Appreciation

Teachers’ Day 2017

This is my 3rd year celebrating Teachers Day. This is a day full of thanksgiving for teachers. Parents give lots and lots of flowers and students give some of the cutest cards. You definitely leave school feeling appreciated and loving your job. Students write cards asking you to be their teacher again next year and students from previous years expressing their love for you and how much they miss you as their teachers. Basically you feel LOVED!

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This year, I am part of the event planning team. I am also the leader of events. So I was in charge of Teachers Day, which we combined with Thanksgiving. So we started the day with an assembly. At the assembly our principal shared about Teachers Day and Thanksgiving. And then we watched a video made by one of our talented teachers : https://youtu.be/e2LJ9RsgjPc. We ended the assembly with parents giving teachers flowers and students giving teachers more flowers. Basically you can never have enough flowers on Teachers Day :).

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In the afternoon, we had a staff vs students volleyball game! I had brought back fabric balloon covers and we played balloon volleyball. It was chaos! But controlled chaos! Our students and teachers had so much fun! I love this part of the event, when students and teachers have fun playing together! It was so much fun to referee the games. The students had so much fun, they were asking to play again and again. I kept score but in the end the points didn’t matter, just the fun that was had!

By the end of the day I was exhausted. I was tired after the assembly in the morning, but after the games I was exhausted. Barely able to stay awake for the staff meeting after school. LOL. I am so thankful for such a great school, full of extraordinary students and outstanding teachers. Thank you Lord for this blessing in life!

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The students’ cheering section (well part of it!) 

Sky Paintings... Sunsets!

During some time of R&R the thing that refreshes my soul the most... sunsets! I love them! The colors, the reflections, the clouds, the beauty that graces the Earth everyday. I just can't get enough of it! I am just awestruck at the amazing artwork God does every day! 

God often uses nature to speak to me about beauty. The flowers and trees are all beautiful and unique. The landscape is different in each country but it is always beautiful. And these are things the Lord created. But these are not the things He calls His masterpiece. We (mankind) are His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). I find all the flowers and trees and landscapes beautiful, but to God nothing compares to the beauty He sees in us! Wow! How do we not recognize the beauty in ourselves but see it in things?

The sunset is a reminder of beauty. I find the sunset unbelievably beautiful! I stand in awe of such beauty. Something that looks different every night, but every night is just as beautiful as the last. Just as the sunset is different each person is different. We all have different eye colors, hair colors, body types, etc but everyone is beautiful. There isn't one feature that is better than another, every feature is unique and beautiful and reflects the image of God (Genesis 1:27). 

Every chance I get I watch the sunset. I want to see the artwork in the sky. I stand mesmerized by such beauty and I am reminded that the God of creation finds me even more beautiful. Wow! What amazing beauty I possess, and you possess. I am also reminded that the sunset is created every evening, I was created once. God doesn't need to make corrections on us. We are beautiful and handsome (for the guys out there ;)) and the Lord wouldn't change a hair on your head (He knows how many there are! Matthew 10:30). 

You are beautiful, don't forget it. And if you need a reminder just watch the sunset or sunrise or look at your favorite flower. Your beauty comes from above. Don't let earthly standard judge your beauty. You are a masterpiece! 

Sunset Day 1

Sunset Day 1

Sunset Day 2

Sunset Day 2

Sunset Day 3

Sunset Day 3

Sunset Day 4

Sunset Day 4

I had to take pictures of the beautiful sunsets and see how they are different! Everyone is different. Everyone is BEAUTIFUL! 

Teacher's Day

Friday was a big deal here... It was Teacher's Day!!! The one day a year that teachers are appreciated here for all that they do! As a teacher our whole job is centered around the students. Each and every day we care and teach our students. It was so heart warming to be showered with love and appreciation from our students and parents.  

Our entire morning was pretty much dedicated to performances by students and some of the teachers. My second graders had been practicing the dance (from Just Dance) for ABC by Jackson 5. They really enjoyed it and did such a great job performing it for the school. My roommate's class did I've got the Joy Down in my Heart. They were precious! It is so awesome to see our kids having such a great time performing the songs and dances we had been working on for the past couple of weeks.  

1B performing I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart! 

1B performing I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart! 

Grade 2 performing! 

Grade 2 performing! 

Also in the midst of performances our school and parents showered us with gifts. Our school gave us a $25 bonus for teachers day and a $5 gift. The parents gave the ladies scarves, I left with 3 silk scarves :). Thank goodness it's almost winter weather time. LOL. Also the parents of 1B at our school, gave all the teacher engraved pens with their name and a stand. It is so pretty! 

I am truly blessed to be working at our school. Every day I am reminded how much I love these kids. Even though there are days that they drive me insane, I wouldn't trade them for the world! Happy Teacher's Day!

 

My students! My heart is so happy and blessed! 

My students! My heart is so happy and blessed!