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