nobody wants a deb at the party

nobody like debbie downer. she's no fun. she actually sucks the fun out of the room.

my goal after all that's been going on: don't be a deb.

Thank you to The Supremes.

Dude! I love this song. All the lyrics are totally legit...thank you to The Supremes for putting lyrics to everything I feel!

Why do you keep a coming around
Playing with my heart?
Why don't you get out of my life
And let me make a new start?
Let me get over you
The way you've gotten over me

Set me free, why don't cha babe
Let me be, why don't cha babe
'Cause you don't really love me
You just keep me hangin' on
Now you don't really want me
You just keep me hangin' on

You say although we broke up
You still wanna be just friends
But how can we still be friends
When seeing you only breaks my heart again
And there ain't nothing I can do about it

You claim you still care for me
But your heart and soul needs to be free
Now that you've got your freedom
You wanna still hold on to me
You don't want me for yourself
So let me find somebody else Hey!

Why don't you be a man about it
And set me free
Now you don't care a thing about me
You're just using me
Go on, get out, get out of my life
And let me sleep at night
'Cause you don't really love me
You just keep me hangin' on...

Why teach?

I've been having to answer this question a lot lately: What is my teaching philosophy?

My dream is to see the achievement gap close in my lifetime and I teach with that mindset everyday. The achievement gap is real and it is one of the most (if not the most) pressing social issues America faces today. Teaching in a high needs classroom well is one of the most direct ways that I can make a positive impact towards closing the achievement gap. When I became a teacher, I committed to the relentless pursuit of excellence in teaching (i.e. high quality instruction). This commitment is one of the most important qualities of an outstanding educator.

Teachers are classroom leaders. Their role is to lead students to academic success. What is easy to casually write in an essay is much harder to enact in a classroom. I think that teachers can lead students to academic success by first understanding what their students bring to the table (and they bring a lot). It would be ignorant to assume that I am the only one in the classroom with knowledge because I have been assigned the role as teacher. Each student brings a wealth of knowledge from his or her personal experiences and it is important as a teacher to tap into that wealth of knowledge. Knowing what your students know is only part of teaching. The next essential step in leading a classroom to academic success is motivating the class to desire academic success. In my classroom, we do this through goal setting. We have a large classroom goal for the year and students have individual goals for the year. As the year progresses, we reflect on our progress towards our goals and we recommit to achieving academic success regularly.

I think that a major part of my teaching philosophy is to model what I expect from my students. If I expect excellence, I must then model it. This requires me to be prepared for my lessons, working relentlessly, transparent in my mistakes, full of integrity, and open with my own goals and reflections of my goals. What may seem like lofty goals have been actualized in my classroom. My students have scored an average of 80% or above on assessments, which indicates a mastery of the subject.

In addition, I deeply desire that students leave my classroom with more opportunities than they had before. Part of those opportunities is excellence in academics, which I discussed before, but there are other facets to increasing opportunities for my students. I think that it is important to paint pictures of where students can take their education, so we focus on possible careers that are applicable to their lives. I also think that it is important to come alongside students as a mentor-like figure and offer guidance not only about future careers, but present jobs, possible internships, conflict resolution, and higher education. I am committed to my students achieving success beyond my classroom.

Blogging about it? How apropos.

Well, my last post involved risk taking. God put the challenge down to me...and I posted it in the cyber world, which mildly was an attempt to make myself accountable to be a risk taker.

I took the risk. I got rejected.

And so, I don't know how I feel about this risk-taking business once again. Questions are plentiful. Trust is wavering and being renewed simultaneously. Hope is a distant feeling.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Time to crack open Jeremiah. This is the book that's going to guide my restoration.

risk taking

I have always considered myself a person who takes risks. I make choices that give my mother stomach ulcers from worry because she always assesses the risk as too big. I am the first to volunteer to jump out of plane. Or possibly even more risky, work in North Philly with teenagers. I immediately on joining the rugby team in college and somehow survived living in Russia.

This weekend there was revelation: I am not a risk taker when it comes to my heart. I don't have great concern about physical risks, but emotional ones, now that is a different story.

God spoke this weekend. It was clear. The wall has to come down. Now, will I take the risk?

chains

my heart is free. there are no chains on me.

we hear the sound of revival coming.

so i got a tattoo in january that says unchained. it was to indicate that my heart is free and i am not chained to anything, but rather free in Jesus. i have noticed though...i'm still pretty chained. i was hanging with a very good friend last night when i realized how chained i really am, but how deeply i desire to be free.

it's like i can see freedom on the horizon. i dance most days towards that horizon, but occasionally i trip and fall. my chains get too heavy to carry. so i just lay there. the inertia almost seems to great. i'm chained. locked into all that Jesus wants to free me from.

what is it about one day over another? one day i'm dancing in freedom and then next i'm a slave to people.

but the beautiful and most challenging part of all this is that i can choose my freedom. there are 27 million people who are slaves that can't get free. i fight for their freedom. i pray for their freedom. but i remain chained. it's beautiful that in Jesus we get freedom. even as i write, i feel a cry rising up inside me screaming for my own freedom. today i choose to be free. Thank You Lord for that gift. In Your power, bring it to those 27 million people enslaved around the world because of human trafficking.

www.love146.org

why my iphone provides everything i need as opposed to a boyfriend

Requirements:

1. Balance checkbook - thank you mint.com
2. Rock star skills - ipod
3. Sense of humor - constant access to youtube
4. Good communicator - texting and phone capabilities
5. Leads me - GPS navigation
6. Do the dishes - okay...my iPhone can't do the dishes