November 2004 Archives

Along the same lines as Neal's grading experiences, I've also found joy in grading student papers.

One of my students wrote about Van Gogh's early life. He actually sold everything he had to give to the poor, becoming poor himself. So, he spent what little money he had on painting supplies and made lots of paintings about poor people. The were mainly families who were miners and worked in mines. He'd go down in the mines with these peasant workers and observe their lives so he would better be able to represent them in his paintings. His most famous of these early works is The Potato Eaters.

Anyway, my student kept spelling the word "miners" incorrectly by writing "minors." Heh heh. So, I got to read about all the poor minors working in the field and eating potatoes. Oh, the mental images abound. Heh heh.

I forgot to blog about our recent win (you have to scroll to the bottom...sorry).

Or, just read it here:

Honors for teachers who use technology
Local News - Posted on Thu, Oct. 28, 2004

Three teachers will be honored by Los Altos technology company Rambus and the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College on Friday for integrating technology into K-12 classrooms.

Stephanie Lewis, a seventh-and eighth-grade art teacher at Hyde Middle School in the Cupertino Union School District, will receive this year's 2004 Rambus/KCI Innovation Award. The $5,000 prize recognizes Lewis' use of custom software to create online portfolios for students in Hyde's arts programs. Students can use the software to communicate with parents and outside mentors, including local artists. More than 1,000 students will use the technology each semester.

Two teachers from Castro School in the Mountain View-Whisman School District will receive an honorable mention for their work. Janine Walker Gavin, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher, and Catherine Enos, who teaches second and third grade, worked with their students to develop a Web site on the habitat of the San Francisco Bay. Students corresponded by e-mail with each other and sent notes to their elected officials.

To view Lewis' winning project, visit www.hydeart.com/eportfolio. The Castro School project can be viewed at www.castro.mvsd.k12.ca.us/blgallery.htm. To learn more about the KCI, visit www.foothill.edu/kci or call Executive Director Gay Krause at (650) 949-7113.

Tomorrow is "Super Hero" day at my school and I have put together a pink outfit of SUPER GIRL!!! Yeah, I have a pink t-shirt with a pink and purple "S" on the front that I'm going to wear with my pink adidas shoes, a pink belt and pig tails. I have a pink necklace that says "angel" with matching pink dangly earrings. I was trying to find some kind of ribbon or crown to wear with it, when I spoke out loud, "...If only I had a tiara!" Yeah, that's something I never thought I'd hear myself say.

But, I don't have one. So, I am putting together this string of pearls and string of pink sparkly beads to form a kind of headband. I'm also pinning on this lacey pink shawl my mom gave me to wear as a cape. I will indeed be Supergirl tomorrow. Sure beats crazy sock day.

I am the biggest abuser of sabbath days that I know. I constantly use my weekends to cram as much crap into as possible. My drive to organize my homelife (cleaning, groceries, etc.) combined with Josh's social drive consistently leaves me exhausted when the new week begins. I find that when I take a day every week or two to just veg out, I find a sense of calm and reconnect with God. But, when I am lacking that time I enter the week stressed and sometimes scrambling.

I need the strength to claim my sabbath. To be able to say, "Sorry, can't hang out, gotta chill out today." Which is difficult becase Josh's idea of sabbath is hanging out with friends. His extrovertedness gets a much needed sustenance from the presence of freinds (think hummingbird to nectar). Where, I generally get energy sucked from too much social interaction. My job is usually plenty of social interaction for me. So, how do I balance my need for quiet time with Josh's need for social time without causing a disconnect between myself and my spouse? That's a difficult question and a difficult balance to maintain.

So, I went to Bible Gateway and did a search for the word Sabbath and read through all of the stuff on the sabbath. There is some crazy stuff, especially in Leviticus. Anyway, here are some parts that I found to be significant among the lot:

Exodus 16:15-30
Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.' "
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much-two omers for each person-and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD . So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD . You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 20: 8-11
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Ezekiel 20:12
Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.

Matthew 12: 6-14
I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
9Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
13Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

It's interesting to view the sabbath as God's covenant with His people for saving them from slavery and keeping them holy. It seems like keeping the sabbath is a huge sign of respect and thanks to the Lord. And, to know that He also desires for us to do good on the sabbath opens a bunch of questions of what is and is not okay to do. I mean, I could justify lots of things as being potentially "good." But, exactly, what is okay to do? I see where it is a lot easier to be pharisaical. But, God calls us to interact more with our world and our reliance on Him than just drawing big, hard lines between what we deem is good and evil.

You know, it's so weird to come back to Minnesota. I was trying to explain this to my dad and it all seemed so strange. When people ask me what I want my life to be like...I never know what to say. I mean, I want to glorify God. If I get pushed to be more specific, I might say that I want to glorify God with the gifts and talents He has given me (teaching, art, etc.).

This is odd coming from a girl who used to have her whole life planned. If you asked me in high school what I wanted my life to look like... I knew what I wanted to be, where I wanted to go to college, where I wanted to go to school...all that. And now, it's all out the window. I just am kind of open to whatever adventure comes up.

My dad asked me what it was like being back in Minnesota and I said that when I looked at myself I kind of saw two people. One person is the Californian Stephanie who is learning to surf, knows where practically every Starbucks in a 10 mile radius is located (which is actually currently a total of 59), loves the city life, works way hard, & is busy and bustling. She has lots of 1/2 done paintings and ideas, but gets frustrated at the lack of time or energy to make them. She is very world-oriented and wants to travel a lot and learn different languages.

The other me I see is the chilled out Minnesotan Stephanie who rides horses and has nothing planned for several weekends at a time. She reads and paints a lot and loves animals. She is very neighborhood-family oriented.

And they're so different. The things I really see in common between both Stephanie's is: Josh, Henson, Art, God. Everything else kind of comes and goes.

I don't know which Stephanie I'll be this time next year. Maybe a third personality will be added. I'm just kind of getting through this adventure of life, trying to avoid bumps and bruises whenever possible. I wish there was some way to be one Stephanie again. Or will I never be? Maybe I'll just keep adding more and more sides to myself as time goes on. What is the right way to go? Is this God teaching me to be all things to all men? Or do I just have a multi-personality disorder?

1 Corinthians 9
21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

I've had like six things every day for the past several weeks. Ick. It's that kind of business where your idea of a good time is a really really comfortable chair. Here's what I've been up to:

Grading, grading more, entering end of quarter grades, fielding parent calls, parent meetings, planning and doing small group, planning and doing Christian Club, leading worship @ a weekend retreat, attending meetings & doing homework for my National Board Certification, speaking at a technology fundraiser dinner, shopping to get pants & a boogie board, grading more stuff, bringing Henson-the-Psycho to the vet, cleaning my house, doing laundry (oh...the laundry got way to out of hand), considering a redesign for my studio space (I'm thinking shelves & drawers to put stuff in instead of piles), organizing a cross-curricular portfolio for all the 6th graders at my school, helping design/order for the art program at the new middle school, filling out recommendation forms for students, more grading, responding to an insane amount of e-mail (again...got way to out of hand), cooking meals, getting groceries, forgetting my parents' anniversary, taking pictures & starting a couple of paintings (recently put on hold due to the studio redesign idea), traveling the area with my mom and aunt, dinner with friends, volleyball league (practice and games...woo hoo, we're in first place!), listening to lots of people, writing grant proposals, ordering supplies, kiln washing my kiln, firing a ton of clay projects, buying children's books about art, Starbucks, Halloween/Birthday parties, Church, going to see David Sedaris read stuff, hanging out with Josh, Jr. High Church, listening to The Message and The Bible Jesus Read on my iPod, Reading Hurt and some book about Church leaders, website work, ePortfolio site work, meetings, organizing new curriculum, hanging out with students, fixing broken computers on campus and technological problem solving, forgetting to return phone calls, sorting through a giganto pile of papers...

You get the idea. It's been crazy. Here's hoping for an opening of calm.