With New Sight

My church back home has been focusing on stories of the resurrection since Easter, with the theme "With New Sight."These stories explore both the faith and doubt that comes with such a miraculous exclamation as "He is risen!" There is so much death and suffering in our broken world, but with the fulfilled promise of Christ's triumph over death, we find hope. Because we have not be left to die in sin, left to wallow in our miserable emptiness, but have been promised life eternal with God, our Father, we see things differently than we might otherwise. Christ's victory forces us to change how we look at ourselves, how we look at the world, and how we look at God.

With this in mind, they posed a photo challenge. When you look with the eyes of Christ, what do you see? When you look for the presence of Christ, where do you look?

I saw and felt and did so much in Guatemala and God has been teaching me a lot. But while I was there, there was one thing that constantly amazed me. While I'm still processing a lot of things, one thing was perfectly clear. I saw God in Guatemala. I saw Him in the smiling faces of children with broken bodies. I saw Him in the desperate looks of mothers who are out of options. I saw Him in villages, on rivers, in the mountains, in the dump. I saw Him in Carlos and all the Hope of Life staff caring for the widows and the orphans. Truly, my sight was changed.

Here is what I chose to submit:

"See you had no choice which day you would be bornOr the color of your skin, or what planet you’d be onWould your mind be strong, would your eyes be blue or brownWhether daddy would be rich, or if momma stuck around at all
So if you find yourself in a better placeYou can’t look down on the frown on the other guy’s faceYou gotta stoop down low, look Him square in the eyeAnd get a funny feeling, you just might be dealing with the face of Christ"
The Face of Christ - Chris Rice

If my life depended on it

I work at a daycare center, and the number one priority is to keep the kids safe. There are rules for the classroom, for the gym, for outside, for the hallways, and for the kitchen all aimed at keeping the children as safe and healthy as possible: keep your hands to yourself, don't run in the classroom, keep scissors at the table, sit down while you're eating, wash your hands, don't eat food off the floor, don't use a fork that fell on the floor, etc. Parents are required to send food from each food group in the kids' lunches, and if they're missing a group, we supply it. Floors are swept and tables are cleaned and disinfected after every meal. We're doing everything we can to protect them from harm, and that's good.

But when I went back to work after returning from Guatemala, all I could think of as I got a child a their third new fork and listened to another complain about getting chicken nuggets instead of spaghetti, was all the children and their families living at the dump.

Photo credit: Veronica

Hope of Life provides one meal, 5 days a week to the people of the dump. We went to help serve this meal one of the days, and I think it's safe to say that everyone got a wake-up call that day. The containers they used they were "lucky" enough to find as they scavenged the burning, putrid trash heaps. And you can be sure none of them have been through a dishwasher or been wiped down with disinfectant.

Photo credit: Katie

And yet, not one complaint was uttered. None of the children were whining. None of the adults looked reluctant to get soup poured into their old engine coolant bottles. Instead, they were grateful. They were smiling! They came back for seconds, thirds, fourths. They came back to fill their containers to have some for later. A simple meal: tortillas, rice, and chicken stew. But a meal! A hot meal. And they came back until every drop of soup was gone and as much rice was scraped out of the giant coolers as could be.

Any other food the people here were able to eat, they also fished out of the trash. Expired food thrown out as unfit for consumption, someone else's half-finished leftovers-- these are the options. Well, that or outright starvation. And when they find it, they eat it, and they eat all of it. They aren't wasting time debating between chicken nuggets and spaghetti. They aren't staring at a full pantry, complaining of nothing to eat. They aren't storing things in refrigerators to keep them from rotting.

Photo credit: Veronica

This (on the left) is Carlos. He's one of the "lucky" ones, out of these poorest of the poor. He doesn't live right in the dump, but in a village next to it. He goes to school in the morning, and then comes back to the dump where he helps his family pick through the trash and sort it. In this picture he is guarding their piles from anyone who might try to take some of their "valuable" items. We stopped to talk to him, and again heard no complaints. He was hard at work, helping his family, and that's just how it was.

These families spend all day digging their food, shelter materials, dishes, 

and recyclables to sell out of stinking, filthy, burning, toxic trash.

Why?

Their lives depend on it.

Photo credit: Veronica

Photo credit: Kristina

It's so hard to wrap your mind around how poor you have to be to live in the dump. You don't see poor like that in the States. I still can't comprehend it, and I've seen it with my own eyes. I've scooped rice into dirty bowls and looked desperation in the face. 

My greatest prayer is that the humility I was struck with during my time in Guatemala will replace my sense of entitlement. Because I've never had to find out what I would do if my life depended on it. Which as it turns out, may be more of a curse than a blessing.

   

Hosanna

Yesterday was Sunday- church day. As I sat and listened (of course, seeing everything through "Guatemala goggles" now), I had a mini revelation. Here's what happened:

Pastor Pat was talking about what Jesus accomplished when he came, died, and rose again. I've heard the Gospel and the Easter sermons and I know that God came and died for our sins to be forgiven. But sins isn't a word most people use. That's Bible talk. Only a Christian knows what "sin" means. So to be honest, sometimes it's hard to really be emotionally invested and wholeheartedly grateful for the forgiveness of such a vague and undefined term. So what makes this sermon different from any other? It all boils down to one phrase the pastor used to describe what God did when he sent Jesus to Earth: Jesus was on a search and rescue mission.

This immediately brought my thoughts to Operation Baby Rescue. More specifically, Carlos (the founder of this ministry) talking so passionately about saving the babies. Carlos saw sick and starving children, and he knew it was God telling him to do something about it. So he built a rescue center. Some mothers come to the center on their own; they walk for hours to bring their children there. But not all of them. Some are still up in the mountains- either because they don't know there's hope, they don't think anything could save them anyway, they're too scared, or they're too stubborn. So what does Carlos do? He goes after them. He says sometimes you have to be Mother Teresa, but sometimes you have to be a lion. In order to save these precious lives, he has to risk his own. Sometimes he has to forcibly remove them from abusive situations. Sometimes the parents threaten to kill him. But it's important so he goes after them anyway.

I wish you could hear the passion and determination in Carlos' voice, because that's what really hits home with me. The earnestness, the urgency in his voice as he talks about the rescues...Imagining God saying those things and feeling that way about us.... It moved me to tears. I already believe in Christ's sacrifice, and I have already been born again as a believer. But I have always been a visual learner, have always been more impacted by a picture or a movie than just words. And this parallel between Carlos' passion for rescuing the sick and dying children of Guatemala and God's passion for rescuing the lost and broken souls of His children really struck a chord with me. What great and powerful love it takes for such a sacrifice! Carlos has risked his life for the Guatemalan babies. Jesus GAVE HIS UP. He went all the way. Just as the babies haven't donated money or built a school or done anything to "deserve" salvation, neither have we. But God saved us anyway.

Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!

Broken Heart for a Broken World

As a college junior, I am asked quite frequently what I plan to do with my degree. And the truth is, I don't have a clue. The people closest to me know that my heart beats for children. Just seeing a child from across the room brightens my day. A child's smile or laughter is the most incredible thing. My heart breaks for every child that doesn't have someone to hug them and love them and play with them and tell them how precious they are. I mourn for child victims of any kind in any place. What do I want to do after graduation? Reach as many children as I can with love. But how do you turn loving children into a career?

My first thought was school teacher. Clearly, they work with children all day. (That's how this blog came into existence- it was originally a companion to my fake class website, and a place to respond to assigned prompts). But after two years of hearing, "Where's your teacher voice?", "You need to be a little louder?" and "Try not to look so nervous", I decided that teaching wasn't in the cards for me. Teaching was never my calling or my passion. But if not that, then what? I finally settled on psychology, with a child and family emphasis. However, I don't think that is where my career will go. One of the most important things a therapist needs to be able to do is to be able to distance themselves from the problems and emotions of the client. You're not being any help to anyone if you're sobbing right along with them. And I can tell you, I would definitely be needing a Kleenex.

Then, Noel Yeatts from World Help came to Cedarville and talked about Operation Baby Rescue. Think about that name: Operation. Baby. Rescue. That was just...perfect. EXACTLY the sort of thing that would stand out to me, a lover of all things babies with a huge passion for the ones who are hurting. I sat silently through her presentation, with tears streaming down my face. When it was over I turned to Derek, and with one look at me he said, "We need to go talk to her." Thank goodness he went with me, because I could hardly speak without bursting into tears. She said I could sign up to be kept informed of what's going on with World Help and OBR, and that there might be a trip in the works for spring.

I couldn't get OBR off my heart and mind. No chapel message has ever stuck with me as long. I knew I had to get involved. So I started fundraising. My goal: to raise enough money to cover the cost of rescuing one child ($1200) by the end of the year. I ended up $150 short, but still, I was so encouraged by the support I got. Especially from my "broke" college friends. (If you'd like to help with that last $150, you can do so here: http://rescue.worldhelp.net/MelissaandDerek ) :)

When I found out that there was going to be a trip with OBR, I knew I had to go. God must be keeping OBR on my heart for a reason. It just so happened that it took place the week AFTER spring break, which meant missing a week of classes and two weeks of work. But I got permission from my professors, leave from work, and the approval of my parents.

And so it was that last week, I went to Guatemala. Now, I need my blog back. This time, I need it to sort out my thoughts, reactions, prayers, memories, plans, emotions, tears, smiles, and pain. My heart broke for the brokenness in Guatemala, but it also found hope. I remade this blog to reflect the change in its purpose. God has also made me over to reflect the change in my purpose, and as I work through all the implications and emotions and struggles, and as Guatemala weighs on my thoughts, I pray that writing here will help me to learn and grow, and to never forget.

Creative Solutions

Finally, an idea that has some merit! Technology by itself isn't a miracle cure. It won't make people smarter or fix problems with inequality. On the other hand, it's not an unavoidable curse either. It won't make people immoral or cause the breakdown of our society. It can't do anything without the people who use it.
People who are creatively using technology in new ways and combinations can pave the way for learning in all disciplines. Students are bored in school-- they're memorizing facts that they will promptly forget after the test, and these facts are being fed to them from decades-old chalkboards, or the tried-and-true PowerPoint presentations. Applying creativity to the available technology can change the way students are given information. Hopefully, students will start being taught to think for themselves.
Perhaps showing a news clip from a tumultuous time in history, and asking the students to react to the clip (instead of simply telling them what happened and when and moving on) would be a creative way of teaching history using technology. If asked to respond to the clip, the emotion they feel as they react will help them remember. The open-ended response will let them form their own opinions regarding the event, beyond accepting the spoon-fed dates and other facts. They could very possibly get a better grasp of what they're being taught, as well as learning other valuable skills such as critical thinking and evaluation.
In a kindergarten classroom, creative uses of technology still have their place. Using a SMARTboard as an interactive way to take attendance or make charts. Integrating the technology that is part of their world into the classroom in new and creative ways can engage the students and encourage learning in ways never thought of before.
Creativity applied to technology can expand learning in every discipline, not only in a school setting but in the business world and beyond.

Inequality: An Unfortunate Reality

This week I'm supposed to discuss whether or not I believe that teaching online classes could eliminate inequality in school districts. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what sort of inequality is meant, so I'm not certain how to go about responding. However, I believe that online classes gives many people the opportunity to receive an education that would otherwise be lost to them. Districts with more poor communities, with families that need everyone who can to work (often during school hours) can still get an education through online classes. They can still view the course material and listen to lectures after school hours when they're not working. This would help to reduce the inequality between school districts.
While this or other suggestions could potentially reduce inequality, I think it's foolish to believe that anything will completely eliminate it. People and the world we live in are broken and sinful, and no matter how hard we try (and we should try as hard as we can), there will always be inequality until Christ returns to a new heaven and a new earth.

Boys Love Expensive Toys

"Technology eliminates gender inequality in schools."
What an interesting proposition. I've never heard such a claim before. After thinking about it, I don't really see how it could. The technology itself can't really be biased. Links will do the same thing no matter who clicks on them. But there are still people in schools. There are still teachers and other students and faculty members who often exhibit a gender bias without even realizing it. Technology can be a great aid in the classroom and beyond, but it can't fix everything. It's the people who need to be honest with themselves and make an effort to call on boys AND girls to answer questions, to give both genders the opportunity to come up to the board, and to display student work equally.
One thing I have noticed concerning the relationship between technology and gender is that males are generally more into it. They get more excited about it, are generally better at using it, and generally dominate technological professions. Without a doubt there are plenty of females who do the same thing. However, I think males have got us beat on that one.
With that in mind, teachers should be mindful of how their students are interacting with the technology in the classroom. If they're having trouble with it, be patient and explain. Perhaps they should work in boy-girl teams, and make sure each person gets a significant amount of time using it. Maybe if girls are exposed to the technology more, with someone patiently explaining it to them, then males won't be so dominant in the realm of technology in  the future.

Saving Our Schools, One Macaroni Noodle at a Time

     In class this past Thursday, we watched a video of a young man and his proposed solution to a broken school system. His idea is to replace textbooks, copy machines, paper and pencils, etc., with iTouches. The apps already available as well as a few more geared specifically towards classrooms and teachers, he terms the iSchool. He suggests that the amount schools could save by cutting the things that could be replaced by the iSchool would save our schools. More money would be available for programs that are currently being cut and more teachers could be hired, reducing classroom size and allowing for more personal interaction. According to his math, schools are currently spending about $600/student, while an iTouch would only cost about $150/student.
     I found this a compelling argument, and his movement is gaining political support. From the technology angle, I think that incorporating things like an iTouch or iPad into everyday use by students is a great way to start making learning real for the students. Technology like that is something they're growing up on and will use in the world outside the school building. Being able to manipulate it is a useful skill.
     However, I'm always a little unconvinced when it comes to such integrated technology in younger classrooms like preschool and kindergarten. I may be a little nostalgic, but I believe kids that young should be creating things and gluing macaroni to themselves and learning to write with pencils and drawing with crayons and using blocks and other touchable, movable things to learn. I wouldn't want them doing everything on an iTouch or iPad. They need to learn to do things outside of the technology before learning how to use the technology.

Another Possible Career Plan

This week in class we had a guest speaker talk to us through an online audio connection about teaching in an online school. Her name was Beth Day, and she presented online teaching in a way I had never considered. She said her primary motivation for switching from a brick-and-mortar school to an online school was the ability to stay home with her children. By teaching online, her love for mommying her own children and her love for teaching others don't conflict. With my own heart for children, and a strong desire for some of my own one day, I took notice of this benefit of online teaching. It definitely peaked my interest-- the thought of staying home with my children but still having a career in education.
However, since I am primarily interested in teaching kindergarten, I wondered about how I could teach children so young without face-to-face interaction. Can they even navigate within the technology used for online schooling? How would arts and crafts projects be done on their own? And how could they experience the social interaction with their peers that is so crucial for development?
Concerning my technological concerns, Beth shared that young children are surprisingly adept at using computers and navigating the technology. The online school in which she teaches is K-12, and there hasn't been any major concerns or issues about the younger children using their software. Also, when asked if she would send her own children to an online or brick-and-mortar school, she had a thought-provoking response. She said she would send her older, healthy daughter to a brick-and-mortar school. However, her younger daughter was born with complications that would make it difficult for her to function normally in such a setting, and that if forced to choose in that moment, she would prefer an online education for her.
An online education as an alternative for children with special medical needs or disabilities was a possibility I had never considered. Online schools could provide a greater chance for interaction and one-on-one guidance by someone who might be more qualified than a parent, while allowing the child to stay at home where more attention can be given to their medical needs.
All of these thoughts have led me to consider teaching online as a greater possibility for me than I ever have before.

A New Call for Revolution

I was recently required to read a rather lengthy article by Sam Roberson entitled, "Defying the Default Culture and Creating a Culture of Possibility." It discusses how the school environment hasn't changed in nearly a hundred years, and the dire need for it do so as of yesterday. The global society outside of schools has changed drastically, but schools are still teaching the same things in the same ways, and students are suffering for it. Students aren't prepared with the skills they need to be effective in the world outside their school building. 

Technology has been the biggest change in our globalized, fast-paced society. Roberson asks us to consider "that the lives of students today are submersed in technology, and their use of technology configures their understanding of life and their experience of it. Consequently, new ways to make learning interactive, personalized, collaborative, creative, and innovative are needed." He advocates a change in classrooms from teacher-centered to student-centered, with students having an active role in learning about their world and ways to change and improve it, as opposed to passively receiving facts to be memorized for a test and then promptly forgotten. 

A proper use of technology in the classroom can improve student achievement in the world at large. Using new technologies as more than just new ways of fact-delivery, but as a way to "change the conceptualization of learning," will prepare students with the familiarization and tools that employers and others they will encounter in our society are looking for. Technology can make students' learning more than just relevant. It can make it real, engaging and useful to them once they graduate. 

Crayons and Paste for Me!

This week I learned about a lot of different tools and technologies out there to provide more enriching and captivating classroom experiences. Prezi is an alternative to PowerPoint that isn't so linear and organized. It seemed like a more fun and comprehensible way to show relationships between characters in a book or steps in a cycle, or the like. Google Lit Trips I found fascinating as one who loves to read. A Lit Trip maps out the path of characters from a book, like The Kite Runner or Make Way for Ducklings, and shows it to you on Google Earth.
Even with all this technology, I'm having a hard time figuring out how I might incorporate it into a kindergarten classroom. A lot of the interesting ideas presented in class didn't seem to apply. In my experience, younger children are bigger fans of hands-on type learning. Prezi presentations and Google Earth images aren't going to hold their attention.
The only idea I've had for incorporating technology into a classroom full of 6 year olds is for them to use some of the many and varied games available online. There are a lot of simple math, alphabet, simple spelling and color games available that would be a fun way to review or learn these concepts.

For me, I would still rather give them crayons, paste, markers and paint than an iPad with a drawing app. I would rather have them gather on the carpet to be read a story than give them all Leapfrog Learning systems. I would rather have them play math or alphabet games with each other, or at least with tangible objects than set them in front of computer screens. I would rather take them outside and show them colors than leave it up to posters or computers to show them.

Baby Jetpacks?

Welcome to the parents' bench for Ms. Melissa's classroom!
Visit this blog to see what your kids are up to during the week. I hope to post pictures and samples of student work every week, so that you can watch as your child and the class as a whole learn and progress throughout the year. Maybe you as a parent, and I as a teacher will learn something this year too. :)

In fact, I'm sure we will. I've already learned something this year. I was thinking about how technology will change education. There are some very obvious ways that technology has changed education already. Powerpoints and smartboards replace overhead projectors and chalkboards. Online and virtual classrooms are becoming more popular. New technologies like Baby Einstein, the Leapfrog learning system, and Baby Mozart are teaching children at younger and younger ages.

But how will changing technology affect kindergarten education? Usually when I think of technology, first I think of the internet. Then I think of things like robots. Jetpacks. Hovercars. But unless Fischer Price makes a jetpack model operational by 6 year olds, this isn't the kind of technology that will change kindergarten classrooms. I can't be sure what kind of technology lies in the future, but I am certain that it will change the way children learn, the way teachers teach, and the way parents interact with their children, just like it has in the past.