Friday, September 17, 2010
Moving...
After giving it some thought, I have decided to move my blog to WordPress: https://thoughtsong.wordpress.com/. Thank you for reading and commenting so far -- it means a lot to me! :)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Hall Pass
It seems as if summer had just started, yet here it is September and I find myself in Tennessee slated to teach 5 ESL classes at 3 different schools (every day). Since this is my first year teaching, I have to put together supplies for my classrooms. My budget for supplies is pretty small and I've discovered that some things are cheaper to make than buy from the teacher supply store... if I'm willing to sacrifice a little on quality. :) I don't mind at all, though, because I've been itching to make something. I also needed to find new photography material as the hummingbirds in the backyard have decided not to cooperate for any more pictures.
My first project for my new classrooms? Hall passes for the girl's bathroom, boy's bathroom, and the office! I originally planned for them to look like envelopes addressed from my classroom to the intended destination. My first reason for this design was that I thought it would give reinforcement for how to address letters. Second, I wanted the passes to say where the student was coming from in case another teacher stopped them in the hall. Some of my students do not speak any English (even though they may understand a little) or they may be hard to understand. At any rate, I didn't want there to be any confusion -- either in the mind of the student or another educator -- about where the student was going and where he/she should return. I'm pretty excited with how the passes turned out! :)
Project: Elementary Hall Passes
Materials:
3 small tubes of paint -- $0.97 each
3 small wooden plaques -- $0.97 each
4 foam brushes -- $1.00 package
String -- free
Markers -- free
Ruler --free
Scissors -- free
Drill -- free
(by "free" I mean "laying around the house")
Step One: Paint both sides of the boards.
Step Two: Drill a hole through one end and tie a loop with the string.
Step Three: Decorate with markers.
And they're finished! Not only did they cost just a little over $2 a piece, I still have over half the paint left and I can re-use the paint brushes for another project!
My first project for my new classrooms? Hall passes for the girl's bathroom, boy's bathroom, and the office! I originally planned for them to look like envelopes addressed from my classroom to the intended destination. My first reason for this design was that I thought it would give reinforcement for how to address letters. Second, I wanted the passes to say where the student was coming from in case another teacher stopped them in the hall. Some of my students do not speak any English (even though they may understand a little) or they may be hard to understand. At any rate, I didn't want there to be any confusion -- either in the mind of the student or another educator -- about where the student was going and where he/she should return. I'm pretty excited with how the passes turned out! :)
Project: Elementary Hall Passes
Materials:
3 small tubes of paint -- $0.97 each
3 small wooden plaques -- $0.97 each
4 foam brushes -- $1.00 package
String -- free
Markers -- free
Ruler --free
Scissors -- free
Drill -- free
(by "free" I mean "laying around the house")
Step One: Paint both sides of the boards.
Step Two: Drill a hole through one end and tie a loop with the string.
Step Three: Decorate with markers.
And they're finished! Not only did they cost just a little over $2 a piece, I still have over half the paint left and I can re-use the paint brushes for another project!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Charles Spurgeon
I've recently started reading Spurgeon. There is no planned schedule for my reading, but I try to read the Morning and Evening Spurgeon devotionals put out by HeartLight and sermons (occasionally). Tuesday morning's devotional (which I just read today) focused on the mercy of God. It was such a wonderful and encouraging reminder to me that I wanted to share it here:
"The mercy of God."
-- Psalms 52:8
Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With
gentle, loving touch, he healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up
their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the
matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; his
mercy is like himself-it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy
is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great
lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and
raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God.
It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved
mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the
sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel
been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the
doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a
cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some
things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a
cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding
wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for
your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart. It is
manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's garden are
double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one
mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is
abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being
exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is
unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend,
mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding; with
thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be
the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the
joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.
"The mercy of God."
-- Psalms 52:8
Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With
gentle, loving touch, he healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up
their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the
matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; his
mercy is like himself-it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy
is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great
lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and
raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God.
It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved
mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the
sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel
been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the
doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a
cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some
things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a
cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding
wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for
your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart. It is
manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's garden are
double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one
mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is
abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being
exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is
unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend,
mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding; with
thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be
the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the
joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.
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