teaching in new jersey

So, I’m pretty behind on the pre-institute work. I think planning a wedding, getting married, going on my honeymoon, and preparing to move might have something to do with that. My husband has been gracious enough to take over most of the planning and packing for our move - with the exception of everything I need to bring to institute so I’ve got most of the next several days to do nothing but read for TFA. I don’t like putting it all off to the last minute but with no other choice the silver lining is that at least it will all be very fresh in my mind come next Sunday! I’m getting excited!

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Now that I’ve actually had some time to reflect, I better post a few pictures from the big day!  The week before was absolutely insane since I’d been traveling up until then and I ended up doing a lot of things at the last minute.  PTL for friends who stayed up late and did EVERYTHING for me that I needed!  It truly was amazing and we had an amazing day!  I’ll post the rest of the day in pictures:

Many thanks to wonderful friends for these great pics!  Sorry about the size and quality of some but I have a lot of  pre-institute work to finish up by next week so I don’t really have time to fix all of it!  It was a perfect day!

So, I believe I have some updating of this little blog of ours to do and you should be seeing several posts in the next few days regarding everything TFA and life!

In May I spent 5 days out in Newark for what is affectionately known as May Days among the Newark Corps.  It was so great to be there and finally put faces to all of the people that I’d been communicating over the past several months.  One benefit of being a first deadline corps member is that you have a lot of time to get to know people and get as much information about Newark as you can!  The daily session consisted mostly of learning about the achievement gap in Newark and about what we, as teachers, can do about it on a daily basis.  There was also all manners of paperwork, testing, and figerprinting to get done in order to be a teacher in New Jersey as well as plenty of time to just hang out and get to know one another before the intensity of institute hits us all like a ton of bricks.

After my classroom observations (an entire post in and of itself) ended on Friday afternoon I met up with my then fiance, now husband, and a current TFAer and her husband for dinner and a little league baseball game as well as some house hunting.  We spent all day Saturday house hunting and visiting with my mentor for the fall and WE FOUND A HOUSE!  We were so excited when we walked in and looked around, realizing that it was exactly what we had been praying for and at the way that God continues to provide for every one of our needs, even the little “requirements” I had for a place to live!  Sunday was spent relaxing, eating local neighborhood foods, hanging out with the mafia, and flying home relishing in how excited we were to begin our life in Newark!

“In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, and Saul.  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” Acts 13v1-3

Throughout the process of pre-marital counseling, planning a wedding, and preparing to move across the country to start a new life, it is easy to lose focus.  It is easy to forget the perspective with which we are called to walk this Earth and to forget the purposes behind the mundane and the stressful times.  It is easy to get wrapped up in needing a place to live, needing a car to drive, needing clothes to wear, needing to meet people, that we forget who the provider of all of those needs is in the first place.  This process of learning wisdom and discernment, of seeking counsel and truly discovering the life to which God has called us is not an easy process but as we know, it is quite the adventure.  Our life may not look like the cultural norm and everyone may not agree with what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, but we remind ourselves often that it is God who has called us to live this sacrificial life, it is Him who has placed His blessing on our lives and given us the greatest opportunity of a lifetime - to give up everything for Him. 

When we need encouragement we look to the words of Luke in the book of Acts and remember that we are not the first ones to leave everything behind or to face trials of many kinds, but that we have the love and support of those who sent us.  The joy and blessings that come in following God’s purposes and callings on our life far outweigh any comfort zone or box we might find ourselves trying to fit within.

I decided that in order to keep friends and family (and whoever else I suppose) involved in what we’re really going through in these two years with TFA I’d post my writing assignments and probably down the line some lesson plans and activities that I do in the classroom.  It’s difficult stay in touch and keep everyone posted in the day-to-day, but these thoughts will help you all better understand the things that are going on in my mind in daily life.  I feel honored to be apart of all of this and I am really enjoying putting ideas on paper; it’s focusing me and inspiring me to work harder than ever for my students this fall. 

Enjoy my answers to a few questions from Exercise 1 of my pre-institute work!  As I was writing I was realizing that so much of it is repetitive ideas that must simply be ingrained in me in order to understand it.  It’s like a math concept or a chemical equation, it must be repeated over and over again until the concept is mastered.  There is a lot of idealism in my voice still.  I’m optimistic about how things will be in my classroom and I’m inspired by the stories that I’ve read.  I realize that reality will likely be very different and that any person would likely choose the best experiences possible to tell their story, but still I’m optimistic.  I believe in hard work and perseverance, and I believe in my future students’ ability to succeed.

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It’s been a while since Rebbeca or I have put anything up. No me gusta.

We came back from Norway in a tizzy of trying to plan a wedding. It was almost like our Norwegian/Dutch adventure was the calm before the storm. I don’t understand how divorce rates in America can be so high, because I am never planning a wedding again.

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We’re still traveling, but while enjoying some major down time I (Rebbeca) am also working on Exercises 1 and 2 for my pre-institute work. Apparently all vacations are working vacations and it has made for some very thought provoking reading amidst the bridal magazines!

For anyone interested, here are a few notes I’ve had so far from Exercise 1:
From Teaching as Leadership: Introduction

This short introduction has been rather thought provoking. I have been reading TFA blogs for some time now and it seems like a lot of first year teachers are incredibly bogged down in the challenges that they are facing, rightfully so. I was encouraged by the idealogical way that the introduction was written but paralleled with the everyday lives of the teachers with which I have communicated and whose writings I have read, and more true reality has spoken to me. It takes much perseverance and a more positive attitude than I have ever had before! I rather liked the discussion of “demystifying” teaching practices; it really is nothing magical and the hands on practical examples are life giving to me. I’m looking forward to the rest of the text and to putting some of this into practice!

Part 2 of Exercise 1 to come next…in the meantime here are a few more pictures from our trip:

**Sorry everyone I’ve been working for days and I can’t get the pictures to upload.  I’ll put a few up when we get back stateside.  For now, I better start packing…**

We are not a pair of people who want “to travel someday”. We are a pair of people who save our pennies in other areas of life in order to take advantage of the adventures to be had.

This photo was taken in Trondheim, Norway outside the royal vacation palace.

**Updated to add**

This is Rebbeca…Things in Norway have definitely been exciting!   It is VERY windy and cold here!  We’ve been spending a lot of time trying to walk upright with the wind almost blowing us over.  This morning (Thurs) we did a little shopping; I needed something to remember Norway!  Europe is fantastic and we’re loving our vacation before the craziness of school life begins!  We’ll post more pictures later!

Since we’re getting married and going on this crazy adventure together, this is now our blog. I kinda wish they were called something besides blogs because I feel like that name implies I’m just puking all my thoughts right out onto into the world…which I guess is kinda what’s happening here so…I like the name blog.

These photos were taken in a photobooth that was rented for my cousins wedding. The idea was to take the pictures and put them into a scrap book and write in the scrap book to give some sort of sentimentality for the bride and groom. There really was a lot of sentimentality in it (well, there is now anyway) but we kept the pictures.

You see a creepy blurry face on the left and someone who looks like they’re trying to jump into a picture on the right. What you’re supposed to see is Rebbeca and I making our faces look big and puffy right up in the camera. She got so close that the flash didn’t light up her face. That’s actually how close I wanted us both, but I couldn’t get that close and it didn’t work anyway.