Dream came true.

It's pretty much official. I am a 4th grade teacher. I'm REALLY a 4th grade teacher. I will have my own classroom. I will have my own students - beautiful, handsome 4th grade students. I am a 4th grade teacher but I can't seem to wrap my head around it quite yet. When I found out the news I couldn't help but fall to my knees, head on the ground, in complete and utter thankfulness. I wasn't expecting to find out the day of my interview whether or not I would become apart of this school, but I did. What a sweet, sweet God I serve! Thank you, Father. Thank you for making my dreams come true. Thank you. However, I feel like "thank you" doesn't give what I'm feeling justice..

My prayer for the school, for the students, and for my 4th grade classroom.

Lord, please let Your sweet, gentle Spirit be thick in this school. Surround the students of all ages with love and compassion through the teachers and faculty. Lord please let your Spirit reign heavy in my classroom - Father that I would be quick to fall to my knees at the end of the day, continually surrendering to Your will, Your guidance, Your help. Father please prepare my student's hearts for this next year. Prepare them, Father. Lord, You reign. Please reign in this school. Thy will be done. Amen.

A Piece of Chocolate.

Today my teacher handed out a piece of chocolate to each student in the class while whispering, "This is from Ms. Teddy..." Immediately after she whispered these words I heard one, "Thank you, Ms. Teddy!" after another. So sweet. After the thank you's about 6 six of my students ran up to give me a hug - just for bringing them one little piece of chocolate! For about 30 seconds they were about to lose their mind...all over a piece of chocolate. I kind of loved it. For a few split seconds their faces lit up. For a few split seconds I hope they realized how much I care for them and more importantly, how much the God of the Universe delights in their being. If only I could get across to them how Loved they truly are...more than just a yummy piece of chocolate...so much more...

Lord please use me. Please, Lord. I ask that Your Holy Spirit be thick in this 4th grade classroom. Lord, please. Use me. Father I pray Your desires would become my heart's desires. Father I will claim You each morning as Lord over my life. I will glorify Your Name and will share Your love with my students - now and forever. Let it be.

A Thankful Heart

Lord, let my heart continually bring You praise. Father let my core being be filled with thanks. Thanks in all circumstances.

Thankful for...

• Hugs (random hugs) from 4th graders
• My sweet Mama and Daddy
• Worship at 5:30 am before school
• A 20 minute car-ride in the mornings
• Waves from students I don't teach

"But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you..." (Jonah 1:9)

Ladies and Gentlemen

Well, I decided today that my students will be "Ladies and Gentlemen" once they step into my classroom. As a class, I will address them as ladies and gentlemen and they will be expected to act accordingly. They will be required to say "Please" and "Thank You" as well as "Yes Mam" or "No Mam."

My classroom will be a classroom of etiquette. My students will know what I expect and I will not accept anything less.

One day this will be real life.

Gotta have your classroom rules...these will be mine :)

Gotta know your ABC's...

GOTTA be organized...

Gotta have a place to sit...

Gotta know your classmates (I'm going to take pictures of each student and clothespin them in a frame like this one...)

Gotta know what day of the week it is...

Gotta be kind to others...

Sweet Moments

A week of thanks. A week of learning to look for the sweet moments, the moments filled with the Lord's Presence, the moments where I am learning and disciplining my self to recognize God in the midst of craziness.

I am thankful for these moments:

• 9 year olds that have lots of bottled up energy - What did I do? I told them to do as many jumping jacks as they could in 1 minute. What did they do? They jumped so hard that half of my students ended up on the floor, "exhausted" and in desperate need of a drink of water...

• Watching students wave to one another in the hallway...that's just sweet...

• Hard, hard workers

• Excitement over FRACTIONS (of all things...)

• Friends who are willing to dress up as "colonists" to come visit my class :) Sweet, sweet friends...

• A teacher who is wonderful, helpful, and in love with the Lord

Eyes Lit Up

I have the honor and privilege of student teaching in a small classroom - a classroom of 11 unique, bubbly, knit together perfectly, wonderfully made 4th graders. For the most part, they are all friends and accepting of one another. However, there is one student who does not have many friends and is interested in different things - and in a small classroom, it is noticeably evident. This student is different, not part of the "norm" of the rest of the class. While the rest of the class plays tag during recess, he plays by himself, in his own little world, as he fights off bad guys to protect his Pokemon friends.

Last Friday, 5 of our students had a field trip and were out the entire day, leaving my teacher and I with a whopping 6 students. If you aren't familiar with the game of tag, it's not that fun or exciting to play with only 6 people - especially when you're used to playing with 11. Therefore, I decided to play tag along with the class. Before I started playing I begged this student who normally does his own thing, to join us in playing tag. He said he didn't want to and would rather play his game. I told him that was fine but wanted to make sure he was having fun. A few minutes later I asked him again - are you sure you don't want to join us? He declined my offer. However, a few seconds later he came up to me and said this - "Ms. Teddy. I don't want to play tag but I would like someone to play my game with me." Well...my heart about ripped in a million pieces and I immediately told him I would love to play with him. He proceeded to explain to me what was going on in his Pokemon game and the different bad guys I needed to fight off. I told him I was excited to play with him and asked if it was alright if I helped him fight off the bad guys while also playing tag with the rest of the class. He was okay with that.

As I played two games at once, I noticed how excited this student was now that he had someone to play with. His eyes lit up. He felt a part of something. He was not alone. He had a friend. He felt welcome.

Later on during recess he began playing tag with the rest of the class - eyes still beaming with joy. This is the 2nd time throughout the entire school year that he has played with the entire class during recess. I'm expectant for the 3rd...