Unexpectedness

I never quite know exactly what to expect when the kids come in the mornings and I start interacting with them. Who's in a good mood? Who needs a hug? Who's crying and why? What will the day be like in third grade? What are my kids going to say in class? It all changes from day to day. This week I had lots of those unexpected moments.
Tuesday and Wednesday were great days with third grade. After a frustrating last few months, it was a blessing to be able to go home at the end of the day and say "Wow, I had a great day with third grade today!". One of the most encouraging parts of that was that they behaved excellently while I read them a skit about Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel that I am hoping to do with them, since we're studying entertainment this month. Unexpected. Wonderful. An answer to prayer. And I am reminded again that God is good and hears my cries to Him.
Thursday was my brother's birthday. I casually happened to mention it to my fourth graders. And they got all excited and wanted to write him a letter. So we spent half of our English class time composing a letter to Ben and taking a picture of us to put with it. Looking at the pictures tonight that Marysol patiently took for me, I realized how hard it is to get 13 kids to all look at the camera at the same time with all their faces showing. (Yes, I can hear all of you parents laughing right now). Oh, and don't tell anyone how many kids we fit on a sliding board at once. I counted 8. There aren't rules about things like that here.
Thursday was also Meylin's birthday - one of my third graders. So I went to third grade during recess. We sang to her and ate a cake that her mom had brought in. It was a fun but unexpected treat which we all enjoyed.
Another funny unexpected moment this week was Elias (the only boy sitting at the top of the slide in this picture) deciding to call kangaroos "I don't understands". I off-handedly, just for fun, explained to fourth grade the other day that kangaroo, in the language of the Australian aborigines, means "I don't understand". Apparently, at least according to what I've heard, the first English to come to Australia asked what this crazy jumping animal was called. The Aborigines, of course, understood as much English as the Englishmen understood of their language and replied "kangaroo" - I don't understand. The result of this classic Babel moment is that the name stuck and thus we have the kangaroo. It made me laugh the other day when Elias pointed to a picture of a kangaroo and said "Look, Miss Bethany! It's an 'I don't understand'!"
Today I had another unexpected moment when Jonatan decided to chew on his colored pencil lead and paint his mouth different colors...again. Today it was orange and then black. I thought we'd gotten over that. Apparently, I was overly optimistic on that one. That was a not-so-pleasant unexpected moment. Yes, there are definitely that kind too!
These unexpected moments are what make teaching interesting, fun and special and keep me on my toes. They are the spice of life in an elementary school. Mostly, I enjoy them. Well, the good ones anyway. Many times, these unexpected moments are what allow me to see the humanness in my students and see them again, not as little minds to fill with as much knowledge as possible in the few hours I have, but as great little people. These little bits of time in my day knock my brain off its task-oriented track and remind me again how much I love these kids. And many times in these moments I see God's grace and hand at work.
So thank You God for the unexpected and for sending it into my day to help me see again with Your eyes.