Inside the Mind of a Jesus Follower

The long winter months can settle into your bones, and seep into your skin. The biting winds, blowing snow, ice covered playground can bring a chill to more than just your nose. It can make you feel less than cheerful. The warmth that usually works its way into your heart may be harder to find when all you want to do is curl up in your cozy bed, with a book and a hot beverage. However, no matter what you feel like you still have a job to do. Unlike other professions, you cannot hide away in your office or cubicle. Instead you are surrounded all day by small or large students begging for your positive attention. They do not care if you are in a slump, or feeling the winter cold blues. They want you to be present, not just there. So, I have a few suggestions to help you keep warm in your classroom when Old Man Winter has curled your toes in agony. Bracelets Sisters reminding us to be kind even if we are faced with the cold. 1. SMILE! Yes that is right. Smile, when you feel bad, dow...

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Governor’s Anti-Bullying Summit Today, I joined fellow colleagues, our fearless leader, Mr. Pedersen, and about 20 students from the amazing Cardinal Community School District for the Governor’s Anti-Bullying Summit.   If you recall the Fourth Grade Bully Busters submitted a video for the Governor’s Anti-Bullying Video Contest early last month.   Today was the day we learned the results of that contest. The speakers at the conference were powerful, and motivating.   There were many great points made about bullying and how we must all stand up to help prevent this type of behavior in our schools.   I loved the quote,   “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent.” This was a quote by Martin Luther King Jr., and it is every bit applicable today, as it was when he stood up, for the oppression individuals faced in our country not so long ago.   Nobody wants to be labeled a bully, but we all have the power to be one or to stand against one. ...

In the world of education we have those moments which are absolutely amazing, and then there are those that are beyond words. These are the moments when all the obstacles in front of a student are broken down, and seem to fade away.  When the opportunities in the world are endless, achievable, and within reach. Today we had our minds "blown," and our horizons expanded. We met a new technology called zSpace that for a moment made us feel like real scientist, and learning was a totally new concept.   3D view I took through the glasses. zSpace is an interactive 3D technology, which allows students to wear a set of glasses and hold a pen to look at objects in 3D. They are able to turn the object, dissect it, pull it apart, twist it in all directions and look inside. The zSpace representative graciously came to visit all the way from California. She was a contact made through my husband, Gavin Gardner. Gavin is the Director of the medical simulation lab at Des Moines Unive...