(The pictures are from the first day. Check out the girl at recess with the surgical mask. I guess the bottles of hand sanitizer all over the school isn't enough to keep her from getting swine flu.)
Oh, goodness! Where do I begin? So...my class roster shows 18 kids (yeah, I know) but...today a Saudi parent didn't want his daughter in a class with a male teacher, so now I have 17 (yeah, I know). 17 kids! It's inevitable I'll get more, but there have only been 13 kids show up each of the first two days! It makes management easy, but it's frustrating when we need to...get stuff done - rules, routines, community building, etc. Three things: parents fearful of Swine Flu (there is hand sanitizer all over the school!), Ramadan: some parents neglect taking there kids to school during this time partly because of nights are very festive and families often stay up till after midnight, and some families just might not be back from summer travels since many of our students are in ex-pat families. Effin' ridiculous how many kids have been gone! One second grade class had nine kids come the first day! Nine! Why would parents do that if there pretty much paying a college tuition for there son/daughter to be here?
The kids that did show up are amazing! Most of them are Arab. A couple from the states. One Latino, and one sweet Arab girl with a British accent. It's been three days in a row I've stayed at school after 7:00. And 3 days in a row I've gotten Chinese take out. Don't know if I'll do it again today. My washing machine is broken and I need to find a laundry mat. Teachers learn early on that with all the time in the world we'll still never get to where we really want to be. But it still surprises me every time I relearn that fact. It does so mostly because I've got an amazing IA who has done much classroom set up (bulletin boards, cubbies, name labels, consolidating student supplies, etc. And she put everything in the kids' h.w. folders everyday, so I don't have to worry about student mailboxes or anything like that!! (aside: I accidentally walked in on her praying in the workroom - oops!) And we've got two guys that do all our copying for us (not always when we need it, though.) So yeah, those things are amazing, and I know it'll be hard to lose it once I "move on", but...I still feel behind! I think organization has been the biggest thing for me. So much info coming from so many different directions, combine that with "settling in" (finding maintenance for my apt., not having a car and trying my best to learn the taxi system here, finding a good doctor, etc.) and any lack in organization skills quickly comes up and slaps you in the face. Last night I asked the cab driver if he knew where "the teacher building in Mahboula" are. Yes, he said. We get to Mahboula (25 minute drive) and...he asks me where to turn. Several broken-english phrases back and forth and I made it back fine...but it was a little scary, especially when all the desert-brown buildings look the same. Only 2KD (7 or 8 US dollars, though.)
But, yeah...organization. In the states we have what for specialists? P.E., Music...maybe Art once a month. Here we have Arabic/Spanish (everyday), PE, Music, PE, Life Lab (counselor), Computer, Art, Library, Drama, and Religion for Muslim students. That's a lot of walking around each day!!! And a lot of other teachers with whom to communicate effectively. Especially during Ramadan, in comparison to what I'm used to, this does limit the time the time we have with the kids. But the extra planning times leaves more time for teacher collaboration, and more opportunities to tighten learning activities so less classroom time is wasted. Which...there are teachers I've seen out there who sadly waste a lot of class time.
I guess I have to go back to work. But tomorrow is Thursday! (which is actually Friday)
Oh how I miss the Middle East. Couple of things.
ReplyDelete1. To you and I it's a college tuition to send your kid to this school, but to these parents/companies it's not even enough money to register on their radar. Yes....you are now dealing with the upper of the upper class.
2. Having all those specials is pretty normal overseas....and 17 students...heck our teachers start to cry if they hit 20! Enjoy the planning time and dude....go home....there will always be more work to do.
Remember that your first year is about surviving. When you go back there next year you'll feel completely different about everything. You'll know a bit of the language, you'll know you're way around, and life is just easier. We're finding that out this year. So much better being in the second year.
Keep the posts coming....and want some shots of your apartment!
Oh yes, we would all love to see what your living arrangements are like! Keep the blogs coming; these are so fascinating to read and I feeln like I am learning alot.
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