Brailler Time

When your Mama teaches Braille, you get incredibly excited for a chance to use the brailler.

Back to Work

I returned to work this week, which is both hard and nice.  It's nice to get back to my routine and back to teaching... it's hard to be away from my little Hunter.

The best part of being back so far was when one of my students told me she made me a name plate for my office.  She said that every teacher in the school had their name on their office door, but my name was missing.  So she created a name badge for my office.

That was pretty awesome.

 

Working With Mama

When your Mama is a braille teacher, this is what you do when you come to work with Mama.  The ear protection is because the embosser is running and it is really loud.

 

Big God

I serve a really Big God.  My head knows this beyond a shadow of a doubt.

That being said, why am I repeatedly surprised by His abundant faithfulness?

Last night, I had to drive to a nearby city (by nearby, I mean, over an hour away) to work on some professional development Braille tests.  I need to take 15 of these Braille modules (tests) by December 2015.

There are three parts to each modules including transcribing braille (taking print and creating braille), interlining braille (taking braille and writing the print), and proof-reading (taking braille and identifying the errors in a passage).  All three parts are allowed two or less errors, and must be completed in one hour.

Since I will have to take all of the tests an hour away, I lined up seven for Friday evening to try to knock out about half of them.

I use braille all the time, but I am not tested on braille all the time.  I have been trying to use any free minute this week to review and practice for these modules.

By the middle of the week, I said to Hubby that I really have not had the time to study like I normally would because Tracey Ann gets all of my attention, and that's how it should be.  She is pulling herself up now, and, for safety reasons, she requires constant supervision and attention.  I told Hubby that I hoped, and was praying that God would honor my commitment to motherhood and bless my memory during these tests.

Before I left for the test, Hubby prayed that I would "blow them away with my awesomeness in braille."  Meanwhile I chuckled in my mind, thinking, "Oh, you're sweet, Darling, but really, I'll just be happy to pass."

And yet, I serve a Big God.

Why do I chuckle or scoff when my loving husband raises up a Big Prayer, like that one?  I serve a BIG GOD, and He hears all of the requests of His children and works all things together for good.

I not only passed all seven modules I had planned to take, but I finished most every module in about half the allotted time.  When I was finished, the proctor (a colleague of mine) told me that she has never seen anyone sit down and just peel out seven test modules like I did.  She said that people might get through four or five, but then fatigue sets in and they begin making stupid mistakes.  On the contrast, the more tests I brailled, the less errors I made.  For the first five modules, I had a few errors here and there -- but modules five, six, and seven were my strongest modules with one or less braille errors.

My hubby's exact prayer was answer -- for lack of a better phrase, I blew them away with my awesomeness in braille.  Of course none of it is my awesomeness, but rather God blessing the way I spent my time this week -- trying to study when I could, but devoting myself to the demands of motherhood and accepting that braille had to take a backseat to all of my at-home demands.

Seven modules down, eight to go, and you can bet I will not be so quick to chuckle at my husband's prayers before the next one.

Oh, the Irony...

When I was in elementary, middle, and high school, very little drove my daddy more crazy than I had to do "art projects" in academic subjects.

You know the assignments... a colorful poster board about Pearl Harbor, a painted Styrofoam ball to demonstrate the parts of a cell, a collage demonstrating geometry in the real world -- these assignments drove him crazy.  My dad attended school in the 30s and 40s and it was UNHEARD of that a student would be assigned an "art project" as a way of learning.

If I heard it once, I heard it a hundred times... "She's not going to be an artist... when are her collage-making skills going to come in handy in the real world?"

Oh, the Irony...
Little did he know...

I would not grow up to be an artist, but occasionally I have to flex an artistic bone and create tactile graphics for my students.  Yesterday I found myself creating the step-by-step formation of Colorado sand dunes.  I had some fun and got quite a chuckle realizing that I was doing an "art project" for my teaching job.

What do you think of my sand dunes?

Brooke As a Giver

Monday of Brooke's Birthday Week:

 Brooke As a Giver

Daily, my wife gives of herself to help kids who are in need of her expertise.

She wakes up hours before day light to teach braille, then she stays up late so she can translate documents into braille for those same students.  

If you have tried to read braille, it is a skill that requires deciphering skills Cold War spies would struggle with.  Then, to create worksheets where a student with full vision would have a hard time reading, and creating a way for a visually impaired student to read it takes imagination, determination, and genius.

Think about a line graph where there are different color lines, different symbols representing different points, and grid lines to show the points on the graph, and try and create that for a visually impaired student.  That takes a special person.

And that special person will not quit until she knows that what she creates will ensure that her student will have the same understanding of that graph as a sighted student.

I love being a teacher, and I know Brooke does too.

I would not want to do anything else in this world because every day I have the opportunity to impact a life and change the world forever.

However, I wish I was someone who made more money, for one simple fact:

Brooke would still give every extra penny we could spare to help anyone and everyone she found that needed help. 

• We would sponsor dozens of Compassion International kids rather than just two.

•  She would donate to every blog, friend, family member, or stranger that she saw needed support to help adopt a child, pay for hospital bills, mission trips, or anyone just down on their luck.  

• She would sponsor Christian Radio stations world-wide rather than just the local ones.

• She would adopt all of the lonely cats and dogs.

• She would adopt every lonely child in need of a family, love, and affection.

• She might start an organization that would pay people to cut their hair off, so she could get more people to donate hair for people who lost their hair because of one reason or another rather than just cutting her own hair every year or two. 

Look at her long beautiful hair.

Last year we tried a fried Twinkie on her birthday (it's not very good)

She's still beautiful, but now uses less shampoo.

Brooke is an amazing giver.  She gives of her time, her money, her wisdom, and her love.

This world is better because of Brooke, the giver.

Happy Birthday Week Brooke!

1000 Words

1000 Words

Braille Math lesson on Graphing Coordinates

Brl Bible and A Welcome Home

I have been with my parents up in Vail for the past two nights, and last night, I was SO happy to be home with my hubby.

He must have been pretty happy to have me home as well, because he came home with a very sweet, romantic card and a dozen roses!  This was really special because its the first time he's brought me flowers since we've been married.  In fairness to him, our kitty loves to eat flowers and tip vases over -- this week is perfect because she's being spoiled up in Vail with my parents, so we will get a few days with the flowers without having to hide them from Lexie.

In addition to the lovely flowers, I had some other packages waiting for me... the Bible in Braille.

Braille takes more space than print, so there is something called contracted Braille, which is a code of characters, or short-cuts in Braille.  The word "Braille" for example is not spelled "braille", but spelled "brl".  This is one symbol for "the", "and", "for", "ing", "sh", "ch", "gh", "wh", "ow", "th"... and SO many more!  There are 250 contractions in all.  This Braille Bible is written in the shortest way possible -- and it took 26 boxes to ship.

 

This is totally cool to have a Braille Bible... but I'm not really sure it will fit in my office.

It is great to be home, and it is awesome to love what I do!

Christmas Party Friday

HAPPY FRIDAY - - and OH, it IS a Happy Friday!

This afternoon starts Christmas Break and a two week vacation!

This week's Party Theme is Creative Christmas or Christmas Traditions with Christy. I don't really think of myself as a creative person -- but yesterday, my braille lesson was a big hit! Oh the miracles of peanut M&Ms and hot glue:

It says:
Hi (child's name)

If you can read
this you can eat m&ms.
Do you like m&ms very
much? I like them.
Miss
SandenA closer look at Miss Sanden
Other than the Braille lesson, I'm out of Creative Topics and on to Christmas Traditions.
I always send Christmas Cards.
*SPOILER ALERT*
*If you expect to receive a Christmas Card from me, beware because a picture of this year's card is forthcoming...*I bought my Christmas cards this year from the MD Anderson Cancer Center... they have some really cute items and the profits go to a wonderful cause.I always glue a Christmas letter on the left and write a handwritten note of some sort on the right... Christmas cards take a LOT of my time in the weeks before Christmas, but its one of my traditions!

This is an interesting year for me to write about traditions because it is the first year, I will not be with my parents for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. I will be in St. Louis experiencing the Miller Family traditions for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning.

The Sanden Christmas Eve involves French Onion Soup and a late night Christmas Eve Service... evidently the Miller Family Christmas Eve involves a BIG extended family get together and a Steal-Your-Neighbor's-Gift Exchange. Both traditions... both very different! :-D

Regardless of the next few weeks, one of my Christmas traditions sounds simple, but I'm learning I'm unique in my tradition: I ALWAYS get and decorate a fresh-cut Christmas tree. This sounds like such a given to me -- but each year I discover more and more of my twenty-something friends and acquaintances who are single/not married/do not own a home/go home to their parents' home for Christmas, do not put up and decorate their own trees.
I ALWAYS DO!
I LOVE ornaments and I have a big (and each year it keeps getting bigger) box of my own ornaments that I keep with me, wherever I'm living and I can decorate an entire 6-foot tree with memorable ornaments through the years.This little guy was a present from my best friend growing up, given to me in middle school. We always took her to Vail with us where we taught her to ski.This ornament was an extra ornament that my preschoolers made their parents last year.Plenty of harps adorn my tree because I played the harp very seriously for a number of years... it is my hope to someday play the harp more regularly again... it just hasn't happened in a while.

I love this Holy Family Lenox ornament my parents gave me last year -- Mary holding the baby Jesus with Joseph right beside her. It is hanging in the front of the my tree just under the star.

It is also a Christmas tradition of mine that when I wrap presents, the room becomes a MESS -- I think of it as Santa's workshop -- A VERY MESSY WORKSHOP! Lexie loves to play with the paper, ribbons and bows and I sing along to a favorite Christmas movie!

Some gifts are ready to go...What are your Christmas Traditions?

Flying Colors!

Just taking a quick minute to pass along my good news.

I passed my Braille Test with...I earned 92/100 on the multiple choice part and 100% on my braille transcription part! I am so happy all that hard work and studying paid off!

Thank you for all your prayers throughout that process - the WEEKS and WEEKS of studying, the pre-test anxieties and the actual test-taking. Thank you for walking with me through this process.Happy Monday!

Braille Tests: DONE!

Saturday Test: Done!
Monday Test: Done!THANK YOU for the prayers through this process. It has not sunk in that my tests are finished -- partially since I've been fighting a losing battle against a headache all day. I won't know how I've done on then for a few weeks... but I felt really good about them.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Dear Ones!
(I can tell you the braille for that sentence if you'd like...)

The Easy Part

How do you feel about tests?
My dad always said "You've studied, you've worked hard... taking the test is the easy part." I didn't always agree with him (those years of middle school tests evoked more stress than ease) but after YEARS of tests... and more importantly, YEARS of STUDYING, I completely agree with him.Tomorrow, I will begin my 2 standardized tests in 48 hours (1pm Saturday-1pm Monday) PAR-TAY! :-D Prayers will be appreciated, but I feel prepared -- at least READY TO STOP STUDYING and put the pencil to paper (and braille writer to paper) and take it.Have a great weekend before Thanksgiving and my prayers are with you for safe travels and a restful and blessed Holiday.