The blah blah blah...

Today, same routine, al-Hamdu liLlah... wake up, go teach, come home tired.

I tamed the class clown today. I made him sit on the floor behind my desk, which is also next to the board so he can see everything but the class cannot see him. Just the fact that the class cannot see him made him calm down, subHan Allah. I would love to make that his permanent seat, but in sha' Allah I'll think of something more effective.

Highlight lesson of the day: We made season wheels. As you turn the circular paper, with the peek-a-boo slit (lqtm) you see a different season. They drew the changes of an apple tree as the seasons change.

One of the brothers from a near by community college (who volunteers his time in the after school program) bought boxes of pizza for all the teachers. subHan Allah, may Allah reward him with khayr, something like that is so appreciated. I'm running around so much, and sometimes I don't eat until I get home at like 5, so something like that, it's really nice.

Something funny to note, my teacher's aid gave me a white rose. She's so kind, she told me, "this is white because of your purity, and it was the most beautiful flower in the garden." That was very kind, but let me tell you why it's funny, just a week before the T.A. gave me the flower, I saw a white rose on my desk, I asked the students, "who gave this to me?"... and nobody said anything. Hmm? .. Turns out, the custodian left it on my desk, and she said it was white for the same reason. The shaykh that works there said the same thing about me, about being pure... honestly, that's one of the best compliments I could ever receive. If people are commenting on my religiousity, then that to me is something I appreciate. I just hope Allah accepts it, if Allah does not, then it's really pointless.

Today I stayed afterschool for about two hours. One hour getting prepared for tomorrow, and the other tutoring a child. al-Hamdu liLlah. I thought I was done...

Before I left, a mother who came to pick up her children explained to me how her son had difficulty solving problems like 7+___=10 for example. So I asked if I could take the child for about 5 minutes, and I guaranteed that he'd know how to do it when I braught him back to her. She agreed to wait, I took him in, and I recognized why he couldn't get the right answer... when he would count up he would include 7. Which means, he would put on his fingers..7,8,9,10 and he would answer with 7+4=10 instead of 7+3=10. So I simply explained to him that he needs to start with the number after 7, and bada bing, he got it. The mother was like, "how'd you do it?" It just takes listening to the child, and doing your best to understand what's going on up there in their brain.

al-Hamdu liLlah.

Let's see, so then I went home. Driving home the moon looked yellow, it was amazing. It was so yellow that I thought for an instant, "could this be the sun?" subHan Allah, then I imagined that it was the sun, and I teard up thinking about the reality of the sun rising from the west. subHan Allah. Astaghfur Allah.

When I got home I came online, and I saw a friend online that is specializing in teaching ELL students. I edited a paper for her, and then I went to go do my laundry. I found my mom in there, so I decided, either I'll wait until later tonight or just postpone it for tomorrow.

Now, I'm here, reading some translations of Qur'an just to give me some relaxation after what felt like a long day. Allahu Musta`an.

I'm really exhausted, I get so tired, subHan Allah.

Oh and du`a' is definitely going to those experiencing finals.