I really like being a Profe (teacher).

Ok, I know that it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t update about Nava…so here goes.  This week I walked into the school on one of the last days of the week and I remember thinking how lucky I am to be a part of the school and the lives of the students and teachers.  Again, what a great family I have here.  My students struggle a lot in class with staying focused, and sometimes I get super stressed out.  Then I have to remind myself that I just need to be there for the kids, that are the most important thing I can do. 

But it hasn’t just been hard; we have seen some awesome victories in the classroom in just the last week.  The last time I wrote I asked for prayer for classroom management and wisdom for how to best teach my students what they need to know.  This week and last I saw great improvement in students who normally do not want to participate in class or obey but are disruptive and manipulative.  One student when asked (sometimes more than once) to go to his seat will do so, instead of playing with the computer or drawing on the white board in the middle of the lesson.  I watched as another, who normally struggles with lashing out and being violent, was hit intentionally by another student and simply backed away.  Even when it came to teaching math, something I struggle to help the students understand, students were interested, challenged and responding to the activity.  I had a soccer coach who told me once that when you have a rough practice or game, you should focus on the ways that you were successful in the game.  I have learned a lot about doing this this year, and these are some of the cool things that happened.

PRAYER REQUEST:

 A student of mine confessed on Monday that her mother is living with a man who hits her.    The young girl, Blanca Estela is clearly affected by this and has begun acting out in class and becoming more violent.  She comes to school frequently and I think it is cool that she is still coming.  Could you please pray for wisdom in how we can help the situation, wisdom for how we can be there for Blanca at school and show her love, and that she and her mother and brothers and sisters can be removed from the situation as soon as possible.