Teaching Update: 3 days to go!

Do you remember the girl I asked about being baptized last week? She's set for baptism for this month, May 31st! I loooove being a member missionary =]

This last week of teaching was great. I got to teach the reasons for the seasons which is one of my favorite topics to teach. After teaching them the CORRECT reason for the seasons they got a kick out of watching a video of Harvard graduates INCORRECTLY describing why we have seasons. It was so funny! They were like, "They are college students!" Yes children...you are smarter than the average college graduate! At least about seasons... My supervisor came in and did her final observation with me while teaching that lesson and she had nothing but praise by the end of it. Of all the student teachers she's observed this semester, she told me I am the only one she's given a perfect score to (4 out of 4 for all categories) and she's given that score to me twice! She also let slip to me that she went to BYU-Idaho last weekend with Schofield MS and Silverado HS principals. She asked if the Schofield MS principal (the one over my school right now) was going to hire me and he said absolutely that he was doing everything in his power to keep me for next year. The best part is...it's a 7th and 8th grade teaching position which means I could have some of my students from this year in my class next year! And it would be my very own classroom! And I'd be making money! I'm really hoping that it all works out. She also told me that not many student teachers are being considered for hire for the fall so I am feeling pretty awesome.=] This week is my last week student teaching and it's not even a full week: only until Wednesday. My kids are upset. Okay let's be more accurate: they are practically in rebellion. They want me to stay but I keep explaining to them that it's not up to me. As much as they'll miss me I know for a fact I will miss them more than they'll miss me. I love those dang kids so much. It is pure joy teaching them.

This video is super condensed as to why Earth has seasons...in case you want to be smarter than the average person. It's more than just the tilt...

Here are some of my kids creations after our last unit: Geologic Time

They drew all these pictures with oil pastels...amazing

Friday my mentor teacher was out and she had a video scheduled but it is SO BORING to watch the same video five times in a day so I decided to teach without her there. I taught about star life and death for low-and-high mass stars and my kids loved it. My 6th (and last) period class has a bunch of Mormon kids in it and after one really great question ("Could a supernova explosion near our solar system light up our sky?") it spurred me to gather them after class and share with them my idea that the three days of light when Christ came to visit the Nephites was perhaps a result from a supernova in a nearby galaxy! They thought that was cool but I mistakenly took one of my students to be LDS who was not. I asked her if I could meet her parents (if I had to pick, she would be my very top student -- she's so smart) and she said her mom was picking her up so I met her mom and invited her to hear the missionary discussions. She said that her friends have invited her to church and activities and they've heard the lessons so it sounds like they have close friends who are LDS who are sharing the gospel with them so that made me really happy. I think about these kids and the decisions they're making. I have been sharing the gospel with a lot of people since we moved here and I want to badly to preach to my kids but I know I can't and I know their parents wouldn't appreciate it but MAN do I wish more than anything that they could all hear the message of the gospel from somebody. Since I can't share the gospel to my students, I challenged one of my students to share the gospel with one of his friends this week. Ha! I told him I expected a report on Monday so we'll see how it went for him.

It was teacher appreciation week this week. My kids gave me all sorts of gifts! One of them gave me a pack of Twizzlers with a note that said, "So sad you're leaving after you've been all 'twizzled up' in my education"...how sweet is that? Love them! 

Saturday we played ultimate for the first time in a while. I wore a light-weight long sleeved shirt to protect my skin from the sun. Everyone thought I was crazy but I am protecting my young skin from skin damage that will surely manifest itself in the future! We had a lesson with an investigator in our home in the afternoon and then we went out to eat. It turned into a quest to find a suitable hamburger place. The night before we shared a sushi roll that was very disappointing so we needed the burger to deliver and we are picky! We drove up and down Eastern avenue trying to decide between three different restaurants. When we finally picked one we walked in and turned around because it still wasn't right! We finally settled on Smashburger and ordered our burger, fries, and oreo milkshake: it was perfect. We came home and watched "Gravity." We enjoyed it! I have absolutely no desire to enter space. Ever.

Today Justin was supposed to give a 20 minute talk but by the time it was his turn there were two minutes left in the meeting. Annoying much! The sister missionaries asked me to teach the young women with them as they taught about member missionary work. We each wrote our testimonies in a Book of Mormon and then we challenged them to give it to someone this week. I testified that if, as they were writing their testimonies, someone in particular was coming to their minds, that was the Holy Ghost prompting them to share the Book of Mormon with that particular person. I shared an experience I had when in a religion class two years ago a teacher asked us, "Is there someone in your life that needs your forgiveness?" and someone immediately popped into my mind. He then said, "If you have a thought about a specific person, that is the Holy Ghost telling you that that is the person that needs you." I told them about how it was scary at first but I wrote that person a letter and felt an increase of love from both the person I wrote to and from Heavenly Father. I promised that if someone specific was coming to their minds then that was the person they needed to share the book with this week. I also promised them that I would do it too, because someone in particular popped into my head as we taught, so next Sunday we will all report and you will for sure be able to read about it next week. My favorite thing about the gospel of Jesus Christ is sharing it because I know it's true and I've seen it change the lives of the people we've been teaching who have just been baptized. It's a miracle.

This is Sister Maggert: she is being transferred and I will miss her! She's one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She's a Georgia peach! I'd have her meet Keaton (she goes to BYU-I) but she definitely wants to live in the South (Tennessee or Georgia) so...maybe not ;)

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother! I love my mom soooo much. She is a superhero -- you'd have to be to have nine kids! Also Happy Mother's Day to my sweet mother in-law! She managed to keep her sanity after raising four rowdy boys and she is a wonderful example of kindness and service. I'm truly grateful for all the women in my life.