Well, no time to waste and I'm back in the swing of things. I am finding out that Spring is the season for subbing :) because I'm getting called in every day, sometimes multiple times a day and I have to tell them I'm already heading to the other school. Last week I was teaching English at the High school for two days which is usually a breeze. Other than pretending I knew what I was talking about as we were reading Romeo and Juliet, it went really well though. I sure was thankful for the modern version we didn't have when I was in school because it was a lot easier to understand. :)
Today was such a great day. I was subbing for Anika's class so she was all excited about it. I will be there for 2 more days and I'm really glad because they are probably the best 1st grade class in the whole school. They are all very polite, listen and really don't have any trouble makers like the other classes do. :) We were talking about the water cycle all day, reading different books about it and making our own booklet about the cycle. There is a little boy in the class who has family in Liberia (there are a few refugees in our area from there) and he's just about to go on a trip there and stay for a couple of months. So he was beyond excited when I talked about my trip there and I was able to hook up the laptop to their smart board so I could show them all the pictures I posted from Liberia. All the kids loved the pictures and how different people live there. At the same time, it just hit me how we still have something to be thankful for in our school system, no matter how bad it is getting. As I was showing the pictures to the kids, we came to some pictures from a church service in Liberia, people praying and singing. A few kids asked about it right away and I could tell they were surprised people in Africa even had church like we have. It just made me smile today that I was able to freely talk about God and not feel like I can't talk about it in a public school.
I think it was God's little reminder to me because of my concerns over this "anti-bullying" bill that was just passed for Minnesota. It is awful and we are going to have to be very much aware of what exactly they're telling and showing our kids at school. Right now I'm thankful for living in a small town where the teachers are pretty open with the parents and a lot of them are believers who I trust. We still have to be proactive and ready but it gives me some peace about it for now.
In the meantime, just as satan is opening the doors to our schools, so can we as Christians. I may not be the teacher who has much impact on kids like the regular teachers do, but I will not shy away from a conversation about God. The other day when I was helping a teacher that had to go home sick, her class was in the hallway waiting for their turn to do something and the kids had the cutest debate over who is bigger God or Jesus and I was able to join right in. I love little opportunities like that and maybe just because I am only a substitute teacher I'm able to say a lot more than the teachers are able to but I'll take that. You just never know when a tiny seed is planted that could save a child's life some day. I pray I can be more in tune with those opportunities when they are right in front of me and to take them without a second thought.
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