I love the Christmas season. I can't even explain my own excitement - family, decorations, giving gifts, serving those who are less fortunate, a break from school, a time to reflect on the year, a feeling of love, community, and generosity, and most importantly, a time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In the kindergarten class that I work with, we were making little Christmas tree crafts and I got to be in charge of the art table. As the kids were working, they got to talking about how excited they were for Christmas. One of the little boys was expressing his enthusiasm for Christmas celebrations, but then he got this great light in his eyes and said, "But when Jesus comes [meaning the Second Coming of Christ] it will be even more celebrater!" Poor grammar perhaps, but a wonderful message. The joy and hopefulness that we feel at this time of year is only a glimpse of that which we will feel when Jesus Christ comes to the earth again.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Comic Relief
For your reading enjoyment and end-of-semester stress relief, here's some more great stories from work. I love working with kids.
Squishy
A month or so ago the smartest kid in the second grade came up to me at recess and informed me that there was something squishy in the grass. Seeing that he was obviously quite concerned about this, I asked him to show me what it was. My first thought was that it would be some small maimed rodent and I was steeling myself for something gruesome. As we approached the spot, he began examining the ground very carefully. When at last he pointed to the ground I came over to investigate more closely. "Nathan*," I said, "that's dog poop. Don't step in it." Keep in mind that this literally is the smartest kid in the second grade.
Yeah
I was chastised by a third grader for saying "yeah" because apparently it is the lazy way of saying "yes."
Pictures
I recently got an assignment at school with a kindergarten class. I help a boy who comes from a rough background learn what is appropriate behavior for school and basically just be his friend. I love it. Anyway, he was drawing a picture the other day and, noticing that it looked a lot like a picture he'd drawn of himself the day before (you know, big circle for a head with arms and legs that come directly out of the head) I asked if he was drawing a picture of himself. "No," he replied, "that's a dinosaur." Of course, silly me.
Rain
As I was "lifeguarding" (for some reason, the kids on the playground call me 'lifeguard') at recess one day, it started to sprinkle. One of my second-graders came up to me and told me that when it rains, it means that Jesus is crying. I asked her why she thought that He was crying. She said that it was probably because He was sad because people smoke.
Big Belly
I was reading a Sponge Bob book to one of the kindergarteners in the after-school program. In the story, Sponge Bob eats a lot of food and gets sick, but in the picture his belly also gets rather large. In my attempts to help this boy enjoy the story and improve his comprehension, I was trying to help him examine the pictures in the book. "Why does Sponge Bob have a big belly in this picture?" I asked. He immediately yelled out, "because he's going to have a baby!"
*as always, the names of the students have been changed.
Squishy
A month or so ago the smartest kid in the second grade came up to me at recess and informed me that there was something squishy in the grass. Seeing that he was obviously quite concerned about this, I asked him to show me what it was. My first thought was that it would be some small maimed rodent and I was steeling myself for something gruesome. As we approached the spot, he began examining the ground very carefully. When at last he pointed to the ground I came over to investigate more closely. "Nathan*," I said, "that's dog poop. Don't step in it." Keep in mind that this literally is the smartest kid in the second grade.
Yeah
I was chastised by a third grader for saying "yeah" because apparently it is the lazy way of saying "yes."
Pictures
I recently got an assignment at school with a kindergarten class. I help a boy who comes from a rough background learn what is appropriate behavior for school and basically just be his friend. I love it. Anyway, he was drawing a picture the other day and, noticing that it looked a lot like a picture he'd drawn of himself the day before (you know, big circle for a head with arms and legs that come directly out of the head) I asked if he was drawing a picture of himself. "No," he replied, "that's a dinosaur." Of course, silly me.
Rain
As I was "lifeguarding" (for some reason, the kids on the playground call me 'lifeguard') at recess one day, it started to sprinkle. One of my second-graders came up to me and told me that when it rains, it means that Jesus is crying. I asked her why she thought that He was crying. She said that it was probably because He was sad because people smoke.
Big Belly
I was reading a Sponge Bob book to one of the kindergarteners in the after-school program. In the story, Sponge Bob eats a lot of food and gets sick, but in the picture his belly also gets rather large. In my attempts to help this boy enjoy the story and improve his comprehension, I was trying to help him examine the pictures in the book. "Why does Sponge Bob have a big belly in this picture?" I asked. He immediately yelled out, "because he's going to have a baby!"
*as always, the names of the students have been changed.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Halloween
Nate and I had a great Halloween this year. Nate went as a used car salesman, which was by far the best costume he's had since I've known him. (in previous years he's been an undercover cop - a.k.a. he had no costume, and a P.E. teacher - which he actually is) I went as a 70s snow bunny.
We carved pumpkins with some friends and they turned out pretty well. They got a pumpkin carving kit and it was great for the smaller cuts, but only because the knife blade was tiny. It was actually a battery powered knife, which was cool. I thought my Frankenstein pumpkin was downright adorable.
For Halloween day, I participated in my first ever school Halloween parade at the elementary school I work at. We don't do that in Oklahoma, but here it's a pretty big deal. Even the teachers that wouldn't even wear pajamas for pajama day went all-out for their costumes. It was quite an experience. I went as a cowgirl, (I had lent my snowsuit to a neighbor. Her work was offering $100 for the best costume.) but I definitely didn't measure up to the other teachers.
That night we drove down to Fairview to visit my grandparents and had a great time with them.
The pumpkins outside our apartment.
Ta Da! The finished products!
We carved pumpkins with some friends and they turned out pretty well. They got a pumpkin carving kit and it was great for the smaller cuts, but only because the knife blade was tiny. It was actually a battery powered knife, which was cool. I thought my Frankenstein pumpkin was downright adorable.
For Halloween day, I participated in my first ever school Halloween parade at the elementary school I work at. We don't do that in Oklahoma, but here it's a pretty big deal. Even the teachers that wouldn't even wear pajamas for pajama day went all-out for their costumes. It was quite an experience. I went as a cowgirl, (I had lent my snowsuit to a neighbor. Her work was offering $100 for the best costume.) but I definitely didn't measure up to the other teachers.
That night we drove down to Fairview to visit my grandparents and had a great time with them.
Nate as a used car salesman, Deb as a snow bunny.
Here we are again at the ward party (our singles' ward).
The pumpkins outside our apartment.
Ta Da! The finished products!Friday, October 24, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Microorganisms and Band-aids
For the last month I have been working as a second grade tutor at an elementary school and I have been really enjoying it. I have a degree in Therapeutic Recreation and (as of Thursday morning when I passed the exam that I just spent the last four weeks studying for) I am nationally certified to practice as a CTRS - a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist - according to the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification. My job has absolutely nothing to do with my degree, however I still enjoy it immensely. So, until further notice I will press on with tutoring second graders. One of the benefits of this job is that I get to work with second graders and they are hilarious. Here are two of my favorite stories from this last week:
Everyday at school I supervise lunch recess, which since it is not in a structured classroom setting is where most of my funny stories come from. Kids run around like crazy and tattle on each other and I make sure they don't kill each other. I have to wear an enormous orange hunting vest so that I'm readily recognizable and easy to locate - as if being one of two adults on the playground doesn't clear that up.
While I was supervising recess the other day a cute little first-grade boy comes up and gets my attention. "Do you know that..." he says, and I start wondering who he is going to tattle on. Usually sentences that start with "Do you know that..." end with "so-and-so is climbing up the slide?" But he continues with, "there are microorganisms over in a mush spot on the soccer field?" Quite surprised, I said that I did not know that and asked him what they were doing. "Oh," he replied "they're just swimming around, and eating dirt." He seemed a little concerned by their presence so I told him that it was probably okay that they were there.
Wondering how a first grader even knew about microorganisms, I was just about to ask him if he'd learned that in class today when he dove off on a discussion about oceanic food chains. It involved a lot of, "and then a bigger fish comes and eats that fish..." type explanations. After which, he promptly ran away, leaving me chuckling to myself and wishing I still had the enthusiasm for learning that first graders do.
My other favorite story this week is about playground injuries. They seem to be a daily occurrence, but they're usually quite minor. In fact most of them don't even draw blood, but it seems to be the cool thing in the second grade to have a bag of ice or a band-aidto put on your battle wound. Actually band-aids seem to be a universal cure-all in the playground world. Just yesterday one of the kids came up to me and informed me that someone was hurt. I quickly followed him to the scene of the incident where I found a little girl bawling her eyes out. Naturally, I thought that something serious must have happened for it to be the source of so many tears, so I asked her what had happened and if she was hurt. She was crying so hard that she could barely speak to me, but eventually the story came out. She had hit her shin on the playground equipment, she showed me the spot so I could assess the damage. It was a little red and she had scraped of the first layer of skin, but there was no blood. Not so much as a scratch.
Now I may have a cold heart, but seeing as how this couldn't even be classified as an injury, I wasn't sure what to do with the sobbing child. I told her she would probably have a bruise, but that she would be fine. I even suggested that she get up and walk around on it and go play. This however, was only met with increased wailing, at which point I left her in the sympathetic hands of her fellow second graders.
Everyday at school I supervise lunch recess, which since it is not in a structured classroom setting is where most of my funny stories come from. Kids run around like crazy and tattle on each other and I make sure they don't kill each other. I have to wear an enormous orange hunting vest so that I'm readily recognizable and easy to locate - as if being one of two adults on the playground doesn't clear that up.
While I was supervising recess the other day a cute little first-grade boy comes up and gets my attention. "Do you know that..." he says, and I start wondering who he is going to tattle on. Usually sentences that start with "Do you know that..." end with "so-and-so is climbing up the slide?" But he continues with, "there are microorganisms over in a mush spot on the soccer field?" Quite surprised, I said that I did not know that and asked him what they were doing. "Oh," he replied "they're just swimming around, and eating dirt." He seemed a little concerned by their presence so I told him that it was probably okay that they were there.
Wondering how a first grader even knew about microorganisms, I was just about to ask him if he'd learned that in class today when he dove off on a discussion about oceanic food chains. It involved a lot of, "and then a bigger fish comes and eats that fish..." type explanations. After which, he promptly ran away, leaving me chuckling to myself and wishing I still had the enthusiasm for learning that first graders do.
My other favorite story this week is about playground injuries. They seem to be a daily occurrence, but they're usually quite minor. In fact most of them don't even draw blood, but it seems to be the cool thing in the second grade to have a bag of ice or a band-aidto put on your battle wound. Actually band-aids seem to be a universal cure-all in the playground world. Just yesterday one of the kids came up to me and informed me that someone was hurt. I quickly followed him to the scene of the incident where I found a little girl bawling her eyes out. Naturally, I thought that something serious must have happened for it to be the source of so many tears, so I asked her what had happened and if she was hurt. She was crying so hard that she could barely speak to me, but eventually the story came out. She had hit her shin on the playground equipment, she showed me the spot so I could assess the damage. It was a little red and she had scraped of the first layer of skin, but there was no blood. Not so much as a scratch.
Now I may have a cold heart, but seeing as how this couldn't even be classified as an injury, I wasn't sure what to do with the sobbing child. I told her she would probably have a bruise, but that she would be fine. I even suggested that she get up and walk around on it and go play. This however, was only met with increased wailing, at which point I left her in the sympathetic hands of her fellow second graders.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
I Have a College Degree!
Well, after four years of work I finally made it to that light called graduation at the end of a long tunnel. My mom, dad and youngest sister came out to celebrate with Nate and me. The graduation speakers did well and inspired us all to do great things - my little sister Bug thought it all so interesting in fact that she doodled in her notebook through the entire proceedings. Anyway, for those of you who couldn't be here with us, here are some pics from the grand event.
Nate and me
Bug and me.
My wonderful parents and me.
Me in my cap and gown after commencement.
Now that I have successfully earned a college degree, I am left to wonder "Now that I have it, what do I do with it?"
Nate and me
Bug and me.
My wonderful parents and me.
Me in my cap and gown after commencement.
Now that I have successfully earned a college degree, I am left to wonder "Now that I have it, what do I do with it?"
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Achieving the Impossible
It has been another exciting week at camp. Since our Americorps team left us two weeks ago, we've been very short staffed (aka very busy). When they left, they reduced the number of our staff by half. So, this week we had youth with mental disabilities and interns became hybrid intern-counselors. Half our time was spent doing our regular activities and the other half was spent helping the groups out with whatever activity they were doing. I was privileged this week to be part of the Group B Wildcats (I'm pretty sure their mascot was taken from High School Musical) and there were several great stories from this week. I'll start with my favorite:
Thursday morning I was belaying at the high ropes course for one of the groups (acting as an intern for this part of the day). One of the boys in this group had a goal to try the high ropes course. He wasn't afraid of the height, but he had some strength, balance, and coordination problems that made him (and others) doubt his ability to climb up. However, he was determined to give it a try, and I was determined to help him do it. This guy was one of my favorite campers this week. He got his harness and helmet on and before too long had worked up his courage and was ready. Before climbing up, he had some questions, as most campers do, about the ropes, if they would break, and what happens if he were to fall. So I taught him a little about the belay system and how I would hold him up if he fell while climbing. Keep in mind however that he probably out-weighed me by a good 60 - 70 lbs.
In order to get up to the elements of the high ropes course, you first must climb 30 feet up little metal steps on a telephone pole. This in itself often proves a difficult challenge for our campers. When he started to climb, I called one of the counselors, Troll, over to be my backer. (Yes, that is her camp name and she did pick it herself) Because Casey* out-weighed me by so much and was unsure of his climbing abilities, she simply holds on to the loop on the back of my harness to provide a little extra strength and weight so I don't go flying off the ground if he were to fall. With both of us ready, Casey began climbing. He wasn't sure how to go about it though, so for each step we coached him on which hand or leg to move, where to put it, and which leg to stand up on to get higher. Even with this coaching, Casey could not physically do it on his own, so Troll and I started pulling on the rope to give him a little extra boost with each step. I often wound up a few feet off the ground with Troll pulling me backwards trying to get Casey just a little bit higher so he could get his foot on the next step.
By the time Casey's head got to the bottom of the wooden platform, he, Troll, and I had each worked so hard to get him up that there was no way that he was coming back down without making it to the top. My hand was cramping from holding the rope behind me in the brake position, and my legs ached from supporting myself in a lunge-squat-like position for so long. I felt like my arms and legs were going to fall off, but his courage and determination to meet his goal kept me holding on with all I had. It took us 20 minutes to get him up, but he made it because he never gave up; he never asked to come down, only how do I go up from here. All the effort was worth it to hear the excitement in his voice and see it in his face. He knew that he had accomplished the impossible.
Some might say that we cheated Casey by giving him so much help, that we gave him a false sense of confidence. I disagree. There are many things in this life that none of us can accomplish on our own. There are obstacles that there is no way we can overcome through only our own meager efforts. We all need help from each other and most importantly from our Savior. None of us can leave this world having never done wrong. We cannot be worthy to enter God's presence by our own merits alone. Because of our Savior was willing to pay the price for our sins, He has given us the greatest gift we can ever receive, that of repentance and the path back to live with our Father in Heaven. It is not cheating to accept this gift, making possible a miracle we can never achieve on our own. With our Savior's help each of us can accomplish the impossible.
Thursday morning I was belaying at the high ropes course for one of the groups (acting as an intern for this part of the day). One of the boys in this group had a goal to try the high ropes course. He wasn't afraid of the height, but he had some strength, balance, and coordination problems that made him (and others) doubt his ability to climb up. However, he was determined to give it a try, and I was determined to help him do it. This guy was one of my favorite campers this week. He got his harness and helmet on and before too long had worked up his courage and was ready. Before climbing up, he had some questions, as most campers do, about the ropes, if they would break, and what happens if he were to fall. So I taught him a little about the belay system and how I would hold him up if he fell while climbing. Keep in mind however that he probably out-weighed me by a good 60 - 70 lbs.
In order to get up to the elements of the high ropes course, you first must climb 30 feet up little metal steps on a telephone pole. This in itself often proves a difficult challenge for our campers. When he started to climb, I called one of the counselors, Troll, over to be my backer. (Yes, that is her camp name and she did pick it herself) Because Casey* out-weighed me by so much and was unsure of his climbing abilities, she simply holds on to the loop on the back of my harness to provide a little extra strength and weight so I don't go flying off the ground if he were to fall. With both of us ready, Casey began climbing. He wasn't sure how to go about it though, so for each step we coached him on which hand or leg to move, where to put it, and which leg to stand up on to get higher. Even with this coaching, Casey could not physically do it on his own, so Troll and I started pulling on the rope to give him a little extra boost with each step. I often wound up a few feet off the ground with Troll pulling me backwards trying to get Casey just a little bit higher so he could get his foot on the next step.
By the time Casey's head got to the bottom of the wooden platform, he, Troll, and I had each worked so hard to get him up that there was no way that he was coming back down without making it to the top. My hand was cramping from holding the rope behind me in the brake position, and my legs ached from supporting myself in a lunge-squat-like position for so long. I felt like my arms and legs were going to fall off, but his courage and determination to meet his goal kept me holding on with all I had. It took us 20 minutes to get him up, but he made it because he never gave up; he never asked to come down, only how do I go up from here. All the effort was worth it to hear the excitement in his voice and see it in his face. He knew that he had accomplished the impossible.
Some might say that we cheated Casey by giving him so much help, that we gave him a false sense of confidence. I disagree. There are many things in this life that none of us can accomplish on our own. There are obstacles that there is no way we can overcome through only our own meager efforts. We all need help from each other and most importantly from our Savior. None of us can leave this world having never done wrong. We cannot be worthy to enter God's presence by our own merits alone. Because of our Savior was willing to pay the price for our sins, He has given us the greatest gift we can ever receive, that of repentance and the path back to live with our Father in Heaven. It is not cheating to accept this gift, making possible a miracle we can never achieve on our own. With our Savior's help each of us can accomplish the impossible.
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