Yes, so it has officially been forever since I’ve updated my blog but if you had been here the last couple weeks I think you would understand why. I feel like all of us teachers are even more ready for the end of the year than our students. We’re so ready for a break yet we have more work in the next few weeks than probably any time this entire year. Good news is that I finished and turned in my last set of exams that I will start giving on Wednesday. The bad news is that over the next week or two I have to enter all the homework grades, quiz grades, exam grades, behavior grades and all that as well as completing student exit profiles. Oh the life of a teacher. I can’t really complain though because even with a boat load of work the last month has been really good with my students. They are starting to respond to me better and I can tell that they are more comfortable with me. I have let myself be a little more crazy and weird with them and I think they appreciate that. :)
Some of you probably already know this, but I have agreed to continue teaching here after Christmas, but I am petitioning the directors to let me commit to teaching half of the year with them and coming home in June or July. Although I will not officially have their answer until I finish here in December, from what I have heard it sounds like they are planning to accept that position. This way they will not be left stranded looking for a teacher to replace me in a month or two, but they will have more time to recruit and I have agreed to help make some contacts at Whitworth with the hopes of finding myself a replacement that I could train in June. I feel very comfortable and confident with this option and I am looking forward to being able to begin a new year here and establish my rules and procedures from the beginning. I am also looking forward to being here during the dry months of the year. The weather here right now is just starting to get nice again for which I am very grateful.
Instead of trying to sum up everything that has happened since my last post I’m just going to write about a few prayer requests and praises that have been on my heart lately.
Praises:
1. Next year: I am so grateful that I have made a decision about next year and that I feel at peace with that decision. I know next year is going to be hard but I feel like this is the right decision for me.
2. Family: My family is coming in 24 days! I am so excited about it that sometimes I want to scream! My mom has been going crazy getting everything planned down to every last little detail which has been great for me because I haven’t had much time to help with the planning. We are going to vacation in two of the places that I have not been in Costa Rica and best of all everyone tells me that the weather here in December is great. So excited!
3. Spanish: I am starting to feel like my Spanish is finally improving. Of course I still make lots of mistakes but I am getting more comfortable using Spanish with the people I have met here. This week I even gave my testimony in Spanish at a Bible study we are going to now which was a huge deal for me. :) I’ve also had multiple people compliment me on how my Spanish is improving. Yay!
4. Students: Although some of my students continue to cause numerous problems in the classroom I have noticed a little bit of an improvement in their behavior as a whole. I also have many students who have been showing their appreciation for me by bringing me candy, fruit, or handmade cards. Last week I was talking with three 5th grade girls and they asked me if I was going to continue teaching next year. I said that yes, I probably would but that I probably 
wouldn’t be teaching 6th grade. The looks on their faces were precious and one of them told me that I should definitely switch to 6th grade. I told her that that is the decision of the principal. They turned to each other and said, “we’re gonna have to have a talk with her.”
5. Friends: I think that in one of my earlier posts I mentioned that it has seemed kind of hard to make Tico friends. That is still true but God has blessed me and Leslie recently with a new group of friends from our church. It is a group of guys and girls in their 20s to early 30s who have a Bible study on Friday evenings. We joined them for Bible study and loved getting to know them. We ended up hanging out with them on Saturday after church and all afternoon Sunday. It was super fun. I have also gotten closer to two of our "non tico" friends and it feels kind of like we have formed our own family. We talk about almost everything and even do the motherly "text me when you get home" thing.
Prayer Requests:
1. End of the Year: These last few weeks are pretty overwhelming because of all the stress to get ready for exams and for the students to do well on them. We are all ready for the school year to be finished and the kids are even more ready. Unfortunately this means I am having more behavior problems again that create some very frustrating days. I keep telling myself “only ____ more days!” But reality is, if I’m struggling with classroom management now, I will most likely struggle with it next year as well. So, I’m praying, as always, for new ways to motivate my kids.
2. Housing: Leslie and I are in the process of scouting out houses and apartments for rent because we would like to live somewhere else for our next 6 months here. The house we’re in right now has been great and a huge blessing but we would like to share a place with a few of our friends and distance ourselves a little bit from the school. The whole living at school thing can feel kind of isolated at times yet sometimes it feels like we don’t have very much privacy. Anyway, we are looking for a place that is cheap, houses 4 people, is within walking distance or easy bussing distance from the school. It would be great to get a placed nailed down before we both leave for Christmas but it’s also nice to know we can stay here in this house until we find a place.
3. School Stuff: This end of the year is going to be tough on some members of the staff here at the school because enrollment for next year is down by a significant amount which means they are looking at laying a few teachers off. Because it’s a small school it’s a little bit like a family and the idea of people having to leave is pretty sad. Also, there are not a whole lot of other teaching jobs available here. I know that God will bring the right amount of students to the school but I’m praying that the people who do get let go will feel God’s protection and remember that He will always provide for us.
It’s encouraging to look above and see that my “praises” outnumber my “prayer requests.” God has truly blessed me with this experience and it has been amazing to see how He has worked in and through me during the last few months. I am looking forward (sometimes a little fearfully) to all that He is going to teach me in the coming months. I am also very much looking forward to seeing my family and spending some time at home for Christmas. :)
