Where does time go? For some reason life gets too busy to sit and type a few lines. School continues never to have a dull moment. This week we had holiday parties, head shavings, less students because many have left on travel already, and quizzes. Glad most of my students are keeping their head above water and like math.
This break I am heading to Bangladesh for 2 weeks. It will be a new place to explore and I will be with a family I know and I will end with meeting a distant relative who happens to be living in Dhaka.
At the end of Nov I have a long weekend and enough time to high tail it to Old Sana'a for a few language lessons and to walk aimlessly around the old city. I was fighting a head cold the whole time but it could have been worse. I would really like to go back there for 3 to 6 months to study. Who knows, maybe in 2011 will be the right time.
Happy New Year and I know I will be writing 2010 wrong for the first few weeks.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Wednesday, September 2
My plan of attack for this Wednesday was to have a good breakfast to last me until 1pm. I made an egg sandwich and it did the trick. The first two periods the students measured books, desks, their height, and anything else they wanted in the class room. They had all sorts of measuring devices to choose from and they enjoyed it and took it seriously.
For advisory we went to the cafeteria for announcements and learned we will have houses now and friendly games for the best house. In two weeks my advisory will have to perform a short skit and have a banner ready for their name. The winning advisory gets points for their house.
The other two classes went fine. Had a brief after school department meeting to give a status on missing books – yup, still missing.
This afternoon I went to the hospital by me to get the cash receipts verified as being official. The nice woman reprinted them on letter head and stamped then PAID. I hope they take them now.
From 5 – 6pm a group of us went swimming in the big pool and we were able to mix. It was nice to be out right before sunset. We had the pool to ourselves but I know that won’t happen often. Tonight is a group BBQ outside. Tomorrow back to school to prep. All in all a good week. Oh, another new teacher showed up last night. I think we are waiting on one more teacher.
I just remembered. I got mail today, 2 letters. One was open with the letter missing and the other letter was still sealed. I was disappointed about the missing letter.
For advisory we went to the cafeteria for announcements and learned we will have houses now and friendly games for the best house. In two weeks my advisory will have to perform a short skit and have a banner ready for their name. The winning advisory gets points for their house.
The other two classes went fine. Had a brief after school department meeting to give a status on missing books – yup, still missing.
This afternoon I went to the hospital by me to get the cash receipts verified as being official. The nice woman reprinted them on letter head and stamped then PAID. I hope they take them now.
From 5 – 6pm a group of us went swimming in the big pool and we were able to mix. It was nice to be out right before sunset. We had the pool to ourselves but I know that won’t happen often. Tonight is a group BBQ outside. Tomorrow back to school to prep. All in all a good week. Oh, another new teacher showed up last night. I think we are waiting on one more teacher.
I just remembered. I got mail today, 2 letters. One was open with the letter missing and the other letter was still sealed. I was disappointed about the missing letter.
Tuesday September 1, 2009
I swear I don’t know where the time goes? Whatever happened to April or June? I am afraid when I wake up tomorrow it will be Halloween rather than Sept 2. Sept 2 will mark the end of the second week of school and also indicating there are two weeks left before vacation – crazy isn’t it since we just got back.
Tuesdays are my light days for classes with having the HS computer science class first period. I have plus or minus 22 students and 24 computers in the room. Students are still adding and dropping but I think I will hover around the 22 mark. Their first assignment is due soon and I have been amazed at what they have done using Publisher. Their assignment was to design 3 business cards for the same company and then chose the one they like best and then make an accompanying letterhead and postcard. I thought the nail artist business was creative and I can see the student having a future in this. She is already doing it for herself and friends and seems very passionate about it. A funny one was Ben’s TV’s where Bigger is Better. It matches his personality. Others were creating engineering firms, auto business, Sushi restaurants, or Halloween parties. It is a good group and a good mix of all different grades. They come in and start right away.
In 6th grade we are starting the unit on Measurement and Geometry and the essential question is, “what is length”? How would you describe it? I also had the second part of my math club today. We solved problems to get a snake through a maze.
After school I am making time to do embroidery while the natural light is still good and practicing tennis. I have been going to the courts to practice my serves and yesterday I started with 6 balls today I am done to 2. I am losing them over the walls and they go places that are fenced in. Tonight I ended up hitting with Rudy because he was there doing the same thing. He is more consistent than me and hits harder. I hope I can find a female soon to hit with. Next week I will go back to the club to play again.
Between all that and making brownies I witnessed Roy who lives upstairs battling major water leaks from the hotwater heater. People are slow to respond here but someone eventually did come and they said he should dry out in a day or two. Then, to my delight, I saw Michele. She is back and looking rested. She stopped by for a quick visit because she was trying to beat the next prayer time to go food shopping. We plan to meet over the weekend. Yeah, the weekend is here tomorrow.
Tuesdays are my light days for classes with having the HS computer science class first period. I have plus or minus 22 students and 24 computers in the room. Students are still adding and dropping but I think I will hover around the 22 mark. Their first assignment is due soon and I have been amazed at what they have done using Publisher. Their assignment was to design 3 business cards for the same company and then chose the one they like best and then make an accompanying letterhead and postcard. I thought the nail artist business was creative and I can see the student having a future in this. She is already doing it for herself and friends and seems very passionate about it. A funny one was Ben’s TV’s where Bigger is Better. It matches his personality. Others were creating engineering firms, auto business, Sushi restaurants, or Halloween parties. It is a good group and a good mix of all different grades. They come in and start right away.
In 6th grade we are starting the unit on Measurement and Geometry and the essential question is, “what is length”? How would you describe it? I also had the second part of my math club today. We solved problems to get a snake through a maze.
After school I am making time to do embroidery while the natural light is still good and practicing tennis. I have been going to the courts to practice my serves and yesterday I started with 6 balls today I am done to 2. I am losing them over the walls and they go places that are fenced in. Tonight I ended up hitting with Rudy because he was there doing the same thing. He is more consistent than me and hits harder. I hope I can find a female soon to hit with. Next week I will go back to the club to play again.
Between all that and making brownies I witnessed Roy who lives upstairs battling major water leaks from the hotwater heater. People are slow to respond here but someone eventually did come and they said he should dry out in a day or two. Then, to my delight, I saw Michele. She is back and looking rested. She stopped by for a quick visit because she was trying to beat the next prayer time to go food shopping. We plan to meet over the weekend. Yeah, the weekend is here tomorrow.
Monday, August 31
A few days got away from me. Last night at school was an Iftar meal inside the gym. They did a nice job with the decorations using Ramadan cloth to cover the walls in the gym, lots of Ramadan lanterns in all sizes outlining the stage and then there were plenty of tables formally set. Parents came looking very dressed up and so were the teachers. The food was also good and we were home by 8:30pm.
Finally I am starting a math unit in math class. I know the students are anxious to use their brain rather than listening to all the rules for the classroom. We are starting with measurement and geometry. That will be hands-on and they can move around.
On Saturday night I mailed some letters and I would expect them to be there by the end of Sept. Tonight is errand night with Sanwar. First is ordering more contacts. There is a shop about a 10 minute ride away and the last set I ordered from there worked out fine. The saline will break the bank because it is $13 a bottle here. Well, I guess that doesn’t look that bad but when I see the 50 SAR price it seems high.
Drat, more ants crawling around the laptop. Where do these things live and feed off of? Still have a minor problem with them in the kitchen with the bigger ones. They come out at night patrolling the counter tops.
I also want to find a place that laminates. On the way back we will stop for juice.
Finally I am starting a math unit in math class. I know the students are anxious to use their brain rather than listening to all the rules for the classroom. We are starting with measurement and geometry. That will be hands-on and they can move around.
On Saturday night I mailed some letters and I would expect them to be there by the end of Sept. Tonight is errand night with Sanwar. First is ordering more contacts. There is a shop about a 10 minute ride away and the last set I ordered from there worked out fine. The saline will break the bank because it is $13 a bottle here. Well, I guess that doesn’t look that bad but when I see the 50 SAR price it seems high.
Drat, more ants crawling around the laptop. Where do these things live and feed off of? Still have a minor problem with them in the kitchen with the bigger ones. They come out at night patrolling the counter tops.
I also want to find a place that laminates. On the way back we will stop for juice.
Friday, August 28
Friday Aug 28
I think I found my new Friday morning routine. Get up about 7am, go over to a bigger pool that is open at 8am, swim there for 40 min and then go to the Star market to do food shopping and then come back to cook a nice breakfast with my special milk chai tea.
I like to do the cooking listening to NPR and today I enjoyed the show with Nora E. about her movie Julie and Julia. I saw the movie right before leaving for Jeddah and I enjoyed it too. Maybe I should attempt a few of her recipes here and impress people and myself with maybe making a skillet steak.
The plan of attack for today is to plan out the next 4 weeks of school. That will take us to the Sept break starting the 17th. I want to start with the unit on Measurement and Geometry to piggyback with Ron the science teacher when he does measurement with his students. Activities will be making a huge number line in the classroom along the walls half way around the room and the other half will be the metric and customary scales. Need to mix it up this year with some desk work and lots more physical applications.
Then I want to work on my camel and cook. Maybe a walk outside after dark to sit and write a letter some where. Speaking of writing letters, turns out a new teacher is also a fan of the communicating the old fashion way. There are few of us left and we need to stick together.
I think I found my new Friday morning routine. Get up about 7am, go over to a bigger pool that is open at 8am, swim there for 40 min and then go to the Star market to do food shopping and then come back to cook a nice breakfast with my special milk chai tea.
I like to do the cooking listening to NPR and today I enjoyed the show with Nora E. about her movie Julie and Julia. I saw the movie right before leaving for Jeddah and I enjoyed it too. Maybe I should attempt a few of her recipes here and impress people and myself with maybe making a skillet steak.
The plan of attack for today is to plan out the next 4 weeks of school. That will take us to the Sept break starting the 17th. I want to start with the unit on Measurement and Geometry to piggyback with Ron the science teacher when he does measurement with his students. Activities will be making a huge number line in the classroom along the walls half way around the room and the other half will be the metric and customary scales. Need to mix it up this year with some desk work and lots more physical applications.
Then I want to work on my camel and cook. Maybe a walk outside after dark to sit and write a letter some where. Speaking of writing letters, turns out a new teacher is also a fan of the communicating the old fashion way. There are few of us left and we need to stick together.
Thursday, August 27
The weekends are Thursdays and Fridays with Thursdays being the better day to go shopping when stores are open in the morning hours. However, this Thursday I went to school to spend the day in the room catching up with everything. Student numbers are higher than last year and the average class size is about 15 students compared to 13 last year. After sitting for 6 hrs my butt said it is time to leave. New teacher Nick was finishing up too and we walked over to the nearby sandwich shop. This is a convenient place to get a decent omelet or egg sandwich and fresh juice.
On the way home the restaurant a group of us were going to this evening called asking us it would be better to come for Iftar to break fast about 6:45pm. That meant I had to call or knock on doors to let people know the change in plans. When all was said and done we had 12 people going for dinner. Ali took us in the van and going anywhere in Jeddah is an adventure if you don’t know where it is.
Location is based on points of interests or landmarks or roundabouts but rarely street names. Even though I have been to this place before I was a little shaky on where to turn right. We ended up on a mini goose chase – no surprise there, but it is frustrating. A man from the restaurant had to stand on the street corner to flag us down telling us which street to turn down. We ended up arriving there the original time we set.
The Iftar food was on the table and we sat down to our teaser appetizer. We were all hungry and wanted more of the parokas but that was it. We had a nice feast of biryanis, mutton ginger, butter chicken and lots of naan. It was a pleasant crowd and a successful night out.
On the way home the restaurant a group of us were going to this evening called asking us it would be better to come for Iftar to break fast about 6:45pm. That meant I had to call or knock on doors to let people know the change in plans. When all was said and done we had 12 people going for dinner. Ali took us in the van and going anywhere in Jeddah is an adventure if you don’t know where it is.
Location is based on points of interests or landmarks or roundabouts but rarely street names. Even though I have been to this place before I was a little shaky on where to turn right. We ended up on a mini goose chase – no surprise there, but it is frustrating. A man from the restaurant had to stand on the street corner to flag us down telling us which street to turn down. We ended up arriving there the original time we set.
The Iftar food was on the table and we sat down to our teaser appetizer. We were all hungry and wanted more of the parokas but that was it. We had a nice feast of biryanis, mutton ginger, butter chicken and lots of naan. It was a pleasant crowd and a successful night out.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Wednesday, August 26
Wednesdays are going to be rough. I have two 6th grade classes followed by an advisory class followed by another 6th grade class and then with the 5 min hall change I have to skedaddle outside across campus to the front of the school where there is a HS computer lab. This class ends at 12:45pm and this is when I collapse from fatigue. No breaks at all but then I do have last period free. I am sure once classes are in a groove it won’t be as demanding as it was yesterday reviewing all the classroom rules and policies to the students. At least in HS the majority of students had their usernames and passwords and five new students are waiting for theirs but I hated to see them sit there and wait. I wanted to show a video but the QuickTime player didn’t respond. I need to go over there before school and get that to work.
I started reading the letters students have written to me and I am impressed with their writing skills and who they are. Some are very focused and have goals like joining the volleyball team or wanting to be on the junior national honor society or others wanting to be doctors or astronomers. Every now and then I think back to my time in 6th grade and I recall sitting in Ms Hyde’s math and science class / home room. We listened to the teacher and wanted to please. Silly things held our interest; the same still applies. We held a combination lock contest with all the 6th graders and they stood in the hallway backs against the wall, locks on the floor and on the count on 3 they all swooped down and started twisting and turning with lightening speed to hear the “click” when they tugged on the lock. It was unbridled enthusiasm with kids jumping up and down with glee yelling “I am first, I am first” when they were clearly in the second pack rounding the corner to the finish.
There were winners for the fastest student, the fastest advisory class and the fastest boy and girl. Next we want to hold the most organized locker contest.
With it being Wed, the last day of the work week, and Ramadan I made plans with Areej to spend the evening with them at a mall. First it was going to be the Mall of Arabia which I was excited about because it is touted as the largest mall in the ME and with all the ones in Dubai and Doha it must be big. But I have learned here big might just mean a big shell with few stores opened but a thriving food court. Instead, due to her husband being on the job overseeing a construction job at the Red Sea Mall, we headed over there. It is a nice and big mall too with most of the stores open and this time they had the Khan Al Khalil souq part open and that was nice. By the signage another bazaar type area is to open “soon” and that is for the Anadulsia area. As the night grew on the mall became more festive with groups dancing and singing and drumming and twirling and passing out zamzam water. We finished about 2:30am and took a drive along the cornice on the way back so Nick could see the Red Sea for the first time.
I started reading the letters students have written to me and I am impressed with their writing skills and who they are. Some are very focused and have goals like joining the volleyball team or wanting to be on the junior national honor society or others wanting to be doctors or astronomers. Every now and then I think back to my time in 6th grade and I recall sitting in Ms Hyde’s math and science class / home room. We listened to the teacher and wanted to please. Silly things held our interest; the same still applies. We held a combination lock contest with all the 6th graders and they stood in the hallway backs against the wall, locks on the floor and on the count on 3 they all swooped down and started twisting and turning with lightening speed to hear the “click” when they tugged on the lock. It was unbridled enthusiasm with kids jumping up and down with glee yelling “I am first, I am first” when they were clearly in the second pack rounding the corner to the finish.
There were winners for the fastest student, the fastest advisory class and the fastest boy and girl. Next we want to hold the most organized locker contest.
With it being Wed, the last day of the work week, and Ramadan I made plans with Areej to spend the evening with them at a mall. First it was going to be the Mall of Arabia which I was excited about because it is touted as the largest mall in the ME and with all the ones in Dubai and Doha it must be big. But I have learned here big might just mean a big shell with few stores opened but a thriving food court. Instead, due to her husband being on the job overseeing a construction job at the Red Sea Mall, we headed over there. It is a nice and big mall too with most of the stores open and this time they had the Khan Al Khalil souq part open and that was nice. By the signage another bazaar type area is to open “soon” and that is for the Anadulsia area. As the night grew on the mall became more festive with groups dancing and singing and drumming and twirling and passing out zamzam water. We finished about 2:30am and took a drive along the cornice on the way back so Nick could see the Red Sea for the first time.
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