Lessons for the Teacher

Greetings,

School as been keeping my nose to the grindstone and Lent has kept my candle lit.  Last week we were gifted with a SPRING BREAK WEEK!  A whole 7 days of time off...I took advantage of the time to visit my family and Sisters.  I enjoyed sleeping in, being a bit pampered by my mom, and simply spending time with my Sisters.  On the other hand, 24 of our junior and senior students with another 10 teacher & parent chaperones traveled to Mexico!

They packed for their Mexican Spring Break with old blue jeans, work gloves, mats & sleeping bags to soften the cement floor, and soccer balls.  These 24 high school students spent their break working between two impoverish villages on a mountainside.  They built two cement block houses, re-roofed several small houses with corrugated tin, and formed simple brick stoves.  They played soccer, duck-duck-goose, and other games with the children.  They traveled with 3 priests...and the people happily joined them for Mass every evening.  And they ate their weight in tortiallas, rice, and beans.

Yesterday, I asked those who had participated to share their experiences with their classmates.  These were some of the amazing lessons they taught us, lessons I couldn't have created...

* We should be grateful for everything we have.  'Cause everything we have is like a miracle for them.
* I thought I knew what 'poor' looked like, but I wasn't ready for how little they had.
* We should be happy, we've been blessed.

* I felt very close to Our Mother Mary while there.  We were surrounded by home shrines to Our Lady
   of Guadalupe and their devotion to her...she was very present to me while I was there.
* I want to find ways to give back here [in home city] too and not just wait for our trip next year.
* The saddest part was sharing our little toys with the kids and trying to make it 'fair and equal'
   between the kids, we just didn't have enough.

Blessings,

Corn Parties!

Greetings,

"The monastics should serve one another. Consequently, no one will be excused from kitchen service unless he is sick or engaged in some important business of the monastery, for such service fosters love" Let those who are not strong have help so that they may serve without distress, and let everyone reieve help as the size of the community or local conditions warrant"(RB 35: 1-3).

The cooler has been filled with three pickup loads of sweet corn and the sisters have just about had their fill of the fresh ears at supper; now it is time to begin the corn parties! Before the "Corn Party" sign goes up, some sisters volunteer to gather to husk and wash the corn of their silks. On my way to the corn cutting station, I happened upon a group yesterday as they were laughing, talking, and husking their way through several bushels of sweet corn.

The corn cutters gathered in the kitchen with knives, boards, and a few specialty corn cutters from the South Dakota Corn Palace. We were a bit quieter as we sliced our way through the cooled bushels of steamed ears. (The 'Corn Zipper' was an awesome tool to removed kernels from the cob without cutting too close or slipping!) Later a couple of sisters took away the barrels of husks and cobs and dumped them back in the field to mulch the future harvest.

Last year we cut and froze almost 500 pounds of sweet corn to eat during the rest of the year. Each bite is a treat from summer and a promise of the next year's field. It is also a great reminder of how much we can do together as a community.

Blessings,

Noodle Party!

Greetings,

Sister Gift Shop Guru had a new idea for our holiday sale ~ noodles. Another of our sisters had been making noodles (in smaller batches) to give as gifts; when these two connected, this idea was developed into a plan that required many hands to work with the noodles. The "Nun-Better Noodles" would be mixed, kneaded, cut, and dried by our sister volunteers at the monastery for the family, friends, and serious shoppers this winter.

The mixers were none other than the two sisters who dreamt up the plot to create the "Nun-Better Noodles"! Sr. Margo had been tweaking and double checking her noodle recipe for the last few months...just the right balance of flour, salt, and egg was needed to make the proper consistency for the noodle dough.

The noodle kneaders were a hard working group of sisters! The noodle dough needed to be kneaded for at least fifteen minutes to create the proper glutton strength. Some of us had to knead our one pound of dough for thirty minutes to create the elasticity...one sister had to knead for almost an HOUR! While the stiff dough did challenge the noodle kneaders, we had a wonderful time visiting, singing, telling stories, and pondering how all twenty-five of the one pound lumps of dough would look as noodles.

Even the prioress joined in the noodle activity as she rolled out sections of the dough through one of the two noodle cutters we used. The whole pound of dough would not fit through the noodle cutter; so each pound was cut into slices or sections by another sister assisting the one cranking out the noodles. This part of the production moved from the monastery bakery to our refectory (dinning room). In fact, the noodles soon covered over half of the tables!

After being cut, each noodle was laid out one by one on our sheet covered tables! Soon there were sisters moving between the tables in a carefully choreographed dance of the noodle. Some chose to catch the noodles as they were cut and then pass them on to those setting them out. Other sisters preferred to catch and lay out the noodles. The refectory was abuzz with the activity of the noodle production. The sisters had to be very careful that the sisters did not touch while drying or they would stick permanently.

These are three of the NINE tables bedecked with noodles drying in the refectory! To aid in the drying process, the air conditioning in the room was turned way down to combat our ever present heat and humidity during these late July summer days. Soon the next crew of sister volunteers will come together to break the noodles in proper sizes and weigh them out to fill each bag with 1/2 pounds of noodley goodness.

I hope you have enjoyed this little view in our "Nun-Better Noodles" production and I pray that our nun made noodles will be a great seller at our holiday sale!

Blessings,

Grammar Daze

Greetings,

Today, the 6th grade teacher offered me a task that I felt prepared for...tutoring the boys in identifying direct & indirect objects and predicate nouns & adjectives. Yes! This I have done, this I can do! It felt good to settle in and play with some grammar in the classroom. I tried to make it less fearful, a little funny, and I admitted to my own failure (literally) in grammar as a middle schooler. However, it was more challenging that I anticipated.

The teacher had introduced and taught the concept the previous two days, but it was still elusive to many of the Latino gentlemen in the classroom. I was to review the basics with small groups of three or four and practice a few examples. My background in freshman English was very useful in finding funny examples and sharing my English-algebra equation (Sub + A.V. + I.O. + D.O.). But I could have used one more tool in my tutoring, Spanish.

I think that understanding Spanish would have been very useful today. Many of these basic parts of speech show up in both languages and could have helped the boys see how the D.O. and I.O. work in either situation. But alas, I am monolingual (with a smattering of sign language) and need to place Spanish on my "to do" list of courses coming up after I move.

Blessings,

Poetry Perks

Greetings,

Monday, the 6th grade boys started thinking about poetry. There is going to be an all-school poetry contest at the end of the month! All the boys 5-8 are going to get a chance to perform their poems...but first we need to find the poetry that best fits each young man.

Today, we spent about an hour during language arts time in small groups of four. The groups looked at different books of poetry, practiced reading some of the pieces aloud while focusing on volume, vocal inflection, or one of the other 4 aspects of poetry performance that the teacher had mentioned. It was wonderful to watch them have fun with the poetry.

They laughed about some of the silliness of the poems or skipped over the romance poems. Quite a few of the guys had questions about who the poets were or why they might have written about the topic. Near the end of class, the gents were supposed to be choosing a poem to work on and as for a photocopy. The teacher proofed the choice and I was stationed at the copy machine...I saw Poe, Whitman, Shakespeare, Silverstien, Frost, Confetti, Soto, Carroll and many, many more.

It's my secret hope to hear the "Saint Crispan's Day" monologue from Henry V or "The Jabberwocky" from Alice in Wonderland. I know I should have more deep and meaningful tastes, but I love the power in Shakespeare's poem for King Henry and Carroll's nonsense words make wonderful imagery in his lines. Ah well, back to my own homework.

Blessings,

Saint Patrick's Day...

Greetings or Top O' the Day to You!

Today, I've been substituting at the girl's middle school, and it's been quite the adventure on this St. Patrick's Day! I'm glad I had my coffee this morning...

We began the celebration with a presentation about mummies. Yup, mummies...a cardiologist from the area heart hospital shared his adventure researching heart disease in Cairo, Egypt. It was fascinating; the doctor had a 'slide show' of the team scanning the mummies in and out of their coffins! The doc and his partners were able to show that thousands of years ago even ancient Egyptians had heart calcifications. I'm not sure if the assembly was to interest the young ladies in different medical or science fields, warn them of the danger of poor diet and no exercise, or just share the interesting discovery with them. However, it was a fascinating way to start our celebration of Patrick!

The next assembly took over the 4th period of the day; one of Milwaukee's Celtic dance troops performed! The show included the brand new girls with the head of false curls and soft shoe jigs, all the various middle level performers getting in more practice, and was topped off with their competition level kiddos. The middle school girls especially appreciated the group of competition level boys...they were quite good and kept our attention with a hard shoe dance of stomps, mid-air clicks, and high kicks. The elaborate costumes were also a topic of conversation throughout the rest of the day. The older girls dresses were ornately embroidered and not just trimmed but bedecked with sequins.

Lunch? Well, traditional Irish fare it was not...Nachos and black beans & rice. A great way to top off the multicultural celebration of Saint Patrick. A good time was had by all and interesting it was. Now, I plan on stopping at Kopp's on the way home for a bit more "Irish" celebration. The flavor of the day is Bailey's Irish Cream Coffee: a vanilla cream custard is spiked with Bailey's Irish Cream, Irish whiskey, deluxe coffee, and a sprinkling of specialty coated walnuts. A wonderful way to wrap up my day.

Blessings,

PS...Yes, I prayed a bit too...my Benedictine Breviary has a lovely reflection on St. Patrick.

Two Favorite Irish 'Blessings'

A Prayerful Blessing
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

A Tongue-in-Cheek Blessing
May those that love us, love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.

Giggling

Greetings,

Thursday morning, I arose around 7:30AM (I love college hours) to prepare for volunteering at the Latina middle school. It wasn't until 8AM and I had turned on the cell phone that I noticed a message from the principal. She needed a sub; however, I assumed that by this time another sub would have been found. I cooked up a bit of oatmeal, had my coffee, and headed off to school...I am very grateful that I made a hearty breakfast. As I was stowing my coat and purse, the principal approached me with a hopeful look on her face. They still needed a sub...so, I stayed for the day.

I was filling in for a 7th grade teacher; not a problem, I enjoy the age group. Her morning classes were reading and language arts; not a problem, I've actually taught this sort of material and can think on my feet. Her afternoon classes posed a bit more of a challenge; phonics (never studied it and have no idea what the symbols mean), math (oh dear, Dad had to tutor me in the evenings amid tears), and social studies (okay, not so bad, they were reading about India). The day went pretty well...and I was very quickly reminded about the difference between boys and girls...girls giggle...INCESSANTLY!

They giggled as I introduced myself. This was a sneaky sort of giggle that indicated they thought me a possible pushover, so I shared that I was so happy to be back in the classroom. They giggled as we reviewed vocabulary words from their novel. I had them think of examples to fit the definition...much giggling that lead me to suspect that I missed a few inside jokes. They giggled when I openly admitted that I needed their help to go through the phonics material. This giggle was a bit prouder, and they volunteered quite readily to "code" the words from the worksheet and explain the reasoning. They attempted giggling after lunch when all were to be reading a novel of their choice. I squashed these giggles by asking them to share with me what was so fun in their novel...silence. One of the ladies shared an extra book with me so I could read too, "Flipped". A good middle level book for ladies. There was less giggling during math class; division with decimal adjustments being made mentally doesn't lend itself to happiness and joy. Giggling abounded during the social studies time. Hmmm...I think I erred in the amount of time that I gave them to work on making flash cards. So, I entered into the giggling with them and shared a few stories of my time volunteering at the Latino middle school (their companion school) and let them ask a few questions about my sisters and Benedictine life.

If you want to know a secret, I enjoyed the giggles.

Blessings,