It has been a very busy week. I started testing students this week to find out their reading comprehension levels. The students were either so shy or their English skills so poor, I decided to throw out the tests and try a different method.
This put me on my face before God for the entire week. One day, I sat at the table in room from around 6am until after 11am with my head "pounded" down on top of my Bible and stacks of possible courses of action. Roselle came in to tell me about a meeting and I told her my dilemma. She just said to pray. Hahaha! "I've done that! Now what?!"
From that place of desperation came the decision to focus first on training the teachers on various topics. So, now on Monday nights, I will be presenting topics ranging from personal time management, to classroom management, to reading strategies, to creative teaching ideas. Please pray for this! I have never done this before! Tita wants me to have a detailed syllabus by the end of the day Tuesday for the first few weeks of the trainings.
Then, I got a list from Roselle of the names of students who do not have any English skills and/or are struggling to read at grade level. From this, I am making a schedule of classes. I will be pulling students twice a week to teach them basic reading/conversational English skills.
So, it may sound like my scheduling problems are resolved, except that I have had more added to my job description. I am to help prepare teachers here for their board exams that are at the end of September. I am not sure how I am going to fit that into my schedule, or how to help people when I don't speak their native language.
And, there is the added problem that I do not have a classroom to teach in. I am looking at the cafeteria or the library as my teaching place right now. These are definitely not ideal locations, but it would be better than nothing. Another thing is that I could teach in my room, but Tina (my student with no arms and no legs) would not be able to get up the stairs to my place. Also, it is far from the school and valuable instructional time would be taken up in going from place to place. Pray that a suitable place for me to teach is found before the end of the week.
Friday, I went to a Jesus Revolution meeting. We were really late because traffic was so bad. But we got there in time for the last speaker. The message was about doing what God tells you to do. I was very encouraged because it is what God has put on my heart as a message for the Philippines. The spiritual atmosphere here is in need of a major shift. If you are interested in finding out more about what I mean by that and how you can help pray, send me an email.
Saturday, we had team building teacher training. It was a lot of fun! And, it opened my eyes to the specific topics and ways I can help the teachers. This year will focus on turning the classroom from teacher-centered to student- centered learning. I welcome any ideas from teacher on things that helped you to learn how to do this!
Sunday, we had a Brain Galaxy memory training. We learned how to capitalize upon mnemonic devices to memorize lists of random information. We laughed so hard! Now we are going around saying, "bicycle" "golden" and other word associations we made. I look forward to using what I learned to memorize scripture.
I still have not been to the chiropractor. Tita Pat has been gone a lot lately, and will be gone for the next few weeks. She is the one in charge of making the appointment for me. I really need to go, though. My back has been bothering me so much that I can't sleep at night without taking ibuprophen. The people here are so sweet. They keep asking me if I need to sit out, need help, etc. I just tell them that it's not life threatening and I am not injuring it further by doing what I do, so no thanks. But it would be nice to be able to sleep through the night.
I downloaded games for Mirasol onto my iPhone. Now she wants to play all the time! She is absolutely precious!!!!! She will look all over for me, come sit in my lap, tickle me, and play. During church this Sunday, she learned how to take my earrings out and put them back in. She's soooo cute!!!!
Side note: I am covered in mosquito bites. Does anyone know of a natural repellant that works? And that I could make/get/use here? Malaria is no threat, but the itch drives me mad!
I am off to go do laundry and formulate the teacher trainings and lesson plans for the students. I hope to be teaching full force by Wednesday. This not having a schedule/ focused life is driving me crazy!!!
And by the way, I am doing great. I have made a lot of friends here and am loving being here. God is taking care of my emotions. When you pray, please pray that I connect with Him and hear His voice for everything I do. I can't live a day without His presence.
Oh, 5 am prayer meetings have started up again. I will be in charge of the Saturday meeting which will focus on praying for the building project. God prepared me for this and I am excited to see what will happen!
Tita is leaving because her spiritual mom passed away last week. She will go to America Tuesday night for two weeks or so, then come back to IFL for a day, then leave for about a week to go to Singapore. Please keep her in your prayers, as well as the entire IFL ministry.
I think that's it for now. If I don't update, send me an email or post something on facebook. Thank you so much for your prayers. I can't do this without them. Your notes of encouragement mean the world to me, too.
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