thankful thursday

This week I'm thankful for:

Good days with my 8th grade pre-algebra class. I've written about them a lot lately because they have been my most challenging class to teach. The majority of first quarter I felt like a total failure, but lately things have been looking up. Their attitudes have been improving and they have even said things like, "This is fun!" and "Whoa, this is so easy!" in the last week. Tomorrow is their first quiz of the new chapter, and I am very hopeful that it will go well for everyone...

EasyJet. Without it, I would not be able to travel to Germany so cheaply to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with my "family." 

Rest days. As I mentioned in this week's Hello Monday post, I started doing Les Mills BodyCombat again. I'm currently following their recommended schedule for two rest days a week. So after three consecutive days of intense workouts, my shoulders are sore enough to make holding my hairdryer uncomfortable, and every time I sit down I feel the burn in my quads. There's something wrong with the fact that I am more sore after three workouts than I ever was after running a half marathon! I've even been taking the elevator because I just can't bear climbing the stairs up to the third floor! I know it's a good thing and my body will thank me for it later, but for now I am thankful that today, Thursday, is a rest day.

Chocolate croissants. I have a love/hate relationship with these bad boys and they have become part of my daily routine. The best ones are obviously in Germany, but I have found a suitable alternative (albeit not fresh) at the local Día (our grocery store). During second period each day I have gotten into the habit of pouring a cup of coffee and enjoying a chocolate croissant while I grade or read. My mouth loves them. My waistline hates them. So good and yet so, so bad.

What are you thankful for this week?

hello monday

Hello Monday. We meet again.

Hello BodyCombat. It's been awhile. It's nice to see you again. And by nice? I mean painful. You are the perfect thing to keep me in shape while I take a break from running, but you are brutal. Initiate beast mode in three...two...one...

Hello new room. Ok, maybe not new room but new arrangement. Now that I've been here three months, it seemed like a good time to rearrange the furniture. I'm a fan. The best part is that now my bed is near the radiator so I can get a little more cozy during these "cold" Spanish winter nights.

Speaking of, hello Spanish "winter." A few weeks ago I was touting your warm fall weather but seemingly overnight I began shivering and haven't been able to stop. The temperatures aren't even anywhere near freezing, but thanks to Spanish buildings having no insulation or central heating, it feels ridiculously cold inside! I've even taken to wearing my thermal running tights to school under my skirts to stay warm! Now all I need is a cozy pair of boots and I'll be set.

What are you saying hello to today?

visa visit

Last weekend I had the huge privilege of visiting Germany. While I had a lot of fun during my visit, it was primarily a business trip because I had to go to submit my visa application at the Spanish consulate. You may remember the visa saga that has been going on since February - I have jumped through many a hoop in order to get to where I am now, but as of last Thursday my application was successfully submitted and now all I do is wait!

I arrived in Germany on Saturday afternoon, giving me enough time to take a cat nap and get to the high school for the 5:00 showing of High School Musical. As usual, I was blown away by the talent of the BFA students and staff. Attending these performances is so much more meaningful for me now than it was five years ago, when I didn't know a single student on the stage. While waiting for the show to start, I counted THIRTY students on the cast list that I had taught in middle school - and that didn't even include the pit orchestra! All that to say, it was a very special night and I am thankful that I was able to combine this and my visa appointment in the same trip.

Many students knew I was coming and therefore attacked me in a mob-like fashion as soon as the house lights were up, while others I had the joy of sneaking up on and scaring half to death. A few didn't even register that I was visiting - because I have been at BFA for five years it is just "normal" for them to see me there. My hug quota for the month was met in just half an hour!

This brother and sister duo both had major roles! Zeke and Mrs. Darbus!

After the musical several friends gathered for pizza, snacks, laughter, and a movie. I enjoyed catching up with old friends and laughing together, and I introduced them to Spanish mantecados, which are flavored lard cakes. They sound much more disgusting than they are - I personally find them quite tasty. The trick to eating them, though, is that they need to be squeezed and squashed because they are rather crumbly and fall apart easily. When you squeeze a little patty in your hand, it naturally takes on an interesting shape, which we were very entertained by. OK, I was entertained by it, my friends just rolled their eyes. Hey, I teach middle school, I'm allowed to have potty humor!

On Sunday before church I caught up over coffee and croissants with my friend Allison, who directed the play. Then I went to BFCF and saw many more old friends who wanted to hear all about my new life in Spain and at ECA. I was so thrilled to get to hear David Harrop give the message - he spoke from 2 Corinthians 4 on the theme "Do Not Lose Heart." It was a very encouraging and challenging message that came for me at just the right time!

Sunday was also "dorm thanksgiving" at BFA. Because the activities calendar is so full in November, the dorms celebrate rather early. I was invited by my friends the Duhans, who are the current dorm parents at Maugenhard. You may remember that I used to sub at Maugenhard on a regular basis, so it was like coming home for me. The majority of the boys I knew are graduated now, but it was still nice to be in a familiar place and enjoy a warm meal with friends.

Then Monday morning arrived - the main reason for my visit. What was supposed to be a quick trip to Frankfurt and back turned into an eleven hour ordeal as my friend Sammie and I got caught in horrible stand-still traffic going and coming, and because we arrived late (due to the traffic) spent about twice as much time at the consulate as we'd planned. Regardless, I was able to successfully submit my application for my Spanish visa. The lady who helped me said it would be ready in two weeks (?!) which I really hope turns out to be true! 

Happy faces upon leaving the consulate!

We made it back to Kandern just in time for me to head to dinner with my old small group girls, who are now seniors and meeting with a new leader, my dear friend Suzanne. We enjoyed Mulligatawny soup and MadLibs, sang and prayed together, and then I got a chance to share a little of what God has been teaching me this year in Spain. It really did my heart good to be with my girls again.

Oh, these faces!

Perhaps one of the highlights of visiting when I did was getting to see Germany in full-blown fall foliage. My area here in Spain doesn't have a ton of color during the summer because everything turns brown from dehydration, and I haven't observed many fall colors here in the desert. Had I still been living in Germany these colors might not have seemed so vibrant to me, but because I have been away, they stopped me in my tracks and took my breath away.

I flew back to Spain on Tuesday and spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping off the busy weekend. Thankfully I had been very productive the day before I left Spain, so I didn't need to do any extra lesson prep or work before returning to school Wednesday morning. There were shouts of joy and hugs from my students, lots of questions about Germany, and of course, demands for chocolate. These kids sure know how to work their teacher!

step into my classroom: pre-algebra at ECA, quarter one

In attempting to clean out my phone, I found a bunch of pictures of math projects. This made me realize that I never wrote a quarter one update on my Pre-Algebra classes! Better late than never, right?

Our Pre-Algebra course spans two years - seventh graders take Pre-Algebra A and eighth graders take Pre-Algebra B (unless they test out and move up to Algebra 1). This means I am teaching out of the same textbook for two different classes, but seventh graders are starting at the beginning and eighth graders are starting halfway through.

Seventh graders began with the basics: rules of integers, one-step equations, and basic graphing. Within the last week have begun to learn how to work with multi-step equations and will soon move on to multi-step inequalities, too! For their Chapter 1 project, students had to graph a given set of coordinates that, if graphed accurately, formed the outline for a shield. Students then had to design a coat of arms to represent themselves.

I really enjoyed seeing what symbols and colors they chose to represent themselves. Many identified with various countries and cultures by using flags, national colors, and symbols. Some revealed more about their families, their heritage, and some even gave a nod to their hobbies and passions by incorporating their favorite fútbol team colors. 

I asked the students to explain to the class their choice of symbols, and the most touching came from Alex, who told us that he chose gold to represent the cross because of how special Jesus is to him. In case you can't read his shield, it says "Live for Jesus."

The eighth graders spent the first quarter reviewing and learning linear equations: solving, graphing, and writing them. I found an awesome project on TeachersPayTeachers that incorporated all of these skills plus art, and it was a great chance for the students to relax a bit after a hard chapter. For this project, students had to select a country flag with at least two lines and at least one diagonal. Then they drew the flag design on a coordinate plane and used two points on the line to identify the line's slope. From there they were able to calculate an equation for each line on the graph. Some students chose flags that they knew would be very easy, while others went for a challenge. While I am proud of ALL their work, I was particularly impressed with the students who chose Canada and Australia. The more lines a flag contained, the more math a student had to do! 

By now we are almost halfway through the second quarter. Things are getting harder, and in response to that some students are thriving and others are sinking. My eighth grade class has been on my mind constantly. Please be in prayer - that my struggling students would find success in my class, and that I would have the patience and grace to know how best to teach them.

hello monday

Hello Monday. We meet again.

Hola otoño. That's Spanish for Hello Fall. I love that it's November and I can still walk to school in the mornings wearing a light jacket. I'm sure winter will be another story but for now I am enjoying the milder climate!

Hello healthy habits. It's been a month since the half marathon in Portugal and I haven't run once. I also haven't given a thought to a single thing that I've eaten. Pizza, chips, chocolate, Haribo gummies, cereal, mantecados ... I disgust myself, really. I think every once in a while I need to fall off the wagon so that I remember how good I feel when I'm on it. But, it can't last forever. This week I'm getting back on the wagon starting with a junk food detox, then next week I'm adding in regular workouts using one of my favorite programs, Les Mills BodyCombat. Most likely I'll take a break from any serious running until January, when I will begin training for RnR Madrid.

Hello suitcase. It's time to pull you out again because I'm going to Germany in five days! I am so excited that my visa appointment was able to coincide with the weekend of the musical at BFA. Like a child who has gone off to college, I am anxious to go "home" for the weekend. It will be so wonderful to see my former students perform in High School Musical, meet with my old small group girls who are now seniors, see my dear friends, and eat loads of German chocolate - totally justified by the detox I will have just completed! I imagine that you, dear suitcase, will be full of chocolate for my flight back to Madrid.

What are you saying hello to today?