The L.A. Family ...

Mariam and Tamara: two of my favorite middle school girls (of four) at the Liberty Academy.



Kai and Harry: two of my four math students (combined 4th and 5th grades). Because of the different grade levels, the students are working through their books at their own pace. I love the more relaxed teaching atmosphere - more like tutoring than whole classroom instruction. Makes for a nice break in the middle of my day (after our 10 o'clock snack break), as I am quite involved in the instruction in my ESL classroom the rest of the day.


And here are my kiddos: Jephte, Mario, Valens, and Woodeline. All present except Scheydline. I'm not quite sure why she's been absent the past week, as Illioney hasn't been able to get in touch with her uncle. But apparently, he was having trouble coming up with the money to pay for her tuition. I'm praying she'll be able to join us again soon. We miss her!


When our photopier was out of commission for over a week, I had to think outside the box for how to go about teaching English to my students. I had recently received an email from Deni May, the cooperating teacher I worked with during my student teaching in Honduras, way back in 2002. She had suggested that I take time to make books with my students sometime in the the weeks before Christmas, so this was the perfect opportunity to try it out! I printed out a title page and template for each of their 'chapters' about their life and my students set out to write autobiographies =) They LOVED it. We were able to put into practice a lot of the common English phrases and vocabulary that they've learned so far about themselves, their families, their interests, their dreams for the future... And then we enjoyed sharing our books with their book buddies in Miss Lindsay's 3rd grade class. I was very proud of my students and the fine work they did. And I was very thankful that God used Deni May to give me some much needed creativity in the midst of our paperless week of teaching.



Shakinah, giving direction to our students during our second practice for the Christmas Rap that we are preparing for December 19th. This is a production that her father wrote years ago, when Shak was in middle school! But it is a perfect fit for our students and I love watching them practice ... I'm trying to help coordinate the 2nd graders for their part in acting out the Nativity, as well as choreographing some songs for the kids to sing after the Christmas Rap is over (it's a fairly short drama...). Those are two things on my "To Do" list this weekend, along with decorating my classroom for Christmas and writing my next newsletter. I can't believe that it's the end of my 4th month here already! In exactly three weeks, I'll be in the air, flying home to be with my loved ones in Lancaster County ... =)