Phase 10 on the Train

When it comes to train rides in China, I always get into this inward thought process of "Do I want to start talking? We still have 4 hours left to go, and I'm trapped here in this seat......man, she's talking to me...should I pretend like I don't understand? Oh no! I said something! Now I have to keep talking! There goes my plan to just zone out to my favorite novels or tv shows on the laptop." Embarrassing or not, this is the cold hard truth when you sit next to Chinese people on trains.

To our surprise, our latest train experience was nothing short of exhilarating as we taught the lady sitting next to us the game Phase 10, while she gave us a LONG time to practice (and maximize) our Chinese language abilities. The game is a very exhaustive game as it is, so it felt like an eternity when she meticulously watched each round that we went through. Trying to describe the difference between a set and a run, and then what to do when you don't get your phase, was harder than we thought! Many times Dave and I would just look at each other, shrug our shoulders, then look back at her as all three of us burst out laughing. She decided to join in the fun on the second round....interesting the crowd of people around us to come and watch. What a fun and memorable train ride!

Maybe my perspective has changed a bit with how much I engage in conversation when traveling. Now I at least know to always have some American games handy!

Granted what we don't deserve

It has been hitting me lately...the whole concept of living in the fullness of His grace. We are so undeserving, so undesirable, so pathetic even....yet we are given the opportunity to live within the realm of His glorious riches and abounding love. How in the world did we ever deserve this? We don't! That's just it....that's the beauty of it all. At the same time, I feel as though I am reminded...daily...of where I stand in comparison to his holiness. Boy, is that the sure smackdown that will make you fall flat on your face. "Oh, yeah.....this is what I REALLY am...." I think to myself as I sit there waiting for Him to once again clothe my vulnerable spirit with his grace.

About a month ago, all of the ISC schools in China got together for a teacher's conference in Beijing. It was a wonderful weekend of catching up with old friends, gaining new insights for our classrooms, and getting away for a bit to shop and explore the city. Aside from the conference itself, I want to focus on the reason why I am even writing this post. That weekend, both Dave and I were given a very tangible reminder of how He grants us what we don't deserve when it came to our hotel room. Take a look for yourself. We walk in the room and our jaws dropped. Our first words were "We shouldn't have this! This definitely can't be for us! What did we do to deserve two floors in our hotel room?!?"

And while we still can't figure out why we were given such a glorious room (and other couples who had been in China longer had a normal standard room) we were ever so grateful and reminded of His blessings!

What you see below is the room that we moved to the day after the conference was over (we stayed in Beijing one extra day). It was a hostel...something that we could afford....something we "deserved". There is more to the story at why we got such a low grade room with a single bed, but that's not the point. While we were granted an overabundance of blessing the three previous days with a two floor loft room, we were now humbly placed back into reality. I am so glad that He does that for us. Kindly reminding us that what we physically can provide for on our own does not even compare to his abounding riches in glory! What a truth to cling to.... to wake up every morning with new abilities, strength, and blessings that had nothing to do with me.

Sometimes you just need to buy two...

One fun thing about being married is finding the pet peeves and/or quirks in your spouse. At least once a week...never fails, I hear something about how he can't believe I squeeze my toothpaste tube like a tightened fist instead of smoothing it all the way to the top. Never in my life did I think that would be one of the differences in husband and wife. I always thought it would be something like leaving the clothes on the floor or not washing the dishes. Nope....ours is the toothpaste. That is why you see we have two separate tubes. Sometimes life is better that way :)

Can you guess which one is mine?

Making Jiaozi with our Landlords

What a blessing it is to not only have landlords that provide a home for us, but also: wash our screens every winter, call to check up on us, invite us out for 5 course meals, teach us how to make jiaozi in their own home, and call us their children ("nimen shi womende haizi"). Listening to stories of how other people have a lot of stress and stubborn ignorance from their landlords, really helped us to feel grateful for the blessing we have. When the four of us get together, there is an atmosphere of mixed laughter and stumbling through words to communicate further than the smiles and hand motions. What makes it so comical is the fact that they know about as much English as we know Chinese...so the converstion is present....just.....a.....hmmm......uuhhhh.......little........what's that word again......staggered. Below you will see pictures of the most recent time with them. They invited us over to their house to teach us how to make jiaozi (Chinese dumplings). This is a very common meal here in China, and you can have it all sorts of ways with a variety of stuffing inside. This allows much creativity for the Americans...Dave and I were brainstorming after we left..."What if we could stuff the jiaozi with pizza?" "What about turning them into little ravioli's?" The possibilities are endless!

The four of us ;)

She was insistent that I wear the apron. I felt silly wearing it, but privileged to be ALL aboard with her jiaozi lesson!

First rolling out the dough....

Getting ready to start rolling them flat with the rolling pin. Dave did such a great job documenting this night! Thanks hon!

Rollin, rollin, rollin. All I kept hearing was "hen hao!!" (very good!)

Setting them to steam.

Enjoying the final product. We felt so proud of our jiaozi...and we even had enough to take home. Wait, I take that back. We had more to take home then we had on our plate!

Dave and I did actually go out and buy the fixings to make our own jiaozi at home. Looking forward to what we will create!

Learning with the walls

One thing that I have learned the most in teaching for the 2nd year, is how effective it is to use the classroom walls to "anchor" the students learning. How I wish I used more of this concept last year! I guess that it is both a blessing and a curse to continue learning - you get to grow in knowledge, but then you regret not knowing it earlier. Reading one of my favorite websites, http://www.jmeacham.com/, I grew inspired to begin my year with empty walls. While this is usually a foreign concept for most teachers, it allows for the students to build the walls with their own learning! I sincerely feel that each of my students could walk around and describe the purpose and use for most of the material on the walls. They almost feel like they put it up there, as if they are personally close and connected to the text. What a neat perspective to see from a teacher's point of view!

Getting the room ready before the first day of school. If you remember from last year, I was blessed to move to a bigger room :).

This wall has grown so much since the beginning of the year! If you notice with the tree as the landmark in the other picture, the walls were empty before. The rack has our hanging poems and shared readings that we have created together. The roads and houses that you see is our "Word family neighborhood". Every week we learn a few word families (-ake, -at) and will create the house together. When we put it in the neighborhood, we all chant together "We are family!" The tree is our "Poe-tree" with tongue twisters that we created the first couple weeks of school. Near the ceiling are the phonograms that we learn each week. We use the phonics dance to help us get movin' as we learn how to read! The students LOVE to watch this wall grow.

My new C.A.F.E. wall this year. Each column stands for categories to focus on to create a more balanced reading program (C - comprehension, A - accuracy, F - fluency, and E - expanded vocabulary). I use this during my reading workshop to introduce new strategies to use independently.

A more close up picture of some of the posted strategies. I am so taken back at how much my students actually understand this chart and the strategies.

One of our Math word walls that will get changed out with new vocabulary. Using a laser pointer, we frequently reference it during Math lessons. Especially for all of those English language learners, having the vocabulary posted has been so helpful!

Our "Interesting Word Wall" where we put all of the big vocabulary that we find in our Read-Alouds. I try to introduce big words like "strategy, stamina, and even schema" into my lessons. After we talk about it, one student will illustrate the word and then we put it on the word wall! Since we reference it enough, the students actually use these words in their own speech! So cute!

Some examples:

1. "Mrs. Evans, I think I am building stamina for school. The day is going by much faster!"
2. "Schema's what you know! What you see, what you hear, what you smell, what you taste, and what you feel!"
3. "I can use my schema as a strategy to help me read the words. I just have to remember the words that are already stored in my head."
   

(I am not even stretching or polishing these quotes from my students....they are the raw material straight from their adorable mouths)

When we were making predictions before and after our reading, I copied a few books that I had not read to the class yet. As they walked around taking note of the book's clues (title and front cover picture), they wrote down there predictions. Now they have so much fun looking for those books in our library to see if they are actually true!

When I was teaching them how to choose a "Just-right" book, I taught it to them with the demonstration of a biker riding either up or down a hill. I took this idea out from a book, but the illustrations are perfect to get the point across for a book that is "too hard", "too easy", and then "just-right". They still reference it now...even weeks after it has been taught!

As you can see, I was actually able to upload pictures this time! The trick you might wonder? Two things: Coffee shop's internet + compressed pictures. A few extra steps, but I can finally connect with the real world again!

Kindred Spirits

As I sit here with happy tears in my eyes, I can't help but think of my dearest of kindred spirits......my sisters. There is a connection there that feels a deep longing to be physically close to them, to hug them, laugh with them, and cuddle......oh goodness....I need to stop before I get emotional. I don't love the place that I put myself in, now only "hearing" about the special news instead of getting to actually "be there" when awesome stuff happens. But this blog post is not supposed to be about how much I miss them, but is to share a story of how someone allowed me to taste a bit of this joy once again.

A little over a week ago, I was contacted through Skype by Kelsey's boyfriend Tim. He asked me if I wanted to help be a part of this scavenger hunt that he had planned for Kelsey that upcoming Friday. All excited, I got prepared and ready to receive my phone call from Kelsey that Saturday morning (my time) at around 5:00am to give her the special clue for her next destination. The following things were left for even ME to discover when I received her call that morning:

1. My sister Cassie was in the car with her! What an overwhelming/emotional wave of excitement bursting through the phone lines.
2. She had already been on the scavenger hunt since 12:00 that afternoon - traveling all over Lynchburg.
3. I was able to be her last clue which led her to the place where they had their first kiss.....AND.........
4. To all of our surprises, Tim was waiting there on one knee asking her hand in marriage!

I don't think that I have ever felt so overjoyed, honored, and emotional. Just to hear my sister Cassie on the other line going "Wait, it's Tim....wait, he's on one knee.....wait, she said yes!!!" All I heard was screaming, and all they heard from me was sobbing. What a beautiful moment. Simply beautiful.

Tim on the other hand, got HUGE brownie points. I am so impressed that he knew my sister enough to have each of her siblings (even the ones in China) included in his proposal. Thank you again Tim for allowing me to be a part of your special day! Many blessings to you both. So...I guess I don't always have to just get the phone call a day later when things happen....I get to be on the phone when they are happening! What a privilege.

Pictureless blog

So I have finally realized that if I want to do this blog thing.....it is going to have to be pictureless for a bit. While we have the vpn, our uploading speed is RIDICULOUSLY slow (a.k.a. one picture per hour)...."way too agonizing for facebook" I thought to myself, "but maybe okay for the blog." Yet the waiting around has caused some unsightly emotions come out from sitting still for 3 hours for just one blog post! All in all.....it will have to be pictureless until the uploading decides to be kind to me.