Griffin M.

“Miss Turtletaub, how was your weekend?”

I love Monday mornings with 8F. Starting at 7:30, students arrive, put their books down, grab their “DO NOW” grammar practice, stop for conversation, and dash back out the door to catch up with friends from the weekend. In fact, dash probably isn’t the best word. In fact, most of the students stick around the classroom for a while, asking questions and sharing their own weekend adventures, friend concerns, sports updates, and life changes.

Griffin’s question above greets me every Monday morning, and we recap our individual weekends; usually Evan and Mike have arrived by the time we are finished with the conversation.

Perhaps what I love about this routine is that it doesn’t simply describe Monday mornings. In fact, before class, between our block period, and after class, there are students lingering around the room, updating me on their world, asking questions about mine, and, of course, educating me about the trends, fads, and lingo of eighth grade in 2014.

Trinity Christian Academy is, without a doubt, one of the best working environments in the world. With the mission to “educate and develop the whole person for the glory of God,” TCA encourages teachers to pour into the lives of students academically and spiritually. The culture of TCA fosters trust and love as teachers and students alike grow to love the Lord more together. More than a school, TCA provides a safe and uplifting environment for students, one in which they are encouraged to develop into all that God has planned for them. 

Jerry Seinfeld

"I always did well on essay tests. Just put everything you know on there, maybe you'll hit it. And then you get the paper back from the teacher and she's written just one word across the top of the page, 'vague.' I thought 'vague' was kind of vague. I'd write underneath it 'unclear,' and send it back. She'd return it to me, 'ambiguous.' I'd send it back to her, 'cloudy.' We're still corresponding to this day... 'hazy'...'muddy'..."

In the last nineteen months, I've experienced some major life changes; in fact, I'm on my second job since the last post. After returning to my alma mater to teach seventh-grade Latin, I stayed at TCA but moved up a year to teach eighth-grade History/English. 

Though I have absolutely loved both jobs, I have come across what is perhaps my least favorite part of working. Let me preface this with the fact that I am a teacher through-and-through. I literally spend hours preparing for lessons, mastering content and creatively developing and implementing strategies to foster student learning. I live for the joy of teaching, of engaging students, of witnessing genuine learning, of seeing students understand the processes of school. Graduate classes inspire me, additional reading challenges me, and teaching itself invigorates me. I simply love my profession.

Preface complete. However, I have found one aspect of teaching that doesn't seem to inspire or invigorate me in the same way: grading. Plainly put, it is hard. Reading essays, test responses, narratives, quiz questions, even daily work exhausts my mind--my whole being. Grading is decision after decision, evaluating whether or not students have answered the question correctly and fully, ranking their work on a scale of one-to-six, across six different traits of writing. Decisions in grading seem endless. I find myself constantly questioning myself: did I evaluate accurately? fairly? completely? effectively? Unfortunately, I don't yet have answers, other than I am doing the best that I know how.

The Monday after I finished grading my students' descriptive narrative writing assignments (on which I spent fifteen-plus hours), I returned to school, accomplished and smiling. Handing back the papers to students lifted caused me to feel like a huge burden had been lifted. On that day, I read this quote, which one of my colleagues dropped off for me. Perfect timing. What a lovely reminder for this recovering perfectionist that not everything has to be taken quite so seriously. 

Ann Voskamp

"All is grace."

I loved Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts. I even subscribed to her blog, which is really saying something, since I don't usually like to remain committed to emails of that nature. However, her words are continually encouraging, equipping, and convicting, and I truly appreciate her honesty as well as the subjects which she explores. Last night, I started re-reading the book since I now have my own copy and can mark in it, which of course makes a huge difference--haha.

There is no way to "sum up" her book in this blog post, and I don't even want to attempt. However, these three words stuck out to me over the course of reading. All is grace. God is working in such a way that every joy, sorrow, trial, pain, smile, tear, friendship, circumstance, conversation, opportunity, moment is His GRACE to me. The seeming contradiction of it--trials and pain are GRACE--is what I love. Yet, is not that how Christianity operates, on contradictions?

Life out of death, fullness from emptying, wholeness from brokenness, choosing sin over perfection, requirement of blood to cleanse, justice and mercy at the cross, temporary affecting eternal. All such strange concepts and many seeming contradictions. Yet, the ultimate truth, the one we celebrate on Easter, is a contradiction. Jesus died to bring me life. It simply doesn't make sense in human terms.

Consequently, neither does all is grace. And yet, that is the beauty of it, that God is weaving a tapestry of my life, a tapestry whereby His name can be exalted. One in which He is conforming me to the likeness of His Son. Where all things, whether joy or sorrow, are to lead me closer to the feet of Jesus, that I could experience His presence and walk away changed to reflect His beauty. His grace.

Even now, even in trial, God is extending grace to me. And in that, I can find great joy.

Charles Spurgeon

"There is no more blessed way of living than a life of dependence on a covenant-keeping God. We have no cares, for he careth for us; we have no troubles, because we cast our burdens upon the Lord."

-Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, September 1-

This is a quote about which I had planned to write a while ago. For any curious, recent "distractions" include: time with my siblings over Thanksgiving break, "Colonial Day" (pilgrim costume included), buying a ticket to Tulsa, high school Spanish tutoring, researching Ancient Greece, creating grading rubrics, Spanish Christmas lesson plans, playing "Circum Mundum" in Latin, setting up a new cell phone, visiting the public library (new favorite location), singing "Adeste Fideles" #TCA, leading 6th grade Bible Study, more high school tutoring, researching and creating fun history projects, discovery of Pinterest, finding a church, decorating my classroom for Christmas, attending the ACSI Conference (Association of Christian Schools International) in Dallas, fighting against my control-freak tendencies, meeting with my wonderful head of school, and learning a ton.

Maybe this list will suffice for my lack of blogging and email-responding. Probably not. Return to main point of blog...

The number of Christian devotionals available continually excites and overwhelms me. In reality, the number of books, articles, emails, and blogs to read excites and overwhelms me. There is so much to learn, to study, to know about, and to grow in. Truly, reading proves to be an exciting adventure, one that will always be ahead of me. Yet the question remains: How does a person have enough time to read? Honestly, in the scheme of things, I don't even have THAT much to read, especially in relation to many people I know. Even so, this is something with which I constantly struggle.

Regarding devotional books in particular, how am I supposed to find enough time in the day to read Jesus Calling, Streams in the Desert, My Utmost for His Highest, my collection of teacher devotional books, and the rest of the stack on my nighttime table, in addition to having a regular quiet time? As I wrestle with this question, I am brought back over and over to Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotional, a book which one of my good high school friends gave to me for graduation. More than any devotional I own, this one speaks incredible truth to my life, every time I read its words.

For any historically interested: Spurgeon lived in the mid to late 19th century and was one of the most well-known preachers in England of his time. He became a pastor at age 20 and soon after was preaching to thousands on a weekly basis. His church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, was a place known for its social work throughout the city of London. Spurgeon was one of the most influential preachers, writers, and leaders of his time. 

The above quote from his Morning and Evening devotional is one that the Lord has continually laid on my heart. In my humanity, I cringe at dependence, for dependence on something or someone means the loss of control. I love to make lists, organize, prepare, discuss paperwork, plan, manage, think about details, and find better systems. Some of these qualities are good things, of course, but I cannot micromanage others or even my own life. Consciously, I need to work on the type of submission that lets God be God in and over my life, realizing that this is the most "blessed way of living." 

Ultimately, God is covenant-keeping. He is faithful. The author of covenant has willingly entered into a covenant with me, despite my own unfaithfulness. Even better, "HE who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." Philippians 1:6 reminds me that God, the faithful, the covenant-keeping, is the one who carries me on to completion. Not my lists. Not my systems. Not my plans.

Why, then, is it difficult to let go of control, of independence, of micromanagement, in order to live a life of dependence upon Him? I am brought back to Romans 7: "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing" (v. 19). I understand Paul and his frustration; this oftentimes seems to be my life's story. Yet, as Paul continues, this frustration doesn't end hopeless. Despite the realization of "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?", there is hope: "Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (v.24-25). Indeed, here again, the faithful, covenant-keeping God in whose rescue we can hope, promises renewed faithfulness.

In light of this, I am learning to let go of cares and troubles. Faithful God cares for me. No care merits my anxiety. Rescue-bringing God takes my burdens upon himself. No trouble deserves my worry. This is the life of dependence that Spurgeon described. This is the life that I long to live.

3rd Grade Student

"You're not that old. . . . You're not even married yet!"

During after-school care yesterday, I only had one little Pre-K student to watch. I love this situation because I can completely focus on her, instead of having to manage several different kids from all different grades. She and I worked puzzles, played games, and read several books (my favorite). On Mondays, however, our school has to get "put back together" from the weekend (as we take it apart every Friday so that the church can use the space again), meaning that the "Founding Families" come back up to school with their kids. There are ten children, and they are an absolute blast.

Anyway, we all went outside to play, and pretty quickly a game of tag commenced. Fortunately, I had been prepared for martial arts that morning on our field trip, so I was dressed fairly athletically. Before too long, I realized that every one of the kids wanted to tag me...every time. Apparently no one else was nearly as exciting a target. This is not too bad when I'm being followed by the youngest ones, but when the 5th grade soccer players are after me, I have to really run. Speed is not my forte.Even so, I was having a great time playing. After a good amount of tag (aka chase Miss Turtletaub), I sat down for a break, calling a personal timeout. One of the 3rd grade girls came up to ask why I was resting. I told her I was old and needed a break (the only answer that seemed fitting at the time). In a tone of disbelief that completely discredited my "old age," she responded with the above quote. I love honest kids.

Brittany

"Quiero saber que pasa durante un día típico. Que enseñas por la mañana? Por la tarde? Qué y con quién almuerzas? Te gusta tu ropa profesional? Te duelen tus pies? Tienes zapatos confortables y de moda? Los existen? jaja!"

It's probably against "blogging rules," but I am re-using Brittany's words to continue this post, filling in a few more details about my life teaching. For the sake of clarification, I'll translate her words:

"I want to know what happens during a typical day. What do you teach in the morning? In the afternoon? What and with whom do you eat lunch? Do you like your professional clothing? Do your feet hurt? Do you have comfortable yet fashionable shoes? Do they exist? haha!"

As I already addressed the clothing dilemmas that I experience teaching, I'll turn to the "typical day" part of Brittany's question. Per usual SG style, this is far too long of a blog post. Since I like writing every detail, I can't promise a change of heart (or writing style). 

One of the things I love most about my job this year is the diversity of what I get to do every day. It is unheard of for a teacher to have Pre-K through 7th grade students in a mix of three subjects. Yet, I love it. I doubt that I will ever again have such an eclectic schedule.

My day starts sometime between 5:15am and 6:15am, depending if I go on a run, have my quiet time, or oversleep my alarm. In a perfect world, I would spring out of bed and directly into my running clothes to start the day. Alas, however, the world is not perfect, and the beautiful cool weather has become a deterrent for my morning run. Oh the irony. Run or not, I am downstairs by 7am where my sweet mom has started making my lunch. I am off to school by 7:15, a trip which usually includes a morning call to or from Annabelle, my cousin teaching high school English in Tulsa with Teach for America. My drive is relatively smooth as I head opposite traffic, and my biggest concern is how bright the sun will be in my eyes on the middle leg of my drive.

Once at school, I begin the flurry of activity, usually with about 30 minutes of preparation time before kids start arriving. Morning activities are relatively diverse, ranging from unpacking my teacher cart, to finishing paperwork, copying (or attempting to copy on our struggling copiers), last minute preparation, catching up students on their work, talking with the other teachers, fixing the jammed copier, stapling and hole-punching, setting up for Chapel on Wednesdays, or dealing with some other unexpected situation. Most mornings, I stop by Mr. Kouba's room, where my 6th and 7th graders get ready for Bible--I love these students, and it is fun for me to see them in the morning.

As I never teach first period, I continue with preparations for the day and never-ending lesson planning. Wednesday and Friday mornings are full with 5th grade Latin and 3rd/4th grade Latin. I love teaching Latin, in part because I like the language but also because the students are ever-excited to be learning it. 5th grade Latin is using a book called "Minimus," which looks at a family in Vindolanda (Roman Britain, up by Hadrian's Wall). We are following Minimus, the mouse, as he leads us through the lives of Flavius, Lepidina, Iulius, Flavia, Rufus and their slaves, Corinthus, Candidus, and Pandora. I am preparing an "activity book" for each chapter, including a variety of hands-on activities for the kids that supplement our reading in Latin, culture lessons, vocabulary, grammar lessons, and class discussion. In 3rd/4th grade Latin, I have been basing my lesson plans on Song School Latin, which is basically a musical approach to Latin. Each lesson has a song to help remember the 4-ish vocabulary words. We sing the songs, do activity pages, act, play games, write with chalk outside, etc. My job is basically to find as many creative ways as possible to teach vocabulary. I end both 3rd/4th and 5th grade Latin most days by reading from Detectives in Togas, a mystery novel set in ancient Rome. In fact, I am reading from the copy of the book that I read as a 5th grader at TCA--who knew that book would serve me so well? 3rd/4th grade really loves the book because they have each been assigned a various character, so it is their job to "act out" that character as I'm reading.

Instead of Latin on Tuesday mornings, I meet with Jody, my head of school. My time with her is an incredible blessing because of her wisdom, advice, and encouragement. Thursday mornings are full of copying and preparations for the following week.

At 11am each day, I teach 6th/7th grade history. I am excited to see my Middle School kids each day--even though I love each one of my classes and students, I am most comfortable with these older students. They are fun, interested and continually make me laugh. As with all of my classes, we are much more "in a routine," and I am enjoying the structure and order of each class period. They start class with 5 minutes of "Daily Geography Practice," where they look at the same map all week and answer around two questions/day. We then move to our lesson. At the end of class, the kids take out their "student planners" (proud teacher moment: I designed and made these planners--they are copyrighted with my name on each page) and write down homework for the night. It is nice to have a system.

Teaching history: I have found making packets to be extremely useful for several reasons: the kids have a tendency to lose random papers, it's nice to have an entire unit virtually planned before beginning it, it is easier to get all of the kids on the same page, and I feel more organized. In history, I am not "textbook based," which means that I am using a ton of different resources and information to create each unit. I am continually trying to find fun yet productive activities to help the kids learn. My kids are on the dividing line of elementary/secondary education, which means that I need to be providing them with hands-on, fun activities even as I move them toward more traditional schoolwork. It is a difficult balance, but I am having fun figuring it out.

After history, we've made it to LUNCH! I love this time of day as I sit around and enjoy time with the other teachers. Honestly, if I ever doubted the fact that I'm 22 going on 47, lunchtime reminds me that I am indeed living in the wrong generation. I absolutely love the other teachers and am incredibly grateful for their friendships. We laugh, share stories, talk about families, and relax together for 30 minutes in the middle of the day. Every other week, we have a Bible study on Tuesday at lunch, a nice break as well.

Afternoons have a mix of Pre-K, 1st, and 2nd grade Spanish as well as 6th/7th Latin and Spanish Immersion. We just finished learning the days of the week in Spanish, and all of the kids made a booklet with writing (I wrote for Pre-K) and drawings about what they do on each day. They ended up being pretty cute :) For Spanish, I plan the units by coming up with a list of vocabulary words that we are going learn as well as a list of different activities that focus on different learning styles (aka differentiated instruction and activities). We play with play-dough, draw, play games outside, make crafts, sing, read stories, do puppet shows, act out the words, etc. 1st and 2nd grade are learning Psalm 23 in Spanish (we call it "El Señor"), which has been really fun, both for me and the kids. We have motions and practice it in different ways (loud voices, soft voices, mini motions, big motions, jumping up and down, standing on one foot, with our eyes closed, in singing voices, etc.). They know quite a bit so far--I love hearing them say it.

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I take the 6th/7th graders outside for recess for 15-20 minutes, something I added when they could not sit still in the afternoon with me. Recess, of course, is a highlight. I actually enjoy playing with them too. I've won knockout a few times, and I love passing the volleyball. Getting in touch with my natural athleticism... haha. Sometimes, I have them run a couple of "laps" around the parking lot to get out some extra energy. 

Afterwards, I teach either Latin or Spanish Immersion. Usually Spanish Immersion (Fridays) continues outside with some singing ("Cuando grupo juega," "Haciendo melodias," or World Cup Spanish songs) or "Pato, pato, ganso" (duck, duck, goose) before we head inside to do some grammar, vocab, reading--all in Spanish of course. Latin is usually about 30 minutes long, and we have recently started with the Cambridge Latin Course stage 1, where we have met Caecilius and his family. Since we only have Latin twice a week, we are moving very slowly through the material. Most fun recent activities: watching the Newsies song "Seize the Day" when learning about "Carpe diem" and creating our own "Cave" (Beware of...) signs from magazine clippings after learning that "Cave canem" means "Beware of dog."

At the end of the day: car lines. Oh the details of school. My "spot" is outside, putting kids in their cars. I like that last goodbye with them as they get passed off to their parents. It's also a good time for the quick parent hello, especially since I enjoy so many of the parents.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I run "GIG" (Growing in Grace After-School Care) from 3:00-6:00. We have snack and do homework time first (including play-dough, games, puzzles, and reading to Lauren, the Pre-K student). Afterwards, we either play outside, in the tech lab, or games inside. Between after-school care and recess, I am definitely becoming quite the basketball player :) haha.

Even without after-school care, I usually stay around school until 6pm-ish on Wednesday and Thursday, lesson planning, organizing, grading, and trying to stay a couple days ahead in each of my classes. We have fun at teachers after school, too. Again, I love their company.

Home again, home again where my mom is usually preparing dinner for the three of us. It's nice to end the day with both parents and Sally for company. We do "day updates" during dinner, and I usually do a good bit of the clean-up. Mom helps me by looking over some of my unit plans and tests for history--it is good to have someone else who can help me process. The rest of the evening is more school prep before I head upstairs to go to bed. I've been reading a little bit before going to sleep, which takes away from some sleep time, but I enjoy it nonetheless.

Because I am certain that I just bored any potential reader to tears, I will stop writing (although I obviously have more to say). All in all, I do love my job and love the things that I get to do every day. The Lord has truly provided for me, and for that I am so grateful!

Brittany, my ever-interested friend

"Quiero saber que pasa durante un día típico. Que enseñas por la mañana? Por la tarde? Qué y con quién almuerzas? Te gusta tu ropa profesional? Te duelen tus pies? Tienes zapatos confortables y de moda? Los existen? jaja!"

You know that you the best friends in the world...when they're out traveling the world and still interested in the shoes you're wearing.

Brittany and I have recently changed our email communication back-and-forth from English to Spanish, at her suggestion, I should add. It comes at no surprise to me that her Spanish is practically as good as mine, despite the fact that I have studied it for years longer than she has. I love getting to communicate with Brittany in Spanish--it adds an entirely different dimension to our friendship. That said, the quote above is from a recent email she sent me, where she jokingly called me out for my lack of blogging and significant lack of detail in the posts that exist. Consequently, I am going to spend the rest of this post explaining some "typical" aspects to my job and life at school.

First, in regard to footwear, yes, I do in fact have some cute and comfortable shoes. I'm pretty sure they're not the most professional ones on the market, but standing all day doesn't allow for just anything. Besides, I still don't own or wear real heels, so I'm afraid that such shoes are simply not an option for me. In fact, most days, I wear Toms. I even have two pairs, just to make it interesting.

The black glitter pair are perfect for virtually everything I wear, considering that there are very few days that I don't wear at least a little bit of black. However...

...for the days where black isn't a part of my attire, I wear these lovely gold-striped pair. 

Other shoes include: a nude/neutral pair of flats (which another friend, Nawa, explained were wardrobe necessities), a pair of brown sandals (hand-me-downs from Mom), and an old pair of black flats (which should probably be thrown away). All-in-all, I have a nice 5-pair shoe rotation. They are indeed comfortable, but of course, fashion is not my strong point.

As for my clothes themselves, I attempt to look professional, teacher-y, decently trendy (which obviously is a stretch), and young (but not too young) all at the same time. Ideally, I want to look 25, as for some reason I think that 25 sounds significantly more mature than 22. The teacher-clothes part comes quite easily, of course. Ann Taylor cropped pants aside (the ultimate teacher attire), I recently counted the cardigans in my closet...I own twenty-six. In Arabic numerals, that's 26. Granted, that includes all sleeve lengths and colors, but still, 26 is a little extreme. Just to top it off, my mom came home today with a present for me from Target--a new gray cardigan. I'm afraid my fate is sealed because I couldn't have been more pleased.