Church Presentation

Well, I am taking a break from a writing process. It's been a while since I had to write something multiple times/drafts, but it's been even longer since I had to present something in front of others. My church has the opportunity to take on another church in the area. The other church has a dwindling congregation, due to a pastor who has since left the religion to start his own church, and is in a changing area that has high diversity in its surrounding neighborhoods. Our church can vote, in a meeting next month, to help this church or not. If our church votes not to help, this other church will soon, probably, close its doors. If our congregation votes to take on the other church, our church will have all the business, funding, hiring, etc. aspects, but two campuses in two different areas of the city. I have been on a committee since August to research the current church's facilities, congregation, programs, surrounding neighborhood and nearby churches, to see what it would take/need to get it back in working order. Now, it's finally time to compile all of our data into a presentation/recommendation for our church to vote on. Now, I feel the pressure. I felt that our information gathering was purposeful, diligent and fun, but now, all eyes will be on this information and I've already written and rewritten my draft four times! We will meet tonight to put our pieces together, as well as another meeting next week, and then it will be Thanksgiving week and into the next month!
In other news, we will be heading to my home state on Thanksgiving for the annual deep fried turkey, too much other food, football and shopping in the wee hours on the day after Thanksgiving. I look forward to seeing one of my new nieces then, as well. I just can't believe November is half over and December is speeding towards us!!
I have been scrapbooking when I can, went to a "crop" (an evening of scrapbooking at someone else's house, as well as snacks and conversation) last night and am hosting a "crop" here on Friday. I must clean like crazy and make the snacks, as well.
Other than that, I've been substitute teaching, although not too many jobs this week, and running the kids around.
I think I forgot to mention that I had quit training for the marathon in August. I just couldn't fit the long runs in conveniently and sadly, I quit running altogether. I felt my pants getting tighter and began running again this weekend. Yesterday I didn't fit it in, but did a yoga DVD: my youngest daughter asked if she could exercise with me, so we did the video together and she asked when we could do it again! I just feel more like myself when I run/exercise! My husband started running and lifting again this week, too! That's about it from here....

Travel, Shepherds and Turkey Feathers

My husband and I have recently been talking about winter travel ideas, so he can plan his work vacation time accordingly. We talked about a cruise, Hawaii, beaches, Caribbean, and dude ranches. All sounded great...until I got to the price. I'm sure we could find some "deals" but it would be right before Christmas, so we didn't want to compile deficits to our accounts! We decided on a shorter trip to Chicago. We will be in the cold with no beach, but are sure a few days there would be fun for our girls who have never been there. We haven't been there for twelve years, either. We did get a hotel with a pool, so some swimming can be enjoyed. :)
Another interesting thing this month: our church started a Shepherd's program. Selected people keep in touch with one or two youth who have gone off to college. These youth can be close to home or far away, but are living at college. We send them cards, packages and let them know we're praying for them. I thought it was right up my alley, being that I love to send letters through snail mail, so I accepted when the opportunity was offered. I have taken on two college students and sent them each a card about a week and a half ago. I am planning on mailing another card to each tomorrow. Who doesn't like to receive mail-that isn't a bill or junk mail (which was the original mailbox spam! :)) I love it, and I truly love to send mail: letters, notes, cards (I was on a big stamping and cardmaking kick for a while...) and our girls' artwork.
This is a season when I send more mail: Our family mails out "Thankful Feathers". Back in 1998 I saw an article in Family Fun magazine about thankful feathers. The family made a construction paper feather, mailed it to family and friends. The family and friends wrote their names and what they were thankful for on the feather and mailed it back. I loved the idea, and we've been doing it for eight years. I type up a newsletter of what we're thankful for each year and how much we love and appreciate our friends and family-we truly do-and mail it off. I usually mail them on Nov. 1, but with unknown plans for subbing, I got them out today. Then we read the feathers, remember the need for being thankful, gracious, and and then we put them on a turkey. We have made paper mache turkeys, drawn them on posterboard, drawn them on my husband's office white board...multiple turkey ideas, in fact. :) The girls love receiving mail and we love the "message" of being "thankful".

Two more great quotes

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." -Abraham Lincoln

"The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -Marcel Post

Another good quote

"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life that you love, you have to find the courage to live it."-John Irving

Classroom Ideas

I have been subbing in several different classrooms since the schoolyear has started. I have been in one first grade, three second grades, one third grade, four fourth grades and two kindergartens. I am planning on (trying to) get back into the classroom in the next few years and have been jotting down ideas I liked. Here are some:

• joke/riddle journal: a composition notebook that goes home once a week with one child. That child brings it back on a certain day of the week, reads their joke to the class. The children raise their hands if they think they know the answer. The child who is called on and knows the correct joke answer gets to take it home the next week, and the children can't raise their hand if they've already had it once. All jokes must be appropriate.
• word journal: see joke journal but with a word from the dictionary and other students must guess the word from its definition. Also must be appropriate.
• Weather report: daily reporters (which change weekly) check the weather report before coming to school and then again when they get there. Today the weather is supposed to be...with a high of... and currently it is...
• making word connections: using week's spelling words and turning them into a crossword shape. They use as many words as possible: who can use the most?
• pocket math: teacher guides on the board, each child has a paper with a list of squares on it. Go around to each table and ask each student how many pockets they have. For example: table one has: 4,4,9 and 4. Using double facts, we know 4+4=8, then nines facts, 9+4=13. Then 13+8=21...Do this for all tables, then total. The class has 112 pockets. That is more or less than last Friday? Add results to a graph.
• estimation jar: one student brings in a jar full of items of their choosing. The class estimates how many are in it. On Friday, they tell how many items are in it. The student who is the closest, brings it back next week.
• "Books we've read": make a copy of the books read as a class and put the copies up in the room so the children can see what has been read throughout the year.
• talking wheel or stoplight system for classroom talking level: red is no talking, silent, such as during testing. Yellow is only whispering and green is talking in inside voice, as in working in groups.
• Teacher file folders for days of the week: a crate with six folders: Monday through Friday and a "to be copied for next week" file. After copies are made for the days, plans have been made, etc, they go into their file for the day.
• special chairs: a chair for teacher to read aloud from: I have seen stools, step stools, desk chairs, wooden chairs painted in a special theme, and rocking chairs. Also special chairs for the student of the week to sit in during times after they've finished their work
• Indoor recess supplies for kids: games, books, drawing supplies, mindware optical illusion books would be great, math manipulatives
• The music room I was recently in had a bulletin board that said "go bananas for the language of music" with a big banana and fun letters. That could be used for any topic: go bananas over multiplication or vocabulary, etc.
• Substitute teacher folder: with common things that are done daily, discipline, seating charts, etc. in it, easy to find
• I was told by my supervisers when I was student teaching not to "shhh" the kids, to find other ways of getting their attention back, during down time or changing activities. I've seen several in my subbing assignments. Some are: 1)clapping a rhythm and then the students repeat it, 2)saying "if you can hear my voice clap twice", 3)teacher says "123 eyes on me" and the children reply "456 zip our lips", 4)saying "I love the way (name) is sitting quietly and waiting for directions. Good job, (name)!", 5)counting down from five and when you're at one or two all chilren should be quiet, 6)ring a bell
  
• discipline methods: flipping a card, moving a magnet, coloring in a graph, losing points toward special activities, losing tickets to a "prize drawing" at the end of the week, the word recess on the board for an extra recess, bad class behavior got those erased, which had peer pressure encouraging others to follow directions, helping each other, a binder called "the book" and after a warning, name goes in the book...
  
• rewards: "pig points" like a piggy bank where they earn points for an extra recess, tickets for reward drawings, my supervising teacher back in college gave a drawing for a slip of paper that was a homework pass for those times when they had something big after school and didn't get their homework done, but it had to be approved by parents and teacher.... stamping cards-when they are good (saw in music) they get a stamp on their card, after so many stamps they get to pick a small prize. (in the music room it's a stamp at the end of each period and after twenty it's a piece of candy or gum as a prize)
  
• On walls: quotes, posters, classroom rules and/or classroom constitution, "what students expect of me" which is decided in the first week of school and discussed as a class, bsaket at each table with books in it for silent reading (for example library books students go down and choose weekly) so kids aren't wandering around or asking to go to the library for books when they complete their work before other kids, wipe off board/paper with lunchcount (here we have lunch a, b, or c choices and packing), job list (paper passers, board eraser, office messenger, etc), packet for lunch tickets (for kids who paid on Monday to buy all week), big calendar like from office max with specials on it (art, music, gym, libary) and days off school, "ready, set, go...morning routine": sharpen pencils, turn in homework, do lunchcount, begin work listed on the board, etc., flag for pledge, signs of "fair ways to choose" for those times kids get in disagreements (pick a number, roll dice, pick names from a hat, one potato two potatoe, etc), school motto, school rules posted up where kids can see them, clocks out of paper to show times for things (kids often say when's lunch? and they can see the paper clock showing the time they go)

I'm sure there are others, but I haven't written them down and I've forgotten them for now. I'm excited at the thought of teaching in my own classroom...then I'm nervous about all the work!!! :) Off to get some things done around my own home, now.