Monday, 2/4/13

Dear Journal,

This past week was the school's Spiritual Retreat. It is tradition here for the Seniors to take charge of the retreat-- they plan the program and activities, they coordinate much of the logistics for taking the whole school off-campus to a retreat center, and they take charge. They are the hosts, the set-up staff, the deans, and just about everything. The staff are there for backup only.

This experience seems to have grown my seniors before my eyes. They came back with a new appreciation for leadership!

The student body also responded very positively to the spiritual experience of the retreat. The speaker, Justin Howard, connected with them from the first moment and was able to distill the simple gospel into words that they could relate to. Praise God.

Today I observed Nikisha Lee's class. It made me excited to watch her. This girl is fluid efficiency. If I were to describe her classroom presentation in one phrase it would be "In control." And with motherly grace she pulls it off in such a nice pleasant way that the students come, go and quiet down at her beck and call. She doesn't put up with nonsense. She puts interrupters in their place. And they love and respect her. I was inspired.

She also managed to get them running two laps around the interior of the auditorium to "warm up" before they practiced their speeches on each other, which I thought was just the coolest thing I've ever seen a teacher do! She said, "OK, since you all are so cold in here, we're going to run two laps around the room." She said it with a smile and a charming little shrug of the shoulders, and then, "Are you ready? Ok, let's go!" and she took off running herself. They loved it. Followed her like a pack of 5th graders.

I'm going to practice more in-charge body language from now on. I think that's been one of my problems. In the insecurity of figuring out a new place, my shoulders haven't been as erect as they should be.. and I've been reacting to things in the more submissive/permissive mode because I'm not sure where my boundaries are yet. But it's working against me in the classroom. Change begins tomorrow.