Love146 & Tread on Trafficking

I don't have time to write a very long post, but I've really been wanting to get the word out about Love146 if you haven't heard about them. They are one of my very favorite organizations that is working to end human trafficking. Their mission specifically focuses on rescuing children, and they're doing amazing things in the midst of horrific situations. This video will explain their mission more effectively that I could, so here it is:

http://vimeo.com/7981454

Every Spring, Love146 hosts an event called Tread On Trafficking. It is a really easy way to raise awareness and funds for their organization, especially if you are already a runner, biker, etc. You simply choose an activity to do for the month of May and set a goal (ex: run 100 miles or bike 300 miles), then you ask people to sponsor you and the donate on your Tread on Trafficking page. If you want more information about it, you can find more here: http://love146.org/tot/

Have a great night!

Missy

The Beginning/ Science in the Classroom

Hello again!!

I realized that I should give a little bit of a back story to help you understand why human trafficking became an issue so close to my heart. If you read my Rubies and Redlights blog a few years ago, this will sound really familiar. If not, here it goes:

In the summer of 2010, my parents and 4 of my siblings spent three months at a missions school in Mozambique. While they were there, the Lord did an amazing work in each and every one of their hearts! My parents felt a call to serve full time overseas. They are now living in Asia where they have since adopted my youngest litter sister, Maci, (WHOO HOO!) and are daily loving on and ministering to children who so many had deemed "unlovable." My older brother, Matt, fell in love with the people of Mozambique and came home with a new understanding of the Lord's heart. The restoration of Mason's hearing became an even bigger prayer priority for our family. Molly accepted Jesus as her Savior and was baptized in the Indian Ocean (so cool!). And Madelyn was prophesied over by several people telling her she would play a huge part in ministering to women and children who had become victims of sex trafficking...when my mom told me what had been spoken over Madelyn, it was the first time I felt the Lord tug at my heart about this issue. 

        A couple months into their stay in Africa, my mom and I were having our usual weekly Skype date and the Lord began to tug at my heart again, this time a little lot more strongly! After we had small talk about the weather and the kiddos, Mom asked me to pray about something specific. It was a prayer request that I believe that Lord has used to shape my future for maybe the rest of my life. She told me that one of the teams from their mission school had gone into a village a few miles from their base to preach the gospel, bring food, etc. As soon as they arrived they knew something was horribly wrong. As they started talking to the people there, they discovered that almost all of the children from that village had been sold to a neighboring village for $6 each. Before you pass judgement on the parents who agreed to take such a small price for their sons and daughters, know that they were probably led to believe that their children would be offered a better life. Most of them probably couldn't even afford to feed them, so they figured they would have a better chance somewhere else....sadly, that was not the case. After the team looked into things further, they found out that these children were being used as slaves in a ruby mine that this other village had recently found. As if that wasn't horrific enough, they eventually found out that on top of all of that, the girls were being used as prostitutes for the owners of the mine. Some of these children were barely old enough to be in school and their childhood was being stolen from them! I have never felt such a strong sense of urgency in my heart as I did when my mom started explaining exactly what was going on over there. She told me everything the team was doing to try to get these children back in a safe place, but it was going to be a really long road. I spent the next couple of days just sobbing, because for the first time in my life I wasn't able to numb myself to the true depravity in our world. That was almost 4 years ago, and I still think about the children from that village on a daily basis. So that's the reason this has become my "thing," the issue that tugs at my heart like almost no other issue in the world can.

Ok, so that was the "Freedom" part of this blog post. Now for the "first grade" part. 

If you're familiar (and I can't imagine that anyone isn't with all of the articles being posted on Facebook these days) with the changes happening in the education world over the last several years, you won't be surprised to hear that SCIENCE is being almost completely cut from curriculum in most schools. I happen to work at an amazing school where science, social studies, art, and music are still very highly valued. However, I know that when I taught public school there was definitely no science curriculum, and even if you could find time throughout your week to plan your own curriculum, there was barely enough time in the schedule to teach it. I stumbled upon this website today, and I thought it was so perfect!  These are all science lessons that have been created inside a plastic bottle, so all you have to do is set them in a center and let children explore and investigate. I love it!! 

You can find all of the ideas for these discovery bottles at: http://familylicious.com/how-to-make-science-discovery-bottles/

Here are a couple of examples, though:

layered density 

coloring mixing

sink or float 

magnets

I'm in love with these! There are over 30 examples on her website with instructions on how to make them! Some of them are clearly geared toward a younger crowd, but I think some of them would be fun even for my first graders. I'm going to try to get some together in the next couple of weeks.

Have a wonderful day!

-Missy

PS- Here is my newest TPT product. And speaking of science, I'm in the process of creating an interactive science notebook to be used in the classroom!

First Grade and Freedom Mission

Welcome to First Grade and Freedom!

This a blog designed for two purposes. The first is to collaborate with teachers who share a common passion to make a difference in the lives of their students. The second is to encourage people of every profession and walk of life to join in the effort to end human trafficking. I know at first glance the two don't seem very closely related, but in this post I'm going to map out my plan for merging them.

If you're a teacher, you know that there are some things that we just can't function without.  This list seems to grow every year for me. It includes (but is definitely not limited to): a full cup of coffee first thing in the morning, my Smartboard (but really!), Sonic happy hour, Mardel gift cards, HOBBY LOBBY, and the holy grail of all teacher resources-- TeachersPayTeachers (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/). I really don't think I could ever go back to teaching without it! Every unit I have taught since the day I stumbled upon this website has included multiple resources I've downloaded from talented, inspiring teachers all over the country. It is like having a team of thousands of creative teachers on a daily basis. I feel like I'm best friends with Deanna Jump and Cara Caroll because I spend so much time reading through their blogs and downloading their amazing math and literacy units. To say I'm in love with this website is a complete understatement. Until last week, though, I had only been involved on the buying side of things. 

On Monday I got all 4 of my wisdom teeth take out. Not the way anyone would probably wish to spend their Spring Break, but it turned out to be a huge blessing. I was forced to actually rest for an entire week. I barely got off my couch for the first three days, and while I was sitting there I started creating products to start a TeachersPayTeachers store. The first thing I posted was nothing fancy at all. It took me about 30 minutes to put together, and I mainly put it on there to make it easy for a few people I knew to download. When I woke up the next morning, though, I noticed that over 100 people had downloaded it! I realized this might be a resource that I can use not only to improve my classroom but also to provide a platform to raise awareness about human trafficking.

It  so happened that a week after I started putting products in my store, the CEO of Justic International Mission, Gary Haugen, spoke at a church down the street from us. One of my sweet coworkers who knows I'm passionate about seeing human trafficking ended, invited me to go. Dan and I went to hear him speak this morning. It was so good and challenging and heartbreaking and exciting all at the same time! He talked about the thousands of men, women, and children that IJM has seen set free from slavery. However, there are still an estimated 27 million people living in slavery worldwide. That statistic is heartbreaking! And honestly, it overwhelms me with a feeling of hopelessness most days. One of the difficult questions Gary asked was, "What is God's plan for displaying His goodness to people who are living in a place of such severe suffering?" The answer--It's us, you and me. We are His plan for revealing His goodness to them, and there is no backup plan.

There are so many days when I want to sell our house and move to India to devote my whole life to rescuing children from trafficking, and I pray all the time that God would open doors for that. For now, though, I know He has called Dan and me to be in Oklahoma City (which happens to be one of the cities with the highest prevalence of human trafficking in the nation- not a coincidence, I don't think). And I know that until I'm called to do something like that, my job as a teacher is filled with purpose. Not very many people get to openly share the gospel with 6-year-olds every day and then have them turn around and speak it back to you on days when you forget the reality of grace. I LOVE my job! And even on the occasional days when I don't like it as much as other days, I can't imagine doing anything else in this season of life.

So how do I merge these two passions? The answer is through this blog and TeachersPayTeachers, of course :). I will be posting information about classroom resources AND links to organizations who are fighting to end human trafficking on this blog. I am also going to start a new store on TPT, called First Grade & Freedom, in which half of the profits go toward classroom resources for my precious first graders and the other half go to International Justice Mission! I haven't opened it yet, because I'm working with some other teachers who have a lot of wisdom and the means to help me make sure it is successful. Right now all of my products are in my current store, 4 Little M's (named after Molly, Madelyn, Mason, and Maci) http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Four-Little-Ms. I only have 8 products right now, but I'm planning on creating a lot more soon. Even if you buy from 4 Little M's, half of the proceeds will go to IJM. If you know any teachers, please let them know! I would love to have some other teachers who are wanting to start a store come alongside and help me with this mission.

I'll be posting more soon!

Until then, have a wonderful day!

Missy