Please Snow, I'm a Teacher!

Did you know that teachers enjoy snow days just as much if not more than our kiddos? It's true. This past week, I awoke to a blanket of white and news that school had been canceled. I was thrilled!

Instead of being productive and using the surprise day off to get ahead, I hung out with friends. After a short time of hanging out, we decided that we needed to play outside. Leave it to the boys to choose extreme sledding. Check out the video to see just how wild and crazy it was! I did survive and only ran into a tree twice. Apparently I haven't learned the art of bailing :). Enjoy! ( I sure did!) Thank you again Nathan for sharing your talents with us and all of the kids on top of the hill!

It was a fun day with great friends, who I consider family. Something that I have been learning recently comes from Romans 1:11-12. " I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spirtual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Matt, Mallory, and Nathan have definitely been people I look to for knowledge and guidance. Every time that I am with one of these people, my faith is impacted for the better. Our snow day was no different. I was so encouraged by the way they loved complete strangers and lived out their faith on a snow topped hill. Though it was a tiring day, I was so encouraged in my walk and attitude. My hope is that I have been able to encourage the three of them in some way too.

Going back to school on Tuesday was exciting. Our class shared about our snow days. The kids had a great day and loved telling me all about it. Of course, I had to tell about my fabulous day too! After I shared about my sledding adventure, my kids turned very serious. "What is wrong?" I asked. Their reply was "Aren't you too old to go sledding? We're worried because you could have broken a hip or something." Glad my students think I am 90 and not 24. :) Gotta love them!

Stay warm and blessed this wintery season!

Happy Halloween Ya'll!

Our new year has been underway for almost 3 months! That seems so crazy to me! We have been kept very busy. Lots of fun activities. I just wanted to share some of what's been going on. Enjoy it all :)

We celebrated Red Ribbon Week by having spirit week. Some of the days included crazy hair day and mis-match day (which is pictured). I loved being able to let loose and enjoy being with my kiddos. They are fantastic. I love being their teacher. You can tell from the picture, just how crazy they are :)

I love using real world examples to teach my students math concepts. With Halloween and Fall upon us, I decided to use a pumpkin to teach one week. First, we found out how tall, how wide, and the circumference of our pumpkin. Then, I cut open the pumpkin and put the kids in charge of counting the seeds. Their faces were priceless as they dug into the pumpkin pulp to sort out the seeds. My kids loved it! If you are ever looking for ideas when working with kids, the gooier the better :)

Pajama, ice cream, and movie day!

Our school uses the Accelerated Reader Program. Each child has a point and percent goal to meet. In our class, we added a class goal as well. We made it, so the kids were able to choose how they wanted to celebrate. Hence, the pajamas and ice cream!

Fancy Nancy: The inspiration for this year's costume.

This year's costume was inspired by one of my students' favorites storybook characters. Fancy Nancy is a great series that teaches wonderful vocabulary words. Highly recommend this series. I also loved dressing up and celebrating being drug free with my kiddos!

Star of the Week!!

Each week, I choose a student to be the star of the week. We do different activities throughout the week to celebrate the greatness of the star. Things like sharing pictures, reading a favorite story, and bringing in a note written by a parent are examples of what we do. On Fridays, the class then writes a letter to the star. I was the star of the week the first week of school and here are some of the highlights:

I love my family!

My mom, dad, and sister are my favorite people. They teach me how to love. I am super close with them. Kristi currently lives in Nashville, TN and I miss her so much!! She is off chasing her dreams and I am so proud of her!!! Good luck, sweet sister!

Mom and Dad have been my biggest supporters and role models. Dad has been my hero from the time that I was a little girl. He didn't just serve our country through the military, but he serves his family so well. I love you Daddy-O!

My momma has also been my hero. She had it tough raising two girls while dad served overseas. She gave me a wonderful example of the mother that I hope to be one day. I love you momma!!

I Love K-State! Of course, my other love is Kansas State! My students quickly learned just how much I love the wildcats!! My classroom sports purple and white in every corner!


I Love my Friends!!

During the past year, I have gotten extremely close to group of people that I had the priviledge to serve overseas with. I had prayed so long for a core group of friends, and surprise! God blessed me with Matt, Mallory, Caleb, Skyler, and Laura. I love the 5 of you!

I Love my Students!

On Friday, my students wrote me letters. They were HILARIOUS and I wanted to share them with you! I will give you their version and then translate those that need it. :)

1. Ms. Mason,

Have you had a good year so far? Even if you haven't have a good next month superstar! And a great job on everything! Thank you for your support! Your a great super star for the week! So far your my favorite, wait your the only! You are such a smart person, and you are very nice.

-G

2. Miz Mason,

you are a great teacher. thank you for helping us lern. you are the geatest techer(teacher) in the history of geat (great) teachers. I am sure all of your students like it when you tere (are there) teacher. im shue I do (I'm sure I do).

-M

3. Dear Mr. Mason,

its really fun when you play kickball with us. and at school you give us fun stuf to do like math and stuf. and whe we have morning meding (meeting) you tell us like what's going on and som of us rases are hands (some of us raise our hands).

-E

4. Ms. Mason

Rose are red viloets are blue candy sweet but not as sweet as you.

-G

5. Ms. Mason

i like math case (because) its easy, short, and fun. Like you (WHAT???) Third grade is fun cuse you let us play kickball on Fridays like and you give us candy like smarties. your cool, awesome, and fun.

-P

Hope you got some laughs :) I sure did!

It's that time of year again!

With the new school year hours away, I have spent time reflecting. First thing that came to mind was the blog. I was really bad about keeping up with it!

I guess to get started, I will share about my summer...it was definitely a tough one, yet super exciting. There is a new baby in my life that I get to love on and spoil. Kendall was born June 28th to a family that is so precious to me. Michaela is someone that I love dearly and respect so much! When Kendall was born, there were several complications and she spent her first two weeks in the NICU. Happy to report that she is home and on the road to recovery. I was blessed to spend time with both Kendall and Kayla. Want to see this precious little girl??

Introducing, Kendall Nickell:

Isn't she the cutest baby ever? I may be a little biased :) I have been going through withdrawels of baby holding time. God really used this summer to reveal how powerful prayer is!

Continue to keep this special family in your prayers!

It is hard to believe that I start school with kiddos on Monday! Where did the summer go? I will make it a point to post pics soon of my classroom. I changed some things and am getting really excited about my new group coming into third grade!

Blessings to you all!

"This was the best day ever!"

Today, my students and I had the amazing opportunity to attend Kansas Kids' Fitness Day. It was touch and go there for awhile due to weather, but at 9:30, the sky cleared up and God revealed a blue sky and bright sunshine!

My kids spent the afternoon traveling from station to station of fun games. These games were so challenging, yet I saw smiling faces and heard the sounds of third grade laughter. What a blessing and precious reminder of why I love my job so much! I will hopefully post pictures soon so that you can see the enjoyment for yourself.

I have been praying fervently this last week that God would refresh my heart towards my kids. Who knew that on a warm Friday that I would be physically tired, yet emotionally lifted. That moment came while I was observing one of my students. He is such a special little boy and has difficulty in large crowds. I paid special attention to him. At one point, he saw that I was close and came running to me with one of the biggest smiles that I have ever seen on his face! "Ms. Mason, Ms. Mason!!! Today is the best day ever!!! Thank you so much for bringing us here!" That is what I love most about my job! Getting to be a witness to those moments of pure joy.

If you're reading this and are in any way involved with my teaching career...whether as a volunteer or pray-er, thank you so much! You were part of "THE BEST DAY EVER!"

A Time to Give Thanks

I know that Thanksgiving is usually the time that we stop to give thanks. I am changing it up a little bit. For Easter, I spent time focusing on all of the blessings I have in my life right now. The first is obvious--a relationship with Jesus Christ. Zephaniah 3:17 reminds us that God delights in us and wants to protect us. The ultimate protection was God sending Jesus. What a blessing worth sharing! I could go on about the blessing that is Jesus, but instead, I will continue on with the other blessings in my life.

P.S. These are definitely not in order of importance :)

1. The Godly men:

Matt-What a stud (as long as you look at him from the side). But seriously, he has touched my heart in so many ways. The way that he loves people, especially me his sister, speaks volumes. I am priviledged to have met him and to have served overseas with him. He has a tendency to think very highly of himself, but we love him anyway :)

Matt, know that you are a blessing to all that you meet. All that call you friend feel blessed and honored to be in your presence. I love you!! I just know that God is going to use your passions to do amazing things in the nations!

Skyler-Our friendship has surprised me most of all! We've served overseas twice together, but it wasn't until this last trip that I feel that I really got to know you. You are wonderful :) Father placed you in my life to fill such a significant role in my faith story.

Skyler, thank you for the leadership and seriousness that you provide to our quirky little family. I don't want to think about what would happen to us without you! You were blessed to be a blessing to so many, especially me! I love you, too precious friend!

Caleb-The picture speaks a thousand words! He brings such enthusiasm and goofiness to the world. His presence can brighten lives. I know it did in mine. His servant's heart is amazing. God used him to show me that I am lovable...without earning it!

Caleb, you are such a wonderful example to me of unconditional love. Thanks for brightening my days, Papa! All who have the chance to get to know you, are blessed to be in your presence!

You too, I love :)

2. The marvelous lady loves of my life!

Laura- Oh Laura, Laura...How I love you! I don't know how I survived the 23 years before I met you! You changed my life! I have never had a friend who I could go to with everything on my heart and know that I would still be loved after sharing those dark things. Thank you for asking the tough questions and loving me despite the tough answers.

I love that we get to talk "teacher" so often! Your future students are going to be so blessed to have you as their teacher. You are such a good "love on-er." Definitely have taught me a thing or two about it :)

Laura, know that I respect you so very much. Thank you for living loudly and not living ashamed. I am constantly in awe of you. Keep on keepin on, friend. I just know that God is going to use you to Rock His World! (you already rock mine)

Mallory- Every "mom" should be lucky enough to have a daughter as marvelous as you! I am amazed by the way you serve and love everyone around you! Your smile and laughter are contagious. Wow, everytime I think about our friendship, I can't help but smile. I look forward to all of the time that we have to spend together. God has used in my life, and I'm pretty sure Laura's life. Thank you for being usable and answering God's calls, even though they are sometimes very challenging.

Mal-pal, I love you oh so very much! I can't wait to see what doors God is going to open as you start your teaching career and get to touch those kiddos lives!!

The five of you have been used by God to shape my life. Please remember that! You are being used, whether you know it or not! I have learned from each of you, felt valued by you, and love you more than I ever thought possible. Thanks for being my family!!!

I LOVE EACH OF YOU VERY, VERY MUCH!

BLESSINGS FROM YOUR SISTER!

Student Return + State Assessment = One Stressed out Teacher!

You will hopefully remember that I have had two students who got really sick. One with H1N1 and the other with a genetic kidney disease. I just wanted to give all of you a brief update.

Grace-She has still not returned to school, though she is out of the hospital. I have met with her a few times to provide Home Based tutoring. She is such a little warrior. Grace had surgery a few weeks ago on her trachea, which was severely damaged during her time in the coma. She had a voice box that she used to speak. I think I was more nervous about meeting together than she was. She was so excited to finally have school! This time has ended up being a blessing for me. Please continue to pray for her, as she still has a long road ahead of her :)

Dustin-This guy is another little warrior. The disease he has attacks his kidneys. He will eventually have to go on Dialysis, and then have a transplant. The first transplant is not expected to work, so they will have to try another one...but they won't do more than two! Despite all of this, Dustin has been able to return to school.

This time has been a mixture of excitement and stress. Before Dustin returned, I had to learn how to take blood pressure because his needs to be taken regularly. I also need to look for signs of how he is feeling, and know when/if I need to call for an ambulance. When I talked to the nurse about why he was allowed to return to school, with all of these health concerns, she said it was so that his last days would be as normal as possible. Talk about breaking my heart! I don't know how to be the teacher that he needs. I know God will provide this for me though. Please pray for this situation and for Dustin.

State Testing-Our state tests begin on Monday. We will take our math test beginning on Monday. I am very nervous about these. I have a few interesting students in my class who make me nervous about doing well on the test. I am praying that God would quiet this anxiety in both mine and my students' hearts. I have tried extremely hard to make this experience as positive as possible for my kiddos. It will not be a stressful time. I may be stressed, but my students will hopefully not pick up on that. My room has been transformed. I (and a group of special helpers) made and hung up posters with encouraging words to hang around the room. I am so excited to see my kids faces when they walk in on Monday!

Please Pray :) Love all of you that are reading this and am so lucky to have you in my life!

Parent Teacher Conferences...What the Heck??

These last few days have been some of the most stressful up to this point in my teaching career. Parent-Teacher Conferences had me second guessing myself on everything that I have ever done this school year. My confidence level was a 1 on a scale of 1 to 100...not exaggerating either! By the end of day 1, my confidence had not improved!

CONFERENCE 1
The first conference was with a student that I really enjoy (I do enjoy all of them). I was glad that his conference was first because his mom and I have a pretty good relationship. I figured that I would be able to get the jitters out with this one, which was definitely not the case! First, mom let the baby brother out of his stroller and instructed my student to watch him during the conference. The baby found everything to get into. It didn't seem to bother mom though because she was able to stay focused. Next thing I know, out of the corner of my eye, I see the baby take a pencil and try to put it in his mouth. My student ran to stop him. In the process he knocked a chair off a desk, fell down, and the chair landed on his finger! Screaming and tears followed soon after. Mom looked at him and then turned back to me to continue on with conferences...WTH?? Wouldn't you have wanted to check on your son?? My student then asked to go get a drink. He didn't make it out the door, however. He stopped at a trashcan and THREW UP instead!! Again, mom looked at him and then turned back to me to continue on with conferences...WTH? I then had to tell her to take her son home for the night. Not only had he gotten sick, but his finger was huge!

When school started the next day, in he comes walking through the door...after having been sick 10 hours earlier. His finger was still huge and purple! I sent him to the nurse for ice immediately. The nurse took one look at it and called mom. After a trip to the ER, I found out that my student did indeed break his finger!

Happy to report that conferences did improve, minus the parent who told me that I was dumb and an idiot for thinking her student wasn't gifted (keep in mind, this third grader reads below grade level)...WTH??

What are some people thinking??

What a Year!!

The year is already off to a wonderful start. I can't believe that I just finished my first quarter as a first year teacher! Parent Teacher Conferences are this week...please pray for me! I am excited to meet with parents and get to chat about their child. My kids are so wonderful. Still, I am nervous about talking to parents. If you know me at all, you know that I'm not so great with with confrontation. I don't anticipate any, but you never know :)

On a sadder noter, please continue to pray for my student Grace. This link gives more information about her and her condition. I think that she is going to be featured on ABC nightly news. Grace is such a sweetie and needs lots and lots of prayers!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FNightline%2FSwineFluNews%2Fswine-flu-stories-young-victims-h1n1%2Fstory%3Fid%3D8827490%26page%3D2&h=ba747c0b91c875a0e21bdc9b031c8100

My Return!

Two years ago, I had the amazing opportunity to travel overseas to share the Good News. Father has once again presented me with a chance to serve him. I cannot believe how life has changed in the two years that have passed since my first visit! JC has become such an important part of my life and revealed his faithfulness many times over. I feel so blessed to once again get the chance to share about his grace and precious gift...himself. Life overseas was definitely a challenge. Public buses, a foreign language, etc were very taxing both physically and mentally. I really had to trust Father to provide and SURPRISE! he did :) The good things far outweighed the challenges. The Good News came alive to the people. 12 came to be brothers and sisters. How could one doubt that Father is good? Pr-s were answered then, and I know they will be once again. This Christmas, I will once again travel overseas to take classes, share, and love on the local people. Please PR that my heart would start being prepared for those that I will meet. PR that Father will already begin softening the hearts of those that I will interact with when I reach my city. PR that finances will be raised so that I can go serve our Father. This "story" is worth sharing with the world!

My First Classroom

As promised, I finally am posting some pics of my classroom.

This is the bulletin board outside of my room, welcoming the students in. You can't see, but the lily pads each have a student's name on it.First, I had these ugly display racks on this wall. I got creative and turned it into a homemade bulletin board. Hopefully it will stick. The first week of school, students each created their self portrait of how they feel about the first week of third grade. Good news! All smiling faces :) Hopefully when we create our portraits again later, there will still be smiles.

The amazing reading corner...complete with homemade cubbies and bookshelves. Thanks Dad!

The view of the room walking in. My desk is in the back of the room. The curtains were made by my Momma. I'm so blessed to have such a talented family!

A special thanks to: Mom and Dad for all of the donations (both time and material), Kristi for all of her help, the staff at Morris Hill for being so supportive, and all of you who are praying for me. Keep those prayers a-coming!

summer, cont.

More ups...but first a down. While I was in New Mexico, I found out that my Grandpa had passed away unexpectedly of many causes. Hence, a family road trip to California, which was interesting in itself. We stayed at my Grandpa's house, which was kind of weird and eerie, but it was good bonding time. I learned alot about my grandpa while going through the house and hearing stories from my dad and Aunt. Grandpa was quite a colorful man! Never a dull moment in his life.

Mom and Dad really wanted to show Kristi and I their old haunts (they both grew up in Southern California). So, one day, they dropped us off at Disneyland for the entire day! Quite the experience.

Posing outside of It's A Small World...guess what song I had in my head the rest of the day??
You can't really see, but this is on the Snow White ride. When I was younger and went to Disneyland, I freaked out on this ride...to the point of screaming. I fared a little better this time :)

AAAAHHHHH a Haunted Mansion! This ride still gives Kristi nightmares. Feel free to give her a hard time, if you see her :)

Super cool dolphins on our surprise visit to the beach on fourth of July.

The place where my dad used to set sail...literally. Apparently my dad and grandpa were quite the sailors back in the day.

Moral of the story: Value the time you have with people. You never know if you will have time together again. Live without regrets!

The Roller Coaster I call my summer vacation

Can you believe that summer is over??? There were parts that seemed to fly past and still others that took FOREVER! I thought that I would share a brief glimpse into it (complete with pictures)

First, there was graduation, which was pretty exciting :) I didn't know it then, but it was also a very blessed time in my life. My grandpa was able to come out for my grad party, which I sadly did not look forward to. You see, my grandpa and I didn't have the best relationship. We definitely weren't close. I would even say there were some feeling of distrust and anxiety towards him. The time spent with him helped to lay some of those feelings aside. For the first time, I was able to really talk to him...granted not about the deep things...but just talk. It was the first time that he ever told me that he was proud of me and all that I had done. I am moved to tears still, just thinking about it.

I realized later what a blessing this time was.

But first, an up :)

I had the opportunity to be part of a work that headed to New Mexico. While there, I worked on stripping and waxing a mission school's floors. It was hard work, but I loved it! This trip provided me with some time spend with people I admire from my church back home. These wonderful people took the time to really pour into me and learn about my life. I loved hearing their faith stories. Since we were in New Mexico, we did take some time to look around.
The oldest adobe church in Sante Fe.

The staircase in Loretta Chapel. When first built, this staircase had NO visible supports. The hand railing was added later. It was so incredible. The story goes that the sisters at the church put out an add for someone to build a staircase that would lead from the chapel up to the choir loft. An anonymous carpenter built the staircase and then left before receiving payment.

We also visited Bandelier...complete with ancient cliff dwellings and pretty scenery :)

Orientation!!

So, I've been pretty lazy with this whole blog thing! Sorry!

Today was my first day of new teacher orientation. The day started off really well, when I got picked up by a really good friend. It was fun getting to catch up on our 30 minute drive to Junction City (not looking forward to this drive everyday, by the way). We were told to go to JCMS, and thought we had reached our destination. Much to our dismay, we found all of the doors to still be locked, 10 minutes after our meeting was supposed to start! We had gone to the wrong middle school! Apparently, the middle school had moved, and I just hadn't gotten that memo, along with about 10 others. So, we eventually found our way to the right location!

The day was full of meetings that overwhelmed me!!! They were all technology related and I feel completely and totally stressed to the max right now. The upside, however, was that I got my own laptop! Thank goodness, because my laptop is about to die...again! It has put in 4 good years of service, so it will die with pride :)

Please continue to pray for me, as I embark on this exciting new journey!!

A New Job!

This last week has been one of the busiest, craziest, and most fantastic weeks of my life! I graduated on Saturday (cum laude, I might add) from Kansas State University. It is so crazy how quickly the last four years have flown by! I can't believe it! As soon as my graduation was over, my family and I hopped into the car and headed to Colby, KS. My cousin Matt graduated high school. I am so excited because he will be heading up to Manhattan in the fall. So excited and proud!

On Monday, I had an interview with Morris Hill Elementary. This was really exciting because I love the school and staff. They are all so friendly. After my interview, I had to say goodbye to some dear friends. The McMannes have to move to Louisiana and Monday was the day we said goodbye. I have really loved having a family in Manhattan to hang out with and love on! i am going to miss them tons!!

Wednesday (wearing you out yet?) I went in and had 6 six teeth removed. Talk about pain! Today (sunday) was the first day that i was able to leave the house. As soon as I got home, I took a three hour nap. I am getting in a lot of sleep. I am really lucky because I have a tremendously caring family who has been doting on me and helping me through it all.

This last Friday, I was offered a job! I am going to be the fifth grade teacher at Morris Hill Elementary. So excited! This will be a great place to start my career as a teacher :) God is so faithful!

Blessings! I hope that your Memorial Day Weekend and kickoff to summer is amazin!

A job goes by the wayside...another one pops up!

Today, was a very interesting day (to say the least). I still have no idea where God is leading me after graduation. The stress is really getting to me. I am learning that I have to trust the Lord and not count on my own ways. Easier said than done, right!

Today, while teaching, I checked my email. A school had sent me a message, that said, "Thanks, but no thanks!" I was crushed! My first rejection. The rest of the day was spent wondering if teaching was the career I should pursue. Obviously, something must be wrong with me to not have been hired on the spot.

Stepping back, I realized that the rejection was actually an answer to prayer. I have been praying that I would have a clearer idea of where to go after graduation. I now know one place that I won't be going :) It isn't necessarily a reflection on me. To prove this, I received a call a few minutes ago. Someone from Wyoming called and offered me a job! What!?!?! She said that she loved me resume. It was the confidence boost that I needed. Sadly, I turned the job down because I really want to stay in Kansas. The job was to be the lead teacher in early childhood...not really what I was looking for.

Do I have room to be picky? Probably not, but I am!

Ms. Mason is a fashionista!

As you all already know, I'm not the most fashionable person in the world. In fact, I feel like I dress fairly drab and low key. My clothes don't make a statement. There has been no exception while I've been student teaching either. Brown pants and plain shirts are my favorites. I might throw in a necklace or something, but don't watch me for fashion ideas!

It was quite surprising when a student came up to me today while teaching. She looked at me with a straight face and told me she loved the way I dress. "You are always wearing the latest fashions Ms. Mason. When I grow up, I hope that I am as fashionable as you."

What?!?!?! I tried so hard not to laugh. She proceeded to ask where I did my shopping and told me that she would love to go shopping with me anytime I was available. Her mom, apparently, isn't up on the latest trends and makes her buy 11 year old clothes when she is 12. (again, tried not to laugh). "Don't you agree that I should be able to wear 12 year old clothes now that I'm twelve? I keep telling my mom that I want to dress like you someday and that I need to practice now."

I couldn't believe it! I always wanted to make a difference in my students lives, didn't know I was doing with the clothes I wore :)

God Bless!

Positive Words of Encouragement

One thing that I have found is that it is easy to get down while teaching. I see my students not succeeding or have a run in with an attitude problem and think that I am not doing a great job. My trust in the Lord has definitely been tested.

When I finished up my Block B experience, my teacher made each of her students a smile folder. She included several pieces of motivational papers and encouraged us to each to continue to add to this. When I have had tough days, I have been reassured by these words of encouragement. I have teacher poems, stories, and words of praise/encouragement from teachers, friends, and even my parents. If you are a beginning teacher, please start your own folder! It will help you so much, I promise! It definitely helps me to keep on keepin' on!

Here's some of my favorites (that I am honored to have received):

• you are awesome! I believe you are a teacher at heart and I know that you will go out and do great things with your students. (Mrs. Apodaca)
• You are such a kind person. I know you are going to be a great teacher (friend)
• What if you are the one, the only one, with the chance to do it? What if this is the critical year for even one child. Read to them. Before the time, before the chance, is gone (Steven L. Layne)
• You have been one of my favorite people to watch on ths trip. The way father (God) has used you and charmed you, and the way that you have responded in faithfulness You had a lot thrown at you in a short period of time, and you really relied on God's strength to deal with that. He has really used you on this trip in a lot of ways.

As you can see, these words really help me to get through the tough days and even the good ones!