Sharing the Nativity Story

*forgot to post on Thursday*

What we've been doing: For the past month at Yve's school we have been doing the story of the birth of Jesus with the students.  First, our students shared the story and taught them vocabulary related to the nativity story.

We have been using TPR (Total Physical Response) with the students.  They do the action and say the word.  For the Christmas story we taught them: "vamos" "estrella" "Dios" "bebe Jesus" "ver/mirar" "dormir" "tienes miedo" and "feliz" Each time we went to the school we practiced those words with the students.

Then, the Haitian students were assigned parts.  The little ones were the animals and angels.  They colored masks for the animals in the barn.  They were very proud of the masks they colored.  The older ones had main speaking parts.

Each of our students worked with a couple of the students at the school.  They mentored and practiced the script with them.  This year it worked much better because we had three more people to help out.

Last week we went back to film the kids.  We had to make a few last minute casting changes since a couple of the students were sick.

Here's the link to the Youtube video final product!

Tomorrow we are going to show the video and have a little Christmas party.  We are going to make simple Christmas cards with them, eat cookies, and celebrate.  We wanted to bless the teachers for Christmas.  After filming last week we went to the store and got mugs for the teachers.  These mugs were filled with candy and some money.  The kids made cards to go along with them.

The Bible study I go to on Mondays did a service project this semester and bought Creole Bibles for the teachers.  Michelle asked me if I wanted to deliver them, so I also get the joy of handing out the Bibles.  It will be their first Bible for some of them.  It will also be the first Bible for all of them in their native language.  What a neat gift.

How are you sharing the story of the birth of Jesus?

God is working

What I've been thinking about:  Life is certainly a roller coaster here in the Dominican Republic.  Week #10 was a challenging week.  The boys hadn't studied, they kept making strange noises that were driving me crazy, and we had a whole conversation about responsibility.  Unfortunately they did not let my words about their habits and futures soak in.  I hit Friday, October 23rd feeling defeated and exhausted.

Last Monday rolled around.  I was anxious for the week.  Thursday we had planned to go to the Haitian school, and end the week with a Halloween scavenger hunt around Santiago.  I was stressed.  Tired.  Ready for the weekend.  And it was only Monday...

I noticed someone's Facebook status as I was scrolling on Monday afternoon.  She is a teacher at a Dominican school here in Santiago.  She was asking for help judging a debate in her English class.  I liked her status and thought to myself, "Wow, what a neat opportunity.  Too bad I teach all day."  A few minutes later, she sent me a Facebook messaging asking if my older students and I would like to come judge.  I hadn't even thought of bringing the kids along!

Monday night at Bible study I asked for prayer for the week.  That God would be working in the lives of the kids, and that He would help bring me peace and comfort amidst the chaos.  Boy did He pull through last week.  

"Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always." 

1 Chronicles 16:11

Tuesday afternoon we set out in the big van for Colegio Bautista de las Gracias.  Everyone was dressed up and ready.  The boys were going to just observe the debate, while Christin, the girls, and I were going to be official judges.  The whole car ride there the boys were making silly faces and goofing off.  I was worried about their behavior during the debate.  We had talked about listening quietly and not drawing attention to themselves.  

The girls did a really nice job judging.  The debate was about whether cars are good or bad.  The students were very passionate, and it was fun watching their arguments evolve and develop.  The boys sat quietly and respectfully for the whole debate.  I was so impressed.  

Before we left for Yves school on Thursday, we got together as a group to pray.  Two of the mother's of our students were with us.  Corinne, a missionary at New Hope and a friend from my hometown, also joined us.  We were all standing in a circle, holding hands.  Christin opened the prayer, and I said I would close the prayer.  Lately the boys haven't been praying when we are in a large group.  I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

I stood there in silence waiting for people to pray.  Pleading to God for them to open up.  And they did.  Every single person in the circle prayed.  I was brought to tears.  I had never felt God's presence more with my students than in that moment right there.  God is working.  He is touching their hearts.  Bringing them closer to Him. 

Then we went to Yve's school.  We worked with them last year teaching Spanish.  This was our first time going this year, and it went SO well.  The students at the school behaved perfectly.  They participated, they worked well, and they spoke in Spanish.  Our students worked just as hard.  They helped, they drew, they wrote, they encouraged.  I left Yve's school with a smile on my face and a happy heart.  Not because of anything I did, but all because of Him.

"The LORD's lovingkindness indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

After Yve's school we took the kids on a whirlwind scavenger hunt around Santiago.  It was full of candy, costumes, and some trick-or-treating.  We ended at Rosa's house with a pizza party.  It was so much work to put together the activity, but everyone had a good time.  What amazed me the most was that the boys said thank you.  THEY SAID THANK YOU.  Without being prompted, and before the girls said it.  I was amazed.  Normally it's like pulling teeth to get them to say those two simple words.  There have been countless times where I have poured my blood, sweat, and tears into projects or activities for them, and no one has said thank you.  The boys made my whole day when they said that.  It felt wonderful to see some fruit after a year and a half of tending the seed.

"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." Luke 8:15

Saturday was another big day for me because I shared the message with the girls at the youth group that night.  Sharing with high schoolers can be challenging and scary in English.  Sharing in Spanish pushed me way outside of my comfort zone.  I prepared, I fasted, I prayed.  I left it in God's hands.  I was totally at peace about it until Saturday morning rolled around.  Then I was a bundle of nerves.  There were only 3 girls and 3 leaders (including me) on Saturday night, but it went really well.  We had some great discussions about faith and taking God's path versus our own path.  I never would have thought that I would be doing all that I am here in this country.  Thank You, Jesus for using me.  

La fe es la confianza en que lo que Dios ha prometido o dicho, se cumplirá.

Today we had conferences with our student's moms.  It went really well.  It has been amazing to grow close to these people over the past year.  I can only imagine all that God has in store for the rest of our time together.  I'll have to look back on this post to remind myself when I am feeling discouraged because GOD IS WORKING IN SANTIAGO.  In my life, in the lives of my kids, in the lives of the girls I serve, in the lives of the families I work with, and in the lives of people reading this blog.  Wherever in the world you are.

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 1 Corinthians 5:7

Con mucho amor.

First Week of School

What we've been doing:  Popping balloons, photo booth, silly string, coat of arms, TED talk, and brownies were just a few of the things we incorporated into the first week of school.  Yes, that's right, I wrote we.  I am excited to say that I now have a coteacher!  Christin is 24, and this is her third year in the Dominican Republic.

Intro activities: We started off the day with a photo booth using the chalk wall in my classroom.  Christin borrowed boas, top hats, pearls, fake mustaches, and more from the old school she used to work at here in Santiago.  We had fun using the chalk wall to draw halos, devil horns, and speech bubbles.  It was a great way to break the ice and get a little goofy at the start of the year.

Christin suggested we make coat of arms that represent ourselves.  She used this as a beginning of the year activity with her students before.  The girls coat of arms came out a little more creative than the boys, but it was great to see them thinking creatively.

Some of the students play instruments this year, so we got to start the day with worship.  I loved praying with the boys last year, so it is incredible that we get to incorporate music, instruments, and song into the curiculum this year.

We then watched this TED talk by John Green about paper towns and mapping one's life.  We then created mind maps with goals and ambitions for the year.  Everyone took a love language test and we set a challenge of loving someone this week.  I saw some cute notes exchanged with inspirational quotes, which made those needing words of encouragement feel loved.

We also had them write letters to themselves that will get opened at the end of the year.  This Khan Academy "You can learn anything" video accompanied the letter to themselves activity.

The students also brainstormed what a good student and good teacher act/say/do.  The answers were sometimes funny (a good teacher should shower, a good teacher should share their cookies) and sometimes very insightful.

It was a busy first day, but I felt so good at the end.  Tired, but good.  I got to know the sisters better and got to celebrate school.  Our hashtag for the year is #bestyearever.

Team building:  Christin and I thought it would be good to include some team building, fun activities at the start of the day this week.  We did charades one day (the girls creamed the boys).  We also completed the marshmallow challenge.  Using tape, yarn, marshmallows and spaghetti noodles they had to create the tallest structure.  The boys quickly built something that I thought would win.  But they girls ended up creating a taller tower by one inch.

Bible: Reading the Bible is so important.  Hebrews 4:12 says that it is LIVING and ACTIVE.  God uses it to speak truth into our lives.  I wanted the boys to learn how to read it on their own.  I wanted to give God an opportunity to speak to them individually.  I purchased these simple little sketchbooks.  I had them each pick a chapter or two out of the Bible to begin.  They spent a couple days reading the passage, and a couple days drawing the verses that impacted them.  It turned into a sort of Bible art journaling.  Each of the boys picked a book from the Old Testament.  I am so excited for how they turned out the first week.

Spanish:  On day 1 of Spanish class we played a game called Tingo, Tingo, Tango.  I played this game at youth group once here in the Dominican Republic.  There are a bunch of balloons with one question inside each balloon.  One person stands on the side and yells, "tingo, tingo, tingo..." while the balloon is passed in the circle.  When the person on the side yells, "tango" the person with the balloon must sit and pop it.

The kids used the answers to these questions to write Spanish stories about their summers.  One of my goals this year is to get the boys writing more, and they finished a mini Spanish story within week 1.  Awesome!

Writing:  I had the boys each get a writing notebook this year.  Every day they will come in and there will be a writing prompt on the board.  The first day I used a creative writing prompt, but each day is something a little different.  The boys need a lot of writing practice.  This week A wrote over a page, single spaced, and he is the one who struggles the most with writing.  J also wrote over a page one day.  I thought about stopping them part of the way through because we needed to move on, but I was so thrilled they were writing.

Happy Friday: To celebrate the first week of school, Christin and I sprayed the kids down with silly string and then fed them brownies.  They were so surprised, but then stated that revenge was coming.  It was a great way to end the week.

What I've been reading/watching/creating:  

This blog post about teaching that touched my heart and left me in tears.

The First5 app has been incredibly encouraging and convicting.

I got watercolor markers before I left to come back to the DR.  I have been having the best time playing with them.  Creating is a great way for me to get rid of stress.  Plus, I've made some pretty neat pieces.

Christin and I started watching the TV show Elementary.

I finished Confess by Colleen Hoover on the plane rides here, and I am currently reading Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.  Next on my reading list is Talk like TED, a nonfiction book I would love to use with my students.

I am excited to be back in this country.  I am excited for new friendships, new adventures, new teaching ideas and resources.  I cannot wait to see what God does this year in my heart and in the hearts of my students.

Field Trips #6, #7, and #8

Where we've been going:  We have ended the year with lots of field trips.  They all kind of snuck up on me.  Next year I need to do a better job spacing them out throughout the year.  It was fun to end the year with so many adventures.

Field trip #6: Mirabal Sister's House

This was not the most exciting field trip we went on, but my mom said that not every field trip needs to have a zipline.  :)  I thought this was the most interesting field trip.  I have been waiting to go to the Mirabal sister's house since June of last year when my professor gave me In the Time of the Butterflies for a graduation present.

We were given a tour of the house.  We even got to see Maria Teresa's braid that Dede cut off her dead body.  We also saw the bloody handkerchief that was found at the scene of the crime.  It made what we were reading and watching so very real.

We took the big green striped van, and we ate our picnic lunch inside the van.  The boys said it was too hot outside.  It was a nice afternoon together.  

Field trip #7: Jarbacoa

We stopped and got morir sonando (my favorite orange creamsicle drink) on our way to the waterfall.  I made a chart with areas for the boys to write down how much erosion they saw, how much trash there was on the ground and in the water, signs of wildlife, and water velocity.  We threw a tennis ball in the water and calculated how long it would take to go a certain distance.  The faster the water, the healthier the river.  The same chart would be used on field trip #8.  They were comparing the two rivers, trying to figure out which one was healthier.

After doing the school part of the trip, we all swam in the river.  It was REALLY cold, and not an especially hot day.  The boys didn't care, however; they dove right in.

We stopped at a yummy place for lunch in the town of Jarbacoa, and then we headed back to Santiago.

Field trip #8: Aguas Calientes

The boys loved this field trip.  The river is bigger, and there are more areas to play.  The rocks are giant, and the boys said they looked fake because they were so big.  I love the hot springs that warm the little pool.  Last time I went, it was a Sunday and the place was packed with Dominicans.  This time we went on a Wednesday, so there were hardly any people.

We started off by looking at the characteristics and health of the river.  The boys did the tennis ball experiment, and calculated the water velocity.  They noticed how there was much less trash, and the area was better taken care of.

Then the boys swam around, splashing and climbing on the rocks.

We packed a picnic lunch and relaxed for a bit.  After lunch we went to the hot springs part.  We practically had it to ourselves.  It was neat for the boys to smell the sulfur in the water and understand where it came from.

It was a great field trip to end the year with.  I have begun to think about field trips for next year.  I really want to go to Haiti.  I am going to some more Taino caves soon that I might do again with the boys.  They really love the caves we have been to, and I could connect the caves to some science concepts for next year.  I would love to go to manatee bay and go snorkeling as we learn about ocean environments.  Lots of neat ideas and dreams for year #2 of The Reyes Academy.

Field Trip #5: Samana

Where we have been going:  We went on our fifth field trip of the year two weeks ago.  We started learning about Samana with a KWL chart, only in Spanish.  "Saben" "Quieren saber" y "Aprendieron"  The boys really just knew that it was a beach and that tourists traveled in the providence.  Look at the far right column at all they learned!  I should have had them add even more when they were done with the field trip.  When my family was there in December I found a book about the history of Samana that I figured would be perfect to use with the boys.

It was a challenging book.  I created a graphic organizer to help with vocabulary and questions about the text.  The boys read sections by themselves, and I also read to them.  One of the sections I copied and cut up onto poster paper.  They took turns write questions and responding to their classmates questions.  If I were to redo this lesson/unit, I would have practiced this strategy first in English.  It was challenging in Spanish because they struggle with spelling.  If I had a bigger class, the pages would be much fuller, I believe.

We left bright and early on Thursday morning.  Rosa and Joy came to get me at 4:30am.  We went with another family, the Salgado's.  They are a missionary family here in Santiago.  If you're interested in supporting them or learning more about them, visit their Facebook page.  I was really excited to expand and interact with more students.  Plus, they have two girls.  It was nice to have some more estrogen around for the day.  :)

We made the normally 4 hour drive in 2.5 hours.  There was a positive for waking up at the crack of dawn.  I organized the trip with Santi, the same guy we went on excursions with.  After meeting up with the rest of the people that would travel in our group, we headed for the harbor.

The whale watching came first in the day.  It was competitive, which really surprised me.  There can only be three boats around a whale at once.  Those boats can only be there for thirty minutes.  We were around a momma whale and her baby.  One time there was four boats around the whales, and the guides started yelling at each other that one boat had to leave.  We didn't get to see them jumping or anything, which was a bit of a disappointment.  But it was pretty incredibly to be so close to the big, majestic animals.

After the whale watching we went to Cayo Levantado, an island nearby.  We swam in the ocean there for an hour.  We explored the mangroves of Los Haitises and got to see birds and crabs in the water.

At lunch the kids did ziplining.  We ate at the same place that we ate with my family back in December.  This time, however, there was a buffet.  The yummy pasta filled my stomach.  The ziplining took too long, so we weren't able to go to both of the Taino caves, which is unfortunate.

We did get to go to the cave with all the drawings and paintings on the walls.  I noticed way more than I did the first time I went.  It was fun to see the same thing with new eyes this time.

The very end of the day was spent at Cafe del Mar swimming in the pool and resting.  I was finally able to relax.  I wanted the trip to go well, so I was a little stressed throughout the day.  But it was a successful day; we got to see some new things and hang out with some new friends.

We spent the night at a hotel right in the town of Samana.  I got to have a sleepover with the girls from the other family we went with, which was so awesome.  The next morning we were going to go to Playa Rincon, which we learned about, but it started raining.  So we got pan de coco and left.  It was another tiring, but successful field trip. :)

Here are links to the boy's blog posts about the field trip.

Andrew                  Isaac                 Joseph 

Teaching at the Haitian School

What we've been doing: A few months ago my friend Michelle and I were talking about teaching.  She works at the private school in Santiago.  She also helps out with a Haitian school run by her friend Yves.  Michelle suggested we work with that school.  I went with her one weekend to bring them food for lunch, and I got to hear about the history of the school and church.

It used to be a night club with cabanas along the outside for prostitutes.  It went out of business, and Yves decided to turn it into a church.  One of the church's first members?  A lady who used to dance there when it was a nightclub.  Talk about a redemption story.  I love how God can change people and places from something sad and horrible into people and a place of worship.  Yves began to have Bible studies with the Haitians that moved into the little cabanas, but he realized many of them did not know how to read.  The building turned into a school during the week.

Michelle and I were talking about how it would be a cool opportunity for the boys and I to go and read to the kids there in Spanish.  Most Haitian kids know a little French, a little Creole, a little English, and a little Spanish.  Most are not fluent in any of those languages.

I met with Yves, and he seemed to like the idea so we set a date in the beginning of March for the boys and I to go and read with the kids.

The boys and I went to the little bookstore in Nacional (a supermarket) here in Santiago.  The boys and I each picked out a simple picture book in Spanish to read with the kids.  Then we created flashcards with the word and an image we drew.  The cards were laminated and we practiced reading.  Each flashcard also had a motion to go with it to help the kids remember and learn the motion.

We prayed for this trip for the month before as we prepared for it.

TRIP #1:

When we got there Yves showed Rosa and the boys the church/school.  He explained the history and why he created it.  Then, we got in a circle with the older kids and practiced names while throwing a giant inflatable basketball.

The kids sat down and I taught the vocabulary for my book, Yo Tambien.  We did the actions.  They loved running and jumping while learning "correr" and "saltar."  I would sat the word and they would do the action.  Then, I read my book with the whole group.  When I said the word while reading the book, the kids would do the action.  At the end, we reviewed the vocabulary and I quizzed each kid, giving them a Spongebob sticker when they said the word correctly.  Once that was done, we divided up the larger group, and each boy read his book and did the vocabulary with a group of 6-8 kids.

Then the little ones came in and I read my book to them.  We divided them up into smaller groups like before.  The little ones were not as focused, but some of them don't regularly hear Spanish.  I was so proud of the boys.

Afterwards when we discussed what went well and what didn't, the boys mentioned how nervous they were.  They also mentioned how some of the kids were talking when they were trying to talk (which made me chuckle a bit).  The walls of the school are just partition walls, they do not go all the way to the ceiling.  You can hear everything going on in all the classes, which the boys said was a little distracting.  Overall, it was great first experience and it made us excited to continue working with the school.

TRIP#2

We started off with the older kids, just like the time before.  We stood in a circle and practiced names again.  Then I quizzed them and reviewed the vocabulary that we all learned from my book.  The boys read in small groups, and then again as a whole group.  Joseph and Rosa had the best idea to hand out the flashcards to different kids, so that when they heard their word that they would raise it high in the air.  They LOVED doing this.

After we were done with the books, we played "pulpo" or octopus.  It's a tag game.  Joseph was inside with the littles, which was precious.  Andrew, Isaac, and I were outside with the big ones.

We ended the day by passing out cookies to everyone.

At the end I gave the books and flashcards to the teachers.  Next time we are going to do a play with them.  Thank you to Rosa for the awesome idea.  I figured animals would be a good topic that most kids like, so I think we will try to do Noah's ark.  The little ones can be animals.  They could make animal masks for the performance of the play.  Prayers appreciated as we continue to work with these wonderful kids.

Con mucho amor.