हाउ तो लोस ब्लॉग रेअदेरस

The number one way to kill a blog is to not update it. I suppose at this point the only people who will continue to follow my journey are my immediate family members—which is alright with me. But I am sorry to those of you who have supported our classroom. You really do deserve better.

So the last few weeks have been tumultuous for me, both personally and professionally. On a personal level, my family has been struggling and interceding for my uncle. He was diagnosed with cancer last year. God brought his unbelieving soul back from the edge of death and through a series of miracles, healed his body of cancer so bad, the doctors gave him less than six months to live. We were all praising God and filled with such joy.

However, last week, we were told that there were complications from his brain surgery that resulted in constant bleeding. The doctors have tried to stop the bleeding—with five different surgeries. After the last one, they sent him home, telling our family there was nothing more they could do. He is currently at home, a shunt in his head to drain the fluid, essentially waiting to die.

But God is God of the impossible. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he can bring him back from the shadow of death into the light of His love. Please, please pray for his healing—first spiritually and then physically. I beseech you, please ask your friends to pray as well. May we be an army of one. Eternity is at stake. Pray for him by name—John Helsel.

Dealing with my uncle’s illness has only compounded the stresses of teaching. The last few weeks, I have seen an increase in bullying throughout the third grade. I had several kids in tears and a few very angry with me. I sent my first kid to ISS (in school suspension), though it was only for ten minutes. She was the girl who is always late. She refused to come in to class. Then, after she did, she sat at her desk and started to work on a fun-page book. When I tried to take it from her, she grabbed it away and refused to give it to me. I told her that she had to move to the reflection desk. When she refused this, I told her that she had a choice between joining the class, the reflection desk or the principal. She did nothing so I had my aide get the principal. Since I didn’t want her gone the whole day, I told my aide to give her a timer and tell her she could come back after ten minutes if she was ready to learn. She came back and the rest of the day was fine.

Our first big unit test in Social Studies is on Wednesday. I am so, so, so nervous. I have made study guides, done review games, called parents, etc. in order to get the kids and their families invested in this test. Please pray for amazing results.

We got a new student in the 3rd grade this week. She is such a crack-up. She is the cousin of one of my absolute favorite students (if favorites were aloud). Her great-aunt is also the principal. Her reading level is extremely low but she is SUCH a crack-up. She is one of the wittiest girls I have ever met. I adore her. However, I can’t imagine how she is going to do on testing material she wasn’t present for.

On Monday, the school’s after school tutoring program officially begins. It is going to be way more work than I thought it was going to be. This could be problematic as I am trying to stay afloat as it is.

The school’s literacy coach, South Dakota Middle School Teacher of the Year and former TFA corps member, is helping me improve my classroom. Her wisdom is so important to me. I really, really value her advice and am thankful for her. I can’t imagine what I would have done without her.

My mom and dad have continued to send huge boxes for our classroom. I have passed out five winter coats—much needed right now. I recently received from them a huge box of winter clothes I am eager to distribute. They also landed some really good books. Our library is doing much better. In fact, one of the students commented the other day “When school started, our library was so small, not it’s getting much bigger!” I think it has really helped to develop a love of reading. In fact, the kids begged for more reading time on Friday—making their total independent reading time equal to 55 minutes of complete silent reading!!

My TFA boss is coming to observe me on Tuesday. I am a bit nervous, but I am trying not to do anything I normally wouldn’t do. I want to be an excellent teacher when he is present or not present. I want him to see me at my worst so he can help me get better.

Well, I had better go as I still have a lot to do tonight.

Please continue to pray for my kids and also my uncle,

So much love,

B