You know there's always more to a job than you think there is, or than you know about. For example, I worked at a christian bookstore for 14 months. My thought going into it was, "What else will I be doing besides helping people find things, cleaning, being a cashier, and stocking things?" Now I laugh at the thought. We had to:
-answer the phone which was an all encompassing task and could take forever
-people wanted things put on hold which required certain computer things as well as finding the item and putting it somewhere
-doing special orders through the computer
-calling people when the special orders came in
-looking for 1 item in the entire store that was misplaced or in the back somewhere
-finding boxes for certain things that people bought
-moving things around a million times
-changing all the endcaps (shelves on the ends of each isle) and certain shelves each month to specific books that a chart told us to do
-finding and labeling things as on sale or clearance
-finding and pulling things that venders wanted us to return (that they decided not to sell anymore)
-take off all the gifts from the shelves and windex them, and then put all the gifts back on (they were glass shelves)
-put price stickers on things and change them if they were wrong
-at certain times we had to go through and put things back in alphabetical order because people would stick books back in the wrong places
-imprint bibles with names (thankfully just the guys did that, not the girls)
-shrink wrap things that had been opened
-reorganize the stock room which got messy from all of us sticking things back there in no order because we were in a hurry
-put boxed cards on shelves in a very specific order according to the chart. Ugh.
-straighten the bible covers which always fell off the wall, got mixed up (instead of the same ones being together) and it just looked bad sometimes
I am not yet an elementary teacher, but I do know some of the things I'll have to do that I didn't know before I started college. I know there will be more to come that I'll learn about when I actually AM a teacher....but here is the starting list. It's not just fun and games people. It's not just babysitting! It's not just an easy major / job when you don't know what else you should do. :-)
-when you write a lesson plan you have to make accomodations for kids who are slower / below level, and those who are faster / ahead as well as those on grade level
-writing lesson plans takes a long time. You have to use the standards for your state as well, and show how you taught the appropriate things.
-you have to figure out how you're going to assess the students on what you just taught, to prove if they got it or not, without doing a whole bunch of quizes or tests. That includes projects, a simple checklist, etc.
-parent - teacher conferences. You have to have good data / work from each student to show where they are, not just be subjective
-kids who have special needs (learning disabilities, ADD / ADHD, autism, etc) will be in a regular classroom. In that case you have to make accomodations for those students in how you teach. You also have to have meetings with the parents and other teachers in order to figure out what best works for those students, and a long process of paperwork if you think the student needs to go into a special education class or have another teacher with that student.
-English Language Learners - kids who come in and don't speak any english! That is difficult to teach to!
-the discipline in a classroom is a huge deal. You have to do it right. There are so many different things you can do.
-there's tatling, kids who refuse to do their work, arguing / fighting, kids who cry often, anger issues, clingy kids, kids who need constant attention and do random things to get it, lying, stealing, distracting, and so many other things
-it's good to teach in a creative / engaging way, but that's hard to do when the material is boring / dry
-you have to set routines such as getting in line, walking down the hallways in line, attendance, what to do first thing in the morning since they all come in at different times, what signals them to be quiet without the teacher having to raise her voice above everyone elses', how to make lunch choices in the morning, and more
-teachers have to spend one-on-one time or small group times with all students. This means running centers / stations while she pulls certain students. They do things like track their reading through marking on a piece of paper when they miss words, ask them questions to summarize, predict, and explain books, work with struggling kids in other areas, and more.
-grade papers
-change up the bulleton boards sometimes, or things hanging outside the walls
-keep the parents informed through things like blogs / websites for the teachers, send home letters, e-mails, and sometimes make phone calls home
-the teachers have to buy all the supplies, posters, "treasure box" toys / things, classroom books, and anything else needed. So it's always expensive!!
-if there are field trips that takes a lot of work
-teachers have to do things like bus or car duty in the morning or afternoon
-remember which kids have allergies so they aren't around them
-other school events such as assemblies, fall festivals, fundraisers, PTA meetings, staff meetings, additional classes each year to keep learning and keep your certificate valid
-fire drills, tornado drills, practice lock-downs
-kids throw up, can't tie their own shoes, cough without covering their mouths, can't button their pants after using the bathroom, use too much hand sanatizer, accidently tear your books, and take two weeks to finish an assignment that everyone else finished in 2 days.
-a teacher doesn't just teach academics, she also teaches appropriate behavior, how to problem solve when you're in an argument, she is sometimes a motherly figure, she may be the only one who listens to them ramble because the parents work late and then the kids go to bed, she is someone who could notice abuse or neglect, can be a councelor, may help provide kids with food when they don't have any, has to be aware when students need to go to the doctor for hearing or vision loss / weakening, and is a role model
Some of those things are hard and stressful. But there are also so many rewards! Well for one thing kids say the funniest things sometimes, sometimes on purpose and sometimes without realizing it. Some look up to the teacher as if she walks on water. It's great to see progress in kids. It's great to see them learning. It's great when you see them excited about something. Kids sometimes like school more than they do being at home. Even in a year some kids mature and you can tell. You get to see these little people explore the world and learn things for the first time with wide eyes. They have creativity that adults have often lost, they're not afraid to ask the tough questions about learning or even about life, and they begin to develop interests / talents that you get to see develop. I was 7 when I started playing piano, 7 when I really started running with writing (stories, poems, letters, journaling) and 9 when I knew I wanted to become a teacher.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
One of my strongest and weakest traits all rolled into one.
Isn't it funny that one of your strongest strenghs can also be one of your strongest weaknesses?
I care about people a lot. I'm good at keeping in touch with people (unless they're non-responsive), and I have a huge heart. I'm very empathetic, I want to do things for my friends when they need help, I want to show people I care for them in some way or another, I pray for others often, and I am a dependable friend. On the flip side, I'm horrible at saying goodbye and letting people go.
I'm not sure when I realized this, but it was just over the past few years. It's always been strong in me, I just never pinpointed it.
I cried at the end of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade because I knew I wouldn't see them over the summer, and the teachers I had would no longer be my teachers. At the end of 5th grade it was a lot worse and I worried for like a month prior to finishing school because I didn't want to go to middle school. I thought I would never see my teachers again, and I wouldn't have classes with my friends. Same thing with the end of 7th grade when I went to a new middle school, the end of 8th grade when I was going on to high school, and the end of 12th grade when I was going on to college. As people in my life that I cared about moved away, I was really upset. At the end of my first trip to Kenya I bawled my eyes out, and at the end of my 2nd I didn't cry but it was heavy in my heart for a long time.
In response to that, I've kept in touch with a LOT of my teachers from elementary, middle, and high school. Mostly through e-mails or facebook, but I still have lunch with some of them every now and then, and have helped out my 3rd grade teacher in her classroom at times. I've seen them more than just people who taught me the academics and content knowledge, but people who are just great people. People who have impacted me, encouraged me, gave me good advice, and shaped me. I've kept up with many friends from school and church. College has been different....I haven't kept in touch with as many people in college.
Besides friends, there are minor times when I recognize this odd trait in me. Like today. I've had 10 weeks of classes with the same exact people in all 4 of my classes. 10 weeks isn't that long, but I've grown close to some, and think highly of others even if we're not as close. It was sad because I know that even though we've said we'll keep in touch and get together a few more times this semester, I probably won't see but maybe two of them ever again after that. At the end of two of my classes, I was sad because they were great professors and I knew I may not ever see them again.
There are people in my life who were once in my life and I thought the world of them. They impacted me in ways they'll never know. But now they're not part of my life, and I'm ok with it. I still think highly of them, but life moves on, and I don't miss them anymore. There are other people in my life who I still feel the need to keep in touch with even though there may not be a time anymore that we will be close as we used to.
And I try to step back and see the bigger picture. I know that God will bring GREAT people into my life no matter where I go, what job I have, what church I'm at, where I live. I know that some of those great people will only be in my life for a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. I guess it's hard for me to know which ones are worth fighting for. Which ones are worth putting in the effort to keep in touch even when it's not convenient. And maybe part of it is how the other person feels about it too.
I have a friend named Kelly. We've been friends for 11 years now. Through the ups and downs of middle school, high school, college, and now careers, we have kept in touch. Sometimes we'd only talk 2 or 3 times a year, and only see each other once a year, and sometimes it was more often. But I knew that if I called her, she would answer, or she'd call back, and we'd talk and it would be good. She's been one of the very few people in my life so far that I'm pretty sure could be in my life for the next 10 years. There are others I wish we were still close, but they just don't respond when I try to keep in touch with them, and it's frustrating and it hurts. But some people just move on easier.
I've got a long journey ahead as a teacher - I'm sure it won't be easy each year as the kids in my class leave! And teachers will change jobs, be relocated, retire, and all of those will happen to me. Hopefully with time my ability to say goodbye and let people go will improve.
I care about people a lot. I'm good at keeping in touch with people (unless they're non-responsive), and I have a huge heart. I'm very empathetic, I want to do things for my friends when they need help, I want to show people I care for them in some way or another, I pray for others often, and I am a dependable friend. On the flip side, I'm horrible at saying goodbye and letting people go.
I'm not sure when I realized this, but it was just over the past few years. It's always been strong in me, I just never pinpointed it.
I cried at the end of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade because I knew I wouldn't see them over the summer, and the teachers I had would no longer be my teachers. At the end of 5th grade it was a lot worse and I worried for like a month prior to finishing school because I didn't want to go to middle school. I thought I would never see my teachers again, and I wouldn't have classes with my friends. Same thing with the end of 7th grade when I went to a new middle school, the end of 8th grade when I was going on to high school, and the end of 12th grade when I was going on to college. As people in my life that I cared about moved away, I was really upset. At the end of my first trip to Kenya I bawled my eyes out, and at the end of my 2nd I didn't cry but it was heavy in my heart for a long time.
In response to that, I've kept in touch with a LOT of my teachers from elementary, middle, and high school. Mostly through e-mails or facebook, but I still have lunch with some of them every now and then, and have helped out my 3rd grade teacher in her classroom at times. I've seen them more than just people who taught me the academics and content knowledge, but people who are just great people. People who have impacted me, encouraged me, gave me good advice, and shaped me. I've kept up with many friends from school and church. College has been different....I haven't kept in touch with as many people in college.
Besides friends, there are minor times when I recognize this odd trait in me. Like today. I've had 10 weeks of classes with the same exact people in all 4 of my classes. 10 weeks isn't that long, but I've grown close to some, and think highly of others even if we're not as close. It was sad because I know that even though we've said we'll keep in touch and get together a few more times this semester, I probably won't see but maybe two of them ever again after that. At the end of two of my classes, I was sad because they were great professors and I knew I may not ever see them again.
There are people in my life who were once in my life and I thought the world of them. They impacted me in ways they'll never know. But now they're not part of my life, and I'm ok with it. I still think highly of them, but life moves on, and I don't miss them anymore. There are other people in my life who I still feel the need to keep in touch with even though there may not be a time anymore that we will be close as we used to.
And I try to step back and see the bigger picture. I know that God will bring GREAT people into my life no matter where I go, what job I have, what church I'm at, where I live. I know that some of those great people will only be in my life for a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. I guess it's hard for me to know which ones are worth fighting for. Which ones are worth putting in the effort to keep in touch even when it's not convenient. And maybe part of it is how the other person feels about it too.
I have a friend named Kelly. We've been friends for 11 years now. Through the ups and downs of middle school, high school, college, and now careers, we have kept in touch. Sometimes we'd only talk 2 or 3 times a year, and only see each other once a year, and sometimes it was more often. But I knew that if I called her, she would answer, or she'd call back, and we'd talk and it would be good. She's been one of the very few people in my life so far that I'm pretty sure could be in my life for the next 10 years. There are others I wish we were still close, but they just don't respond when I try to keep in touch with them, and it's frustrating and it hurts. But some people just move on easier.
I've got a long journey ahead as a teacher - I'm sure it won't be easy each year as the kids in my class leave! And teachers will change jobs, be relocated, retire, and all of those will happen to me. Hopefully with time my ability to say goodbye and let people go will improve.
Friday, October 15, 2010
No title can accurately sum up this post!! :-D
Someone said to me tonight, "It looks like you've got a lot on your mind." Why yes, I do - does my face show it?!
Classes end next week, but I still have some projects / papers due.
For my time in the 2nd grade classroom, I have to write a 5 day lesson (1 each day, all related to one theme but on different subject areas) and then teach them with a teacher from KSU writing about me. Ahhh! And also do things like a map of the classroom, an interactive bulleton board, create and do centers, etc. The work load is heavy. I haven't been able to start any of that because I've had things due for my classes.
I've gone once or twice a week for the past 8 weeks to the elementary school, and it wipes me out! I go home and take a 2 - 3 hour nap!! Starting Oct 26 I will go every day until the end of November. (Except Thanksgiving break of course.)
Besides school related things I've got other things on my mind as well....dealing with certain people, we'll leave it at that.
The past two weeks weather wise has been CRAZY!!! Sometimes it's SO cold and other times it's SO hot. Not a fan of this back and forth-ness. ;-)
I stink at time management!!!!
I'm back on facebook.
I tried the salted caramel hot chocolate at Starbucks and didn't like it. But some of my friends said they LOVED it! What's wrong with my tounge?
I'm going on a retreat with the young adults from my church the last weekend in October to a pretty cabin in the woods. It's only Fri night to Sun afternoon, but it will still be a good break. Especially a mental break!!! I will not think about school related things while I'm on it!!
I'm waiting for a loan to come in. Why does it take so long?
I need new shoes for being in the elementary school. I'm a tennis shoes kind of girl - that's all I want to wear! I have nice black shoes, but they don't go with things like khakis or a brown shirt, etc. I don't like heels. I don't like shoes that are pretty but hurt my feet or give me blisters. So tomorrow I go shoe shopping. I hate shopping for shoes, I'm just going to say. People who love shoes and buy a ton just confuse me. I don't even notice other people's shoes most of the time! They're on the ground....a long way from our heads and line of vision!! ;-)
I'd don't enjoy walking on the treadmill, even with music or a podcast. But I need to do it anyways.
I'm on Bejewelled Blitz (on facebook) too much. I aim to be #1. Who cares? Right? Nobody goes, "Oh, Jennifer's awesome because she's number one on Bejewelled Blitz." Yet I continue at it. Even when I reach #1 I think, "Well I need to keep playing to earn more coins which will help me in case somebody beats me, or when the scores reset next week." And time slips away.
There are moments when I wish I was in Kenya again. I wish I could be there, hands on, to help people who really need it. People who don't know God. To live more simply. To serve. To talk to the great people that we've made friends with on our trips there. Some of them have impacted my life in ways they'll never know.
I wonder where I will apply for jobs as a teacher next summer. I wonder how long it will take me to find a job, what grade I will teach, how long my drive to and from school will be, if I will have to move, if I will bomb questions in interviews, if I will love my job or hate my job, if I will have enough money to get supplies for my room some day, and what kind of teachers will be on my hall and grade that I work with.
My Week
Good: bible studies, retreat coming up soon, it was nice being able to get back on facebook, I'm thankful for my friends Sarah and Courtney from my classes
Bad: took long naps after being in the elementary school two days this week, have to find new shoes this weekend, I was on Bejewelled Blitz for too long, overwhelmed about school work
Exciting: only 1 week left of classes, watched the 33 miners being pulled out of the mine in Chilie after 70 days of being stuck down there (I only watched parts of it)
Boring: classes for the most part
Classes end next week, but I still have some projects / papers due.
For my time in the 2nd grade classroom, I have to write a 5 day lesson (1 each day, all related to one theme but on different subject areas) and then teach them with a teacher from KSU writing about me. Ahhh! And also do things like a map of the classroom, an interactive bulleton board, create and do centers, etc. The work load is heavy. I haven't been able to start any of that because I've had things due for my classes.
I've gone once or twice a week for the past 8 weeks to the elementary school, and it wipes me out! I go home and take a 2 - 3 hour nap!! Starting Oct 26 I will go every day until the end of November. (Except Thanksgiving break of course.)
Besides school related things I've got other things on my mind as well....dealing with certain people, we'll leave it at that.
The past two weeks weather wise has been CRAZY!!! Sometimes it's SO cold and other times it's SO hot. Not a fan of this back and forth-ness. ;-)
I stink at time management!!!!
I'm back on facebook.
I tried the salted caramel hot chocolate at Starbucks and didn't like it. But some of my friends said they LOVED it! What's wrong with my tounge?
I'm going on a retreat with the young adults from my church the last weekend in October to a pretty cabin in the woods. It's only Fri night to Sun afternoon, but it will still be a good break. Especially a mental break!!! I will not think about school related things while I'm on it!!
I'm waiting for a loan to come in. Why does it take so long?
I need new shoes for being in the elementary school. I'm a tennis shoes kind of girl - that's all I want to wear! I have nice black shoes, but they don't go with things like khakis or a brown shirt, etc. I don't like heels. I don't like shoes that are pretty but hurt my feet or give me blisters. So tomorrow I go shoe shopping. I hate shopping for shoes, I'm just going to say. People who love shoes and buy a ton just confuse me. I don't even notice other people's shoes most of the time! They're on the ground....a long way from our heads and line of vision!! ;-)
I'd don't enjoy walking on the treadmill, even with music or a podcast. But I need to do it anyways.
I'm on Bejewelled Blitz (on facebook) too much. I aim to be #1. Who cares? Right? Nobody goes, "Oh, Jennifer's awesome because she's number one on Bejewelled Blitz." Yet I continue at it. Even when I reach #1 I think, "Well I need to keep playing to earn more coins which will help me in case somebody beats me, or when the scores reset next week." And time slips away.
There are moments when I wish I was in Kenya again. I wish I could be there, hands on, to help people who really need it. People who don't know God. To live more simply. To serve. To talk to the great people that we've made friends with on our trips there. Some of them have impacted my life in ways they'll never know.
I wonder where I will apply for jobs as a teacher next summer. I wonder how long it will take me to find a job, what grade I will teach, how long my drive to and from school will be, if I will have to move, if I will bomb questions in interviews, if I will love my job or hate my job, if I will have enough money to get supplies for my room some day, and what kind of teachers will be on my hall and grade that I work with.
My Week
Good: bible studies, retreat coming up soon, it was nice being able to get back on facebook, I'm thankful for my friends Sarah and Courtney from my classes
Bad: took long naps after being in the elementary school two days this week, have to find new shoes this weekend, I was on Bejewelled Blitz for too long, overwhelmed about school work
Exciting: only 1 week left of classes, watched the 33 miners being pulled out of the mine in Chilie after 70 days of being stuck down there (I only watched parts of it)
Boring: classes for the most part
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Oh - it's due in 3 days and not 10 days? Awesome. Just what I hoped for.
OH MY GOSH.
In my social studies class we've been doing a major paper / project (or two....or three) every week for 9 weeks. She's graded them and handed them back for us to make corrections to complie them all in one big notebook at the end of our 10 weeks. They've all been group projects, and thank GOD I've had good partners! (There's 3 of us.) BUT we thought it was due not this Tuesday, but next Tuesday. I'm at Starbucks right now and I came to work on the Social Studies project due this week, and saw 3 girls from my classes here. They said, "How's your final compliation going?" "Well, we haven't corrected everything yet, we'll get to it." "It's due THIS Tuesday," one girl said. "WHAT!!!!!!!" I said. I called my two group memebers and they also flipped out!!! Now we'll have to get together some time before Tuesday, and OH MAN we've got to work HARD to pull it together because we thought we had another week!!! :-( I wonder who else doesn't know it's due this week. :-(
So.....yep.
Two more weeks of classes and I'm done with classes for college! Until I go back for my masters some day. However I still have a lot of work due for my time in the elementary school that I'll have to turn in at the end.
AHH!
My tounge is burned because I tasted a sample of the pumpkin spice latte. It wasn't bad, but I didn't really like it either. Thankfully it was a sample. Also, they have a new size of drinks at starbucks - trenta! It's HUGE! I'd get sick if I drank that much!!
I baby-sat yesterday for 3 and 4 year old girls (not related), from 6:15 AM (one woke up at 6:30) til 4:15 PM. LONG day! Thankfully they played together without me a lot. They dressed up as princesses which was cute with plastic jewelry and fancy dresses, they picked "flowers" which were yellow weeds, I took them to the park and they got to play on the BIG kids playground since no one else was there, and more. Such cute girls. I went home and slept 2 and a half hours though!
Well....I need to do some homework. :-( I kind of feel like I'm standing at the bottom of a mountain looking up, knowing that I have to climb it all, but not feeling up for it.
In my social studies class we've been doing a major paper / project (or two....or three) every week for 9 weeks. She's graded them and handed them back for us to make corrections to complie them all in one big notebook at the end of our 10 weeks. They've all been group projects, and thank GOD I've had good partners! (There's 3 of us.) BUT we thought it was due not this Tuesday, but next Tuesday. I'm at Starbucks right now and I came to work on the Social Studies project due this week, and saw 3 girls from my classes here. They said, "How's your final compliation going?" "Well, we haven't corrected everything yet, we'll get to it." "It's due THIS Tuesday," one girl said. "WHAT!!!!!!!" I said. I called my two group memebers and they also flipped out!!! Now we'll have to get together some time before Tuesday, and OH MAN we've got to work HARD to pull it together because we thought we had another week!!! :-( I wonder who else doesn't know it's due this week. :-(
So.....yep.
Two more weeks of classes and I'm done with classes for college! Until I go back for my masters some day. However I still have a lot of work due for my time in the elementary school that I'll have to turn in at the end.
AHH!
My tounge is burned because I tasted a sample of the pumpkin spice latte. It wasn't bad, but I didn't really like it either. Thankfully it was a sample. Also, they have a new size of drinks at starbucks - trenta! It's HUGE! I'd get sick if I drank that much!!
I baby-sat yesterday for 3 and 4 year old girls (not related), from 6:15 AM (one woke up at 6:30) til 4:15 PM. LONG day! Thankfully they played together without me a lot. They dressed up as princesses which was cute with plastic jewelry and fancy dresses, they picked "flowers" which were yellow weeds, I took them to the park and they got to play on the BIG kids playground since no one else was there, and more. Such cute girls. I went home and slept 2 and a half hours though!
Well....I need to do some homework. :-( I kind of feel like I'm standing at the bottom of a mountain looking up, knowing that I have to climb it all, but not feeling up for it.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Why are young adults missing from the church?
Today I had lunch with my friend Allie. I'm thankful that we've gotten together over the past few months, she's awesome. We ate at Panera Bread. Their mac and cheese (with white cheddar) is SO good. I then went to a few stores at the Avenue, a bunch of nice shops all together. One store was a GIANT jewelry store called, "Charming Charlie." Beats me why it's called that because it's a girl's store. They sepearte their jewelry (and other accessories such as scarves, hats, and purses) by color within the store. I'm allergic to metal, so I don't wear jewelry, but they had some that were just beads and I got two. I like them.
Sunday I went to my home church and there was a guest speaker. Two actually. One was a guy who runs a college ministry at my college, and then a guy a year younger than me (he's 21) who works with another church's youth group now who used to go to that church with me. They talked about how a lot of times kids were so involved at church through their youth group, and then were sent off to college with no one keeping up with them, and he said 85% of them stopped going to church, with only 15% returning years later. He said this is SUCH a critical time because it's when we're given total freedom, we begin to train for (or start) our careers, we search for and find spouses, and we form our lives. We have big dreams (because we don't have all the negatives experiences yet) and we run around without a church to guide us. True! I agree with them. I have stuck with the church, but don't know many my age who have.
Sometimes the question is....why? And once you understand the why, then you have to say, "What do we do now?" Here are my reasons why I think young adults don't go to church, or some reasons that make me not want to even though I do.
Why Young Adults Probably Don't or Don't Want To Go To Church
1. Sometimes the music is really old, very formal, or we just flat out don't like it.
2. Sometimes the sermons don't relate to us AT ALL! They might be focused towards families as a whole, parents, or very basic parts of the bible that we feel we've heard too many times. Sometimes the sermons are too long. Sometimes they don't cover what we're really searching for.
3. With college work and jobs, our free time is limited. A lot of people want to sleep in on the weekends, or take that time to spend with their significant other and/or friends
4. If there's no young adults program / bible study at the church, then we feel out of place, don't know where to grow if all the bible studies and sunday schools are for older adults, and we lose community because it's different having friends your age instead of people all older than you. It's especially hard when you were so close with a youth group and then not to have anyone to hang out with.
5. Suddenly what you believed in high school is challeneged, whether it be through college and the people you meet, or the circumstances around you that happened. It's when you start getting confused, start doubting things, start hurting because of things, and it's easy to pull away from it all when it gets to be that way
6. Sometimes we don't know where to serve in the church. When I came right out of high school I knew I wanted to help with the middle and high school group, but was too close to their age, and since I knew them all they may not have listened to me. But we feel to young to jump into other responibilities, especially not knowing how long we can comit to it with the possibility of moving, changing job schedules, etc.
7. Anyone who's parents forced them to go to church or who weren't strong in their relationship with God in high school probably just doesn't want to go anymore and doesn't see the importance of church.
8. Along with our big goals and dreams, I think a lot of young adults want more creativity and modern things in the church, such as coffee and hot choclate in the lobby of a church, switching things up in the service sometimes, videos on the screen sometimes, etc.
Second question, what do you do then? My church is currently starting up a Sun night service that will start in January for young adults with young people being "the face" of it all - the greeters, the people who make and serve the coffee in the lobby, the people who will make short videos for the advertisement. We will sometimes have tables with chairs instead of rows of chairs in the worship center / sanctuary so that people get to know each other instead of sitting all by themselves. I really hope it grows and reaches a lot of people. I've been to several big worship services for young adults that have all been great, but what's missing is the community part. You have to join small groups in order to stay. Although they're usually offered at most of the, I haven't ever gotten involved in them because of my own church schedules.
For other churches, I honestly don't know. I think it has to be a relationship thing. You have to have someone who takes the time to call people of that age, does events often even if it's just fun stuff, and builds friendships before jumping in and offering bibile studies. Even with my church, it's died down in numbers because people get married, move, have kids, change jobs, etc. that interfere with their schedule or location. I also think that in those bible studies, you have to get down to the deep questions or else they'll come away saying, "Well that was nothing new to me."
Sunday I went to my home church and there was a guest speaker. Two actually. One was a guy who runs a college ministry at my college, and then a guy a year younger than me (he's 21) who works with another church's youth group now who used to go to that church with me. They talked about how a lot of times kids were so involved at church through their youth group, and then were sent off to college with no one keeping up with them, and he said 85% of them stopped going to church, with only 15% returning years later. He said this is SUCH a critical time because it's when we're given total freedom, we begin to train for (or start) our careers, we search for and find spouses, and we form our lives. We have big dreams (because we don't have all the negatives experiences yet) and we run around without a church to guide us. True! I agree with them. I have stuck with the church, but don't know many my age who have.
Sometimes the question is....why? And once you understand the why, then you have to say, "What do we do now?" Here are my reasons why I think young adults don't go to church, or some reasons that make me not want to even though I do.
Why Young Adults Probably Don't or Don't Want To Go To Church
1. Sometimes the music is really old, very formal, or we just flat out don't like it.
2. Sometimes the sermons don't relate to us AT ALL! They might be focused towards families as a whole, parents, or very basic parts of the bible that we feel we've heard too many times. Sometimes the sermons are too long. Sometimes they don't cover what we're really searching for.
3. With college work and jobs, our free time is limited. A lot of people want to sleep in on the weekends, or take that time to spend with their significant other and/or friends
4. If there's no young adults program / bible study at the church, then we feel out of place, don't know where to grow if all the bible studies and sunday schools are for older adults, and we lose community because it's different having friends your age instead of people all older than you. It's especially hard when you were so close with a youth group and then not to have anyone to hang out with.
5. Suddenly what you believed in high school is challeneged, whether it be through college and the people you meet, or the circumstances around you that happened. It's when you start getting confused, start doubting things, start hurting because of things, and it's easy to pull away from it all when it gets to be that way
6. Sometimes we don't know where to serve in the church. When I came right out of high school I knew I wanted to help with the middle and high school group, but was too close to their age, and since I knew them all they may not have listened to me. But we feel to young to jump into other responibilities, especially not knowing how long we can comit to it with the possibility of moving, changing job schedules, etc.
7. Anyone who's parents forced them to go to church or who weren't strong in their relationship with God in high school probably just doesn't want to go anymore and doesn't see the importance of church.
8. Along with our big goals and dreams, I think a lot of young adults want more creativity and modern things in the church, such as coffee and hot choclate in the lobby of a church, switching things up in the service sometimes, videos on the screen sometimes, etc.
Second question, what do you do then? My church is currently starting up a Sun night service that will start in January for young adults with young people being "the face" of it all - the greeters, the people who make and serve the coffee in the lobby, the people who will make short videos for the advertisement. We will sometimes have tables with chairs instead of rows of chairs in the worship center / sanctuary so that people get to know each other instead of sitting all by themselves. I really hope it grows and reaches a lot of people. I've been to several big worship services for young adults that have all been great, but what's missing is the community part. You have to join small groups in order to stay. Although they're usually offered at most of the, I haven't ever gotten involved in them because of my own church schedules.
For other churches, I honestly don't know. I think it has to be a relationship thing. You have to have someone who takes the time to call people of that age, does events often even if it's just fun stuff, and builds friendships before jumping in and offering bibile studies. Even with my church, it's died down in numbers because people get married, move, have kids, change jobs, etc. that interfere with their schedule or location. I also think that in those bible studies, you have to get down to the deep questions or else they'll come away saying, "Well that was nothing new to me."
Friday, October 1, 2010
Craving water and creative teaching
I pretty much never drank water until college. My friend Kesley, and my mom, always got on to me saying that I really needed to drink water, but I just didn't like it. Once I started drinking water consistantly, I began to need it more. I get thirsty for water more. It was difficult in Kenya when we could only have about two water bottles a day or so, because I wanted more than that! And we couldn't drink their water!
You know those times when you're REALLY thirsty? When that happens to me and I'm not at home, I realized (finally) that a thought runs through my head - "I'm thirsty, I want soda / juice, or ice cream / smoothies / slushies sound really good right now!" Sometimes I go and get those. But other times I know it's just that I'm really thirsty for water, and those other things don't really quench my thirst like water does. Now that I'm aware of it, I'm more careful not to go get those things. Because once I have water, the strong want for those other things are gone.
Jesus is living water!!! Maybe he made this analogy becuase it's the same thing with us physically, like I just described. When we begin to spend more times with God, we desire Him more. And sometimes we desire Him and are hurting or seeking freedom from something and instead turn to other people, fun things that waste our time, alcohol, and a million other things. They never quench our thirst for Him though, so we run around saying, "Hmm, this was supposed to make me happy, it was supposed to give me peace, and I still dont' have it."
On a different note, yesterday in my math class we had to present different learning styles of one type of information. We had to show 5 different oil spills in the past 10 years - where, when, and how much. Our group got "graph" and I wasn't thrilled to have to make a graph. I jokingly said, "We should make a HUMAN graph and make them BE the graph!" but another girl in my group was like, "Yeah!!" and as we talked about it we decided to do it. The other three were like, "No, that's weird." But we kept pushing it until they agreed. Each person was 100,000 gallons of oil that was spilled, and they had to help figure out how many people went on each part (ex - 300,000 gallons spilled should be 3 people), and then we talked about how you could ask questions such as which one had the most or least spills, how much more / less did one spill have compared to another, etc. The teacher liked it. Yay!
I realized I am often like that - I try to be really creative. We'll see how that works out in teaching.... sometimes the ideas just don't come, or it's too complicated to actually do. But I really hope that I am able to make my class in the future more fun than normal.
You know those times when you're REALLY thirsty? When that happens to me and I'm not at home, I realized (finally) that a thought runs through my head - "I'm thirsty, I want soda / juice, or ice cream / smoothies / slushies sound really good right now!" Sometimes I go and get those. But other times I know it's just that I'm really thirsty for water, and those other things don't really quench my thirst like water does. Now that I'm aware of it, I'm more careful not to go get those things. Because once I have water, the strong want for those other things are gone.
Jesus is living water!!! Maybe he made this analogy becuase it's the same thing with us physically, like I just described. When we begin to spend more times with God, we desire Him more. And sometimes we desire Him and are hurting or seeking freedom from something and instead turn to other people, fun things that waste our time, alcohol, and a million other things. They never quench our thirst for Him though, so we run around saying, "Hmm, this was supposed to make me happy, it was supposed to give me peace, and I still dont' have it."
On a different note, yesterday in my math class we had to present different learning styles of one type of information. We had to show 5 different oil spills in the past 10 years - where, when, and how much. Our group got "graph" and I wasn't thrilled to have to make a graph. I jokingly said, "We should make a HUMAN graph and make them BE the graph!" but another girl in my group was like, "Yeah!!" and as we talked about it we decided to do it. The other three were like, "No, that's weird." But we kept pushing it until they agreed. Each person was 100,000 gallons of oil that was spilled, and they had to help figure out how many people went on each part (ex - 300,000 gallons spilled should be 3 people), and then we talked about how you could ask questions such as which one had the most or least spills, how much more / less did one spill have compared to another, etc. The teacher liked it. Yay!
I realized I am often like that - I try to be really creative. We'll see how that works out in teaching.... sometimes the ideas just don't come, or it's too complicated to actually do. But I really hope that I am able to make my class in the future more fun than normal.
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