Kids Say the Darndest Things!

So during my I-can't-be-in-the-classroom time, I needed to stop by my school to get my plane tickets sorted out. One of my students sees me, runs down the hallway, runs back and hands this note to me. I about died when I read it. I will translate it for you...lol.

 

Dear Mrs. Rodgers, I hope you had a nice flight and welcome back. I hope you had a nice time but you will [have] a better time in Cayman. J's name moved down K's name [moved] down. (our behavior chart) I'll keep you on track. You will have to see the rest of the fun things we did when you come. L out.

haha. I love his salutation! Also, I love that he was so concerned to tell me who was misbehaving just so I would be up to date! haha. Also, after translating this letter I realized this kid's teacher needs to teach him to use some punctuation! Geesh! haha. :)

Heavy Heart

Wow. It has been a month since I last blogged. So much has changed since I wrote my last blog. I have been fighting it so hard, and wishing this was not happening. Husband and I made a pact that I wouldn't update the blog until we had a chance to tell people in person what was going on. So, since it's been a few weeks, and since I cannot wait any longer, I decided that I wanted needed to blog tonight. It's been a long day. And by long day I mean stayed-in-my-pjs-all-day-layed-on-the-couch-ate-lunch-only-watched-half-a-season-of-24. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Since we have arrived in Cayman we have been battling (okay, I'm being a little dramatic) in constant contact with the Immigration office here. You see, for a while we were not sure they were going to approve my work visa. Then, at the last second (literally the Friday before my wedding) they did! PTL. When we arrived on island my visa had a bit of a hold up. There was the fine print that read (paraphrased): no teaching licence = no visa. Fair enough. We went into "Get licence and move on" mode the next day. But then...you know when ever you hear "but then..." it's never a good sign. That would be appropriate for here. :( There's this funny little thing about Immigration. They are allowed to be picky because it's their country. They (for obvious reasons) do not want people (outsiders) coming to their homeland and taking it over. I get it. I promise I do not want to take you over Cayman! Pinky Swear! Anyways, a verrrrrryy long story short, my licence would not be approved until I showed proof of completing my Credentialing School. Sounds easy enough! Wrong.. You see, there were still three little, tinsey, winsey things that I needed to complete....and for various reasons (not having the money at the time, getting married and preparing to move to a different COUNTRY) I didn't complete them. First, let me be honest. This is my fault. I should have been more on top of it, I should have, and I take full responsibility. That being said, I honestly didn't think that my meesley ol' California credential would matter in a different country. Well, I thought wrong, and now I am paying the price.

Let me express to you how loving, caring, thoughtful, and selfless my boss is. Seriously. She calls me into her office, and long story short, she tells me that they are fighting for me and will do everything in their power to keep me. She offered me time off without penalty to fly to CA to take my test. She lined up a CPR class for me and even fought for me every step of the way when trying to figure out how to turn in my TPA. Seriously, the woman is a blessing. I can't even begin to describe how comforting she has been during this time. She truly is fighting for me.

Then..Friday September 28th came. Kyle went to the Immigration office to extend his visitors visa. Since we got married and moved all within a week there wasn't any way for me to add him to my visa, so he had to come on island. He was granted a one month visitors visa. We thought that by the end of the month we would get the marriage license and would be able to add him. Again, we thought wrong. Apparently the state of CA really didn't want us married..(okay, I'm being dramatic) but seriously, they were picky about signatures being out of their boxes and then lost our marriage certificate in the mail. (I'm tell ya, when it rains, it pours!) Anyways, we didn't get the certificate in time so Kyle headed down to get his visa extended. He fought and pleeded with them. And let me tell you, I know my husband, and when he wants something he does everything he can to get it. However, in the case it just didn't work..They denied his extension, and told him he had to leave the island by morning. BAM! Just like that our perfect little married life came crashing down. Literally. So, I cried. He cried. We cried together. I've only ever seen my husband cry once in our whole 6 years of dating. This man was sad, and he was not afraid to show me..which made me cry harder. That was the worst 24 hours of emotions I have felt in a long time. I had to say good-bye to my partner the next morning. The worst part? We had no idea when he would be able to come back on island.

Kyle told me I was sick for taking a picture of this. But I just had to document it..

But, the Lord works in perfect ways. His old boss (a dear friend of ours) hired him back. She had no agenda. Stay a week, stay two, whatever it takes. Wow. What an amazing woman she is (and not just for giving him a job!) :) So now Kyle is able to work, something he wasn't able to do while he was here because of the whole "visitor" part in his visa. Blessing #1

The next Wednesday my Principal let me know that she was going to be giving me some time off from work. (funny thing: if you don't have a visa, you can't teach...) okay, so it's not funny. Actually, it's not funny at all. And I cried. It was awful. The worst part? Kyle was gone, I was alone, and now I wouldn't even have work to distract me from the fact that my husband was now 2,500 miles away. (And yes, I did just look that up on Google to confirm...lol)

And let me tell you, those were the longest two days of my life. Although we live on an island, and everyone swears it's paradise, contrary to popular belief I wasn't sippin' Mai Tai's while laying on a hammock on the beach. We don't have a car, and pretty much every nice place to get to requires one..so I was cooped up the house..

Blessing #2 I was able to go home on Saturday. Yes! Home to my husband!!! :) I was so excited I'm pretty sure I didn't get any sleep that night. I was greeted at the airport by the sweetest family ever! Sisters and Callie held up Welcome Home! signs (wish I would have gotten a picture!!) and even Grandma came out for the ride! :) It was so nice being back together with my hubby too!! Then! Blessing #3 Probably the highlight of my trip (besides of course seeing my husband and family) my college roommate went into early, but not too early, labor. Which meant........I WOULD GET TO MEET BRIELLE GRACE! Dang! To say I was excited was an understatement! I am so proud of my roomie! (and so scared to give birth! ha!) Her baby girl is perfect and so so so beautiful! And I even got to hold her! It was so wonderful getting to catch up with my roommate too. It was so nice getting to talk for almost 4 hours about marriage, honeymoons, babies and life! Gosh, I have missed my time with her.

 

 

 

Then it was off to take my test and leave once again for Cayman. I wish I could say with my husband..but unfortunately I can't. :( Luckily, my mother-in-law had already set up a trip to come to visit us! Blessing #4 I am going to post a seperate post about her trip here, but let me just tell you. The Lord had each of these blessings planned out. This past month may not did not go how we planned, but along the way the Lord has given us perfectly timed blessings to help us through. And this was definitely evident in her time here!

 

So now, we wait. Wednesday I will know whether or not I passed my test. Here's the thing. I don't want you to pray that I pass, and I don't want you to pray that I don't pass (ahem, sisters!) ;) I am pleading with you that you would pray for God's perfect will. Wherever He wants me I will go, if that means staying in Cayman, or moving back to CA, we will do it. I just don't want to rely on my emotions..because right now, I'd rather be with my husband and family...

 

Sorry for this being such a long post, and props to you if you read the whole thing! :) I guess I really did need to get a lot off my mind!

 

Love and Hugs,

Mrs. Rodgers

 

Changes

Teachers all have a different philosophy on how they teach. They all have different techniques and ways they believe are the best to reach students. My sophomore year of college a lady came into one of my education course and talked about this thing called "power teaching". I was SO engaged! I had to learn more! I was so ready [or so I thought at the time] to use the techniques in classroom that very second! During my student teaching I used a couple of the concepts from what I had remembered back from the presentation my sophomore year. When I started structuring how I would teach this year I knew that I wanted to learn more about it, and practically use it in my classroom. I learned that the technical name for it is Whole Brain Teaching. I literally spend all last Saturday watching videos on YouTube and hopping from blog to blog of teachers using it in their classroom. I got so many practical ways to use it in my class. I printed out a few posters and tried the techniques in my class this week. I learned: MY KIDS LOVE IT! I have never seen my kids so engaged in my whole lessson. As much as I want to think that I am the best teacher that walked the planet and in no way would my kids ever get bored of my teaching, I know that's not the reality. I'm far from being "the best", as it should be! (It is only my first year!)

Their favorite part of whole brain teaching? The Mirror exercise, especially paired with talking. Mirror is when I clap two times and say "mirror". The students clap two times and say "mirror". Then I move my hands and head all around as I am giving directions of what they need to do. I often do this during transitions. This helps them to focus on me and what I am saying, instead of looking out the window, talking to a neighbor, fiddling with a pencil, etc. Their most favorite is when I say "Mirror, Talk". They have to not only mirror my actions, but they have to repeat what I say. I take this time to change my voice so that it is more memorable. They love repeating me when I talk with a deep voice, or a high pitch voice. The next thing I want to add is the scoreboard. I'll give you more on that once I use it in the class. :)
Another thing I added to my class is the what do we need checklist. I noticed that many of my students would ask me tons of questions on what they could use or what they needed to do with their paper when they were done when I gave them independent work. I found this list online and even got a free print of it from Pinterest! :) {pretty much my obsession right now!}

(If you click on the picture it will open it up a little bigger)

The students actually beg me to let them be the one to check or X! And look out if I don't do it before they start! They will let me know in 2.3 seconds! :)

One of my favorite additions to my classroom is my Boggle board! Of course I found it on Pintrest! :) During free time, they are allowed to read a book, or now, play boggle! I wasn't sure how they would react, but about 70% of my class LOVES IT! This is a win-win for me. Not only does it build their vocabulary, but they LOVE to do it so they WANT to do it! They beg for more Boggle time! I found a math one too, but it was for addition, so I have to see how I can work it for multiplication. Anyways, here was my inspiration:

And how my finished product came out:

 

 

In Cayman you have to get creative with what you have to put on the walls, because they are solid concrete for hurricane protection. This means all the stapling I'm used to is a no-go. So for my board I chose to use clothespins to attach the letters to. I love how it came out. Of course, if I was in the States I totally would have added some ribbon bows to the clothespins, but I worked with what I had, and I think it came out great!

 

I also made a new behavior chart {thanks to Pinterest!} but I haven't taken a picture of it yet, so I will post that later this week.

 

Happy Saturday!

 

Love and Hugs,

Mrs. Rodgers

That Girl

I'm totally going to be that girl. You know, the one that makes you want to throw up. Yep. Just giving you a fair warning....

Today as class is starting I begin to say,
"Good morning class."
"Good morning Mrs. Rodgers."
"Today is Tuesday, September 18th. OOH! Does anyone know what today is?!?!"
'K': "Tuesday?"
"Well yes, but something else..."
'S': "OH! I know! It's your.....what's that thing called....? Hmm...your wedding day..no...ANNIVERSARY!"
"Well, close! Anniversary is something you celebrate yearly, but since it's only been 1 month..we cant exactly say anniversary, so its a month-aversary."

Yes, folks. Today marks our 1 month-aversary! :)

I told you I was going to be that girl. :)

Some of my favorite pictures caught on camera by our friends and family:

 

At one point in the middle of our ceremony I see our ring bearer on the floor...he was using the pillow as a pillow! haha. Love this little man! 

 

Happy Month-aversary Husband! :)

 

Also, I am dddyyyyiiiiinnnggggggg to see our professional wedding pictures!! (hint, hint) :)

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

Love and Hugs,

Mrs. Rodgers

Day Makers

Best email you can receive:


Dear Melissa,


Thank you very much for the great work that you have been doing with the kids. I have seen a change for the better with my son, and I truly appreciate your efforts!!


Sincerely yours,

Sleepy Saturday

(Title credit goes out to my hubby..haha)

 

Benji and I got some quality snuggle time as Dad worked on homework all day. We're proud of you Kyle! :)

Love and Hugs,
Mrs. Rodgers

Crabs, Benji, Lime

Well this past few weeks has been one wild ride. School started full force; for both Kyle and I. I can now successfully say that I have completed my first week of my first year of teaching! What an experience it was! Of course I have been in a classroom before, and for 16 weeks I taught in someone else’s class, but there is nothing like having your classroom. Your very own classroom. Wow! Praise God for his many blessings.

My first week was full of students calling me “Mrs. Rodgers” (Still getting used to that one!) :), learning how to take control, and of course, a crab. Yes, a crab! And no, not that hermit crab you’re thinking of. I’m talking full on crab-that-just-came-out-of-the-ocean-that-has-claws-and-you-would-find-on-your-plate-at-Joe’s-Crab-Shack! Did I forget to mention that my student was so worried about his crab at snack break that he insisted he needed to feed it. Yes, it was quite an interesting week indeed!

For those of you know Kyle and I well, you know that we have a soft spot for dogs. And when I say soft spot I mean, cant-live-without-one-visit-the-pound-monthly-with-our-sister. Yeaaaa. :) So it won’t be a surprise to you when I announce….we got a dog!!! :) I think we officially made it about a week and a half before we broke down and just had to get one. He is one of the cutest small dogs I have ever seen. Literally. This is one of those proud Mom moments where I take the next paragraph to dote on how precious he is. :) We named him Benji, because he looks just like the dog from that movie. He is four years old and totally potty trained (PTL!). He LOVES walks! As soon as one of us reach for his leash he literally does a dance on his back two legs and gets so excited! I love it! He is a totally snuggle bug too. When Kyle and I are sitting on the couch he just has to jump up and snuggle in between us. We love him. :)

On an awesome note, we finally have internet at our apartment!!!! We have service from a company called Lime. Cayman is full of interesting names! :) In Kyle’s words, “It finally feels like our home.” Our home. I love the sound of that. :)

Prayer Requests:

Melissa: For homesickness…. :) For my relationship with my students. I am still trying to build rapport with them. They are still getting used to a new routine, and a new teacher, and I am still trying to get used to this whole I’m-the-teacher thing. Also, my students are required to memorize one bible verse a week. This is an area that I am weak in, so I have joined in on their challenge. :) This week’s verse: “For you are worthy our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were created and have your being.” Revelation 4:11 (NIV) And yes, I just typed that from memory! I’m one day early on my challenge! :)

Kyle: School started this past week and I am still trying to back in the swing of things. It is such a blessing that we got internet this week! I have been going to a friend’s house to do my school work, so it’s definitely more convenient to have it at home! Also, for a job opportunity. I am pretty much looking into anything that is available, but of course would love to look into some kind of ministry ultimately.

Both: Our visas have still not been totally cleared. We have to jump through a lot of hoops, so just that we would have favor with the government, and get it cleared up as soon as possible.


Love and Hugs,
Mrs. Rodgers