Good communication is definitely a learned skill... as seen through the writing of a first grade student:
This comes directly from a note written to a best friend. I will omit names for protective purposes.
You are the best! You are kind to me. You can be a little unkind. But I like you still! Best friends forever! Love.
Then again, there is a refreshing genuineness in this note.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Profound Thoughts in First Grade
Last year because I was a first year teacher I was always nervous that I was going to offend a parent if I allowed certain discussions to occur. This year I have grown more comfortable in my teaching style and with discussion, so we've had lots of great Biblically based discussions. My main goal this year has been to teach the truth of God's word and the grace of who He is so that students can have a better understanding of the world in which we live.
This plays out in two ways in my classroom:
1. We are having more discussions on what the Bible stories actually mean, and the characters in the Bible. We talk about the things they did wrong and the things they did well. We talk about what we can learn from them constantly. Last year I just avoided discussing the negative things about Bible characters. But the Bible has many flawed characters, and they can teach us valuable lessons as well.
This brings up my favorite prayer that was spoken in the walls of my classroom just yesterday afternoon. We have been praying for a certain student's grandmother who is in the hospital. This was one student's prayer, "I pray that her grandma won't be scared like an Israelite, but that she would be like David."
2. The second way that this plays out in my classroom is that we talk about the hard stuff in a first grade appropriate way.
Today when I was reading a Max Lucado book that includes many great stories, the topic of divorce was mentioned in the very beginning of a story. I think this was the first time I actually said the word divorce this year.
This topic first came up when I was retelling the story of Jacob and Leah and Rachel. The look on the kids faces when I mentioned Jacob's extra seven years that he was going to work for Rachel was confusion because he was already married to Leah. So I stopped and I reminded them that God is perfect, and when he created marriage he created it to be between one man and one woman. Then I reminded them that we live in a broken world where people steal, kill, break the 7th commandment, and sin. I love to explain it as the brokenness of man and not of God, and then I love to point out that God is SO GRACIOUS to man! So that's what we discussed in September.
When I said divorce today, a child blurted out, "What's divorce?"
I took a deep breath.
And a student decided to explain it before I even had a chance. They shared, "It's when two parents fight and argue so much that they have to live in separate houses so that they won't argue anymore."
I reminded them this is not how God designed marriage to be, but He gives so much grace. And divorce can be hard, but God will always provide great comfort and strength!
I'm learning so much! I am getting a little glimpse into my inadequacies and spending more time asking the Lord for wisdom in how to teach and instruct these little ones. I hope that it's okay that I've shared this here. It is not intended to offend, but to tell you what I'm learning in first grade. :-)
This plays out in two ways in my classroom:
1. We are having more discussions on what the Bible stories actually mean, and the characters in the Bible. We talk about the things they did wrong and the things they did well. We talk about what we can learn from them constantly. Last year I just avoided discussing the negative things about Bible characters. But the Bible has many flawed characters, and they can teach us valuable lessons as well.
This brings up my favorite prayer that was spoken in the walls of my classroom just yesterday afternoon. We have been praying for a certain student's grandmother who is in the hospital. This was one student's prayer, "I pray that her grandma won't be scared like an Israelite, but that she would be like David."
2. The second way that this plays out in my classroom is that we talk about the hard stuff in a first grade appropriate way.
Today when I was reading a Max Lucado book that includes many great stories, the topic of divorce was mentioned in the very beginning of a story. I think this was the first time I actually said the word divorce this year.
This topic first came up when I was retelling the story of Jacob and Leah and Rachel. The look on the kids faces when I mentioned Jacob's extra seven years that he was going to work for Rachel was confusion because he was already married to Leah. So I stopped and I reminded them that God is perfect, and when he created marriage he created it to be between one man and one woman. Then I reminded them that we live in a broken world where people steal, kill, break the 7th commandment, and sin. I love to explain it as the brokenness of man and not of God, and then I love to point out that God is SO GRACIOUS to man! So that's what we discussed in September.
When I said divorce today, a child blurted out, "What's divorce?"
I took a deep breath.
And a student decided to explain it before I even had a chance. They shared, "It's when two parents fight and argue so much that they have to live in separate houses so that they won't argue anymore."
I reminded them this is not how God designed marriage to be, but He gives so much grace. And divorce can be hard, but God will always provide great comfort and strength!
I'm learning so much! I am getting a little glimpse into my inadequacies and spending more time asking the Lord for wisdom in how to teach and instruct these little ones. I hope that it's okay that I've shared this here. It is not intended to offend, but to tell you what I'm learning in first grade. :-)
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