Certificate in hand and a heart to reach out!

Some of you might be wondering the reason I am in Africa. "Didn't she go to teach?" you might be asking yourself and I would reply back, "well of course I did! I love teaching!" And then you would respond, "But you never talk about teaching at all on your blogs." I would of course have an answer for you by saying, "well I eat, sleep, and breath education so when I write, I take a break from it." No need to fret any longer, I am here to write about education, the very thing I came to do here.

When we first arrived, we realized that the building was under construction. The landlord decided to add on significantly so he could open a school when he retired someday. In the near future, we want to build our own permanent building but this addition will help us stay there for a couple of more years. I might just have to stay until I see the new building!(You don't have to remember that part if you don't want to.) Looking back, you can see God's hand in it the whole time as enrollment has drastically incresed from 125 to over 160! Praise the Lord!

A lot of teachers got huge new classrooms but I am still in a small classroom. That is okay, all 12 of us will just be very close to each other. That is right I have 11 students from 5 different countries. I have met some of them and their parents and can't wait to pour into their lives very soon. We were suppose to start school tomorrow, yikes! but do to the Ghanaian time(nothing is done on time) we are not starting until Monday. Don't cry for me too much because this has been a relief for us since we haven't been able to do too much in our classrooms yet. I still don't have any reading curriculum which is a hug component for students who are not fluent in English! Please lift this prayer request up to the Lord. If not, I will be doing very flexible teaching. Lets see how far I can bend without breaking!

Oh, noone will be able to accuse me of staying behind my desk instead of helping the students because I don't have a desk. Don't freak out, we can have desks but I chose not to have one because there isn't room for one. I would rather use it for centers or crazy things than for my personal things. I will find room for it all.

I love all of the teachers especially the first grade teacher as she has been helping me tremendously. It is nice that she already knows my students and their abilities. The administration has been busy with the building project so there is at least someone who has time to answer crazy questions. To all of my first year teaching friends out there, steal ideas as much as possible! This is the only time that stealing or networking is okay so please take advantage of it.

Although I do not have all of the resources I would like to have, I no I can do without it, I will just be creative with what I have. I am use to teaching without books so I should be at home here.

Please e-mail me if you have any questions or make a comment. I would love to hear from all of you! Happy first days of school for all of you teachers out there as I am privileged to know so many teachers of the year!

verse of the day: Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Psalm 98:4

This is the verse I will have to remember during everyday of teaching. I will sing my praises to the Lord as He has brought me into this profession at this specific location for a reason. To God be the Glory.