

Whaaaaat?!

I am nearly done with my first year of teaching. I don't even really know how it is possible for a year to go by that fast.

Here in 2nd grade, we are working on finishing up our chapters, taking tests, studying the last few lessons in grammar, and tons of other parts of our subjects that need to be finished! The big final project of 2nd grade is working on making some of our very own children's books. It's a daunting and patience testing project, but one that will turn out really awesome! Or I am working frantically to make sure they do. Either way, the kids have been really excited about them and it has required them to use a lot of writing and artistic skills. Great practice!

Overall it has been a really fun past few weeks. I keep looking forward to summer, but I am continually reminding myself to enjoy these last 2 weeks! I won't teach these kiddos again and I've got to make the most of it all. I've been taking lots of extra hugs this week, which has been an awesome reminder of the amazing kids I have gotten to teach. I've got to stop now before I start tearing up all over my computer! Not doing that yet!

To add to the fun that has been the last few weeks, my roommate's boyfriend, Peter, came and visited the past week! He's a pretty swell guy and it was fun to hang around with him. He is Canadian and, in truth, I've been in withdrawal of Canadian friends since leaving college, so it has been nice to get a little dose again!

Julia and I also had some friends over at our house for the first time this past weekend. We had a little shindig on our deck. Sounds sophisticated huh? Yeah, we are adults. We have parties on our deck. We had appetizers. Pretty cool stuff! It was fun and we have been blessed with some pretty awesome friends!


What more can a girl ask for? Nothing. Really and truly. Just praying for the strength to make it the last few weeks still standing! I've made it this far. Almost there!

Oh, the life of a teacher!