With a sincere apology

. . .for the immense amount of time that has lapsed since my last entry, I offer this look at the New Year.

January has brought many changes to my school. With the world's economies suffering, many of our families felt the crunch very close to home. We had around 30 students who left to move back to Korea or to other places in China at the end of the first semester.
This was a new experience for me. I heard so many times as I went through various trainings about the transient nature of our student population and how that affects how my students build relationships. However, it's one thing to know something and entirely different to experience it first hand. We had 3 sixth graders leave and they were all very dynamic students.
-->John always knew exactly what to say at exactly the right moment to make the entire class laugh. Most memorable was his picture of baptism that looked like a person holding Humpty Dumpty upside down by his feet in order to dunk him in the water.
-->Claire was brand new to our school this year but made friends quickly with her sweetness and kindness.
-->Charlie was one of those rare kids who knew and respected the line between having fun in class and being a distraction. He would always have something funny to say and generally waited until the right moment to say it. He was a very positive force among the boys in my homeroom and I can definitely tell the difference now that he is not here any more.

I also had two eighth graders leave. In a class full of personality, these two boys definitely were still able to stick out and make their mark.
-->Kevin had been at our school since elementary school. He loved to debate and argue and persuade in class. . .especially when it came to persuading me to let them out of doing their work. But he worked hard and did some really amazing things in my class.
-->Epic was just flat-out cool. All the teachers agreed and so did his classmates. But what I really appreciated about Epic was his willingness to participate and his attentiveness in class. Sometimes, I would add in my own semi-sarcastic two cents to a class conversation and Epic would always laugh because he heard everything.
Both of these boys were real leaders in their class and they left a big hole. There are several boys who really could step up and fill that hole and I'm excited to see what happens.

As you can imagine, these first few weeks are a big time of transition and adjustment because, not only did 30 kids leave, but we had about 40 students join our family. The other 6th grade homeroom went from having 14 students to having 19. Again, as a teacher, I have never had this experience before. Sure, learning about and getting to know one new student in the middle of the year isn't too hard. . .but I came back to 7 new students with 3 more on the way. So I would definitely appreciate you lifting up our entire school family as we welcome all of the new students. . .that new students would feel welcome and find their place quickly. . .that the other students would be friendly and continue to grow towards their potential. . .and that all of the teachers would be able to understand and reach the students. Especially as I am teaching The Book, it's difficult to get a feel for where my new students are coming from, what they know and what their hearts are like on top of communicating in their second language.

Thank you for being so faithful in lifting me up and encouraging me. Please know that even the shortest post on facebook is greatly appreciated. I sincerely hope to communicate and post more frequently as we start the second half of the school year.
I love and miss you all!