"My name is Kari. I am here to help you learn English."

I know that God gives us desires based on the talents He blesses us with to use.  I have learned that He can use those talents in many different ways...often beyond the scope of our ability to see or think.  Ted has had the desire to offer ESL classes to the workers in the plant.  The initial research into a local college proved to be very disappointing.  They were not very user-friendly!  The plant runs 24/7 and 365 days a year.  There are two shifts each day, 8 am to 8 pm and 8 pm to 8 am.  There are four groups of people who work those shifts on rotating days.  Ted asked me one evening if I would be willing to help him provide a class.  "Of course!  I can do that!"  So I took the online ESL class and received my certification...which I added to my 25+ years of teaching experience.  I worked with the HR gals, and we came up with a plan to work with the shifts and to make it easy for the workers.  I set my alarm for 5:15am May 21 and followed Ted to the plant.

I was prepared with lessons...way more material than I will need or be able to use at this stage.

We meet in the conference room at 7:00 am.  I will teach every Tuesday and Thursday.  One day, I will have another class at 8:15 am.  We will go for 45 minutes.

We will run this class for 12 weeks and then assess.  The goal is to help these workers increase their English skills so they can be promoted to the next level.  Part of my plan to make them feel comfortable and not nervous....COOKIES!  Their faces lit up!

Who doesn't love a good homemade cookie?

The lessons are being custom-made for what they can do and what they need to be able to do.  We are using daily conversation, as well as, terms they use on the floor of the plant.

The B shift group is asking great questions as they try to understand and make connections...so the lesson included way more than my plan.  I am trying not to overwhelm them.  It is fun to see their enthusiasm and willingness to try!  English is hard!

                                        

My goal is to make it fun!  God has given me another teaching job...this time...with adults!

Ready...Set...wait a little longer!

Staff lunch today at Longhorn was very good!  It is always fun to gather and talk about life and school ideas.  We had a great lead waitress and team take care of us...so we give the new to our town restaurant a thumbs up!

I am officially ready for the start of the new school year.  I did it all by myself...after Alisa helped organize my life earlier this summer and after she went shopping with me and gave me some suggestions!  So...I had some help along the way!  Thank you, Sisa!

                                                Here is a tour for you...especially for my Mom!

I welcomed 12 families to my K5 class last night!  I do still have spots for three more Kinder friends,  we had lost a couple due to other choices.  Our other K5 room has 8.  The class sizes are small due to the restraints of classroom size.  We are busting at the seams in our Pre-school program and had to get creative again this year to try to accommodate 120 little ones in K2-K5.

After our A.L.I.C.E. training the other day, I moved desks into a different formation for more floor space and farther from door line.  Always thinking about what works better for certain scenarios...that is what teachers do normally...now with a heightened awareness.  I know God is at work and He will care for His own...so we are not crippled by fear of "what if or what could"...but more prepared because...we have to be now.

I have 6 students this year that have siblings that have been with me!  How fun to see these families again and see how big my former students are now!  I'm feeling old...one of my first K5 class students stood next to me last night...towering above me!  I love that they find it humorous...and will admit that I was once their teacher.  One friend (not his parents this time...but he said it to me unprompted) from two years ago told me, "You prepared me well for first grade!"  Awww...that meant a lot knowing that he had changed schools too.

I had contemplated taking down some wall color to "tone it down" visually...but decided to leave everything as is...I teach off my walls!  And no color is boring...good grief...children today are in front of animation and stimulating technology all the time...over-stimulated?!  Turn the junk off!

My goal is to stimulate brains to be creative and think and play and problem-solve without having to be entertained by pushing buttons!

It was a busy night at school welcoming new and returning families!  Our staff worked hard to make everything ready and our facilities looked nice!  All the extra touches showed well.

We start school on Tuesday, September 6!  I know at least 11 little Kinders that are super excited...1 is so very shy that it could be a hard first day at a new place.  I am praying for her and her parents now.
 

Delighting in my little friends...

who make life fun from 8:00-12:00 every day!  My sis gave me this shirt for Christmas and I love it!  I do love teaching...always have...and probably always will.  It is one of the most tiring jobs I have had, but the most rewarding...second to being a wife and mother.  My little friends were so excited to get back to school and routines and learning.  I gave them extra time to play and explore together on Monday because they were happily chatting about break and reconnecting with one another.  It was so cute to listen to them!  And they have taken it very serious to do their job to keep me company "while my daddy is away at work...so I won't miss him so much!"

I look around my room sometimes and think I should pack stuff up and make it not so cluttered looking...like the rainbow threw up...but then I walk in every morning and it just makes me happy.  The kinders come in and ask to play with the various buckets and bins.  I rotate things each day...

and then they spot something different and that makes me smile.  So...for now...I will keep things as they are.

So cute to see how diligent they were to unpack and put things away!  They didn't forget anything!

Well...they teased me that they forgot their letters...till I pulled out the new books and we practiced reading  groups and seat work plans!  All bets were off!  They are so excited to read...they started doing it on their own at their desks...so we read with a buddy for 5 minutes!  "This is the best thing ever!"  Oh babies...you know it...you can go so many places if you just grab a book!

The happy hum filled our room!

Encouraging one another!

Giggling!  Helping!  Constant movement!  

And this is what day three looks like...at least on the teacher!  A large coffee almost gone and tired eyes...an afternoon nap is on the list.

 

Teddy's graduation from WCS