A Weight Has Been Lifted!

Well, as of 7:45 this evening the Christmas Program is done for another year! Boy am I glad!!! Everyone said that it went well and I think it did too....other than my class starting to sing "Joy To the World" before the piano player was done the introduction, I'm still not sure what happened there...Anyways, I was very proud of all of them! And at times like tonight, I love my class! They were cheering for me when we (myself and the other teacher who ran the show) were given flowers and when I came into the classroom afterwards they started clapping for me! Why can't they be that sweet all the time! Anyways, I'm so glad it's finished! One more week and then Christmas Break, during which I hope to fit in at least some relaxing!

The Community That Binds Us

Recently, at my high school placement, I've realized just how deep the sense of community (and prayer) is to a Christian school. And just how important it truly is.
Everyday, the teachers take 15 minutes at the end of the day to share something exciting, or emotional, about their day. Then we all pray.
Recently, a young boy was given two months to live because of cancer. Then it was shortened to about two weeks. It seemed there was nothing left to do but pray.
Even more recenlty, the wife of a former teacher passed away because of cancer. She left behind a husband, and three very young children.

Often, I think it is easy for us as Christians to look first, at the cost of Christian education, and second, at what we'll get from it. I think too often, the sense of community is forgotten.
But, being so far from soo many of our relatives, friends... our loved ones. I think Steph and I have realized just how important community is.

I also know, from experience, that not every school cares for each person the way a Christian school does. Not in the public, nor even the Catholic schools, will you find teachers as willing, and genuinely able, to pray for a student and their loved ones.

It's a shame that the Liberals can't see the importance of Christian education, isn't it? Or do we honestly believe that public funding will make us lose our sense of community?

Girls....

While assistant coaching a junior girls volleyball team at a recent game, I heard these comments from my bench:

1 Girl - Oh, she's so pretty!
2 Girl - Don't you think she looks like Hailey Duff?
3 Girl - She's a little too dark (tanned)
1 Girl - I like her shoes
4 Girl - Are we going to get 'storm' clothes for volleyball? (School labelled shirts and pants...)

2 Girl - Yeah, can we buy clothes this year, coach? (I honestly had no clue...)

1 Girl - Oh, she's strong

3 Girl - Yeah, I love her. She's great.

4 Girl - She always has such great hair!

1 Girl - Yeah, I like her hair too.

Honestly, as assistant coach, I just wanted to bury my face in my hands. Do they not understand that there's a game going on?!!?!

Dave's Extra-curricular Activity (shortened version)(for readability)

The fundamental problem found with all new volleyball players is that their skills are not developed in certain integral ways. Thus, I present, the seven deadly troubles of volleyball:

One of the first problems is that they don't know how to pass consistently. This takes practice. But in the mean-time, coaches settle for half-decent passes.

The Setters also have to settle for half-decent passes. And content themselves to the fact that they must chase down every shanked pass. No matter where it goes on the court.

The third trouble is that, a shanked pass always heads to one player or another. So that player (with visions of grandeur, and 'taking one for the team') decides they might as well take on the role of a setter. But the real setter is still chasing down the ball.

The fourth trouble is that, when the setter and the 'new' setter collide somewhere on the court, the ball still falls to the ground.

The fifth trouble is that, if by some miracle the team gets the ball returned over the net, the players will not know that they should stand at the net, with hands raised to the sky, as though they can block.

The sixth trouble is that the players' vertical jump abilities don't allow for any reasonable block. If the ball is returned back to your team's side, the trouble starts all over again.

The seventh trouble is that even when your ball CLEARLY landed inside the lines on your opponent's court, the REF still calls it out!????? (REFS!!! they NEVER get it right!)

These are the lessons I learned while coaching a junior girls volleyball team this past weekend. While it may sound pessimistic, I assure you it is not. Coaching volleyball is a LOT of fun! And it's great when your team remembers how to get past all those 'troubles' and actually starts playing as a team! I've learned that I love coaching, and can't wait until our next game!

Our record so far is:

6 sets won, and 7 sets lost (in tournament play)

The Evils of Extra-Curricular Activities

Well, as I'm sure you all know by now....I am in charge of the Christmas Program at our school this year. Let me tell you, this is the craziest thing I have ever done. Though it may have its fun moments, most of them are stressful, especially since we only have two weeks until performance and we're not even close to being ready!

The thing about extra-curricular activities is (actually there's several): 1. teaching in a Christian school requires you to do a certain number of them; 2. teaching in a Christian school where they've recently laid off staff requires you to do more of them than physically possible; an 3. they take time away from the actual job of teaching. Allow me to demonstrate, here is what my day was like today: Christmas Program stuff, more CP stuff, oh that was the bell I should let the kids in....wait a minute, what am I doing today!?!? More Christmas Program stuff, recess: rehearsal, let the kids back in, do more Christmas Program stuff, oops I'm supposed to be teaching right now, lunch recess: yard duty in the freezing cold, more Christmas stuff, French class....what am I doing in French today? More Christmas stuff.....finally the end of the day! But not over yet, after school I had to work on the backdrop for, you guessed it, the Christmas program and plan for tomorrow.

I tell you, by the end of the day, I'm not really sure what I taught and we're still not ready for the Christmas program. Oh well, the show must go on and somehow we'll pull it together!

P.S. If anyone has some good ideas for making quick and easy Roman Soldier costumes, I'd appreciate the tips! (See I'm STILL thinking about the Christmas Program!)

Pop Quiz!

Today I was caught feeling completely useless. Fortunately, my associate teacher was the first one on the scene, so that I had to do very little. This was my biggest fear about teaching phys. ed. -- that one day I would have a student injured in some way that I would not know what to do...

At worst, I worried myself about a rolled ankle. Those happen all the time...

Or, maybe a finger bent out of shape...

Or, maybe an arm broken....

But, a knee being completely dislocated? So that the knee cap (patella) is risen an inch out of its normal place? and the fibula is sticking out the side?

While playing badminton (of all sports!) a girl in grade 12 dislocated her knee. Which has got to be one of the most painful injuries a person can endure. And she was screaming/crying from the pain she was in... And I was at a complete loss for ways to help her or comfort her. Okay, maybe not a complete loss... but I felt pretty useless...! ("I'll call the ambulance," is what I said).

It was about five minutes before her knee slid back into place (That's a long time when you are in pain!). And she went home on crutches. Apparently, there's not much you can do for that particular injury. If you try and force the knee back into place, you can create more damage. So you have to just let it work its own way back in...

Needless to say, I am brushing up on my care and prevention of injuries textbook!

Full Circle

It's been a pretty busy week down here in Jarvis. Not only are Steph and I both teaching, but we've also volunteered to be the Young People's Leaders for our church. It's been busy, but fun!

On Tuesday we took the Young People's bowling in Hamilton (almost all 30 of them came out!). The kids had a blast, and Steph gave me a real run for my money (she scored 109 in her second game!).

Actually, Steph's games were kind of interesting. She spent the entire first game putting a crazy spin on her ball -- that always sent her ball into the gutter in the last 5 feet before it could hit the pins. (Her first game was a real low score....). By the time the second game came around she had figured out what to do about it.... She moved over to the left side of the lane, and let the spin do its magic! She ended up getting a few strikes, and a few spares to really push her game up! It was fun to see! I only beat her in the last 3 frames and scored a 126. Was that mean of me?

My high school placement has been enjoyable. The staff at Smithville are fun teachers who have really made me feel welcome. I've started teaching badminton (which was never my strongest sport...), along with the NEW rules for the game. (Badminton is now, officially, played to 21 points. Every rally results in a point for the winner of the rally).

A few kids were giving me a little grief. Nothing I wouldn't have done in High School. The kids just want to have fun, right? Who needs to practice, let's play! So I've learned that the student's capacity for practice is limited to about 1/2 to 3/4 of the gym period. Then they need to play.

Which I don't mind. As long as they are applying the skills and strategies I'm trying to teach them.

Like I said, it's nothing I didn't give my teachers grief over when I was in High School.

It's interesting that kids just want to play as soon as they get into the gym. It's ingrained in them. So it's actually a little harder to get the few troublemakers... wait, I'll make that playmakers, to stay on task! The funny thing is that the playmakers are becoming my favourite students...!

I love it!