{"id":7541,"date":"2025-04-16T11:01:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T18:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/?p=7541"},"modified":"2025-04-16T11:01:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T18:01:53","slug":"four-steps-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/2025\/04\/16\/four-steps-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"FOUR STEPS FORWARD"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis must have God\u2019s hands in it<\/em>,\u201d says grade 4 teacher, Measha Thompson, who, overcoming many challenges, moved from teaching kindergarten for the past three years to teaching grade 4 for the 2023-24 school year.<\/p>\n

Finding Her Home<\/h2>\n

When Measha visited ACS for the first time, she knew this would be her home. Although her transition from The King\u2019s University to ACS came with its challenges, not only as a new teacher, but also in working with a new curriculum and trying to adjust to post-COVID life, she confidently knew, \u201cthis is where God is placing me.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Karin Riemer, ACS Elementary principal, remembers when she first met Measha. \u201cI knew that Measha would be a person with great capacity for resilience when we interviewed her for the kindergarten position a few years ago,<\/em>\u201d says Karin. \u201cShe had received her Bachelor of Science and was completing her teaching degree at The King\u2019s University. Now, anyone who grows up in Jamaica and chooses to attend university in Edmonton, Alberta\u2014moving from sun to snow and adapting to cold and culture\u2014that\u2019s resilience with a tropical twist!<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Less Dancing and Ice Packs<\/h2>\n

After teaching three years of kindergarten, starting over in a new grade wasn\u2019t without surprises.<\/p>\n

Measha recalls her first day teaching grade 4. She set up the classroom in the way she wanted and put instructions on the board. When that first morning came, the students came into the classroom, and she watched them with amazement because of one small thing she hadn’t really considered: \u201cThey could read<\/em>,\u201d she laughs.<\/strong><\/span> Until then, she hadn\u2019t made the connection that these students, who were four years older than her previous kindergarten students, could already read and follow her written instructions.<\/p>\n

As the year went along, Measha noticed other differences between her new students and the kindergartners: the five-year-olds were easier to comfort. \u201cSometimes, in kindergarten, an ice pack is the solution to heal all the owies,<\/em>\u201d says Measha. She also realized that kindergarten students asked for help more quickly than her grade 4s\u2026even if they didn\u2019t need it.<\/p>\n

Along with a new grade came new challenges. \u201cMy new students\u2019 first years of school were at the end of the pandemic,<\/em>\u201d explains Measha, \u201cand a lot of the social awareness skills were missing.<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/span> She, therefore, focused on finding ways to strengthen these skills in her students, building resilience and community in her classroom.<\/p>\n

Unlike her kindergarten students, who eagerly sang and danced every morning, Measha knew she needed to create different ways of building community within the classroom. She began with creating a comfortable place for her students to learn and belong. They voted on a class name. \u201cWe are the 4C Dinos<\/em>,\u201d grins Measha.<\/p>\n

She also began a morning discussion time with her students. \u201cWe can have really deep conversations about the Bible\u2014that’s been one of my favourite things so far.<\/em>\u201d When the class has questions, they know Miss Thompson\u2019s query back to them: \u201cWhere do we go for truth?<\/em>\u201d to which they answer in unison, \u201cThe Bible!<\/em>\u201d Together, they open their Bibles and find answers to their questions.<\/p>\n

Change, Adapt, Modify<\/h2>\n

The change in grade levels required Measha to re-evaluate and grow personally as well. \u201cIt taught me to push through the hard times each day. I can enjoy it all the same, because these are God\u2019s children, and they\u2019re in my class for a reason.<\/strong><\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Measha enjoys teaching her students and for her that means, \u201ctwenty-four kids with 24 different needs and 24 different emotions.<\/em>\u201d She mentions that sometimes \u201cwe have to just change and adapt and modify our classroom day, just to make sure that we’re all able to learn.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

As Measha dedicates her focus to these fourth graders, she sees God working within her own capacity. \u201cI go to my Bible as I am withstanding the hard times.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

She keeps her eyes on her class, seeing their resilience and growth as image bearers. \u201cIt is a privilege to see students grow into their faith, and it is a humble honour to know that the Lord is using me as a vessel to facilitate those things,<\/em>\u201d explains Measha. \u201cThat\u2019s the true reward of being a teacher.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis must have God\u2019s hands in it,\u201d says grade 4 teacher, Measha Thompson, who, overcoming many challenges, moved from teaching kindergarten for the past three years to teaching grade 4 for the 2023-24 school year. Finding Her Home When Measha visited ACS for the first time, she knew this would be her home. Although her […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":7717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,26,15],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-7541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elementary","category-growth-mindset","category-relationships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7541"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=7541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}