The Gift of Teaching

Wow...I can't believe the school year has come to a close...it wouldn't feel right to end my fourth year of teaching without going back and reflecting on some of my favorite parts and favorite snapshots from all that the year held. I am thankful to the Lord for this sweet school and for all of the memories that I have from this special place and school year. 

First...my team....Courtney and Erika are two of my favorites and teaching with them is honestly a dream. My mornings, afternoons, school days and everything in-between would not be the same without them in my life, and I am so thankful for the gift of their friendship! 

Second...my classroom...this little spot is where I spend my school days, and it's become a place where I have seen the Lord work in huge ways...both in my life and in the lives of the little ones God has entrusted to me. We play hard and dream big and learn a lot inside these walls, and I am grateful for this little classroom. 

Third of all...my class. This little group has been such a highlight for me. They have made me laugh, shown me God's love in the sweetest of ways and have been gifts to me as I get to see and remember how special child-like faith truly is. 

And lastly...teaching and all of the memories that come along with it. Every week, we teach a letter and we learn, explore, and create around that letter. We always start with "l," for it's the simplest to draw - a line from the top to bottom. And every Friday morning, we sit around on the carpet and make our letter chart with all the words we've either explored, talked about, made something of, or can think of when we're talking about that letter. The kids (and I) would laugh about my drawings, have the best time brainstorming and honestly just so enjoyed that time together as a class. They'd pick their favorite object and draw and write it in their alphabet journal to give to their parents at the end of the year. Friday mornings were definitely some of my favorite times because of these little charts. 

One of my other favorite parts of teaching this age is getting to live out my love for math in their beginning years of learning. I tutor math for older students after school, but there's something sweet about watching the lightbulbs at this age come on for moments that they start grasping numbers, writing numbers, adding numbers, understanding tens and ones in the teens, completing math puzzles and playing math games...

It's even sweet to watch them choose to do math problems above all our other centers... ☺️ I consider it one of the biggest gifts to watch their learning develop throughout the year... 

We made these little lady bug paintings during L week, and I hung them up so everyone could see them. They stayed a part of our classroom all year. It made me smile every time I walked in and the kids loved them too. 🐞

N week...it's always a big one....with Nursery rhymes, nature, names and necklaces....we stay very busy! 

Mother Goose always pays the class a visit each day to introduce their Nursery Rhyme of the day...Humpty Dumpty, Bah Bah Black Sheep, Jack be Nimble, Jack and Jill, and the Itsy Bitsy Spider usually take the lead for the favorites. 

A few of the Nursery Rhymes on display in the hallway...

H is for hand...and the sweetest prayer that we give to the parents as a gift at our conferences. ✋🏼🙏🏼

H is also for Horse...we make these little stick horses for their Hoedown Day...they are a highlight for sure! 🐴

M is for an M&M science project... 🌈

Oh fall....a season I love so very much. Fall at school is SO fun and so busy...from the cutest pumpkin picture crafts to scarecrows and farm animals to Thanksgiving placemats and necklaces...

This picture so perfectly describes my desk, brain, and thoughts after our fall unit... 😂

Then comes Christmas....which is basically just as busy and fun as Fall, except for only a few weeks. It's the happiest though, and truly one of my all-time favorite times, both in and out of school. 

The kids put on our Christmas Chapel and get to tell the story of Jesus being born. It is a true joy and privilege to be able to teach them the story of our Savior being born. We send them home with many different ways to tell and teach the story to their family and siblings. ❤️

We get to make so many fun and cute ornaments for them to take home...these have become a favorite and so sweet to be able to make a little keepsake from the year. 

This ornament is particularly special to me because my mom has one just like it hanging on our Christmas tree at home. I took a picture of each student's role in our Christmas Chapel to hang in the little stocking for them to remember the story they got to be a part of telling. 

A fun little treat to send home! 

I snapped this right before we started packing everything up to send home. These aren't even all of their Christmas goodies, but it sure makes the season a busy, but fun one!! 

We come back from Christmas ready to jump back into more letters...G is for Gum-ball Machine...one of my favorites.. 🎊

V is for Vincent van Goh...we painted the Starry night with forks to make it look like his brush strokes. 🎨🖌🍴

V is also for Valentine's Day...a happy place to be at school! 💕❤️They make their moms little heart shaped pins to wear for their Sweetheart Mom's Breakfast that takes place Valentine's Day week. This year, I joined the fun and even made my mom one. 😉💕

Samson...one of our many Superheroes from the Bible we studied during Superhero week. 💪🏼🦸🏼‍♂️

Every morning, they have Morning Tubs that they can play with and explore to get their morning started...it's always a fun time for them to talk to each other and catch up on their morning and days. I love listening and talking to them about the exciting, fun, sweet, hard, big and little things that make up their updates. 

Then Easter comes...one of the greatest joys of getting to teach this age is getting to teach the Easter Story. We go through each part of Holy Week and read the story, talk about what that means for us today, and then let them create that page in their own Easter Story book.

From painting their hands (and feet) to letting them dry, laminating the books, cutting them, and binding them, it is a project...but one that is so worth it for them to be able to tell the story.

This one made me laugh......I promise I taught the story the right way 😂😂😂It's definitely a sweet season to say the least!

My favorite Q project...Q is for Quilt ☺️😴😂

Z is for Zacchaeus...they could make him climb the tree and come down when the Lord said, "Zacchaeus, you come down. For I'm going to your house today...."

Mother's Day painting garden pots for Mom 💕🌺🪴

And a recycled art project that the kids loved putting together and painting to put on display. 

I love looking out this window of my classroom...in the mornings, I love looking out and seeing Pierce's truck. He always waits for me to turn my classroom light on when he drops me off before school starts. In the afternoons, I love looking out and seeing the parents waiting to pick up their little ones. In the fall, I love looking out and seeing the beautiful fall colors and leaves on the trees. In the winter, I love looking out and seeing a dusting of snow when there are snowflakes but we're still in school. And in the spring, I love watching the blooms begin to start on all of the trees as the grass begins to become greener. During the school days, I love looking out and seeing the older students learning, reading, having class outside. It's one of my favorite spaces to watch the changing and the beauty of each season and school day. 

These little bathrooms have held many mornings for me as I always packed a bag to change and get ready after our workouts. This was a new routine for me this year, but one I came to enjoy. I loved being able to pray for my day and after I sometimes snapped a picture to send to Pierce, I'd sit at my desk and enjoy a few moments of quiet before the day was off to the races. A sweet routine that I know could only happen in a few seasons.

We painted a lot, we laughed a lot, we cried a lot, we learned to share, we learned to read, we learned to add, but mostly we learned that God loves us, He cares for us, He listens to us, and His Word is sweet and true and will always be there to help us each and every day. 

And at the end of the school year, we got to celebrate with the students and their parents for all that they had learned throughout the year...it's my favorite conference of the year...sending them off with their goodies, gifts, and prayers for the summer and their next school year. 

This classroom's lights are off for the summer, but it is still full of some of the best memories!

This group of eight taught me more about myself and God's love and patience than I could have imagined. I'm so grateful for these little ones and can't wait to watch them continue to grow and learn as they discover more of who He has made them to be!

And these friends made the year one of the best for me. I love sharing school and life and everything in between with these two friends. 

School year 2020-2021, you were great! And officially in the books. Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful school year and for the gift of teaching!