i think she really means it…

My Totally Awesome, Super Cool Husband

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 | Sara the Teacher, Sara the Wife | No Comments

It’s the time off year most teachers dread…4 more weeks of school! I mean, we’ve already taken the state tests, what more could we possibly teach? Lots! In fact, there aren’t enough days in the school year to get it all in. However, this is also the time of year most students have checked-out. Their brains are full and all they can focus on is summer vacation. Especially 8th graders!

This creates a particularly interesting challenge for me. I teach the 8th graders who hate math (and usually school in general). If I thought the first 10 months of school weren’t challenging enough, June is definitely going to push me to my limit! I’m running low on patience, and my creativity is in short supply. Yet, I still have 4 more weeks of 90-minute periods with rambunctious teenagers. What ever am I going to do?!

Games. That’s what I’ll do! I’ll find a way to trick them into learning for at least 3 more weeks (it really is hopeless to do anything productive the last week of school!). This week, we’re doing a bit of geometry review. If only there was a bingo game that practiced geometric terms and definitions. Well, there isn’t one appropriate for teenagers (I teach remedial kids, but they’re still 13, they’re not going to play “baby” games). Alas, Lakeshore had nothing worth buying. Like most materials I store in my classroom, I’ll have to make it myself.

Have you ever made a Bingo game before? It really isn’t difficult…unless of course you want to make 20 unique game boards. I mean, you can only cut and paste so many times before Microsoft Word freaks out and asks for the rest of the afternoon off.

Enter my Totally Awesome, Super Cool Husband…

He created a program, a computer program, that generates 20 unique game boards…and he did it in one evening! WOW!! No more cut and paste for me! No need to create 20 different tables and cut-and-paste each square. Now I have a computer program to do all the work and an exciting Geometry Bingo game for my students to play tomorrow.

The last three weeks are definitely looking up…just think of the possibilities! Algebra Bingo, Decimal Bingo, Fraction Bingo, Percent Bingo, Division Bingo, Place Value Bingo…

Thanks, Nate…you’re my hero!

What’s New?

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 | Random Thoughts | No Comments

Well, it’s been a lot more than a few days, but I’m finally getting around to let you all in on the happenings in the Jones’ household… (sorry there are no pictures yet)

Nate and I are in the midst of training for the San Diego Rock N’ Roll Marathon. We run three mornings a week before work (that means our alarm goes off at 4:15, and we’re usually out running a little after 5:00). It’s quite something to cram a 7 mile run in before going to work, but it works for us. This past weekend we ran 21 miles. Whew! Since I’ve not ever had a baby, I wonder if it’s anything like training for a marathon. I mean, even though I’ve done it 4 times before, I’ve forgotten the pain, and it isn’t any easier this time around!

Speaking of babies, Nate’s sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on March 17th. Little Sophie is perfect in every little way, and we are thrilled to have a new niece to love! Sydney is turning out to be such a well-mannered, helpful young girl. I can’t believe she’ll be starting kindergarten this September! She is one smart cookie! I *love* being her “Auntie Sara.”

Speaking of school, my students just finished taking their California Standards Tests. Our regular school schedule was altered, and I found fun and interesting activities to keep my students busy during the minutes they were in my classroom. There was no need to teach them any lessons at that point as their brains were usually mush after the 2 hours of testing each morning. I made 100 little fabric bags on my new sewing machine and filled them with “test prep goodies.” It was just my way of encouraging them to do their best on their tests this year. Many of my kids have grown a great deal in their math understanding, and I know they can be successful.

In March we celebrated “Pi Day” (March 14–you know–3/14–3.14–yeah, it’s math nerd day). The students did all kinds of fun activities with the digits of pi including a pi chain (with each number represented by color), a pi bar graph, creating a picture out of the symbol for pi, creating a pi-mobile, and learning a little history about pi. We also enjoyed a few oatmeal creme “pi”s. It was a fun activity and definitely a celebration I plan to repeat in the years to come!

Nate and I have taken several more walks through L.A. using our “Walk L.A.” book. We’ve walked the canals of Venice (a mere 5 miles from our front door!) and explored some incredibly steep stairs in northwestern Santa Monica. We were blown away by the number of “local” running up and down the side of the mountain!

A few weeks ago, after reading an amazing story from a missionary’s blog in Kenya, God placed a mini project on my heart. A few months ago, this missionary was called in the middle of the night to rush to the clinic where a young woman was having a miscarriage. She was loosing a great deal of blood and the workers at the clinic used many towels to stop the bleeding. When they were finally able to keep her from loosing any more blood, they had her re-dress in the bloody clothes she arrived in for a drive to the hospital. As tears filled my eyes and my heart broke, I couldn’t help but think of the hemorrhaging woman in the gospel of Luke. My heart was stirred to compassion, and I just knew there was something I needed to do to provide dignity and modesty to a sister half a world away. With the help of some friends from our 2006 Kenya Missions team, we purchased 36 hospital gowns and several packs of women’s underwear to send to the ELI clinic in Kipkaren. I am so grateful for the work of our missionary friends in that small Kenyan village, and hope that even from so far away, we can still make a difference in the lives of the people they touch daily.

Finally, Nate and I made a new purchase recently. Our little 1997 Jetta was a faithful friend these past 5 years, but it was finally time to put her to rest. About a week and a half ago, Nate and I drove up to San Jose on a Thursday afternoon after work. We got up early Friday morning to run our “long” run for the week (19 miles) and then headed over to Capitol Honda, where Jeremy, Nate’s brother, works. We test-drove a fun 2005 Audi A4 and two different 2008 Honda Accords. A mere 5 hours later we decided to purchase a brand new car. Our black Accord is perfect and we feel like grown-ups with automatic doors and windows, cruise control, 6-disc CD change, and air-conditioning!

For those of you who have stayed with me through this extremely long update, thank you! My heart overflows with joy as I relive the many blessings God has given to use over these past couple of months.