Sick, encouraged, and very busy!

I had every intention of updating last week, but what with having a lot to do to get ready for the week and having a cold I was trying to get over, it just didn’t happen. I’ve been super busy these last two weeks trying to get everything in motion again, trying new things in my classroom, trying to get curriculum and projects solidified for the person coming after me, and trying to get better. At the end of last week the cold blossomed into a full blown sinus infection, which if you’ve never had one, really takes it out of you. Thankfully I was off this weekend, so I holed up in my house drinking fluids, resting, and irrigating my sinuses, ‘cause I ain’t got time for that. It seems that my strategies are working, as I feel much better today. In fact, I cycled over to the farm to take my turn picking up the fresh milk, and I managed to make it up the big hill on the way back without stopping!

Last Friday we had a tea as the whole school—workers, staff, and students, to celebrate and thank our workers. We also wanted to honor the retirement of a long-time kitchen worker. Lots of the kids formed long lines going around and shaking all the worker’s hands, and the oldest kids helped serve.

For the first two weeks of school we had a couple visiting who were a huge blessing; Josh took a week of special assemblies and spoke on Sunday evenings, and Keri who has training in special education and support needs was able to give lots of practical suggestions and advice and gave us some tools to help our students in areas where we are weak. She spend time in our classrooms, took kids out individually, and was a huge encouragement. There are still many things that need work, but I feel more equipped to finish this year now.

One thing I’m working on with my kids, is having a growth mindset. The first week of school they each colored 2 pieces of this poster, and then a couple of them helped me with the final assembly. They did a great job, and it was a handy object lessons for accomplishing big things.

On that note, I’m doing the Do Hard Things conferences/book with the seniors for Sunday school, and am praying that it resonates in their hearts. The first session went well, and I’ll be doing the next one in a few weeks. One hard thing that I’m working on in my classroom right now, is trying to replace a negative habit of calling others out and laughing at them with more positive things. It’s going to take a while to unlearn something they have been doing for years, but I want my classroom to be a safe learning space, where my students learn to respect and value all kinds of people. It’s not all the three R’s in the classroom…

Parting shot: I've seen more flat spiders in my house this term than I have in a long time. I rather like them as long as they stay on the wall and flat. It's when they're on the floor (and almost impossible to see) or rising up to scuttle faster that they creep me out a bit!

Close encounters of the snake kind, a new term, and 24 hour power again!

Well, the students are back, and term 2, 2018 has started! I was missing 6 students on Saturday, so we just talked about a few new things I’m going to be trying, did the “Span the greatest distance” activity, and started work on a big poster project. I am going to be trying to do quite to teach my students about and encourage having a growth mindset this term; I can’t wait to see the finished project! Today, Monday, was our first full day of school, and things went pretty well. I'm super excited about several of the topics we are learning about this term, and hope the kids will be too!

This afternoon while I was coming back from my bike ride on the airstrip, I turned the corner of a road on the edge of station and found a large cobra crossing the road just beside me. It looked pretty surprised to see a person on a bicycle coming through, and I was pretty surprised that that stick that looked rather snakelike was actually a snake. I decided the best course of action was to keep going, and I assume the snake carried on with his day after I passed. It sure got my heart rate up though! I'm so thankful that the snake wasn't aggressive, and I didn't have to find out if I can cycle faster than a cobra!

A huge praise around here is that the hydro station that has been offline for repairs for the last 3 ½ weeks is finally back up and running again! Having power 24 a day is a pretty big deal… It means that the kitchen can operate normally, teachers can photocopy at any time, and laundry can run when it needs to. It's amazing what a difference having constant power makes!