I am continuously amazed at the goodness of God! There is so much to share with little time to sit and write. I still have two stories from Christmas vacation to share :). Those will come in a timely post.
The past month has been filled with full circle moments. One of such moments that educators can relate to happened at a recent visit to an ethnic store. My husband and I were picking up some items for an upcoming festival. As we turned into one of the aisles, we came face-to-face with a couple and their son (about ten years old). All of a sudden, the man looked at me intensively and said, “Mrs. O? Do you remember me?” “I was in your 8th grade science class!” I could not believe what I just heard and who I was looking at! That was twenty-one years ago! During my days in the classroom, my students called me Mrs. O. Those were great times of sowing into the lives of my students. Suddenly, I remembered him from my science lunch period class. For those of you that have taught through lunch class periods you know what this means :)
Everything happened so fast. I called his name and made the connection to the face and my “memory card”. Before I could say anything, he went on to tell me he is now a police officer and that he still uses what I had taught back then on heart-o-Rama. My day was already made seeing a former student and his family; however he topped the made day with the mention of heart-o-rama! I introduced my husband to him and we reached out to greet his wife and son. You see the concept behind heart-o-rama started in our home when our girls were little. Before our daughters were tucked in for the night, my husband would read them a bible story; discuss the story and its principle and applications. Before closing in prayer, I would ask each of them to share their heart-o-ramas for the day.
The concept behind heart-o-rama was to find lovely heart-warming things around you every day. The idea was birth from the analogy of a “noun” (a noun is the name of a person, place or thing). Heart-o-rama was intended to build four main character traits: alertness, generosity, gratefulness and meekness. Each day, the girls were to find lovely heart-warming things in the people they met, the places they were or anything around them. It was automatic that during my days in the classroom, I taught the idea to my students as part of my classroom management.
What amazed me most about this full circle moment at the store was that the student did not mention what he learned from science back then. That is important of course. However, the life skill he learned in science class was still a part of his life twenty-one years later! That is profound! It speaks to the importance of everything that happens in the classroom. No matter the age or grade level, students are sponges. They pick up everything we are as educators in the classroom. Teachers, as you spread some heart-o-ramas this Valentine’s week and beyond, remember you are God’s gift to humanity! Watch this short clip and be uplifted! Teacher Video. Love & Blessings!
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” –Henry Adams
The past month has been filled with full circle moments. One of such moments that educators can relate to happened at a recent visit to an ethnic store. My husband and I were picking up some items for an upcoming festival. As we turned into one of the aisles, we came face-to-face with a couple and their son (about ten years old). All of a sudden, the man looked at me intensively and said, “Mrs. O? Do you remember me?” “I was in your 8th grade science class!” I could not believe what I just heard and who I was looking at! That was twenty-one years ago! During my days in the classroom, my students called me Mrs. O. Those were great times of sowing into the lives of my students. Suddenly, I remembered him from my science lunch period class. For those of you that have taught through lunch class periods you know what this means :)
Everything happened so fast. I called his name and made the connection to the face and my “memory card”. Before I could say anything, he went on to tell me he is now a police officer and that he still uses what I had taught back then on heart-o-Rama. My day was already made seeing a former student and his family; however he topped the made day with the mention of heart-o-rama! I introduced my husband to him and we reached out to greet his wife and son. You see the concept behind heart-o-rama started in our home when our girls were little. Before our daughters were tucked in for the night, my husband would read them a bible story; discuss the story and its principle and applications. Before closing in prayer, I would ask each of them to share their heart-o-ramas for the day.
The concept behind heart-o-rama was to find lovely heart-warming things around you every day. The idea was birth from the analogy of a “noun” (a noun is the name of a person, place or thing). Heart-o-rama was intended to build four main character traits: alertness, generosity, gratefulness and meekness. Each day, the girls were to find lovely heart-warming things in the people they met, the places they were or anything around them. It was automatic that during my days in the classroom, I taught the idea to my students as part of my classroom management.
What amazed me most about this full circle moment at the store was that the student did not mention what he learned from science back then. That is important of course. However, the life skill he learned in science class was still a part of his life twenty-one years later! That is profound! It speaks to the importance of everything that happens in the classroom. No matter the age or grade level, students are sponges. They pick up everything we are as educators in the classroom. Teachers, as you spread some heart-o-ramas this Valentine’s week and beyond, remember you are God’s gift to humanity! Watch this short clip and be uplifted! Teacher Video. Love & Blessings!
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” –Henry Adams
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