I am now well into my 5th week of teaching and my 8th week of living in Mexico! I am amazed at how quickly the time is passing! I feel like I shared about El Grito only yesterday, and yet almost three weeks have flown by!
As I have continued to get settled, I have been presented with many opportunities to get involved in the other facets of the ministry. My main focus here is teaching, but I have really been seeking the Lord and asking Him to show me if there is another part of the ministry that could really use the gifts and talents that He has given me. As I have been praying about it this week, I realized that I have a desire to serve and encourage the missionary families and staff children that I teach. Though some different conversations this week it became very clear to me that there was a very specific need that I was created to fill... I am going to start giving dance lessons!
I am so excited and hope to begin next week. I will begin with three classes a week: 2-5 year-old ballet/creative movement, beginner tap and beginner ballet. I felt very confirmed in my decision when I learned that a bag of ballet and tap shoes had been donated to the ministry! If the classes on campus go well, I would love to start a conversation with someone about whether it would be possible to teach a class in one of the Casa Hogars. Ballet has brought such joy to my life and my heart fills with excitement when I think about getting to share that joy with the kids here!
If anyone has any extra ballet or tap shoes, please let me know because I will use all the pairs that I can get my hands on!
create.
In school this year I have really been working with my students to develop their skills as writers. Every day we do a Writer's Workshop and I am thrilled to see them getting excited about writing and really taking their writings (and imaginations!) to whole new levels!
In school this year I have really been working with my students to develop their skills as writers. Every day we do a Writer's Workshop and I am thrilled to see them getting excited about writing and really taking their writings (and imaginations!) to whole new levels!
In order to help the kids publish and share their writing with a broader audience, I decided to create a blog for them! So, as of today, the SMCA Kids Blog is officially up and running! Check it out at:
Today I had the kids write quick bios to introduce themselves within the next could weeks I hope to start getting their pieces published.
For the past 3 weeks we have been studying sensory detail and how it can make our writing come to life! To let the students test out everything they have learned, I sent them outside with a thesaurus, paper and a pencil, and told them to describe the world around them using all the sensory details that they could think of. We had such a wonderful time outside and took some amazing pictures of God's creation and the things that the kids were describing. This week we are finishing out final edits on the observations that we made and soon I hope to post them on the blog. I cannot wait for you to read them because I am bursting with pride for how well they did! My little class can officially write with sensory detail!
experience.
Two weeks ago SMCA went on its first field trip of the year! We went to the Mexican History Museum and had a great time learning more about the country that we live in!
Here are some pictures outside of the museum:
Here a few pictures of other ways that I have been expereincing Mexico...
Breakfast tacos at Tacos de Santiago. Yum Yum!
Hiking in the Sierra Madre Mountains!
Spending time with Kara when she came to visit last weekend! 
And no Fall would be complete without some Futbol Americana!
This week is Fall Break and I am looking forward to a little time off! I'll be in touch soon, but in the mean time, don't forget to check out the SMCA Blog! :)
Thank you for all of your prayers and support!
With Joy,
Jessica
No comments:
Post a Comment