Flexing Summer Ideas

As summer is upon us, (everybody exhale:) I am looking at working on my English curriculum. While doing that, I'm also looking at bringing TfT elements to my co-curriculars (I've also found some dandy ideas for other teachers). One thing I'm working on is a Flex activity for the audiences of our spring production, which will be the The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Since this is based on a book, I'm looking at inviting others to bring a favorite children's book or books to the production. We always give a matinee and I was thinking that giving the area grade school children a chance to be involved would be a good thing. I don't have it all figured out yet, but the idea is to gather books to give to the Castle Hospital in Sioux Falls. Edward himself goes on quite the journey in his story and folks who are in a children's hospital are on quite a journey too. I'd like to have my cast make some sort of note for each book. And then of course, we'd deliver them. Stay tuned!

Finding FLEX in Family

For over 30 years, I have worked with Freshmen on writing Family Projects. Stemming from a love of gathering my own family story, I've put that in my curriculum. But up to this year, I have never added a FLEX activity to it. This year we are trying a FLEX. It has been a painful journey!

One part of the written Family Project is an essay of thanks. Who is one person in your family that you are thankful for?  Why? That's the premise of the paper. This essay will be mailed to the person that is the topic of the Freshmen paper. I thought it would make a lovely gift, and it certainly is a real need for real people.

Draft #1: Shallow and poor writing. It disappointed me that they took this so lightly. It was just basically fulfilling the assignment without much thought or depth. So we went back to drawing table. I showed the picture of an ice berg and applied that to their writing. We talked specifics. I outlawed the phrase "there for me". Then I asked this question--If this person were gone tomorrow, what would you have liked to have said?

My deep hope is that they dig deep. I want them to be brave enough to write what this person means to them with detail and specifics. And of course I want it to be good writing, which is isn't right now. So stay tuned. Draft #2 is up to bat tomorrow.

Building Lives Begins

Here is a taste of the beginning of our Building Lives document.

https://plus.google.com/collection/kmWLVF

Building Lives

The College Composition students will begin their journey of finding stories of folks in our community who have inspired others, sacrificed for others, or showed real servanthood. So many reporters on television or online seek out stories that inspire us. Lester Holt with Nightly News often ends with a story called "Inspiring America". A favorite of mine is "On the Road" with Steve Hartman. Mike Rowe has his own show, "Returning the Favor". All of those stories celebrate the goodness in folks. So that's what the College Composition folks are going to be doing in their own backyard. We will be adding those stories to a google plus document. If all goes well, we will certainly be building community in the deepest sense of the word.

Here's a link to the page called, Building Lives.
https://plus.google.com/collection/kmWLVF

Stay tuned as we add to this page story after story of gracious folks in our community.

Reflections on the Greatest Generation

Today the College Composition classes went to the Prairie Ridge to share their reflections from knowing the stories of Louie Zamperini and a Sioux County Veteran. I will let the student's do the talking with what they took away from knowing the story.

"I believe that getting to know the story of Louie and researching my veteran helps me to better see God's hand in other people's stories as well. These stories truly illustrate the redemption of God's people even after enduring things that feel so far from him. Knowing the story allows me to see God's Kingdom in a grander way. We all play a piece in God's story for his glory. The foot print that we leave on this earth will leave a positive, or a negative impact, its our choice if we are remembered as a kingdom seeker or not."

"Learning from the stories of each of these war heroes I am comforted and assured of my place in God's plan. Though I may feel small and insignificant at times I know that at this very moment God is crafting my story in a unique and diverse way to glorify His name above all."

"Researching my veteran gave me a greater appreciation for the people who have put so much effort into making our country what it is today. My veteran, Don Brommer, was the same age as me when he was sent to a foreign land with a gun to fight to the death for freedom and for what was right. I can't imagine going to war right now with the thought of dying. I have so much respect for all the men and women who have put their lives on the line for freedom no matter where it was. It just shows the love of God from these people who are willing to put their lives on the line for people they don't even know."

"Researching my veteran has taught me that we are to be grateful for every day God blesses us with. We need to recognize the beauty of our "normal" daily happenings, because we don't know when those will be ripped away from us. I now know that my life is extremely blessed and I savor the people, the opportunities and the memories more now than I did before."

"This teaches me that faith is valuable. I can't do anything with my own strength, but I need to rely on God. Relying on Him will be so much better than trying to do anything myself. God shows us that He has a plan for us in all circumstances. Ralph's faith was strengthened so he could go through other trials in his life and be a witness to the world of His faith. In my story, I need to learn to rely on God more for everything instead of trying to use my own strength to get through problems."

"It is out of this communal memory sharing perspective that learning both Louie's story and the story of Arie Moerman (my veteran) became important. When society says forget about that, let's live for today it is stories like Louie's that remind us that that isn't the responsible option. Stories like Louie's remind us of God's power to turn the worst of sin and transform it into something glorifying. As I find myself in God's story, it is important to remember other's stories as they connect us and open our eyes to the way God works. In my research of Arie Moerman I was continually reminded of the way God, as he did in Ruth and does to us today, gives dignity to small stories. The way God picks up all the scattered pages of our lives and through Christ binds them into a larger, greater, and new story. Our individual histories and pasts will not be forgotten but will be celebrated. In my reading of Unbroken and my research of Arie Moerman I am reminded of our responsibility and blessing to remember."

Try Try Again

When the Freshmen class finished the movie, The Boys Next Door, I invited folks into the classroom who have family members that have special needs. Jon and Kauline Groskreutz spoke about their adoption of their three special needs children, Juliana Tien spoke about having a brother with special needs and Lori Poppema spoke about her son with special needs. A common thread through all their stories was that they wanted their loved one to simply be viewed as a regular person, and that they never really were invited to do things like normal teenagers. So we decided to have an evening at Unity for them. How to do that was the tricky part. About a dozen students from Unity were excited to help along with five other staff members. We sent invitations to the public school folks, put the invite on Facebook, and personally invited others. Our initial date was for December, but due to horribly cold temperatures, we instead went with January 19. We lost some Unity students to other curricular activities, and we lost a few other folks who were going to attend due to the flu. Even though we had only five special needs folks, it was a great night. The Unity students had a great time with the guests. The staff members had a fun time doing something with each other beyond school things. And I think there were blessings all around. After our guests left, the Unity students wanted to try this again at a later date. We are plotting how to get the invitations out better.

Having Unity students take charge of this would be a goal. They have great hearts. There is great need to see folks as simply folks. We did accomplish that goal last night. Servant workers, community builders and beauty creators were busy last night. It was a joy to watch.

When the unplanned becomes a better plan.

Sometimes TfT elements just sneak into the picture. After collecting and grading the College Composition papers on their Veterans, the higher audience, the Sioux Center Historical Society and the Sioux County Museum, both received copies of the student's work.But without any planning on my part, the students will get an additional audience this coming week. Unity will hold a Veteran's program on Tuesday, so the process of this paper and each paper will be available for the visitors that attend the chapel on that day. So sometimes what you don't plan for with a TfT lesson becomes an even better lesson. My deep hope is that what the student's discovered in their research will serve as a memorial for those Veterans and for those who read the papers.