GCC Visitors!!

Over the last view months I have had the pleasure of hosting and visiting with some awesome friends from Grove City College. I feel so blessed to be able to stay in contact with these girls and wanted to dedicate this blog post to them!!

It is so fun to be able to share a piece of my home here in Germany with them and to show them around this unique section of Europe. I have been so encouraged by their company and feel so fortunate to maintain such great relationships with college friends. Having visitors here really helps to validate what I'm doing and to feel connected back home. My hope is that it is a blessing to them as well!

Jocelyn and Sarah were both studying abroad as juniors in Spain and came to visit during the Christmas season back in December. We had a blast visiting Christmas markets, going for walks, and they even got to attend the Elementary Christmas Concert! It was an AWESOME weekend! I was so glad they were able to come visit :) I love these girls lots!

Enjoying some punch during Christmas season in downtown Kandern.

Exploring Freiburg together and going to the Christmas markets.

Making pancakes in my kitchen!

Going for a walk in the beautiful snow. :)

Alicia and Rachel are currently studying abroad as juniors in Berlin. They are studying German and doing so well! They flew down from Northern Germany to see a bit of small town life in Southern Germany. We had so much fun going for a hike together and exploring a bit of Basel, Switzerland. They even got to come to my German church with me on Sunday and could understand a lot of what was going on! It was so neat to exchange stories about living in Germany with one another. I was so blessed by our conversations and the heart these girls have for learning and for being a light to others!

Posing by a sign that says "City Kandern"

On top of the local castle looking out over France, Germany, and Switzerland in the far distance.
(You can only see Germany in this shot though!)

Alicia and I at the foot of the castle tower.

Hanging out by the Rhein in nearby Basel, Swtizerland.

Monica and Christina are currently seniors at Grove City College. They were able to come to Kandern for the ACSI conference to present some educational research at workshops during the conference. I was so happy to host them in my home and to attend the conference together. We learned so much! Then, after the conference we planned a fun trip to Munich and Salzburg and had so much fun exploring some of the classic sights in and around these two cities. They were such an encouragement to me and I was so blessed by our time together. I can't wait to see what the Lord has for them in the future as they graduate this May!

Monica and I at the conference.

Such great traveling companions!

Visiting Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein!

Exploring Salzburg!

Even though miles may separate, the bond between friends can transcend any distance. But when the opportunity presents itself for someone to come and visit, it is all the more sweeter! I think all these girls would agree that our time together was super special and brought wonderful memories that will stick with us!

If you are ever in the area or are able to find the means to make a special trip to Germany, I would love to host you! It is so fun to share this part of my life with others and to be reminded of what a priveledge it is to serve here.

Now back to planning for school which starts up again tomorrow!!

 

Connecting Around the Globe

Last Saturday through Tuesday was the International Christian Educator Conference put on through ACSI and held right here in Germany at Black Forest Academy. The conference is designed for educators from Europe and Africa who are teaching in international schools in many different countries.

I was blessed by this conference in so many ways.

I learned so much from listening to the speakers, attending seven workshops, and the time I spent conversing with teachers from around the world. I was encouraged in the work I am doing here in Germany and the chance to hear from others teaching in many unique settings. I was so thankful for the chance to reflect on the last few months and to gain new ideas for my special classroom.

Annika and Laura Lee were some my roommates back in Minneapolis for TeachBeyond training and great friends!

While I learned a lot, one of the biggest blessings was connecting with friends teaching around the world. Several of my friends attending the conference I had met back at my TeachBeyond orientation that took place in Minneapolis, MN in June. Check out my blog from after orientation here.
Back at the end of June we were figuring out where we were going, in the midst of raising both financial and prayer support from family and friends, and wondering what the Lord had in store for us in the various countries we were going to serve and teach.
During the conference we had time to converse and catch up with one another about how far the Lord has brought us. It is amazing to see His faithfulness reflected in our lives. From Czech Republic, Albania, Hungary, and back to Germany, God has showed us his goodness through the joys and challenges of serving Him overseas. It hasn't always been easy, but God has grown and stretched us in many was. It was really amazing to reconnect with these friends and to encourage one another.
 

Great friends serving around the world!

 

Awesome times worshiping together with hundreds of other educators.

 

Alumni, professor, and students all from Grove City College :)
So fun to connect with one another!

I am so thankful for the chance I had to attend the conference and for the wonderful relationships that I was able to form with other teachers. I am looking forward to putting the many ideas that I gained into practice and to have fresh perspective going back to school after Easter.
Finally, after the conference I was able to travel around inexpensively with some Grove City friends. I will have to post some pictures from our travels soon! Germany is so beautiful and I was so excited to finally be able to have the chance to see this country during my break!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!! He is Risen indeed!

 

Healthy Eating Celebration

On Thursday we had a Healthy Eating Celebration with our class!

The week before the students got to pick from a list of fruits and vegetables what they would like to contribute to our class lunch. Each student brought a small contribution of fruit or vegetables to add to the pot!

We made a fruit salad and a big batch of vegetable soup to show how delicious and fun it is to be a healthy eater.

On the day of our celebration each student had a cutting board and lots of food to cut up. We worked hard to cut everything into small pieces. (No student's fingers were hurt in this process!) We had awesome parent helpers who helped to guide the students in all the preparation.

Once the soup was cooked, the whole school smelled wonderful! Students came from all grades to see if they could have some of our food. We told them it was just for 2nd grade! :)

I took lots of fun pictures of our day from the beginning to the end.

Enjoy!

A wonderful parent reading "The Berenstein Bears: No More Junk Food" to the class during snack time.

Students learning how to properly use knives and cut vegetables before we stated!

Cutting up the fruits and vegetables!

Look at those onions! The students did a wonderful job!!

The vegetable soup is heating up on the stove and Emilia decided to make an elephant out of an apple.

 

One of our dads brought in a juicer so we could add orange and lemon juice to the fruit salad. So yummy!

The completed fruit salad and cut up vegetables.

While the soup was cooking we went upstairs and translated the names of fruit and vegetables into German and English including the "der, die, or das" for the German words!

 

The soup is ready and we are all excited to eat!

The girls are hungry and it smells so good :)

Excited to eat the soup and homemade bread!

It tasted so good!

It was so much fun to create a class soup and salad that symbolized our unity, helping one another, and how hard work can produce something absolutely wonderful!

 

 

Teaching über Deutschland

On Thursday and Friday afternoons I have the privilege of teaching the first graders Social Studies!

Ok, I'm going to be honest, this does not always feel like a privilege. In fact, if I'm completely honest, sometimes I dread Thursday and Friday at the end of the day.

Here are some of the reasons why:

• The first grade class has 16 German students who only understand a little English (however, they are getting much better at this point in the year!) and there are 4 English speaking students. Needless to say, discipline and communication are rough.
• I teach them the LAST 1/2 hour or hour of the day at the END of the week.
• I'm exhausted. They're exhausting/exhausted.

We started the year doing an "All About Me" unit and book. Then we moved to "Our Families" followed by "Our Community". And now we are on "Our Country". This means I'm teaching about Germany!

When I first realized this I thought, "Me?! Teach Germany? I've only lived here 6 months. I don't know that much about Germany! There are 4 or 5 other German teachers at our school who are way more qualified and would do a MUCH better job teaching the students about Germany then me. I'm not even German!"

However, the Germany unit started last week and I was running the show. I began to learn more of the important details about Germany and I was determined to help the students celebrate their own country. We made German flags and memorized the order of the colors. We traced a map of Germany and found where we lived. We learned the number of German states, the capital, the three major rivers, and the name of the big forest in southern Germany (The Black Forest!).

Here's a picture of them with their cute German flags!

The students will often correct my pronunciation as I try translate words from English to German for them or say the name of the rivers or our state in German. It is a stretching, but good experience for all of us. =)

While I don't always feel up to the challenge of teaching these students, The Lord strengthens me every time. I know I am building relationships with these students that will give us a head start when they are in second grade next year. And I'm excited to help them learn more about their world! I'm grateful for the patience and energy Jesus gives me each week Thursday and Friday rolls around.

 

High School Retreat!

Last weekend was the High School Retreat in Lenk, Switzerland. I wanted to post earlier about the highlights of weekend, but I am just getting around to it!
The entire high school of Black Forest Academy traveled to a beautiful setting in the alps for a weekend to relax and recharge spiritually. It was a wonderful place to be and to connect with students that I don't interact with on a daily basis. As much as I love my second graders, this was a welcomed change!


The view from where we stayed.

The best part of the trip was bonding with my awesome small group of seven, freshman girls. These girls have families serving in countries around the world. Most of the girls live in the various female dorms of BFA and are miles away from their homes.

This weekend provided the opportunity to connect with my small group in a deeper level. We were challenged by the weekend speaker, encouraged by the worship band, and inspired by hearing from a panel of women speakers about issues such as body image and sexuality.


Gathering for worship and a session.

After each session our small group had time to process what we heard and to share with each other about what we were learning. I am so thankful to continue to learn and grow with these girls and for such a wonderful time together.

I also was able to soak in the beauty of the place and enjoy some down time. Saturday afternoon provided some time to venture with staff friends into the town of Lenk, play some Dutch Blitz, and sip coffee while looking at the breathtaking mountains!

 

I didn't want to leave!

Last weekend was a great chance to relax and connect with some awesome people. However, going back into a full week of school was a bit challenging and draining. I really appreciate your prayers for the next two weeks before our Spring Break. The Lord is reminding me that He truly is faithful and my strength. I am so thankful for the wonderful opportunities God has provided and how He will continue to provide.

Glory to God

My pile of grading started to get higher and higher and I finally found the time to attack a good chunk of it. I began to read through the student's creative writing projects where they had been writing about what it would be like to live next door to a pet who could grant wishes. My student's creativity continues to blow me away and I smiled as I read their ideas about owls, deer, turtles, and cats that could give you candy, someone to do your homework for the rest of your life, or 10,000 free apps on your ipad.
As I filled out the grading rubric and began to add stickers to their papers I began to consider what it would be like to have stickers on all our accomplishments. Many people know that I love stickers. They add that special little touch on student papers or on a fun craft. But what if on all our accomplishments we received a sticker? And what if this sticker was one that pointed to where the credit was really due? What if this sticker said "Glory to God!", "Praise the Lord!", or "Rejoice!"?
I think it would remind us to keep our focus on where our true source of value comes from. The Lord has blessed us with many amazing abilities, interests, and gifts. So often I loose track of who deserves the praise. I can become self-absorbed or proud of my own accomplishments or successes when in fact, the Lord has truly given me the ability and the blessing to be able to do so much.
Sometimes I find that I need that sticker. I need that reminder that it's not about me. It's not about what I can do. It's about what the Lord can do through me. And when the success comes (or even if it doesn't) we must remember to give God the glory. Rejoice! Praise the Lord! He works in us and through us in amazing ways.  

 I think I'll keep using my cute little stickers. My hope is that it reminds my students to give praise to God for the creativity and the awesome gifts God has given them!

 

Theater Week!

There's a lot I could blog about because it's been a little while since I posted! So sorry!

I'll start by sharing with you about this past week which was Theater Week at our school. This means that each grade prepared a short play (or two!) to perform for the whole school. We spent the week practicing and then performed in front of the whole school on Friday.

In second grade we decided to have the German students work on a play in English and the English students work on a play in German. During our normal language arts and partner language time this week we worked on our lines, ideas for costumes, a few props, and how to be a great performer in our play. I worked with our German students on, "The Tortoise and the Hare." It was not easy to keep the students focused on the performance (especially the boys!), but I was proud of the students' success in the end. Working on the play was true to it's message, "slow and steady wins the race!"

Here are a few shots from our Theater Week and Friday performances.

Students dressed up like animals from the forest and excited for the play!

 

Our mouse and our cat!

 


Here are my students performing "The Tortoise and the Hare" on Friday.

 

Hare cannot believe that Tortoise wants to challenge him in a race!

 

The students congratulate Tortoise on the win.

 

The English students worked on the play, "Der Hase und der Igel" meaning "The Rabbit and the Hedgehog". It was such a cute play including some songs sung to traditional German tunes.

 


One of the students started crying right before the play (for various reasons) and so I went in the front with her and tried to act out her part. In the end she was able to say some of her lines. So sad!

 


The English students taking a bow!

 It is so rewarding to hear the students say their lines and perform the plays in their second language. It is amazing how far the students have come from the beginning of the year until now. The students learn so quickly and really try their best to speak in their non-native tongue. Working on a play together was a great way to build their confidence and practice speaking clearly for everyone to hear.

I took this picture for the beautiful view outside. What an awesome day!

 


The fourth grade German students did a play about a field trip to the farm.

 

The fourth grade English students did a shadow play. It was super creative and fun!

At the end of the two second grade plays (both were about races) we all recited Philippians 3:14 in German and English about running the race to the true goal, Jesus Christ. In these cold winter days it is a good reminder to me to keep my eyes focused heavenward. Christ has called me to continue to serve here in Germany with joy and gladness even when I am exhausted or may be missing aspects of a familiar place. I am thankful to have a few days off (this Monday and Tuesday) during the German holiday, in order to recuperate and get back on course when the race gets rocky and tough.
Paul writes:
"I press on to the goal to win the prize for which God has called me Heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:14.

And as Tortoise would say, "As you move from place to place, slow and steady wins the race!"