Saturday, July 19, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
july already????
Hey Friends!
I can't believe it's been summer for two months already! I miss you all like whoa and can't wait to come visit Chapel Hill in August before I head off for a little while...
It's been so nice to hear about everyone's summers. Mine started out pretty much the same- lots of reading, beaching, running errands, and a wonderful trip to Chapel Hill for a day and a half. Then work started and the whole pace of things kind of changed.
I'm teaching at a summer enrichment program with the Breakthrough Collaborative, which is a national program with a site in DC. I was assigned (against my will) to teach physics to rising eighth graders, but after the first day of orientation, when told to write a six-week plan for what I wanted to teach and how I was going to make kids excited about it, I realized that this was not going to work. I hate science. I've always hated science. So after stressing out about it a little, I worked up the courage to talk to my boss and tell him that I really was not okay with teaching physics. And it worked! I got switched to English and am much much happier.
This job has turned out to be much more intense than I thought it could be, but every day gets a little bit better. Okay- I'm not going to lie- I'm getting pretty worn out. Working from 7:30-6:30 and then coming home to do lesson plans for the next day is really really exhausting, and it's tough to have students who don't want to be there and don't have a problem showing it. I'm working really hard on coming up with lesson plans that keep the students engaged, and it's the best feeling in the world when something gets through. There is a girl in my class who had a really rough start last week and told me several times a day how much she hated me and the program. Yesterday she told me she wasn't ever coming back, but she showed up today and wrote this beautiful poem in my class that she was willing to stand up and read. It was definitely a bright spot in my week!
A lot of the kids read and write at about a third-grade level, and there is no information about possible learning disabilities or behavior problems. One girl shows up every day with glasses that are taped together in three places, and another little boy stopped coming because he got jumped on his way home and is too embarrassed to come back with his face all cut up. Never in my life have I had to truly fear for my physical safety, but gangs and guns and fights are on these kids' minds all the time. Every day, I come home exhausted, but I feel really lucky to be where I am and to have a chance to do a few tiny things that might give these kids a leg up. I just hope that I can earn their trust and find ways to show that I really do care about them.
Well, that's enough rambling for now. Sorry about this little novel I've written. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far! I hope you all are staying safe and happy, and I can't wait to talk to you soon!
Love,
Kara
I can't believe it's been summer for two months already! I miss you all like whoa and can't wait to come visit Chapel Hill in August before I head off for a little while...
It's been so nice to hear about everyone's summers. Mine started out pretty much the same- lots of reading, beaching, running errands, and a wonderful trip to Chapel Hill for a day and a half. Then work started and the whole pace of things kind of changed.
I'm teaching at a summer enrichment program with the Breakthrough Collaborative, which is a national program with a site in DC. I was assigned (against my will) to teach physics to rising eighth graders, but after the first day of orientation, when told to write a six-week plan for what I wanted to teach and how I was going to make kids excited about it, I realized that this was not going to work. I hate science. I've always hated science. So after stressing out about it a little, I worked up the courage to talk to my boss and tell him that I really was not okay with teaching physics. And it worked! I got switched to English and am much much happier.
This job has turned out to be much more intense than I thought it could be, but every day gets a little bit better. Okay- I'm not going to lie- I'm getting pretty worn out. Working from 7:30-6:30 and then coming home to do lesson plans for the next day is really really exhausting, and it's tough to have students who don't want to be there and don't have a problem showing it. I'm working really hard on coming up with lesson plans that keep the students engaged, and it's the best feeling in the world when something gets through. There is a girl in my class who had a really rough start last week and told me several times a day how much she hated me and the program. Yesterday she told me she wasn't ever coming back, but she showed up today and wrote this beautiful poem in my class that she was willing to stand up and read. It was definitely a bright spot in my week!
A lot of the kids read and write at about a third-grade level, and there is no information about possible learning disabilities or behavior problems. One girl shows up every day with glasses that are taped together in three places, and another little boy stopped coming because he got jumped on his way home and is too embarrassed to come back with his face all cut up. Never in my life have I had to truly fear for my physical safety, but gangs and guns and fights are on these kids' minds all the time. Every day, I come home exhausted, but I feel really lucky to be where I am and to have a chance to do a few tiny things that might give these kids a leg up. I just hope that I can earn their trust and find ways to show that I really do care about them.
Well, that's enough rambling for now. Sorry about this little novel I've written. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far! I hope you all are staying safe and happy, and I can't wait to talk to you soon!
Love,
Kara
Friday, July 4, 2008
Greetings From Sunny Milwaukee!
Greetings WesHoes. Wait, that came out all wrong. Anyway-- I suppose it's my turn to update the Blog of Wonderment.
The beginning of my summer was fairly average, consisting mostly of watching Lost on the internet and working at my internship at the Dept. of Social Services, where I write press releases and work on ad campaigns (but I have my own office!). I actually had my first article published last Saturday in the highly esteemed Hickory Daily Record. Other than that, the only exciting moments occurred when I went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and a Rilo Kiley show in Asheville.
Anyways on the 28th, my grandparents, brother, and I traveled 13 hours to New Berlin, WI (to visit my cousins, aunt, and uncle), which is where I'm currently blogging from. Monday we rode the train to Chicago, which was exciting because it just so happens to be my favorite city in the US. Then last night we went to Summerfest in downtown Milwaukee to see Alkaline Trio and experience a bit of Wisconsin culture. The accent here is so strange and they eat a LOT of cheese. But anyway it was a great concert despite getting rained on. Then tomorrow a bunch of us are going to a Brewers/Pirates game at Miller Park, which will probably prove to be entertaining. Yay for drunken baseball fans! Haha
After I head back to Hickory on Saturday, I'm turning around and leaving for Boston on the 13th for Passport Camp with my youth group. That always proves to be interesting. So I'm sure you guys will hear a lot about it. Which reminds me, I need to watch the Departed a few more times to get my accent jusssst right.
Anyway, hope you guys are having great summers and I miss you all! See you soonish!
<3 Jordan
The beginning of my summer was fairly average, consisting mostly of watching Lost on the internet and working at my internship at the Dept. of Social Services, where I write press releases and work on ad campaigns (but I have my own office!). I actually had my first article published last Saturday in the highly esteemed Hickory Daily Record. Other than that, the only exciting moments occurred when I went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and a Rilo Kiley show in Asheville.
Anyways on the 28th, my grandparents, brother, and I traveled 13 hours to New Berlin, WI (to visit my cousins, aunt, and uncle), which is where I'm currently blogging from. Monday we rode the train to Chicago, which was exciting because it just so happens to be my favorite city in the US. Then last night we went to Summerfest in downtown Milwaukee to see Alkaline Trio and experience a bit of Wisconsin culture. The accent here is so strange and they eat a LOT of cheese. But anyway it was a great concert despite getting rained on. Then tomorrow a bunch of us are going to a Brewers/Pirates game at Miller Park, which will probably prove to be entertaining. Yay for drunken baseball fans! Haha
After I head back to Hickory on Saturday, I'm turning around and leaving for Boston on the 13th for Passport Camp with my youth group. That always proves to be interesting. So I'm sure you guys will hear a lot about it. Which reminds me, I need to watch the Departed a few more times to get my accent jusssst right.
Anyway, hope you guys are having great summers and I miss you all! See you soonish!
<3 Jordan
Monday, June 23, 2008
Greetings from scenic Troutville, VA!
'ello, all!
Well, here it is, my turn to post, and I don't really have much to say about my summer. I decided not to do summer school, so I'm home in Botetourt (pronounced Bot-a-tot...I don't know how, but it is) for the summer. Not a whole lot to do here, played my fair share of golf, and...that's about it. Still haven't found a job yet. Or, well, found a job, quit after a week (oops), and haven't found another job yet. Just got back from vacation with my family in Tennessee, which was pretty cool. Went whitewater rafting, played some more golf, ate tons of good food. That's really about all there is to it at the moment. The air conditioning at my house has now been out for a week and a half, which is fantastic. It hasn't been that bad, though, it's been pretty mild here. Well, that's really about all there is to say, hope everyone else's summer has been much cooler!
-Jake
Well, here it is, my turn to post, and I don't really have much to say about my summer. I decided not to do summer school, so I'm home in Botetourt (pronounced Bot-a-tot...I don't know how, but it is) for the summer. Not a whole lot to do here, played my fair share of golf, and...that's about it. Still haven't found a job yet. Or, well, found a job, quit after a week (oops), and haven't found another job yet. Just got back from vacation with my family in Tennessee, which was pretty cool. Went whitewater rafting, played some more golf, ate tons of good food. That's really about all there is to it at the moment. The air conditioning at my house has now been out for a week and a half, which is fantastic. It hasn't been that bad, though, it's been pretty mild here. Well, that's really about all there is to say, hope everyone else's summer has been much cooler!
-Jake
querstion
so does anyone (ehemmjanehemm) know when we can move into wesho? i'd like to know so i can start a count down paper chain in my bedroom...but not really. i do want to count down the days, but also my dad needs to know so he can plan some business trips and still be able to help move me in. so if anyone knows, stop keeping it a secret please!!
Monday, June 16, 2008
My turn!!
Hey everybody!!!
Honestly, not much has happened yet with me. I have worked in the office at my church while the secretary was on vacation, which was fun because I got to read a lot. I think I went through about 5 or 6 books. While I'm not working, I have been reading books, watching movies, watching Buffy and Angel on DVD (should I admit that?), haning out with friends, playing with my nephew, etc.
The highlight of my summer actually comes next week, when I go on Reach, the mission trip that the high schoolers and college kids get to do. We're going to Lumberton, MS. It's going to be hot and rainy and a ton of fun.
I hope you all are having great summers that are more exciting than mine.
Peace, love, and summer fun!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Summer updates
Hey WesHos!
Not too much has happened over the summer since Student Forum. Student Forum was lots of fun. I drove up to D.C. with Emily and we met up with Kara. We met students from campus ministries from all over, went on immersion field trips, went to two workshops, and were put into small groups. I really liked my small group; we all got along really well. I picked the Education in America immersion trip because I want to be a Spanish teacher. It was pretty interesting. We had one person come talk to us about the budget and another person talk to us about No Child Left Behind. I felt bad for her, though, because nobody agreed with her views on No Child. We also saw a video on rural South Carolina schools. The two workshops I did were Sharing your Faith and Exploring Children's Ministries. My favorite was the Children's Ministries one. We hung out with some students from Tennessee and Virginian we had met, and the night before we left some of us took the Metro to go see some of the monuments.
On Sunday, I found out a spot had opened up for me to go on ASP (the Appalachia Service Project, if you don't know) with my church. I had really wanted to go, so I was really happy when I found out I was going after all. And this was a week before the trip. I'm just about all packed up, and three days before I have to be! Saturday afternoon we pack up the vans, and Sunday at 7am we're heading off to Logan County, West Virginia. I'm really excited and hoping my group gets to work on a roof again this year :) I'll update the blog about it when I get back. Later!
Not too much has happened over the summer since Student Forum. Student Forum was lots of fun. I drove up to D.C. with Emily and we met up with Kara. We met students from campus ministries from all over, went on immersion field trips, went to two workshops, and were put into small groups. I really liked my small group; we all got along really well. I picked the Education in America immersion trip because I want to be a Spanish teacher. It was pretty interesting. We had one person come talk to us about the budget and another person talk to us about No Child Left Behind. I felt bad for her, though, because nobody agreed with her views on No Child. We also saw a video on rural South Carolina schools. The two workshops I did were Sharing your Faith and Exploring Children's Ministries. My favorite was the Children's Ministries one. We hung out with some students from Tennessee and Virginian we had met, and the night before we left some of us took the Metro to go see some of the monuments.
On Sunday, I found out a spot had opened up for me to go on ASP (the Appalachia Service Project, if you don't know) with my church. I had really wanted to go, so I was really happy when I found out I was going after all. And this was a week before the trip. I'm just about all packed up, and three days before I have to be! Saturday afternoon we pack up the vans, and Sunday at 7am we're heading off to Logan County, West Virginia. I'm really excited and hoping my group gets to work on a roof again this year :) I'll update the blog about it when I get back. Later!
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