Halloween Ideas…

An AWESOME idea for Halloween. Check it out!

AP Literature…

I love teaching AP Lit. It’s the closest thing I have to teaching a college level literature class. For some reason, I have a strong desire to lesson plan for this class. I want to take two days off and just plan effective lessons. Right now, I put everything aside and I’m figuring out an updated reading list that correlates with the current AP guidelines and exam. I love my seniors and I want them to succeed.

Thursday…

Why does Thursday always taunt us with Friday? So close, yet so far away. Today was my breaking point. I need a vacation from these kids. Instead of direct instruction, I let the kids do group work. It was successful for periods 1, 2, and 3. 4th period is just a collection of hyper-active, attention deficet, loud children. Anyway…

My goal today is to get through a majority of items on my to do list. So far, I’ve accomplished one. Not good for my “achiever” nature and strengh.

In other random book news, Twilight has caught my interest. I haven’t even purchased the book (and I’m in the middle of HP4), but I’ve read the first couple of pages. I have two big hold ups: 1. Everyone is reading it… am I reading it because it’s good or popular? 2. It has a female protagonist. I don’t do well when reading female characters. So, we’ll see… I need to finish Harry and then I’ll move onto Bella.

Lame Blogging…

My wife mentioned last night that I currently have lame blog posts. My reply was “I haven’t had time for anything quality.” And it’s true… I haven’t. This week (and life right now) is crazy. I’m accomplishing a lot, but still feel overwhelmed.

For the past couple days, I have been reading from Ecclesiates. Not the most uplifting first two chapters, but, at moments, it’s kindda funny and hits very close to home. This morning I meditated on verses 21 – 23:

“Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy. So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? There days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.”

Now… this isn’t that ironic for me, especially since I am up at 530am getting ready to leave by 6 to go to a job that I find frusterating and a dead end at times. I’m excited to read chapter 3 tomorrow as it begins to express the positive features of living in Christ.

In other news, I will be returning to Africa. There are huge changes that are occuring overseas regarding language and teaching instruction. NUR (National University of Rwanda) is going to be the hub center for English language teaching instruction… and I’m training those teachers. CBU is in the running for a massive grant that will help continue this educational relationship. I’m excited…. very excited actually. I never thought God would use me as a paragon of teaching excellence… but here I am, packing my bags to go to the other side of the world.

The last thing I want to do is something meaningless with my life.

Next July…

I’ll be in Africa again. 

I can’t wait.