個人檔案Teacher Tammy's Blog相片部落格清單 工具 說明

Tammy

職業
居住地
I grew up in Minnesota with my parents and 3 sisters. When I was 15, I went on a missions trip to the Philippines. During that trip, God put a great love for the country and the kids in my heart. When I left that year, I knew that someday I would be back! The next year my family returned to Cebu and adopted 4 boys from the Children's Shelter of Cebu. After graduating from college, I taught in Texas for 3 years before God called me to teach in the Philippines as a missionary. I teach Level C (approximately 4th-6th grade) at the Children of Hope School. I love my job and I have some of the cutest, most talented students in the world!

Teacher Tammy's Blog

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances..." 1 Thess. 5:16-18
11月22日

Idioms

Hit the hay...hold your horses...cat got your tongue...pulling my leg...up the creek without a paddle.  All of these are examples of idioms, we use in everyday life.  We don't normally think a lot about them...we just KNOW what they mean because we've heard them our whole lives.  Now that is not the case with my students here in Cebu and it is hilarious when they attempt to use them! 

Last week at a birthday party, Bernardo told me, "Teacher Tammy, you have a book on your nose!"  I must have looked a bit confused because he then said, "That means you like to read."  He was trying to tell me, "You have your nose stuck in a book."  That sparked a conversation about idioms at my table with Leheca (12).  Leheca had been learning about idioms in a book she was reading and decided to try some of them out on us.  The staff also quizzed her on new ones. These are a few of her attempts at using them...

-"You hit the nail on your head." (you hit the nail on THE head)
-"Your nose is stuck to your face." (your nose is stuck in a book)
-After learning the meaning of "cat got your tongue", she said, "I think a cat has Rael's tongue because he is very quiet."
-A few days later, Leheca ran into my class and gave me a big hug, then she said, "Teacher Tammy, you are the apple of my eye!" 

I love seeing (and hearing) our kids learn new things! 
11月15日

Our Yard

At CSC, in between the Eicher and Cherne homes, there is a large grassy area.  I love that area because there are not a lot of wide open grassy areas here in Cebu.  Most places around the city are covered with buildings, cement, or garbage.  That grassy area is our kids playground.  Before coming to CSC, most of our kids did not have a safe, clean place to play. For many kids around the city, the streets are their playground.  The kids in my neighborhood play in the alley in front of my house.  Often times the balls or slippers they are playing with end up in our yard.  Driving up to the shelter, we frequently drive right through the middle of kids playing basketball or tag.  They normally just pause their game long enough for us to pass by.  We are lucky to have such a nice place to play at CSC.
 

 
During the day, our playground is always full of activity!  Basketball games, tag, foot races, and swinging can be seen on a daily basis.  Toddlers get pulled around in wagons.  Older kids whizz around on rollerblades and bikes.  The preschoolers ride their scooters!  Kids pick flowers, dance, and play ping-pong.  You can hear their shouts and laughter as soon as you enter the gates of CSC!  It is such a beautiful sound! 
 

This week our yard was used for cloud watching.  One afternoon, I went down to the shelter to hang out with the kids.  It was a beautiful day and before too long, Leheca, Jashly, and I began looking for pictures in the clouds. I love their imaginations!  The first thing we saw was a princess- then Jashly noticed a snake.  Pretty soon, more kids joined us and we saw a mermaid, a dragon, an eagle, a unicorn, and so much more.  Here is a picture of just a few of our kids checking out God's pictures in the clouds! 

 

While I love hanging out in the yard with the kids during the day, I also love our yard at night.  Standing in the middle of the yard, looking at the dark houses filled with sleeping children, I am always filled with a sense of awe and thankfulness.  Even after all these years, I am still amazed that God has called me here to work in the Philippines.  I am in awe of the work CSC is doing and how God is using it to change kids lives. I am so thankful that I get to be a part of this ministry. And I am thankful that I have the opportunity to be a part of these kids' lives! 
     
11月8日

Memory Verses

Many of you read about the reading challenge our school had going during the first quarter. It was a lot of fun for the kids and teachers alike and was a great opportunity to encourage our kids to enjoy reading! 
 
Recently, our school has begun a new challenge...a memory verse challenge.  It is a way to encourage our kids to know their Bible well!  Each level, all the way down to preschool, has set a goal of a certain number of verses to memorize each week whether it be 1, 2, 3, or 4..  Throughout the week, the kids practice them in class and at home and then share them with their teachers on Friday! 
 
It is so much fun to hear them quoting scripture!  Every day at snack time kids run up and tell me, "Teacher Tammy, I know my verse!"  They love reciting them to anyone who will listen.  The Level A students have even been wearing their verses on a necklace so anyone can stop them and ask them to recite the verse.  Yesterday, I stood in the middle of the yard at the shelter with a few kids and all together we ran through the verses we had memorized in the last few weeks!  What a beautiful sound that was! 
11月1日

Moving, Moving, Moving

It has been a week of movings...last Saturday the entire Eicher house moved into the new Duterte house. Then this Saturday the entire Cherne home transferred to the Eicher house.  Moving is a lot of work, but it really was a great morning!  I wish you could've seen it all...the whole CSC family went to work moving boxes, clothes, beds, mattresses, cabinets, cribs, couches, and kitchen supplies out of Cherne.  It had to be completely empty so that the renovations can be started this week. 

The aunties, uncles, staff, and all of our kids down to some of the preschoolers pitched in to help out.  Melrod made about a million trips back and forth with the little red wagon carrying house supplies.  Jashly carried toys one by one across the yard.  Jonjon helped Uncle Joel organize the store room.  The big boys showed off their muscles by helping with some of the heavier things.  But I'd have to say the awards for the best workers would go to Charydyn, Riza Mae, and Rafael.  Rafael is small, but he was certainly pulling his weight.  I loved watching him carry mattresses!  He put them over his head, but he is so short that the mattresses hung nearly to his feet in both the front and the back.  That didn't stop him though!  As soon as it was deposited in its new location, he would literally run back to find something else to carry.  With a lot of teamwork, we were able to completely clear out the Cherne home by mid-afternoon! 

The shelter is a little confusing at the moment.  The Cherne home stands dark, silent, and empty.  The Eicher home is now filled up with Cherne kids.  (We are calling them "Chicher" kids while their house is being redone.)  I'm so used to them living in the Cherne home that I do a double take everytime I see one of them enter the Eicher home.  In addition to that, the former Eicher kids are now living in the new Duterte home.  All of the kids are still getting used to their new homes...after school many of them have accidentally gone to the wrong houses.  But despite being a little confusing, it has been a very exciting week for all!  The Duterte kids are thoroughly enjoying their new home and the Cherne kids are excited for their home to get fixed up as well!    

  

10月25日

This Week's Highlights

What a great week it was! 
 
1. One day this week, my math class was working on a program on the internet.  I explained that it was just the trial version because we would have to pay to have the full version.  John Ray asked me how I would pay for it if I wanted it.  When I told him "with a credit card", he responded with, "Where do you put it? In the printer?"  I had to laugh- he thought I needed to run my credit card through the printer to pay for it.  Funny!
 
2. On Friday, our school held our annual United Nations Day. The teachers split the school up into different countries and the children travel through them.  The kids look forward to this every year!  This year, they traveled through Egypt, Jamaica, Korea, Mexico, and Romania.  Wrapping each other in toilet paper as mummies, breaking a pinata, and egg painting were just a few of the fun activities this year!  Food is always a big hit and the kids got to sample everything from chips and salsa to mashed potatoes to a rice concotion wrapped in seaweed!  The day ended with a game of Jeopardy that asked questions from each country.  It was fun to see what the kids remembered!  The last two days I have heard a lot of greetings in Spanish and Romanian and I have a feeling that will continue for a while! 
 
3. Saturday was an important day at CSC.  It was the day of the BIG move!  Finally!  The kids have been looking forward to this day for months.  It started out with a walk through of the house...in each room we gave an orientation and then prayed over it!  As soon as that was finished, all of the Eicher kids went tearing back to their house to grab their belongings and make the short trek to the new Duterte home!  They were so excited!  Smiles were everywhere and they practically ran back and forth grabbing more boxes to carry! Everyone pitched in- even the Cherne house kids.  It was so fun to see the kids in their new rooms, checking out their new cubbies, and organizing their belongings! Even when it was time to play outside, many of the kids chose to sit in their new rooms or the living room and just ENJOY their new house.  Many of them chose to take showers in the middle of the day just because they wanted to try out their cool new bathrooms!  Here is a picture of Rafael and Jeffrey enjoying the new house!
  

 

氣象

載入中