Challenging? Sure! Worth it? ABSOLUTELY!

Okay so first...before I write anything else...

I am NOT liking the new blogspot format. We didn't change our blog to look like this.

It was done by itself. Sorry. ANYWAY...there are way worse things in life :)

It has been a real challenge and a real treat to teach here at Carmel. We arrived at Carmel at the beginning of their quarterly exams. During that time, I “supervised” the quarterly exams by making sure the kids had all of the things they needed in order to complete the test. After the quarterly exams, there was a one week vacation. When the kids returned to school from vacation, that is when the English classes began.

It is just now the end of the second week of English class and I LOVE it. I am not a skilled linguist by any stretch…and I don’t even know too much about what I’m doing. These kids continually motivate me and make me try harder to be better for them. I didn’t know a thing about how to teach English or accent reduction when I got here. However, that’s how Backi and Freena think I can be most helpful so you know what? I’m going to learn as much as I possibly can about teaching English and accent reduction. I have spent quite a bit of time on the computer…checking out what the internet has to offer on the subject and putting together some rag-tag lesson plans. Here’s the best part…you know it’s starting to WORK!

After two weeks, I DEFINITELY hear a difference and TODAY…today one of the teachers pointed out an incorrect sound that SHE heard the students making. It was a HUGE win!

I don’t share any of this blog post to say that I NOW think I am a good English teacher…that’s not the point at all. I think the point here is that I have found (something else) that motivates me! These kids getting out of poverty…these kids having a shot at a life in which they don’t have to worry about the very very basic necessities of life. If learning English can help a little bit in that…you’d better believe I am going to do everything I can to become the best English teacher I can possibly be.

Motivation is an extremely powerful tool! Passion is an unstoppable force! I have had the privilege of being laser-focused on this trip. Just about everything that I’ve done has had a reason and has been a step towards the goal. This is VERY new to me! But again…passion is an unstoppable force! It can make the scatter-brained become laser-focused. It can slow us down to reach the goal faster (that’s a weird sentence but I think you catch the gist of what I’m saying).

Our time at Carmel has been unbelievable so far. My prayer for my friends, my family and for me too is that I pray we can all continually find our motivation…and I pray that that motivation comes from righting wrongs. I pray we can love mercy, act justly and walk humbly with God.