Last night we had a beach bonfire to end off Spiritual Emphasis Week - It was really cool; actually not that "cool"! Instead of bundling up around a fire, sipping hot chocolate and getting as close to the fire as possible for the warmth, (like you would in Canada..) we were sitting with shorts and t-shirts, bare feet, sipping ice smoothies in the sand!
This morning was our "new staff debriefing" - The director got us all together and we had a chance to share how we have found the adjustment since moving here. It was great to hear how you identified with so many other's stories, and also how far we had all come since the last time we all met together during new staff orientation. I can't believe it's only been two months since I've been here! So much has happened in those months, that it feels more like 6 months! Yes, there have been highs and lows since I've been here, but the highs definetely outweigh the lows! I've been so blessed with good friends, a low-stress job, and a beautiful apartment. What more could you ask for?! Thank you to all of you who have prayed for me, your encouraging emails, and just knowing you're "there" is such a comforting thought!
Friday, September 29, 2006
Another week done..
Well, it's Friday!! Yay! I am so exhausted, though - a busy week was had! Plus, in Science, we started looking at mealworms, which was just sooo exciting for the kids! They each got their own worm to "observe" and do little experiments with! So yes, Miss Bodley decides to hype the kids up on a Friday afternoon instead of bringing the week to an end with something more calming to do! But the kids loved it, and I'm loving teaching Science again - a subject I haven't taught since my student days!
This week was also "Spiritual Emphasis Week" which meant there were services Tues, Wed, Thurs night with a guest speaker from New York. He was an excellent speaker, (Huge black dude - origninally from the Carribean) and the high school kids responded really well, with lots of them dealing with issues in their lives, and also comitting and re-comitting(sp?!) their lives to Christ. It was awesome! So it's been a good week, just tiring!
This week was also "Spiritual Emphasis Week" which meant there were services Tues, Wed, Thurs night with a guest speaker from New York. He was an excellent speaker, (Huge black dude - origninally from the Carribean) and the high school kids responded really well, with lots of them dealing with issues in their lives, and also comitting and re-comitting(sp?!) their lives to Christ. It was awesome! So it's been a good week, just tiring!
Friday, September 22, 2006
School Life..
Work is going well... I know there are lots of teachers reading this, so I thought I would give you a little "picture" of what the teaching is like over here!
Outside of the academic realm, I'm doing two after school clubs... Monday afternoons I do French club with grades 3 and 4. There are only 9 in the club, which is a nice small number to work with! It's very easy, and I'm using lots of "Jolie Ronde" material/ideas with them (French program I taught at Gad's), so no prep or planning needed! (After 3 years, I can do it from memory:) The other club is girl scouts (Brownies). There are all different age groups, and the boys are doing it too - from grade 1 through grade 5 or 6. This one I was kind of roped into doing, as they needed more leaders to lead different groups! But I am enjoying it.. I have 9 kids (some grade 1, mostly grade 3) and we work on different "badges" every week. So it's pretty easy, and I'm doing all the "easy, low prep" badges first!!
Next quarter, (the school year is divided into 4 quarters - 2 quarters in the first semester which goes until December, then 2 quarters in second semester, which goes from Jan-June) which will start in a couple of weeks, (no holidays between 1st and 2nd quarter unfortunately!) I'll be continuing on with Brownies, and also doing Student Council - ahhh I don't know what I've just gotten myself into!! But it sounds fun anyway... Planning theme days, and "social" kind of events.. I will hopefully delegate a lot of the work to my council!! I'll keep you informed of how it goes...:~
As far as the academic side goes... the workload is SO much lighter than I'm used to! It's just that I find I'm "caught up" so much quicker... A few factors that maybe contributes to this is that I only have 11 kids, so the marking gets down much quicker... Also, we finish at 2:55, so the day is shorter, meaning less "teaching" time. The other grade 3 teacher and I agreed that I would teach her Science and she would teach my Social Studies, which means I only have 4 subjects to prep for! Makes life that much easier:)
I must admit, I really do miss teaching different classes of kids and also my French and DT I taught at Gad's.... I really enjoyed that! But at the same time, I am thankful of the lighter load, so that I have the time also to just settle into a different culture, and form friendships ect.
Speaking of settling in... my plans this weekend? To finish painting my bedroom! I love colour... and so the bedroom is a sage green, and the bathroom is a lavender purple... I also bought fabric to cover the cushions of my couch - a local lady is making the covers for me ... RM 5 a cover! (That's less than a pound!!) How could I NOT get it done at that price!! Can't wait til they are finished... I will post a picture when my living room is "complete"!!
I must head home now... it's Friday afternoon... What am I still doing at school??!!
Outside of the academic realm, I'm doing two after school clubs... Monday afternoons I do French club with grades 3 and 4. There are only 9 in the club, which is a nice small number to work with! It's very easy, and I'm using lots of "Jolie Ronde" material/ideas with them (French program I taught at Gad's), so no prep or planning needed! (After 3 years, I can do it from memory:) The other club is girl scouts (Brownies). There are all different age groups, and the boys are doing it too - from grade 1 through grade 5 or 6. This one I was kind of roped into doing, as they needed more leaders to lead different groups! But I am enjoying it.. I have 9 kids (some grade 1, mostly grade 3) and we work on different "badges" every week. So it's pretty easy, and I'm doing all the "easy, low prep" badges first!!
Next quarter, (the school year is divided into 4 quarters - 2 quarters in the first semester which goes until December, then 2 quarters in second semester, which goes from Jan-June) which will start in a couple of weeks, (no holidays between 1st and 2nd quarter unfortunately!) I'll be continuing on with Brownies, and also doing Student Council - ahhh I don't know what I've just gotten myself into!! But it sounds fun anyway... Planning theme days, and "social" kind of events.. I will hopefully delegate a lot of the work to my council!! I'll keep you informed of how it goes...:~
As far as the academic side goes... the workload is SO much lighter than I'm used to! It's just that I find I'm "caught up" so much quicker... A few factors that maybe contributes to this is that I only have 11 kids, so the marking gets down much quicker... Also, we finish at 2:55, so the day is shorter, meaning less "teaching" time. The other grade 3 teacher and I agreed that I would teach her Science and she would teach my Social Studies, which means I only have 4 subjects to prep for! Makes life that much easier:)
I must admit, I really do miss teaching different classes of kids and also my French and DT I taught at Gad's.... I really enjoyed that! But at the same time, I am thankful of the lighter load, so that I have the time also to just settle into a different culture, and form friendships ect.
Speaking of settling in... my plans this weekend? To finish painting my bedroom! I love colour... and so the bedroom is a sage green, and the bathroom is a lavender purple... I also bought fabric to cover the cushions of my couch - a local lady is making the covers for me ... RM 5 a cover! (That's less than a pound!!) How could I NOT get it done at that price!! Can't wait til they are finished... I will post a picture when my living room is "complete"!!
I must head home now... it's Friday afternoon... What am I still doing at school??!!
Chilling in the Highlands
Last weekend I went up to the Cameron Highlands with some other gals from work. We left right after school, and headed up to the mountains. (About a 4 hour drive) It's on mainland Malaysia, east of Kuala Lumpur. Once we started climbing, we turned the air con off and opened the windows... wow - cool air!!! It was so amazing! I didn't realize how much I actually missed it! We spent 3 nights (we had Monday off) at the missionary guesthouse, which was AWESOME! Nestled in the mountains, what a view we had... My favourite part was to go out in the morning and read, overlooking the lush green mountains! The guesthouse itself was gorgeus - high ceilings, hardwood floor, 3 meals a day prepared for you... own room with huge bed and sink.. all for only RM 60 a night! (less than 10 pounds/or $20Cdn)
It was a wonderful time to relax - sleep, read... and sleep some more! It took me about a day to just unwind, since I've been "on the go" with school ever since I arrived, and haven't had a real "break". So yes, just what the doctor ordered!
On the Saturday, we went to the tea plantation which was amazing! And went to the little town nearby for tea and scones with jam and cream! (That place catered for westerners!! Not a lot of places would have that! What a treat!!)
The best part of the weekend (well, one of the best..) was wearing my jeans and socks and my hoodie sweater, curled up on the couch with a blanket, watching 3 episodes of CSI!! (They had satellite TV at the guesthouse:)) See, they had no central heating, so it got a little chilly in the evenings - when I mean chilly, hmmm about 15 degrees celsius... I guess my blood is starting to thin out already!
Coming back Mon evening into the humidity was not as much fun... But you get used to it fairly quickly!
The pics above are of the guesthouse where we stayed (beautiful rose garden!) and of the tea plantation.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Singapore!
Singapore, here I come! (Me (left), on the road less travelled...;)
I was in Singapore for two days (with two other collegues) for a conference for work. The school flew us down(all expenses paid) and it was awesome!! An excellent 2-day workshop on cooperative learning by Kagan. Lots of practical ideas to use! Besides the "work" part of the trip, we also go to see a bit of the city! After the conference ended the first day, we got some dinner then headed to the night safari, where we went around in this tram for 45 mins - we saw tons of animals - elephant, giraffe, rino, hippos, ect. - by night! It was really cool, and if it hadn't been raining and we weren't so tired, I would have liked to do some of the walking trails around there. We also went to Little India, and had a look at the downtown area/riverside which was very pretty lit up at night. We stayed 2 nights at the YMCA (very nice!) and then flew back Tues night. Back to work Wednesday! It's been a short week at school, but boy am I ready for Friday! I feel like a bus ran over me!
Below are a few pics of us in Singapore.
A Sad Day...
An emotional day for me... Last night I came home from work to find my kitty in a seizure/fit (looked like an epileptic fit to me..) on the floor, foaming at the mouth.. I got Wendi next door to help me - and she got Corrine (another teacher who lives just down the road) who had a car and drove us to the vet. Well, Biscuit didn't quite make it there... She died in my arms.. Horrible experience! I have never quite experienced a death like that. The vet was very sweet, and I left her there to be cremated. I have NO idea what was wrong with her.. The vet said she could have been poisoned (but there was no trace of anything that had been tampered with in the house.. although she could have nibbled a plant perhaps?) or it was an epileptic fit. I was about to take her into the vet this weekend to have her spade too... It's amazing how attatched you can become to an animal after only 6 weeks! But I know she's in kitty heaven...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
