On Becoming a Child Whisperer

Sometime ago there was a pretty good Robert Redford movie called The Horse Whisperer, in which a gentle, soft spoken man gently woos a wild horse to obedience through gentleness instead of the typical horse breaking methods. The end result for each method, controlling the horse, is the same, but the process for each is fundamentally different. What I am attempting to achieve in the classroom is a monumental task. The twenty six little minds and bodies in my class would rather be playing under the mango tree than answering comprehension questions. How do I get them to respond to my directions? My goal is to woo them. Children need lots of physical affection; it means more to a child than anything. Touching them on the head, their shoulders, giving hugs and squeezes and telling them they are loved is paramount to gaining their trust and their attention. I believe that as a teacher, I stand in the place of Christ. In Loco Christus. I represent Him in my teaching, even when my teaching is bad...a scary thought. Christ's love compels me to pour out my affection for them in the way that He poured out His love for me. When their cup runneth over, I am able to instruct them and they are ready to listen. But I think that often teachers are tempted to think that they have earned the right to be heard because they have written lesson plans and are now standing in front of the class. But standing in the teacher's place doesn't move 26 hearts to listen. Only love can move that mountain. And that mountain is not the only barrier, the students' lack of focus is another. I find it fascinating that the first thing we are moved to do when confronted with a daydreaming student is to call attention the erring child. " Zak, can I have your attention, please?" But Susie is sitting right next to him, doing the very thing she was asked to do...and she is left unnoticed. Why do we give our attention, a commodity highly sought after in the classroom, to the student who is not doing the right thing? Instead of correcting Zak, we could praise Susie, "Susie, I really like the way you are sitting and ready to learn, thank you." This seems like a more effective use of words. When this method is employed, the next scene is, without fail, one of my favorites. Suddenly, 24 little bodies scamper about trying to do whatever Susie was doing. Instead of wasting my words in a frustrated attempt to correct a wandering mind (for the third time today), I have used them to bless a little one who is doing the right thing. In this way, I hope that I am gently wooing them to return my love with their focus and attention. Sure, I could gain their attention through threats, punishment, belittling and a clever reward system. But this is horse-breaking. And I want more than attention; I want affection. I want them to begin to love what I love and give their attention willingly. I believe that to stand In Loco Christus, I must be the child whisperer that He was.

Redemptive Threads and Themes

Tonight, Lydia asked if we could go around the table and share what our favorite subjects are (hmmm, do we have another budding teacher?). My two favorite subjects are Bible and Literature. What I love most is showing others how to see literature as the Greeks did. They viewed life very figuratively, always looking for the hidden meanings and underlying themes. Most people would be able to see that Aslan, in the literature classic, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, is a type of Christ; a hero who sacrifices himself for others. This is actually a literary term. But there are other ways that Christ is in literature. The basic requirement for a good story is redemption; a hero, a victim, a villain, a trial and triumph. The more threads of redemption, the more captivating the story. We all root for the good guy, the man who is betrayed, the man who is right when others are wrong. How many times have you read a story and thought it was wonderful because it evoked strong emotions? What caused that stirring? Evolution would have you loving the strong, hating the weak, feeling ambivalent to mercy, but that is not what we feel when we're reading a good story. Have you ever considered that those emotions are a way that God is speaking to you through literature? We long for a good love story, a strong hero or heroine, even a clever villain. We crave justice and we long for mercy. Ever wonder why? My students just finished reading Sarah, Plain and Tall. We ended our adventure by listing all of the redemptive threads. Our study in Bible class enabled them to see the threads of redemption in this American family tale. They determined that Sarah was both the Damsel in Distress and the Redeemer at the same time. Their adventures in viewing life through Greek lenses are just beginning and what exciting adventures they will have.

Counting our losses

This weekend was Defender's Day in Maryland. This is the best and least known fireworks show of the year, complete with a narrator of the re-enacted battle and a band. Defender's Day celebrates the American victory in the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Traditionally, it is the first weekend after the first week of school. The weather is getting cooler, the afternoon sunlight hints of Autumn and one swells with pride of knowing that such a monumental battle was fought in our back yard. This weekend was Defender's Day...and we weren't there. Very soon the leaves will begin to change colors on the Gingko trees in our neighbor's yard...and we won't see them. Our niece was married last week...and we weren't there. The week we came, a friend of ours died suddenly and a week later another friend was paralyzed in a bike accident...and we weren't there. When we left Maryland, we left everything we knew and loved to become a part of something unknown. We left security and safety. We were crazy. In our lunacy we believed that we should take part in a greater plan for our lives than security. We wanted to be a blessing to a community deeply committed to putting families back together, one generation at a time. We believed that if we made these sacrifices of safety, security, friendships, conveniences and Defender's Days, that God would turn them into investments. Pouring out these losses at the foot of the cross turns them into gains for a greater purpose. In our unstable state of mind, we are asking the Lord to allow us to stay here for as long as He will allow, to make an impact here and in Asia. May He add to our losses a hundred more Defender's Days.

"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:8

Home Sweet Home

Welcome to our Kaneohe (Kahn - ay - OH- ay) Kottage. We love our little home. It's small, easy to keep clean, in a friendly neighborhood and close to school and church.

That dish rack was given to me by my mom. It used to be an aquarium stand. My church kitchen friends might recognize the metal utility basket like the one in the church kitchen.

This is a breeze way for the kitchen door, which we keep open most of the time.

Hi. I'm Larry the Lizard. Welcome to the Lanai.

We eat dinner out here most nights, except on Sundays when we use the special Ardolino China. That doesn't come out here. We also hang our laundry out here.

Our living room. "The Pyramid" book case that Dave made from old wooden boxes from the family hardware store.

And on the other side of that wall, is the kitchen. Much bigger than my Linthicum one.

Thanks for my butcher block Darlene and for my fruit bowl Jen!

If you turn around, you're in the dining room!

Down the hall is...

Mom and Dad's Bedroom

Friends from church gave us this dresser and mirror. It matches our book case.

And Mom and Dad's Bathroom. We have closets in our bathroom

so we can keep our clothes in there.

Quite possibly the only Fall leaves they'll see for a long time. This painting was done by my dear friend Katy, who used a photo of Dave's as the starting point.

The keikei's (kids') room.

The curtains on the bed allow for peace and quiet.

Our quiet room. A place for movies, playing, yoga and Laura to hide away.

SO, how do you like it?

Celebrating Statehood Day

Hawaii has been a full-fledged U.S. state for 50 years. I asked one of the parents in my class if that was a day of mourning, since it was forced upon the Hawaiian nation by the U.S. and she said, "No, we just celebrate everything here." Interestingly, the Hawaiian flag looks like a combination of the U.S. and British flag. Both nations have occupied Hawaii and left their mark. How sad, though, that there is nothing Hawiian about the state flag. We think it should have turtles on it and be the color of the ocean...like Lydia's shirt in this picture. The three munchkins belong to our friends, the Woods.

What's For Lunch?

Everyday is classroom lunch day at Trinity. My students enjoy a Jim Weiss story on CD while munching on their lunches. It amused me to look around the room yesterday and compare the typical mainland lunch to a typical Hawaiian lunch.

Mainland Mainstay- Peanut butter and jelly

Hawaiian equivalent - Mana Pua

Mainland Mainstay - Chicken Noodle Soup

Hawaiian equivalent - Miso Soup

Mainland Mainstay - Turkey Sandwich

Hawaiian equivalent - Sushi Handroll

Mainland Snackfare - Potato Chips

Hawaiian equivalent - Norikake (dried seaweed)

I can't tell you how cute my little students are as they eat these Asian treats. The staff are equally Asian in their food selections. It's not at all unusual to see a staff member eating their lunch with chopsticks in the staff lounge.

Weather Alert

I hadn't realized that we'd still get the excitement of snow days here...only in hurricane form. Everyone was in a flurry on Sunday because there was a hurricane coming. We were encouraged to get ready with water, canned goods and a flashlight in case the electricity was shut off. After all, they said, when Obama was here, there was such a surge that the electricity shut off. They were really fast getting it back on then...it only took 12-15 hours. So, off we went to buy a gas grill with a burner. Several hundred dollars later, we were ready for the weather. The possibility of school closing on the first day was strong and we had contingency plans in place. Very exciting stuff, only not white and fluffy, just lots and lots of warm rain and humidity. Our kids were quite excited about the storm. They had heard the waves were at their peak right before a hurricane so Laura made dinner, allowing us to have a picnic at the beach. The surf WAS great. I've never seen so many surfers. And each one we passed on our way to the beach as they were leaving had a huge grin on their face as if to say "you are gonna have a blast, man!" We did. Only problem was she forgot to pack plates and utensils. So we showed up at the door of our co-workers who live by the beach and bummed plates and utensils from them. Guess we're beach bums now.