I picked out a blue dress in honor of our Blessed Mother as it was the feast of the Assumption.
After my 15 minute walk, I arrived at school about an hour before my first class of students would arrive. I turned out the ceiling fan, turned on the AC, put the agenda on the white board, said a quick prayer for them and for the right words to say, and then I heard the buzzer. They had arrived!
2 gentlemen and 2 ladies walked down the hall to my door way. I greeted each with a smile and a firm handshake. In they went. And our class began. Like all good things, we started with a prayer from one of my prayer devotionals that I used in high school.
It was a short class since it was a half day so we had about 30 min together. I asked them if they knew what took place at the Assumption and none of them had a clue, so I gladly started describing how it was such an amazing feast...I mean, Mary couldn't be like the rest of us and experience a "human death." When we die, our souls will leave our bodies and at the final judgement, they will be reunited. Well Mary went straight to heaven BODY AND SOUL! She is THE perfect disciple of Jesus and our greatest fan! I referred to her as our "Mama Bear" and that got my students to giggle. With that I gave them a brief introduction of St. Dominic like any former student of the Nashville Dominican sisters and Dominican high school SHOULD do on their first day of teaching! ;) I also taught them how the rosary came to be. Based on our conversation, it appeared as though none of them quite know how to pray a rosary, but they kind of had an idea of what it is. We then moved on to our fun activity of making a rosary for one of the bare walls in my classroom. Sadly they had to go back to their other school. I gave them their first and only homework assignment, a questionnaire for me to get to know their interests in their social lives but also in matters of our faith, and off they went.
A similar experience took place in the second class I had. However, this class was much more talkative than the first group. I knew I got ahead of myself when I started rambling about the Albigensians and dualism. However, now they know what the term "heresy" means and who St. Dominic had to encounter and what they believed. Oh yes, it made me chuckle because I was so ZEALOUS and then I noticed a few confused faces. So I slowed down, finished my thought, and transitioned into the project.
They were really excited to get to know me as I was to get to know them! I even got invited to all of their games and performances. #winning! Oh, and the ladies really appreciated the scrap booking paper I picked out for our Wall Rosary, especially the Chevron design.
I introduced the books we will be using to both classes- The Bible, YouCat, and Catechism and explained how Mary says that we will reform our world by praying the rosary! I know that both classes left excited to come back based on their kind words leaving class and their demeanor as a whole.
(spiritual weapons and sources of truth)
(Also, I gave them mass times and their locations because it was a holy day of obligation. Only in a Catholic setting could I ever dream of putting that on the board!)
It was so refreshing to know that my students are well-behaved and happy to be there. During our introductions, I had them each tell me why they were here today. While many said "So I can make my Confirmation" they also said "To get away from school." I of course wanted to know why they wanted to get away and almost in unison they explained how stressful school is. I assured them that I would not over-work them... BUT that they can expect this to be a very productive class and one in which will not only stretch their intellects but also their hearts. Our goal is to have a heart for God! To be saints! I got more into that the following day. (Read the next post!)
Most of my students are juniors with the exception of one senior. The class is meant for both seniors and juniors mixed in together for the first 2 terms, but most people "graduate" from this class after they make their Confirmation (junior year). I'm hoping to change that and hopefully help them realize that there is so much to learn about our faith and how having a peaceful environment and fellowship is essential for our faith development.
Unfortunately I left the letter I sent each of them home with at work. It is Pinterest inspired but I added my own twist to it. Basically it tells them how much I care for them and want to grow in our belief and love for God together. I'll post it later.
All in all, I guess you could say I like my job!!!
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