Unwrapping the Greatest Gift

This quote comes from a book given to me by one of my students for Christmas:

Teaching is one of the few professions that permit love. --Theodore Roethke

Third graders are so easy to love (most days, that is). They're so easy to please. You let them watch a movie, give them a snack and a gift, and they make exclamations such as, "You're the best teacher ever!" and "This is the best day of my life!" It's such a pleasure.

All month long, we've been talking about how Jesus is our greatest gift. I know that they "know" it in their heads, and I pray that they know it, in their hearts. I had them write a paragraph about Christmas, and one boy wrote this:

I will remember the real meaning of Christmas this year because my teacher reads a book it tells the real meaning of Christmas and is a countdown.

So we finished the countdown yesterday.

Here are a few of Ann Voskamp's thoughts on the real meaning of Christmas, taken from Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. I pray that all of us can remember this truth this Christmas.

Christmas isn’t about getting something big and shiny. It’s about God’s doing whatever it takes to be with us – and our doing whatever it takes to be with Him. 

All the other love stories don’t compare to this one – because this is the truest, realest story that ever was. 

God is with us. Jesus is with us. Jesus stays with us. The Christmas candle burns hot tonight, giving its brilliant light, because Christmas goes on forever. Because we have Jesus with us – the greatest Gift of unfailing, unbeatable, unstoppable love that we can keep unwrapping all our days.

Little snippets

Here are a few snippets of my life in the third grade from the last month.

• One student told me she had a dream that I stole her family's car. And here I thought I was having a good impact.

• Math problem: "Name an object in your classroom that is about one yard in length." Several students' answers: "Tanner."  Creative answer. 

• On a Social Studies test, the students were asked to write about one of the Christian martyrs from the Early Church. One student wrote this about one of the girls we learned about: "She was weak but strong innerwords." 

• I gained a little perspective on King Josiah from the Bible when a chapel speaker asked what 8-year-old boy would like to be king, and most of the boys in my class raised their hands. 

• We've been learning about homophones. (In case you've been out of school for too long: words that sound alike but have different meanings.) I gave them sentences and they were supposed to write the correct homophone on their white boards. I said, "My hair is brown." One boy raised his hand and said, "It could be either hair/hare." (Even though he obviously knew what I meant!) I said, "No, because I said, 'My hair is...' Oh, I see what you mean." Smile. 

• Teachers don't teach just academics. One of the many things we try to teach students is manners. So when students come up to me at lunch and say, "I don't have a spoon" or "I need a spoon," I just keep looking at them until they remember to ask, "May I please have a spoon?" This week one girl corrected herself before even finishing her first sentence. :) 

• I walked over to two boys who were standing at the mailboxes, because I suspected something fishy going on. My suspicions were confirmed when immediately, without me saying a word, one boy declared, "I didn't do that!" I'm still not sure what he didn't do. Sometimes my presence is all that's needed to stop mischief! 

• This last week, most of the class has gotten involved in solving this puzzle that one of the boys brought in. It was neat to see them work together and persevere until, low and behold, four students figured it out! They were so excited, that they begged me to take a picture of it. They were hoping to get in the school newspaper. 
  

Bubbly, fizzy laughter

For Christmas this year, I decided to read an Advent book with my class. It's called Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp. On Friday we read about the gift of laughter. Ann puts it this way:

God brings us the gift of laughter - like bubbly, fizzy, soda-pop joy for our hearts.

Laughing is one of my most favorite things in life. I invited the students to share about the last time they experienced "bubbly, fizzy laughter." I loved hearing them tell their stories and smile and giggle the whole way through. One girl, who is typically very shy and quiet, could hardly get through her story because she was giggling so much. I've never seen her smile so wide. Another boy told us a story that made all of us erupt into fizzy laughter. He said he went to the bathroom and when he came out, his mom asked him if he flushed his hands and washed the toilet. 

I told them their assignment for the weekend was to enjoy laughing with others and to thank God for the gift of laughter. I had lots of opportunities to complete that assignment on Friday night with my sisters. I don't know the last time I've had such bubbly, fizzy laughter. 

I'll end with another one of Ann's quotes, because it's so good: 

Jesus is the end of our story - and the beginning of our story - and the best part of our story.  Because of Him we can sing fa-la-la-la-la and feel what laughter does inside of us - it sends soda-pop-fizzing, bubbly joy all the way down to our toes.