Hi friends, I'm about to mooch off of you, but it's for a good cause.
I need your books.
Read on. Or, if you don't feel like reading on, please at least glance at the list at the end of this post.
Pluit Village School is a new school campus that is a part of the Sekolah Pelita Harapan International (SPH) network of schools in Jakarta, Indonesia. This means that it will be very hard to come by English books at the grade level that I need for my own classroom library, and the ones that are available are expensive I'm told. A lot of teachers who have been teaching for several many years may have built up their classroom library over time. This, however, will be the first class that is my very own, and it's in a developing country.
Next weekend, I'm going home to my parents for Easter weekend, and I plan on doing an archaeology dig into my childhood. I'm going to scour every nook and cranny for my old chapter books (and possible my brothers' old books too). I'll bring every Newberry Medal book I can find. I'll find some great read alouds that I can read to my class just like my grade four teacher read Silverwing, Harry Potter, and Charlotte's Web to us on her banged up wooden stool. I'll snag whatever seems relevant.
Reading is obviously a fundamental part to a child's early education, and I want to do everything I can to provide them with different reading opportunities in my classroom. I'm still not entirely sure how I'm going to pack a classroom library into a suitcase to bring with me, but if you know me, you know that I've been refining my packing skills for many, many years. Worst case scenario, I send some on the slow boat to Indonesia..... Or I'll find Mary Poppins' bag.
Pluit Village is in a transition period, and this school year will be the transition year between it being an early education center and becoming a full K-5 school in the center of Jakarta. The transition school we'll be at this year will be in the Pluit Village Mall. This will be a challenge at times, but I know that it's a challenge that is well worth the efforts we'll be putting in.
I'm so excited for the challenge this year brings! I can't wait to get to the point where I have a unique and diverse classroom library for my students, and I get to see them debating over which book to take home to read.
I know that it'll come together, but I may need a little help. Here's how you could help if you feel so inclined.
1.
Point me toward different book sales at schools in the Greater Moncton
Area and even on PEI. This will be my gold mine, I'm hoping.
2.
Look through your old chapter books, novels, picture books, and send me
an email or message with a list of what you think you'd be willing to
donate to my classroom.
3. SPH is a Christian
international school network. If you know of any books that would be
helpful for the spiritual growth of children (ages 7-11) and interesting to
read, please send me the titles of these books. Even better, if you have
some that you don't feel you need anymore, you could consider donating
them.
4. Give me some tips or pieces of advice on how to accomplish this task!
5. Pray.
Email me or message me on Facebook.
Here's a link to give you an idea of what kind of books are around the grade three level.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Love God. Love Others. Love Indonesia.
How do I start a blog post about my recent life changing decision?
Let's go back to ten year-old me sitting on the couch after church with my mom. The all familiar World Vision commercials flashed across the screen, and I admit, they got me. While the commercial showed adorable kids in tough circumstances, a voice asked a simple question: "Do you have room in your family for one more?" Mom tells me that I turned to her and asked, "Do we?" How could she resist that? ha ha.
This is how our family came to sponsor Putri Maisaro, a six year-old girl from Indonesia. This is also how I came to be very interested in this faraway country. At the time, Indonesia seemed as familiar a place to me as Narnia or Bear Country (come on, Berenstein fans). I used to dream about meeting Putri someday, and by the time I was in high school, it was near the top of my bucket list.
What else was near the top? "Become a teacher." This was always at the top of my list, and it was always the same answer when someone would ask me that obligatory childhood question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My answer never changed except for a brief time near the end of my Arts degree when I reconsidered my career choice. I wanted to make sure that this was what I was meant to do, that it was part of God's ultimate plan for me, that I wasn't just pursuing that because I'd always wanted to. So I took a year to teach English in Quebec, and I found that I loved teaching. During that year in Quebec, I also heard about this school in Indonesia where some relatives of some relatives were working, so I emailed them.
I asked what I needed to do to work there. I asked what kind of education they required their staff to have. Unfortunately, I did not meet the requirements at the time. I can't properly explain my feelings towards Indonesia or why they existed, and it took until now to see God's hand in all of this.
I just want to take a minute to emphasize that too often we stress about God's plan in our lives. A friend recently quoted another friend to me. God's plan for our lives is fairly simple, for the Lord gives two commandments. To love God. To love others. It's very clear in the Bible that if God cares so much for the sparrows and the lilies, then how much more must he care for us? I've made the mistake before of stressing what I'm "supposed" to do. We're supposed to love. So, stop worrying; take it from a first class worrier, it does nothing. Just trust. Find peace.
Anyway, fast forward three years after my year in Quebec, and this past fall, I started worrying about what I'd do after finishing my B. Ed teaching practicum. I know, there I went worrying. But I assure you, worrying did nothing. After my practicum, I could either take the job offer from the school I did my practicum at in China, or I could return home and go from there. So, after prayer, consideration, and some wise words from friends and mentors, I returned home. This was a very difficult decision and disheartening in many ways. The upside was that I was coming back to a great workplace at Wee College where I've been very happy working. I still didn't know what the next year would bring though, and I had decided to just trust. It seems simple, and surprisingly, it was.
Remember that school I had inquired about in Indonesia. Well, I applied there. I prayed a lot about this decision, and I continued praying in the months following my application. The Lord surprised me over and over again as things came together. I felt so at peace with the whole thing, and even if I didn't get a job offer, I felt good about the process. I had no feeling of dread or stress because I knew so surely that regardless, I would still love God and others in the outcome.
Now, I won't lie and say that I was indifferent to whether I got the job or not: I so badly wanted this. Yes, I was nervous to hear whether I had the job or not. Yes, I was borderline a nervous wreck the night of my Skype interview, but it was a nervous excitement. I ultimately felt a peace about whatever the result would be.
A few weeks ago, a package arrived in the mail for me. Inside was a contract. Wahoooo!!! While I'm scared about many things in this decision, and there were difficult sacrifices that came with it, I know that this is the right decision and it is a blessing. God is faithful, and I can't believe that I am finally a teacher. I can't believe that I have the chance to love God, love others, and love Indonesia.
So, as of July 14th, I will be in Jakarta, Indonesia as the third grade teacher at Sekolah Pelita Harapan International School.
One last thing. A quote I saw on facebook yesterday:
“You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you'll never be this way ever again.”
― Azar Nafisi
Let's go back to ten year-old me sitting on the couch after church with my mom. The all familiar World Vision commercials flashed across the screen, and I admit, they got me. While the commercial showed adorable kids in tough circumstances, a voice asked a simple question: "Do you have room in your family for one more?" Mom tells me that I turned to her and asked, "Do we?" How could she resist that? ha ha.
This is how our family came to sponsor Putri Maisaro, a six year-old girl from Indonesia. This is also how I came to be very interested in this faraway country. At the time, Indonesia seemed as familiar a place to me as Narnia or Bear Country (come on, Berenstein fans). I used to dream about meeting Putri someday, and by the time I was in high school, it was near the top of my bucket list.
What else was near the top? "Become a teacher." This was always at the top of my list, and it was always the same answer when someone would ask me that obligatory childhood question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My answer never changed except for a brief time near the end of my Arts degree when I reconsidered my career choice. I wanted to make sure that this was what I was meant to do, that it was part of God's ultimate plan for me, that I wasn't just pursuing that because I'd always wanted to. So I took a year to teach English in Quebec, and I found that I loved teaching. During that year in Quebec, I also heard about this school in Indonesia where some relatives of some relatives were working, so I emailed them.
I asked what I needed to do to work there. I asked what kind of education they required their staff to have. Unfortunately, I did not meet the requirements at the time. I can't properly explain my feelings towards Indonesia or why they existed, and it took until now to see God's hand in all of this.
I just want to take a minute to emphasize that too often we stress about God's plan in our lives. A friend recently quoted another friend to me. God's plan for our lives is fairly simple, for the Lord gives two commandments. To love God. To love others. It's very clear in the Bible that if God cares so much for the sparrows and the lilies, then how much more must he care for us? I've made the mistake before of stressing what I'm "supposed" to do. We're supposed to love. So, stop worrying; take it from a first class worrier, it does nothing. Just trust. Find peace.
Anyway, fast forward three years after my year in Quebec, and this past fall, I started worrying about what I'd do after finishing my B. Ed teaching practicum. I know, there I went worrying. But I assure you, worrying did nothing. After my practicum, I could either take the job offer from the school I did my practicum at in China, or I could return home and go from there. So, after prayer, consideration, and some wise words from friends and mentors, I returned home. This was a very difficult decision and disheartening in many ways. The upside was that I was coming back to a great workplace at Wee College where I've been very happy working. I still didn't know what the next year would bring though, and I had decided to just trust. It seems simple, and surprisingly, it was.
Remember that school I had inquired about in Indonesia. Well, I applied there. I prayed a lot about this decision, and I continued praying in the months following my application. The Lord surprised me over and over again as things came together. I felt so at peace with the whole thing, and even if I didn't get a job offer, I felt good about the process. I had no feeling of dread or stress because I knew so surely that regardless, I would still love God and others in the outcome.
Now, I won't lie and say that I was indifferent to whether I got the job or not: I so badly wanted this. Yes, I was nervous to hear whether I had the job or not. Yes, I was borderline a nervous wreck the night of my Skype interview, but it was a nervous excitement. I ultimately felt a peace about whatever the result would be.
A few weeks ago, a package arrived in the mail for me. Inside was a contract. Wahoooo!!! While I'm scared about many things in this decision, and there were difficult sacrifices that came with it, I know that this is the right decision and it is a blessing. God is faithful, and I can't believe that I am finally a teacher. I can't believe that I have the chance to love God, love others, and love Indonesia.
So, as of July 14th, I will be in Jakarta, Indonesia as the third grade teacher at Sekolah Pelita Harapan International School.
One last thing. A quote I saw on facebook yesterday:
“You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you'll never be this way ever again.”
― Azar Nafisi
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