There and back again...

I am typing this from the lobby of the Global Village Hotel in Ladyville, Belize.

I'm back in Belize again, this time as an assistant group leader for a couple of groups over the next few weeks.

I'll be writing more to keep all of my avid readers up to date (yes, all 3 of you). But for now, myself and my guitar are here safe and sound (a huge relief!).

Home for now!

We are in our homeland.. more to come soon.

Airports

After a quick jump from Dallas to Houston, we are enjoying a couple hours of down time before our final flight to Belize City. We just finished eating a delicious brunch of sandwiches, pasta, and Chinese (except Bob.. the floor ate her sandwich).

I am thinking about getting something else to eat and/or drink. I already had a carmel machiatto this morning, so I'm thinking coffee may not be the best.

An hour and a half till take off.. Check out Continental flight 572 to see how we're hanging...

Three Cheers for Tread Separation?

Somewhere outside Dallas, a tire gives up the will to live. After an hour of mourning, a man arrives to give a new companion to a lonely rim and the journey continues.

No more pencils, no more books....

As of this afternoon, I am no longer a secondary math teacher. So what does that mean? It doesn't mean I'm going to be less busy than I was before, but it does mean I'm going to be a different kind of busy. I can finally devote my time to things that I enjoy more than wrangling kids all day.

I have an incredibly busy summer planned. This weekend, a group of college students and young adults from my church is going on a mission trip to Belize where we will do anything from lead services to teach lessons in a Christian school to help with afternoon sports activities. My main ministry while I am there is going to be leading worship during the services (I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous at all, but that tells me it is something I should definitely do). We are are all completely pumped about the trip and I can't wait to spend the week with such an amazing group of people (which just so happens to include my wonderful girlfriend).

Shortly after returning from Belize (next day? omg) I will be attending Creek Week at Budd Creek as a sponsor and worship leader. I am super excited about this week also because I will be making a second appearance with the incredibly talented and well spoken worship man himself. That's right, Matt Miller. If that weren't enough, I will also be spending the week with Bethany, Bro Nate, and a ton of little kids. Yes, it is going to be that amazing.

Those two events would be enough for an amazing summer, but there is so much else going on it's not even funny! I heard you laughing. Stop. For real. After Creek Week there is the annual guy's camping trip which is getting a fresh face with the addition of the guys from my church of old, Flatwoods (whose youth group incidentally also has a fresh face with the recent addition of Joey Cook.. awesome.). Mix up the rest of the summer with TLC, Sunday night CORE youth meetings, and some time to work on my project car and you get a super busy (but even more awesome) summer.

So that's what no longer being a secondary math teacher means. I'm just as busy as ever, but busy doing other things.

(And it also means I am, once again, on the road to being a poor college student. Donations are accepted, send your money via PayPal to eric@sandwich.net)

Healthy Snack Idea

Tired of all the other potted meats and looking for something new? Want a snack that's questionably delicious and can in no way be good for your body?
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Then you need Rose brand Pork Brains in Milk Gravy!
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I found this little item at the grocery store in Tuckerman. I'm not sure which is more shocking: the actual thought of eating pork brains or that such a small amount of meat contains 1200% of your daily value of cholesterol (based on a 2000 calorie diet, of course).

Mobile Blog #1

While perusing blogger.com, I stumbled onto this little mobile blogging feature. Apparently I can send this MMS message from my cell phone to go@blogger.com and it will automagically post it. We shall soon see...

I have also, for your own enjoyment, attached an image of a friendly donkey Bethany and I found in Batesville.

So what do you guys think about mobile blogging? Is it really awesome? ...or perhaps just really awesome for geeks?

Philosophy of Education

For the last two years, I have been teaching secondary math in a public high school. I'm not sure exactly what I expected when I entered into the field, but I can most assuredly say what I found blew me away. To simply say that I underestimated the task would be nowhere sufficient to describe how I feel at this point.

For a recent assignment, I had to write my philosophy of education. Here's what I said:

I believe that it is my responsibility as an educator to ensure students attain an understanding of not only my subject matter, but also the skills necessary to lead a successful life. This responsibility is much more easily stated than met; the many diverse situations in which it is presented places it on a plateau of seeming impossibility. And yet it must be carried out along a path wrecked by obstacles which appear on a day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute basis.

The challenge set forward for the educator is gigantic in its proportions. Educators are to take the unshapen minds of tomorrow and carefully sculpt them to their fullest potential, the least of which will be evidenced by the student having the capacity to contribute to society in a meaningful way. The challenge would not be near as difficult as it seems if these minds were unburdened and free, but many children today have lives fraught with pain and unfortunate situations which create significant gaps students must learn to cross in order to succeed. Part of the educator’s responsibility is to engineer bridges which allow minds to leave behind a burdened state: bridges that give travel from a place that is inherently unmotivated towards an eagerness to learn.

And so the teacher fights the battle against a Goliath. It is battle which requires constant unbounded energy and optimism, hours of preparation, and daily discipline. It is a battle which, upon initial examination, can be easily underestimated (and just as easily lost if the underestimation is not realized). And while I have painted a bleak, desperate image of this undertaking, one must realize that the desired result can be accomplished.

Great teachers exist both past and present, so it is obvious the responsibility of instilling both subject matter and life skills can be met with outstanding success. Thankfully, it is no secret what is required of a teacher if they are going to be successful: it can be seen time and time again in the experiences shared in workshops and authored in books by triumphant, award-winning educators. It can be summed up simply as both a strong internal drive for students’ success that pushes the educator to work beyond the point where any normal individual would stop and, more importantly, a love for students that surpasses all obstacles caused by any educational system or student’s collective life experiences. When a great love for students flows together with a strong drive for individual success, it is astounding what can be accomplished by that single individual. It is this sort of mental framework that is required if students from any number of disadvantaged situations are going to be ushered into a position to reach goals only limited by their own imagination.

Blogosphere?

So here it is, my long awaited foray into the so-called "blogosphere". The name makes me wonder, is this abstract world really shaped like a sphere? All of the communication lines connecting the servers and clients do run around this lovely planet of ours, so it would seem that the basic structure is some sort of mesh-like sphere. I provide the following illustration:


So here's to the birth of a blog. I took a picture to remember the moment forever:



Boy, can't you just feel the excitement in the air? I sure can. For those of you wondering: yes, I am at Subway and no, it is not my laptop. Bethany was presented with the Shane Stauffer Award last night at the Senior Awards Banquet and, as a result, is the proud new owner of a laptop. Congrats, babe!