Not too long ago, Crispy was "Mystery Reader" for the 2nd grade class. He looked like this as he read the book "I know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." They couldn't figure out who he actually was. Yes!!!
Monday, March 21, 2005
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Please Pray
I've been given a great opportunity in a relationship I have with a 7th grade student of mine. It's probably not necessary, but I'm going to call him Ronald instead of using his real name. Ronald is from a Muslim family but has been going to VCS for a few years. He's met with a few different teachers over the years to talk about the Bible, God, faith, etc. Well, he's asked to meet with me recently. Today was the 3rd time, during lunch.
He has great thinking questions, many based on what he's been taught or read about in a booklet he has that compares Islam and Christianity from a Muslim perspective. He asked me to read it over the next week or 2, so I plan to do that. Then we can discuss more things.
Today he also told me that he is stuck in the middle of Christianity and Islam. He hears a lot from both sides, but says he truly wants to know the truth. He also said every time he prays, he starts with asking God to show him what the right way is and that God would show everyone in the world the right way.
So please pray with me for "Ronald" and myself as I read this book and interact with him on these things. Dankeschoen!!!!!
He has great thinking questions, many based on what he's been taught or read about in a booklet he has that compares Islam and Christianity from a Muslim perspective. He asked me to read it over the next week or 2, so I plan to do that. Then we can discuss more things.
Today he also told me that he is stuck in the middle of Christianity and Islam. He hears a lot from both sides, but says he truly wants to know the truth. He also said every time he prays, he starts with asking God to show him what the right way is and that God would show everyone in the world the right way.
So please pray with me for "Ronald" and myself as I read this book and interact with him on these things. Dankeschoen!!!!!
Interesting Perspectives
There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black
1. He called everyone "brother". 2. He liked Gospel. 3. He couldn't get a fair trial.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish
1. He went into His Father's business. 2. He lived at home until he was 33. 3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his mother was sure he was God.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian
1. He talked with his hands. 2. He had wine with every meal. 3. He used olive oil.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian
1. He never cut his hair. 2. He walked around barefoot all the time. 3. He started a new religion.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish
1. He never got married. 2. He was always telling stories. 3. He loved green pastures.
But the most compelling evidence of all--- 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food. 2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it. 3. And even when he was dead, He had to get up because there was more work to do.
1. He called everyone "brother". 2. He liked Gospel. 3. He couldn't get a fair trial.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish
1. He went into His Father's business. 2. He lived at home until he was 33. 3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his mother was sure he was God.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian
1. He talked with his hands. 2. He had wine with every meal. 3. He used olive oil.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian
1. He never cut his hair. 2. He walked around barefoot all the time. 3. He started a new religion.
But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish
1. He never got married. 2. He was always telling stories. 3. He loved green pastures.
But the most compelling evidence of all--- 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food. 2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it. 3. And even when he was dead, He had to get up because there was more work to do.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Change of Plans
Well, I'm no longer going to be playing the piano for the musical Seussical. I'm a little bummed because I thought it would be a lot of fun. Turns out that I'm just not experienced in the area of accompanying and playing extremely rhythmic music, like in this musical. There is even more a difference between classical piano and that style than I thought. I'm just out of my league - and it would have taken me way too long to learn all 28 songs. So now, I and a couple other people are looking for a good pianist to fill in. Not so easy. I'd appreciate it if you asked asked God for some help with this. Danke :)
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Recognize this shot? Well, I just watched Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock) for the first time. It's a really clever movie. I was hoping to be able to show this to my 9th grade class to help them with their interpretation skills. One problem - I was watching it on a tape that had been copied from TV. Right when the movie was just about over (Judy dressing up like Madeline), the movie cut to some old TV show Simon and Simon. UUUGGHHH! So I just had to look online to see what happened. No one really wants to say what happened on their websites, but I have an idea: First there was Madeline, then there was Judy posing to be Madeline, then it turns out that Madeline never existed. But I don't get how.... somehow. I'd like to see some more Hitchcock.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Please come!
A HUGE blessing for us is that you all sacrifice your finances and prayers for us over here in Vienna.
Another really cool thing would be if you could come and see what your money and prayers are supporting! I really believe that a short week in Vienna (or anywhere where God's kids are being loved) will open your heart to God's love for people of the world!
If you're planning a vacation for the summer or fall, please think about coming to Vienna. Granted, school won't be in session in the summer, but we can do our best to introduce you to the life we live here and are privileged to experience because of you.
We appreciate YOU and want to share what we do with you. Please bring your family to Vienna!
Another really cool thing would be if you could come and see what your money and prayers are supporting! I really believe that a short week in Vienna (or anywhere where God's kids are being loved) will open your heart to God's love for people of the world!
If you're planning a vacation for the summer or fall, please think about coming to Vienna. Granted, school won't be in session in the summer, but we can do our best to introduce you to the life we live here and are privileged to experience because of you.
We appreciate YOU and want to share what we do with you. Please bring your family to Vienna!
Free Thinkers
Another Kiseok moment...
I mentioned today how the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years because they wanted to live life their own way and not follow God's way. They made dumb decisions, they kept going away from God. So, punishment came. Life in the desert, wandering, wandering, and more wandering.
Kiseok raises his hand as I finish telling this little story that related to the day's lesson on God's judgment, and says, "Mrs. Frank, those Israelites must have been free thinkers. Just like Abraham Lincoln. I'm reading a book about him, and there was an example when people were asking him if God was real. He was a free thinker."
Then he proceeds to make the connection between sin and "free thinking" and how we can think freely to make our own decisions, and often sin results from that.
Did I tell you I think he's a genius? I just really appreciate all the things he has to share and his sweet spirit about doing that. He's curious, so curious about EVERYTHING.
His parents are not believers, either, so if you think of them, pray for them. Mr. and Mrs. Kim. (I know everyone in Korea is named Kim, but still!) Mr. Kim is a diplomat in the Korean Embassy, and Mrs. Kim does a lot to help out around school. They have two boys: Kiseok in my class and Kiju in 5th grade. Both boys' lives have been changed by this school. They will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus because of what they have experienced here.
Cool? I think so!
I mentioned today how the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years because they wanted to live life their own way and not follow God's way. They made dumb decisions, they kept going away from God. So, punishment came. Life in the desert, wandering, wandering, and more wandering.
Kiseok raises his hand as I finish telling this little story that related to the day's lesson on God's judgment, and says, "Mrs. Frank, those Israelites must have been free thinkers. Just like Abraham Lincoln. I'm reading a book about him, and there was an example when people were asking him if God was real. He was a free thinker."
Then he proceeds to make the connection between sin and "free thinking" and how we can think freely to make our own decisions, and often sin results from that.
Did I tell you I think he's a genius? I just really appreciate all the things he has to share and his sweet spirit about doing that. He's curious, so curious about EVERYTHING.
His parents are not believers, either, so if you think of them, pray for them. Mr. and Mrs. Kim. (I know everyone in Korea is named Kim, but still!) Mr. Kim is a diplomat in the Korean Embassy, and Mrs. Kim does a lot to help out around school. They have two boys: Kiseok in my class and Kiju in 5th grade. Both boys' lives have been changed by this school. They will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus because of what they have experienced here.
Cool? I think so!
Genetics?
During Bible this morning, we talked about the time when Noah's descendants built the Tower of Babel to try to reach God and worship Him that way. God punished them, though, because of their disobedience, by confusing all of their languages from one into many. Imagine in a moment you and the 10 other people you invited over for dinner speak 10 different languages. It may be funny, but it may be stressful, too, and your party may be quickly over. So, as we were talking about this, a question came from Kiseok, a Korean boy, that has been continually coming up in my class......
Kiseok's words:
"I get where all the worlds' languages came from, but where did all the worlds' skin colors come from?"
My students are obviously confronted with this daily, unlike most Americans, because V.C.S. is so international. I couldn't answer his question, but other students tried with answers like, "black people got black because they live closer to the equator." Not quite.
To figure this out, I looked on the internet for some answers. I found out that the answer lies in genetics. Aha! I took a genetics class in college...something good comes from my zoology degree from Miami University!
So I read and printed this article about the biblical history of skin color, and just spent a few minutes explaining to Kiseok a simple punnett square (genetics term). He loved it! He asked more questions, and wanted to keep the article. I think the kid is a genius.
I LOVE this job. Thank you for being faithful supporters so I can do this.
Kiseok's words:
"I get where all the worlds' languages came from, but where did all the worlds' skin colors come from?"
My students are obviously confronted with this daily, unlike most Americans, because V.C.S. is so international. I couldn't answer his question, but other students tried with answers like, "black people got black because they live closer to the equator." Not quite.
To figure this out, I looked on the internet for some answers. I found out that the answer lies in genetics. Aha! I took a genetics class in college...something good comes from my zoology degree from Miami University!
So I read and printed this article about the biblical history of skin color, and just spent a few minutes explaining to Kiseok a simple punnett square (genetics term). He loved it! He asked more questions, and wanted to keep the article. I think the kid is a genius.
I LOVE this job. Thank you for being faithful supporters so I can do this.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Orange Party!!
If you want to see pictures of the Orange Party we had in combo with Anne's birthday, CLICK HERE.
Die Unglaublichen
Confused? Well, this is the German title for the movie The Incredibles. Anne and I saw it recently (in English) and really loved it. Clean, funny, and action-packed! I recommend it - and you can check it out right now!
Monday, February 07, 2005
Katie is coming! Katie is coming!
Our friend and Anne's old roomate, Katie, is coming to visit us tomorrow! She has been in India for the last year as a missionary, and is on her way home to the U.S. We are SUPER excited to see her and hear about her year there. Yahoo for visitors!
Take the hint....we want YOU to visit, too! We have a room all ready for you!
Take the hint....we want YOU to visit, too! We have a room all ready for you!
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Long Day
So, generally Friday is pretty fun because we get to wear jeans and most everyone is in a better mood because the weekend is flirting with us. In my 9th grade Bible class, it was good. I mean, I actually had a student ask me a question about Psalm 20 on her own initiative!! That was encouraging. But on the lower side of things, PE was pretty much chaos. I had the middle school boys doing an indoors study hall since there was snow outside and because there is an elementary chapel going on which we would be pretty sure to disturb (where we need to go). So, maybe I made the wrong choice, because I had lots of ignoring me when I spoke, talking to each other, disobeying, punching eachother (in anger more than fun), kicking desks in anger, knocking over shelves with binders and books going everywhere, others laughing at the mad one, ripping papers and throwing things all over the place, etc.
I felt like I was being too gracious probably, but I still gave out 4 or 5 tallies (punishments/warnings), and had a few serious one-on-one discussions.
So, another teacher complimented me on my patience that was around for a little bit of it, but I still was pretty frustrated. I think I was on the edge of just giving detentions out like candy. I'm not sure if I maybe should have done that... there are always so many factors to situations like that, that make it more complicated. History.
Then after all of that chaos, Anne and I got work done after school, ate kebaps for dinner (a turkish gyro thing), and then went to the high school coffee house. It was a fun time of playing cards and talking and line dancing lessons. Well, I opted out of the dancing, but Anne was loving it. :)
After that - the usual ride home on the Strassenbahn and the UBahn. A little walking in the COLD (maybe 10 to 20 degrees F), and then in our apartment and straight to bed and sleeeep. A long day. whew!
I felt like I was being too gracious probably, but I still gave out 4 or 5 tallies (punishments/warnings), and had a few serious one-on-one discussions.
So, another teacher complimented me on my patience that was around for a little bit of it, but I still was pretty frustrated. I think I was on the edge of just giving detentions out like candy. I'm not sure if I maybe should have done that... there are always so many factors to situations like that, that make it more complicated. History.
Then after all of that chaos, Anne and I got work done after school, ate kebaps for dinner (a turkish gyro thing), and then went to the high school coffee house. It was a fun time of playing cards and talking and line dancing lessons. Well, I opted out of the dancing, but Anne was loving it. :)
After that - the usual ride home on the Strassenbahn and the UBahn. A little walking in the COLD (maybe 10 to 20 degrees F), and then in our apartment and straight to bed and sleeeep. A long day. whew!
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Snow in Vienna
It snowed ALL day today! Yahoo! Huge flakes, too. I love watching it out my classroom window. Snow brings different challenges in Vienna, though, than it does in the Midwest. For one, we have no car, so we have to walk a lot in the snow. Secondly, the UBahns and strassenbahns run no matter what, therefore NO snow days. Sad news. Thirdly, they don't really plow here. You plow your own way. It's especially funny when you have to run through snow to get to the strassenbahn before it leaves without you. So, tomorrow I'm breaking out my boots no matter how dumb I'll feel in them. My feet will thank me because I have outdoor afternoon duty this week, which means I stand outside and watch kids play from 3:20 until 3:45, snow or no snow. EVERY kid at V.C.S. loves snow. I think that's cool, only when I'm not on duty. So it goes:).
I just had the 9th graders do an assignment of translating Psalm 1 into another language. For half of my students, they looked at the NIV and translated to their mother tongue. For the ones that English is their first language, they translated into "surfer" or "valley girl" or "cowboy" language. They've been spending a lot of time studying Psalm 1 in various ways, and I'm trying to help them focus a little more on interpretation right now.
I think it went over pretty well and most of the students read it outloud for the class. It was cool to hear the passage we all have been studying in so many different languages - Greek (modern), Shona (Zimbabwe), Malayalam (India), pidgin English, Indonesian, Sinhalese (Sri Lanka), Swahili, and German. I wish you could see some of the scripts that they use to write some of the languages - truly amazing that they write with such intricate and detailed and ornate lines and curls and stuff. Wow! :)
I think it went over pretty well and most of the students read it outloud for the class. It was cool to hear the passage we all have been studying in so many different languages - Greek (modern), Shona (Zimbabwe), Malayalam (India), pidgin English, Indonesian, Sinhalese (Sri Lanka), Swahili, and German. I wish you could see some of the scripts that they use to write some of the languages - truly amazing that they write with such intricate and detailed and ornate lines and curls and stuff. Wow! :)
So it seems
that Annie has been quite the blogger recently. Way to go ACF!
I don't want to be left in the weeds - plus I have some things to say.
In just a minute....
I don't want to be left in the weeds - plus I have some things to say.
In just a minute....
Monday, January 24, 2005
Living Hell
You'd never imagine a blog title like this from a fourth grade Christian school teacher, huh? Well, life is not so predictable in Room 104 at Vienna Christian School.
I started a new novel with my class today called Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume. Hilarious book, if you haven't read it. No further were we past making predictions about the book from the cover and title when I asked my class what their thoughts were about having siblings, since the book deals a lot with 2 brothers and their relationship.
Gabe, a boy with a U.S. passport but who has grown up his whole life in Austria, immediately stood up, growled (no joke) and said, "it's HELL, LIVING HELL."
As you can imagine, I was shocked, while the rest of my class howled with laughter. I never expected this to come from his mouth, but in retrospect it might give me an idea of the realities of some kids' households, whether public or private, U.S. or foreign.
It's easy for me to laugh now because my student growled and yelled, but the truth is that Gabe's story is probably common among kids all over the world. Kids need love. That's why we're here.
I started a new novel with my class today called Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume. Hilarious book, if you haven't read it. No further were we past making predictions about the book from the cover and title when I asked my class what their thoughts were about having siblings, since the book deals a lot with 2 brothers and their relationship.
Gabe, a boy with a U.S. passport but who has grown up his whole life in Austria, immediately stood up, growled (no joke) and said, "it's HELL, LIVING HELL."
As you can imagine, I was shocked, while the rest of my class howled with laughter. I never expected this to come from his mouth, but in retrospect it might give me an idea of the realities of some kids' households, whether public or private, U.S. or foreign.
It's easy for me to laugh now because my student growled and yelled, but the truth is that Gabe's story is probably common among kids all over the world. Kids need love. That's why we're here.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Islam
This month we've been studying Islam in fourth grade. Interesting because I teach at Vienna CHRISTIAN School. It's part of our Social Studies curriculum, and it's paired with a study of the Middle East. I've been learning just as much as the kids!
We've learned biblical history of the Arab and Jewish nations, similarities and differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the five pillars of the Islamic religion. It's been really interesting, but the best part is when the kids begin to think out loud how this religion mixes with what we learn in Bible at V.C.S. and what most of their families believe. Today I was asked questions like....
Did people worship Jesus even though he was just a kid?
Which came first, creation or dinosaurs?
Where do animals go after they die?
Why should the Bible make sense for me if my name is not in it?
Don't Muslim people KNOW that what they believe is wrong?
These questions boggled my mind, but they led to interesting discussions about what means to share about Jesus with Muslim friends of ours, what heaven and hell will be like, and why Muslim and Jewish people don't believe in the New Testament because it makes so much sense to us.
Fourth graders are amazing. I am shocked daily by what they say and how they think about life and God. The other day Benedict asked me if Abraham was the hairy on the in Bible. I think he meant Esau. :)
Thank YOU for allowing me to teach them here. It's my favorite.
We've learned biblical history of the Arab and Jewish nations, similarities and differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the five pillars of the Islamic religion. It's been really interesting, but the best part is when the kids begin to think out loud how this religion mixes with what we learn in Bible at V.C.S. and what most of their families believe. Today I was asked questions like....
Did people worship Jesus even though he was just a kid?
Which came first, creation or dinosaurs?
Where do animals go after they die?
Why should the Bible make sense for me if my name is not in it?
Don't Muslim people KNOW that what they believe is wrong?
These questions boggled my mind, but they led to interesting discussions about what means to share about Jesus with Muslim friends of ours, what heaven and hell will be like, and why Muslim and Jewish people don't believe in the New Testament because it makes so much sense to us.
Fourth graders are amazing. I am shocked daily by what they say and how they think about life and God. The other day Benedict asked me if Abraham was the hairy on the in Bible. I think he meant Esau. :)
Thank YOU for allowing me to teach them here. It's my favorite.
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