Solar Eclipse in Spain

The last time I witnessed a solar eclipse was roughly twenty years ago. I was in the fourth grade and we stood outside on the kickball diamond with little pinhole viewers made from index cards that we used to watch the Sun hide behind the passing Moon. At the time, I didn't realize what a big deal such an event was, but it was magical nonetheless.

When I started teaching it became my goal to share such magical events with  my own students. As a science teacher living in the age of discovery and invention, there are so many hands-on, real life things to share with the students relating to our studies. One thing that I had yet to share, though, was a celestial event. Sure, we'd gone stargazing and looked at the moon phases and even watched podcasts from the International Space Station. But we'd never gotten to share a once-in-a-lifetime event like a solar eclipse!

Until today.

Yesterday I and another science teacher worked together to build a pinhole viewer using a very handy YouTube tutorial.

This morning I awoke to cloudy skies. Disappointed, I prayed that the skies would clear in time for the point of maximum eclipse, which was schedule for around 10:08 am here in Madrid. Just before heading to chapel I checked once more, only to see more clouds. I watched part of the live stream while listening to our speaker, until I lost the signal about five minutes later.

At 10:00, after a brief tutorial on the mechanics of a solar eclipse with my seventh graders (earth science is an eighth grade topic), we marched downstairs armed with my giant pinhole viewer and I breathed a desperate prayer for a break in the clouds.

Thick stratus clouds coated the entire sky, but they were thin enough that the outline of the Sun shone through and the eclipse was vaguely visible. Together we attempted to set up the pinhole viewer but the clouds were thick enough to block most of the sun's rays. Try as we may, we were unsuccessful in getting a clear image on our viewer.

To say we were slightly disappointed would be an understatement. It will be around ten years before this region sees another partial solar eclipse of this kind!

And ... everyone knows it didn't happen unless you take a selfie...

step into my classroom: life science at ECA, quarter one

So far this year we have had several opportunities for student-driven inquiry and learning in life science, which makes me really happy. Here are just a few highlights of our first quarter together.

During our study on cells, we talked about cell membranes and the importance of permeability in allowing substances to enter and exit the cell. Usually I demonstrate osmosis with an egg that has had its shell removed, but that demo has gotten to be pretty boring and besides it's a waste of a perfectly good egg! Taking my cue from Pinterest, I set up a new version of the experiment using gummy bears. If you know me at all you know gummy bears are an integral part of my classroom!

So for our inquiry we tested the effect of regular water and salt water on gummy bears. Students hypothesized about whether the gummy bears would shrink, grow, or stay the same based on the passage of water in or out of the bear's membrane. Much to our dismay the bears dissolved within a few hours, we suspect due to the fact that we used warm water. A second round of samples was set up, this time using cold water. The outcome was quite startling - after just one day the gummy bears placed in the regular water had shown visible swelling, and the bears in the salt water had begun to shrivel up.

Salt water on the left, regular water on the right

We decided to leave the bears over the weekend and by the time we removed them from the water on Monday afternoon they had increased in size by more than 500%! The coloring had completely disappeared, but the bears maintained their shape despite their gargantuan size! The students had fun playing with the jiggly gummies, and a few tasted them. Not surprisingly, they weren't very flavorful. Check out this video to see just how big they actually grew (sorry, no sound and I'm not sure why...).

One major skill covered in life science is the ability to use a microscope properly, as well as the handling of slides, preparation of specimens, etc. It's always my absolute favorite lab in life science because the kids get to zoom in and see with their own eyes the complexity of life. Common phrases heard during this lab include, "WOW!" "Awesome!" "Coolest thing ever!" and the like.

This year students got bored with their celery leaves pretty quickly, and they took to the skies for an end to their boredom. You see, we've been plagued by a ridiculous amount of flies for a few weeks now. So the students caught/killed one of the pests, plucked off the wings, and prepared a wet mount so they could examine the details. I have never seen such awe and wonder as I did that day watching the kids bring their flies into focus! Some groups continued their investigation, looking at the legs and eyes of the fly as well. I have to admit, I too was amazed by the design evident in something as seemingly simple as a fly's wing. It's always good for me to see through the eyes of my students. Here are some shots from the lab, including one really cool image I got through the microscope using nothing more than the camera on my phone! What an amazing picture of our creator God!

Madrid visit update

My time in Madrid was, in a word, amazing. I had a chance to stay with two staff members, Stephanie and Marie. Interestingly enough they both have BFA connections as Marie's brother attended BFA (he was a senior during my first year here!) and Steph herself is a BFA alum. So, we had a lot to talk about over the course of my visit! These girls were both incredibly welcoming by opening up their home to me, showing me all around Madrid and the surrounding area, and sharing their own stories and advice with me.

Seeing Christmas lights in downtown Madrid with Steph

Since I arrived on a Saturday morning, the first two days of my trip involved lots of touristy things: shopping, sightseeing, etc. I also had a chance to attend a progressive dinner with the ECA middle schoolers on Saturday night, and went to an international church on Sunday morning. I met several ECA staff members during the weekend, too. The rest of Sunday was spent in Madrid with Tour Guide Steph, who helped me finish my Christmas shopping, guided me to the best churros place, and basically showed me a great time.

Oh you know, just a ton of meat at the grocery store...

The city center of Madrid was jam-packed

Churros. That is all.



Meeting Don Quixote and Sancho Panza

Monday morning arrived and even though I was on Christmas vacation, I found myself walking to school with Marie for staff devotions! The staff were also very welcoming and I enjoyed chatting and getting to know some of them more throughout the rest of my visit. I sat in on several classes, mostly middle school ones but also a few high school one, too. I was blown away by how similar the students at ECA were to my own students at BFA. Aside from the language differences, they were almost the same kids. If I were to close my eyes and just listen to the conversations, I would have thought I was just sitting in my classroom in Germany. It was really neat for me to see firsthand how another international Christian school operates.

As you might remember from this post, I have been entertaining the thought of teaching at ECA during my totalization year. I asked you to pray for God to guide my thoughts and conversations while in Madrid, and for wisdom in how to respond if a job offer was made. Well, I am excited to share with you that during my visit, I was offered an invitation to teach in the middle school next year! I've spent the weeks since my visit thinking and praying about whether to accept, and within the last week several things have fallen into place that have affirmed for me that I should accept.

So now I begin the process of seeking approval for this transition from my mission, TeachBeyond. There are a lot of bases to cover before I can truly announce anything officially, but it's important for you to know where things stand right now and where they are (hopefully) heading. In other words, I am taking intentional steps toward spending next year teaching in Madrid, but it is not a done deal yet. I am simply continuing to say "Yes" to God until he closes this door.

Right now I'd ask your prayers in these specific ways:
- Official approval from TeachBeyond
- Spanish visa application (must be approved four months in advance and is very detailed!)
- That I can still be fully present and focused on my current role at BFA
- That God would clearly and firmly close this door if he doesn't want me in Madrid

Serving at ECA would be very similar to being at BFA in that it is also not a paid position, and everyone on staff raises support to be there. I'll be sending out more details in the weeks and months to come, but for now I'd like to ask you all to consider how you might join me in this next chapter of serving the kids at ECA. I'll be looking for new monthly supporters to join the team and praying that many of my current supporters will choose to stay on for this next year.

thankful thursday

Today I'm thankful for:

• Sweet times with my small group girls, and the ability to spend this weekend with them in Switzerland at the high school retreat
• Rare sunny days during Germany's darkest winter in 43 years
• Sixth graders who are willing to look silly in the name of science

• Seventh graders who are willing to tackle awkward topics in life science

• The chance to sleep until 7:00 on a school day!
• Hot lunch days!

it's Christmastime in the city

One of my most favorite things about spending Christmas in Europe is going to the Weihnachstmarkt, or Christmas market. It's something that has become a new tradition for me as I learn how to spend Christmas in a new place. Many of the surrounding cities host markets during the Christmas season, with booths selling handmade goods like scarves, wooden items, candles, soaps, ornaments, and other items. Food booths sell local cuisine, as well as warm kinderpunsch and glühwein in special mugs that you get to keep after you finish your drink (or you can return for a small refund!). Visiting the Weihnachtsmarkt always means a good time with friends and getting into the Christmas spirit. I usually get a good amount of my Christmas gifts at the markets, and sometimes I even find a little something for myself.



Colmar, France

 

some of my best friends and I checking out the HUGE tree in Colmar

 

Freiburg (Germany) market was cold and rainy...

...but I had a lovely evening with these ladies!

Hauptstrasse (Main Street) in Kandern

step into my classroom: microbiology

One of the all-time favorite seventh grade science lessons is during our unit on the cell. Students get a hands-on introduction to microbiology by learning how to prepare a wet mount with a celery leaf, then examining it under a microscope. They also get a chance to check out several prepared slides of everything from cotton fiber to fly wings to brain tissue. It is a lot of heavy lifting to transport a classroom set of microscopes from the high school campus but it's totally worth it to see the excitement and engagement of the students as they see things come into focus on their microscopes.

 

Lugano prayer requests - Day 2

This week I am in Lugano, Switzerland with twenty-two eighth grade students and four other staff members. The purpose of this trip is to stretch the students academically, physically, spiritually, and socially. Throughout the week they will be experiencing "school without walls" and completing activities related to their history, English, science, art, and physical education classes. I'll post a day-by-day update with pictures when we return, but while we are gone I would like to request your prayers for some specific things each day. Even though I am going "off the grid," I have scheduled posts so that there will be new prayer requests posted each day.

*****

Today we will rise bright eyed and bushy tailed ... ok, maybe it will be a stretch for some. The majority of the day will be spent on Mt. San Salvatore. After riding a cable car up the mountain, we will spend the rest of the morning and afternoon hiking down. We stop for lunch along the way, and after the hike we will catch a ferry back to our starting point. By the time we drive back to the hostel it will be dinner time, and then we will proceed with our evening activities of group games, worship, and devotions.

If there is only sunshine on one day of the trip, today is the day we need it!

Two years ago it was freezing and it POURED on hike day ... (May 2010)

... and last year it was so sunny we couldn't open our eyes!! (May 2011)

Ways to pray:

• SUNSHINE
• Protection from injury, bee stings, asthma attacks, allergic reactions ... basically anything that can go wrong while hiking down a mountain miles from any medical assistance!
• For the one (possibly two) student who will have to skip the hike due to a persistent foot injury, that he would have a good time hanging out at the hostel with our principal and not feel left out
• Meaningful conversations with and between the students during the looooong hike
• A non-complaining spirit from the students
• That my knees survive the descent of the epic Stairs of Death (see below)
• Grace for the leaders

Multiply by infinity and that's how many stairs we will walk DOWN.

Thanks for your prayers!! Ciao bella!!