Queen Jen's Gems

 Throughout my days, I hear a lot of questions being asked. My students love to ask questions in my classroom. Some love to ask them more than others 💜! Sometimes I know the answers to the questions and sometimes I don't know the answers. When I don't know the answers, I either go search and look it up or I ask someone who does know. Now, I have heard many different types of questions that my students like to ask. Some are easy answers while others are more involved. There's one particular type of question they LOVE to ask that starts with two words. Can you guess it?! Hint: Adults like to start their questions off with these two words also 😊. Are you ready?! It's the famous "What if?" We like to think or ask aloud, "What if this happened or didn't happen?". "What if people knew this or didn't know this?" In thinking back to my classroom for a minute, I heard a lot of "what if" questions in my Reading class as we were re...

 Have you ever thought about what you would say to a younger version of you? I think about it a lot, especially since I teach youth. Have you ever looked back at choices you made and wonder what was I thinking? When I look back at a younger version of me, I see that things I thought were SO important back then are not so important now. I look back at wrong choices I made and think that wasn't so smart. I look back and think why did I value people's opinions so much. My younger me made some good choices and some bad choices. I had wrong attitudes, wrong thoughts/mindsets, wrong friendships/relationships, said wrong things and had wrong values. On the other hand, there were good things that happened, good people I connected to, good teaching from my Mom and Dad, and good attitudes I learned to develop. I'm so grateful 💜!! I learned living for God had to be important and not to worry about what people said because I was a Christian and dared to be different. I'm so thankf...

 Being able to see something makes all the difference in the world 👀. It's even better when you can see it clearly! As most of you know, I am a teacher. During this past school year and especially near the end of the year, I noticed that the words on the front board of my classroom were blurry. Now, the board at the front of my classroom is called a Smartboard. It's like a big flat screen TV. It's amazing! One day, I had a digital program displayed on the board and was teaching examples from it. Now I'm the teacher that likes to walk around when I teach. That particular day (and many other times), I walked to the back of my room and stood there for a moment. It was in that moment that I realized I was struggling to see the words on my Smartboard from the back of my room! I was thinking is it just me or are any other students struggling to see from back here. I remember having to strain my eyes and walked closer to the board, so I could see. Later that day, I remember t...

 When you hear the word love, you may think of Valentine's Day, Christmas or another special holiday. In regards to love, you may think of a special someone or something special you enjoy doing or watching. Today, I want to come remind you at this halfway point of the year that you are loved 💖. That's it- that's today's message 😊!! There is a lot going on in the world around us. There is a lot going on in our local communities. There is a lot going on in our personal lives. I understand about hard times because every day is not easy. We may not feel loved every day, but we are loved every day and need to be reminded of that. To be loved means to be cherished. When someone is cherished, they are protected and cared for very much. Some synonyms for loved are admired, appreciated, supported and held in high esteem. You knew the word girl in me was coming out 😉. Know today that you are cared about and loved very much. In case no one has told you today, you are appreciate...

 We're halfway through 2023! Wow! Time flies! The month of June is special for several reasons. Since it is the halfway point of the year, it leads and encourages me to reflect back over the first part of the year at goals accomplished, and adventures and memories made. I also think about the goals, adventures and memories I still want to accomplish and create. June is also important to me for two other special reasons. One, it marks the end of another school year 👏! As a teacher, this is super exciting news!! Second, it's my birthday month! This year was extra special because I entered a new decade 😊. I turned 40 on June 4th💜!! I can't believe 40 years of life have already gone by! It doesn't seem that long and I know I don't look it. I love seeing people trying to guess my age 😃. It's true though! In my last decade, I have experienced great adventures, heartache, disappointments, challenges, accomplished goals, new connections and new memories. Yes, it was...

 Hey fam 👋!!! I know it's been a while. I'm back 💜!!! When we look around in our world, we see diversity. When we look at our families, jobs, churches, and communities, we see diversity. We all have different personalities, styles, backgrounds and interests. Seeing the diversity makes me happy 😊! You see, while we do have common interests, we still have something that makes us unique. For a long time in my life, I did not want to stand out. I was afraid of being different and worried about what people thought of me. I did stand out because I got good grades, wore my hair different and dressed different than a lot of girls my age did. I was not in the popular crowd, but I definitely had my supportive circle of friends. Kids and adults made fun of me and my immediate family growing up on the bus, at school and even at church. I would get so upset, overwhelmed, bent out of shape and mad because of what was said. I couldn't understand why they were doing it. Side note: that...

 Whenever someone says, "Hello," it is usually followed by "How are you?" This is how many of us greet others. I know this is how I greet people usually. Recently at work, I was going to the copier room (you catch that available when you can especially this time of school year!) and one of my coworkers asked me, "How are you?" I said I was doing fine. She stopped and then asked me, "How are you really?" Then I said "I'm hanging in there. It's SOL review time. I'm planning the first few days, then I'll go from there." She said it is that time of year and it's a lot and then said take care 🙏. You see, SOL stands for Standards of Learning and there are certain objectives we have to teach here in Virginia. In other states, they are called something slightly different, but all have the same goal. At the end of the school year, certain grades have to take standardized tests in certain subject areas. I'm so thankful sh...