Light and Hope of the World

I love today. Christmas is magical. I don't care that it's technically not the real day of Christ's birth, and am of course not a fan of the immense commercialism. I love that this season turns this world--in sin and error pining--to Christ, our perfect Hope! I love that it brings families together. I love that people are drawn to serve each other. I love the peacefulness of the blanket of white over the town with the glimmer of lights outlining homes in which families are baking and laughing and singing and just loving. I even love the stormy weather right now, for "trapping" me indoors with my cute sister's family, Christmas carols, and my new cozy scarf! =o)

I'm grateful for the time of personal reflection today on the things God has blessed me with in my life. (I didn't feel like watching a movie, so I've had 2 hours to myself.) I've read the words of Christ, reflected in my journal, and read the words of the prophets about Christ. As this year draws to a close, I wonder how God sees that I've used it. It's felt like a year of healing for me, and I'm grateful for that, and for the people in my life who have helped make it so. I feel it in my bones that 2009 is a year of progression. 2007=hell (excuse my French. It's true.), 2008=healing, 2009=progression. I believe there are blessings in store. I believe God is with us through every trial.

I felt that again today as I read in Ether: Jared and his brother's families are traveling to the promised land. The storms raged and they were tossed upon the waves of the sea...in a wind which served a purpose...here, read for yourself:

"And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.

And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea...and there was no water that could hurt them...therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters.

And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters...and they did sing praises unto the Lord...and [they] did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord."

I believe that the storms in my life serve a purpose. I believe that when the winds rage, they are ultimately blowing me toward a promised land. I know God is with us. I know He lives! I know He was born, lived and died...and most importantly, rose again!...for the salvation of all mankind. I believe if I give my will to Him and live in accordance with the truths He reveals to me, I will one day return to Him. I want more than anything to live a life pleasing unto Him, to handle my challenges with grace, to be merciful and generous and forgiving of others, and to give and live my life to its fullest!

In remembrance of the most important life ever lived, and in gratitude for the hope and light He is to the world, I wish you and your families a memorable and peaceful holiday season.
Merry Christmas!

Love to Read!

This is my EESL Reflection #2, on the topic of reading. It's more important for you cute moms than it is for me as a teacher! We believe in this profession that the most important thing you can do for your child (...other than love him or her, I suppose...and feed them. And keep 'em warm...) is to take the time to READ! Pull them on your lap and read. Why? My thoughts: the bonding you will foster in your relationship goes down in the annals of their memory for life. Your modeling of the love of reading, and therefore learning, I believe, shapes their attitudes toward life. You will open up opportunities for conversation and discussion of life's most important lessons, which might not be brought up otherwise. Talk about the things you read. Talk about morals. Talk about your child's thoughts and reflections. Let them see you slow down and take time to learn, to spend time with them, to teach them, to listen to them. Your work as a mom is the most important work of this life! Don't ever forget it! (Or I will find you! I know where you live! =o) )

Here it is:
“Reading is important in all aspects of our lives…As teachers…we need to be able to assess students’ reading skills so that we can make reading an important and joyful practice their whole life through.”

Our ‘enduring understanding’ is interesting to me. It is a unique challenge that we have as educators--to not only teach children the skills of reading, but to teach them to hopefully love to read. Why? Other professions may have a purpose of teaching another person the skills necessary to complete their responsibilities within their trade, and yet whether the learner loves it or not can be irrelevant (though arguably makes the person more valuable to the trade in the case that they do happen to love it). As we teach these children to read, however, the affective associations they make with the skills we are teaching them are almost as important as the skills themselves. The feelings a child has toward reading and the attitudes they develop toward learning have powerful influence upon their lives, through adulthood. This has many implications, I believe, as to the environment we create within our classrooms.

Stephen Krashen’s fifth hypothesis supports this concept in second language learners: “People acquire second languages when they obtain comprehensible input and when their affective filters are low enough to allow the input in [to the language acquisition device]” (Krashen, 1981, p. 62). Socio-emotional variables, such as low-anxiety learning environments, greatly affect a student’s self-confidence and self-esteem. We as educators must model a love of learning, children, and enjoy our career, not just show up to work. Our attitudes toward these things change children’s lives in more ways than we sometimes recognize!

Who You Are

by Hillary Weeks (my heroine...who I recently got to meet! I had my camera but was felt too silly asking for a picture. Lame.)

There is something so beautiful in who she is that radiates through her music. I have listened to her every Sunday since I first heard "He Hears Me" performed at a fireside in high school. There are many weeks (haha, weeks) I listen to her between Sundays, too, because her sweet voice and beautiful messages bring me peace. I don't think I've heard this song, actually, but I love the lyrics, which I just found. This is typical of us daughters of God, I believe.

President Monson's message at Women's Conference at BYU in May has stayed with me. The feeling, mostly, that God loves us, that we focus on what we have yet to accomplish and let ourselves get down about it, but He sees our progress, and so should we take the time to recognize it, too. And LIVE TODAY! I'm trying my best to love each day of my life...for the goodness, or...growth...it brings. Sometimes it seems like there are more days of stretching than goodness. But I know in the end, it's all good[ness]. =o) cheesy. It's late. I should go to bed.

Here you go:

I know you wonder
If you'll ever have a day
Where the kids stay calm
The laundry's done
And the dishes are put away
And sometimes you feel like
Your days are spent and gone
And the question running through your mind
Is "What have I gotten done?"
And when you finally have a moment to slow down
At the end of your day I know Father would say
"Believe in what you're doing
Believe in who you are
And hold tight to the truth that you're a daughter of God
Believe in who you're becoming
Believe in who you are"

It may seem simple all the little things you do
But the lives you touch matter so much
And there's no one else like you
And Father needs you to stand tall and faithful
To be all you can be
If you could see what He sees

You'd believe in what you're doing
And you'd believe in who you are
So hold tight to the truth that you're a daughter of God
Believe in who you are becoming
Believe in who you are.

When it's hard to believe in yourself
And you feel like you're beginning to doubt
Remember...

He believes in what you're doing
And He believes in who you are
So don't lost sight of the truth
That you're a daughter of God
That He believes in who you're becoming
He believes in who you are

Masters Application!

This is my letter of motivation for applying to the Masters in International Humanitarian Action--sent tonight! Wahoo! (It's okay if I don't get it. I have a happy little Plan B. But I need to apply. I have to see. You understand.)

Letter of Motivation
By VeNicia Monet Green

"Our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery," penned the author, Edward Gibbon.

There is an immense amount of pain and suffering in the world. One doesn't have to go far past her own doorstep to see people afflicted with misery and agony, whether caused by man’s inhumanity toward man, natural disasters, or come what may along the twists and turns of the road of life. My heart is drawn toward those who suffer and yearns to do more than I have yet done.

There are many like me whose hearts ache for others amidst trials. We sit and watch the news of worldwide natural devastations and civil unrest; we watch reports and documentaries of the world's hungry, the aids orphans in South Africa, the child soldiers in Uganda, the genocide in Sudan, the unrest in Tibet. Some observe in apathy, though many of us express sorrow and empathy through earnest tears. Yet, most often, even those of us who are troubled by the scenes merely resume the regularly scheduled program or our relatively inconsequential tasks of the day. The average citizen lacks knowledge of effective solutions for change and utters listlessly, "But what can I do? I am but one. They are so far away." In the end, most of us remain unaware of the potential impact we hold for good with direct and concerted effort, or the detriment of our continual ignorance of these conditions.

Though I have contributed through service in my community throughout my life, and have given money to global relief efforts and charities whose causes I support, I have felt the urgent desire to seek out further education and experiences in practical methods of relieving the suffering of oppressed and afflicted people across the globe with greatest efficacy.

I have been blessed with more in my life than for which I could ever express gratitude. Unlike almost three billion of my brothers and sisters throughout the world, I live on more than $2 a day. Unlike one billion people throughout the world, I have enough to eat and a home in which to sleep at night. I have multiple pairs of shoes. I have a college education. I turn up my heat when I am cold and my air conditioning when I am hot, and drink from an endless supply of clean water from my faucet. I worship whom I choose, where I choose, when I choose. I say what I want, become what I wish, dream as big as I can. Opportunities knock and I have to be selective because of their quantity. My desire is not to indulgently revel in my relative extravagance, but to live a life of quiet simplicity, in humble recognition of the many blessings I enjoy. I aspire to live generously and compassionately in mindful service of my fellowman.

I am applying for a Masters of International Humanitarian Action because I have a voracious drive to give back with my life. I want to develop useful, practical, proficient skills in relief efforts for humankind. Gandhi said, "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems." My heart tells me I am capable of more. I have an unquenchable desire to know what that is.

Rain

Usually I love the rain. Today is different. I know at some point I will be grateful for it, because I do believe in the promise of spring.

She sees the storm gather
The sky is turning cold and gray
She knows that something's coming
When she starts to feel this way
She pleads for intervention
But Heaven offers no relief
And she would understand
If she could only see

Sometimes He lets it rain
He lets the fierce winds blow
Sometimes it takes a storm
To lead a heart where it can grow
He can move mountains of grief
And oceans of pain
But sometimes He lets it rain

When her hearts surrenders to the Master in control
Her spirit lessens of the tempest in her soul
When it is no longer raging
She can see how far she has come
Through the wisdom and the mercy of the Son

Sometimes He lets it rain
He lets the fierce winds blow
Sometimes it takes a storm
To lead a heart where it can grow
He can move mountains of grief
And oceans of pain
But sometimes He lets it rain

He lets it rain
There is no joy without the pain
Sometimes He has to let it rain
There is no joy without the pain
Sometimes He has to let it rain

Sometimes He lets it rain
He lets the fierce winds blow
Sometimes it takes a storm
To lead a heart where it can grow
He can move mountains of grief
And oceans of pain
But sometimes He lets it rain

He lets it rain
There is no joy without the pain
Sometimes He has to let it rain
There is no joy without the pain
Sometimes He has to let it rain

EESL 5310: Reflection #1

Generally speaking, I am distrustful of opinions stated in absolutes; on one extreme or another. Of the many opinions and theories posed in regards to first language acquisition, I am less inclined to give much credence to those expressed in recognition of either nature or nurture as the sole influence. It is doubtful to me that one does not influence the other.

Behaviorist theories credit imitation and association, posing that another person’s praise for correct language reinforces the behavior. Innatists attribute language acquisition to an innate, biological LAD (language acquisition device), claiming children enter their lives prewired for linguistic analysis. Yet, neither theory can account for all situations. For example, children format and create sentences they have never heard before with vocabulary they have acquired, denouncing the strictly behaviorist theories. And yet, a child will continue to pronounce words or format sentences ‘incorrectly’ (according to the culture) without the interventions of reading or interactions with a person modeling accuracy.

It seems evident to me that as neither theory can account for every situation, there must be a more accurate explanation—and I believe it is likely to be found in some melding of the extreme theories, and not evidenced in absolutes.

So far, I tend to agree most frequently with the Interactionist theories. “…caregivers play a critical role in adjusting language to facilitate the use of innate capacities for language acquisition” (Peregoy, 2001). Vygotsky’s theories of ZPD and scaffolding seem to apply to language acquisition: a parent listens to their child and responds with expanded form, reinforcing understood concepts, yet modeling a more mature, appropriate, or correct usage. I believe the Interactionist opinion that acquisition emerges from communication.

Grades. Plech.

Ever felt like this? Have I mentioned that I don't like grades? Hmm. Maybe I have already.







Let me put it another way that you 80's kids will understand.

This:
is my brain.







This is my brain on grades:






Not so much THIS:







But like THIS:








IS IT OVER YET?!?!