What is HMA? A peek into the daily routine...and a great photo bomb!

Home Assignment, HMA, furlough, and/or Totalization means I have to leave the country of Germany for 1 year + 1 day before I can return. A time of refreshment is wonderful yet I am also placing a lot of focus on digging deep in God's word and my professional development as a teacher. I wanted to give you a peek into what a normal day/week look like for me. 

For the past several years, I have wanted to attend Bible Study Fellowship from the experiences and stories shared by close friends. I am so excited to be a part of the study this year as we start our journey in the book of Joshua. My Sunday School class at church is also studying Joshua so I am definitely getting an in-depth study. I am also spending a lot of time in prayer over my family, friends, supporters and personal needs. Prayer is so powerful and I am excited to see how God is already working through prayers of His faithful servants. 

I have started a Master's program in Mathematics Instruction. My first class is called Expanding Concepts of Algebra and we are learning of the value and importance of students learning algebra in their early elementary grades. The importance of developing reasoning in mathematics and building fluency through variables, graphs, tables, pictures, diagrams and dissecting numbers. Each week, I have a certain amount of textbook reading, usually an article online to read, some math problems to consider from the mind of a student, watching a lesson in progress then a discussion board. In the discussion board, I will reflect on different elements of the reading, math problems and math lessons. I usually have two of these to complete during each week. Aside from the discussion boards, I also am working on a project where my 'students' (friends and family, since I don't have students this year) complete a math problem which has them utilizing their algebraic thinking. I write about the task assigned, the standards to achieve through the task and the work that was done and the algebraic thinking the student used. Thanks to those of you who have volunteered to be 'students' this year!! I plan to take two classes in the spring. For those of you who wanted an idea of what I am doing in my class, here you go! 

I am also taking time to practice my German everyday. Living and working in an "English bubble" can be hard when it comes to learning German but I will keep plugging away at it. I am also delving into some non-fictions that I usually don't have time to read during the year. You can look on the side of my blog to see what I am currently reading if interested. 

Besides Bible studies, school, German, and reading, I am also working on my support schedule, portfolio with information of how and why I am teaching at Black Forest Academy, connecting with current supporters, reaching out to potential future supporters, keeping up with my newsletter, prayer emails and blog posts. And of course, time to run, hike and ride when I can get up in the mountains. 

Future Plans:
I am speaking at Faith Church this Sunday, October 7th and would love to see you! I will have a table set up in the foyer. Come and say hi and grab a prayer flag!

I will be traveling to Asheville, North Carolina to see family (2nd cousins on mom's side, once removed) and to visit the Feed and Seed church in early November. I will be passing out some more prayer flags! 

I will be traveling to the Midwest; Watertown, SD, Mankato, MN, Osakis, MN in late spring or early summer of 2019. I don't have actual dates yet but will keep you posted. 

In other news, Tess' kitty, Clever and I like to hang out. In the pictures below, she and I are working through some very important quizzes to test our classic movie star knowledge and we were photo bombed by Nicky!

"Do you see me?"