Election and SCUBA

Yesterday was probably one of my favorite school days. This week, we've been discussing the election-who was running, when it was going to take place, and how people vote. The week before we had discussed Sandy, so when I showed pictures of Obama and Romney one boy asked, "Miss, how come they didn't die in the hurricane?" I guess that's what I get for showing pictures of Sandy's aftermath.

So when the boys came in yesterday morning and saw CNN on the smartboard they asked right away, "Who won? Who won??" I explained that we didn't know, but the news was updating us as votes came in. They saw the map and understood the different colors and what the colors meant, so they started to count the states. 

We usually have reading groups first thing in the morning, which we did. But my guided reading group  became independent reading so I could look at the computer! Finally the results came in (my boys were pulling for Obama so there was a bit of cheering.) After reading, I thanked them for working so nicely and quietly so that I could watch the results.

I asked them "Why do you think the election is so important to me?" Right away they answered, "Miss-it's your home country!" Kuwait boys understand having pride for your country! It was wonderful to see them be so understanding! We even watched a little bit of the first two speeches. They kept asking who I voted for. Emotions mini-lesson: Would I be happy or sad right now if I voted for Romney? Would I be happy or sad right now if I voted for Obama? Who do you think I voted for? 

The excitement wasn't over after the speeches. Mr. Michael the SCUBA diver came in to share a presentation! He showed pictures, video, and his equipment. They boys loved it!! 

I made him put on everything but the wetsuit. Yep-fins too! 

Eat, Sleep, Lesson plan

This week was interesting. There's a normal speaking voice and a teaching voice-which is a lot louder! Well this week I had a sore throat and lost my teacher voice and almost my normal!

Yesterday we had a Hajj celebration. The third graders acted it out with costumes and props. It was quite a production! I'll have to borrow some photos and put them up tomorrow!

The rest of this post is just teacher stuff, but we're going on a desert paintball/camping trip tonight so there will be a update post tomorrow with pictures : )


These are my random thoughts of a first year, second grade, boys' campus teacher in Kuwait:

• I taught a lesson last week how to say Miss Toni. They were saying Miss or Miss Tonya (like tone-ee-yah) So I drew a stick figure and said, "Look. Toe. Knee. Toe-knee. That's my name.
• My to-do list is never ending and there's not enough hours in the day. 
• My maxi skirt gets caught under the wheels of my desk chair daily.
• Second grade boys have learned that if they cross their legs, grab the front of their pants, squirm and give the bathroom signal, it means emergency and they will be given permission. So, we had a talk the other day-only use one had to give the bathroom signal-no grabbing with the other! haha
• There's no shame in lesson planning the night before : )
• Kids love routine and it helps with their behavior. 
• I did an author study on Laura Numeroff, and explained that part of her writing day includes walking her dog. My boys yelled out "Haram!" So my TA discussed it's only haram if she keeps the dog inside. (It's not too common to have dogs as pets) It's so nice having a bilingual Muslim TA!
• Pinterest-it's a love/hate. I love all of the great ideas, and I hate that I can't do them all.
• I choose small group instruction over whole group any day.
• "Actually" now has a new meaning. Example: I'm introducing a lesson but I already asked the boys to get out their scissors and gluestick...big mistake! They can't pay attention so mid sentence I say, "Actually, we're going to talk on the carpet!" 
• When I need a dry erase marker-I can only find a pen. When I need a pen, I can only find a pencil. But I always have my clipboard! It has my schedule, class list, informal assessments, lesson plans and to-do lists. I lost it for one period last week and almost lost my mind!
• When my boys do really great, I feel like a proud momma!

The past three weeks, we've working in small groups for reading block, and this past week we worked in small groups for math. But this upcoming week my math stations and literacy centers will be in full swing!! I am so excited, because I know it's best for my active boys! Can't wait to let you know how it goes!

Reading Week!

This week was reading week and by far the best week yet! 

Bulletin board! Thanks Ms. Eman!

Grade 12 boys came in to read to my class.

One of the perks of being on a campus with middle school and high school.

Our very first Author Showcase!
Can you tell how well they're listening? ; )

All of the parents who attended the showcase

The parents brought food for the occasion.This is what was leftover after the kids left!
Lots of savory pastries, donuts and cookies!

My Little Critters in the Reading Parade! 

The parade ended at 11:00 but since I postponed their spelling test and we celebrated before the parade, all of the parents took their sons home! Turned out to be a half day for me!! 

Next week is going to be great!! Math stations will be in place soon, so teaching the kids the different games is fun! I'm also having small groups for English and finally getting in phonics instruction and guided reading! We start social studies, because science and social studies switch midway. Basically my kids are used to my expectations and procedures, so I am able to implement the practices that I feel are best for their learning needs.

Michael is going to be the high school boys' PE substitute teacher all next week! At least the grocery shopping will get done thanks to taw9eel.com! 

We put the order in online and they deliver them for free!!

If things get too busy we can always have a maid clean our apartment. It sounds crazy but most of the teachers here hire maids to clean once a week-they do laundry, dishes and everything for 5KD! Don't worry mom-I'll clean!! haha But it's nice to have that option : )

Duty at ACA

For starters, I forgot to fill you in on my weekend! Friday is church day. 

 

Saturday we treated ourselves to a pedicure! 

Walking around the dusty streets in sandals for a month....this pedicure was definitely needed!

Saturday night we went out for all you can eat sushi-it was a splurge but absolutely delicious!

I started tutoring this week! It's a different experience than tutoring in the states. The driver picks me up from my apartment and takes me to the student's house. I use the side entrance where the maid greets me and takes me to the table for the child-usually in a finished basement or in the dining room. They serve tea and coffee and then let us work for an hour. Sometimes I don't see the mom at all. When we're done, we let the maid know and the driver takes me back home. Yesterday I had to go straight from school because we had a meeting, so the mom had a salad, hummus, and flatbread with cheese and olives ready for me; she said she knew I didn't have time after school-so thoughtful.

I'm including a photo and video of my duty that I have 4 times a week-mosque duty. The fourth grade boys are washing behind the mosque, then walk around to remove their shoes. While the fourth graders are praying, the fifth graders are at recess! Guess what they're playing....

Soccer!!!! Kuwaiti boys LOVE soccer!! They play it all the time! The only other sport I see during recess is basketball, but it's only a few students. Some teachers throw a ball to students in the classroom when they ask questions, because the boys are very bad at catching.

Pile of shoes beside the mosque. It's hard to tell, but they're all soccer shoes! Purple, neon green and of course- orange!

I see at least 10 pairs of these shoes in each class!

This is recess at ACA-sometimes it feels like dodgeball for teachers on duty!

Arabic

Another crazy/busy week at ACA! If any of my boys were shy and reserved before, they are completely comfortable now and wide-open! Classroom management is key on the boys campus, and is something we reflect on everyday. It is nice having all boys, because I can remind them to be gentlemen-they have to sit like gentlemen, walk in line like gentlemen, etc. Every morning we meet in a circle and greet each other by shaking hands and saying, "Good morning (name)" and the other boy replies back, "Good Morning (name)." It goes around the circle until everyone has been greeted by their neighbor. I like to remind them to shake hands like men, look them in the eye and use a strong voice! I also make them shake hands when they are apologizing to one another. On the girl's campus, I hear they have "Calendar Princess" in the morning, so I guess both have their perks!

I've learned a few Arabic words since I've been here.
Shukran means thank you and al'afw is you're welcome
hello: as-salām 'alaykum
and response: wa 'alaykum as-salām
yes: n'am
no: la, with our boys it's usually la la la la! (no no no no!)
yella: let's go (I hear that a lot with the boys too!)
Insh'Allah: God willing "Michael will be working soon insh'Allah."
Humdullah: Praise be to God. "How are you?-Fine, humdullah, humdullah"

And unfortunately I learned what "haram" means: sinful or something that displeases God.

Before we started math Tuesday morning, I noticed lots of trash on the floor. We eat snack and lunch in the room, so you can imagine what the floor looks like. Also, most of the boys don't really have to pick up after themselves at home, so I'm constantly reminding them. This Tuesday morning, I found an Arabic worksheet on the floor. It had a picture of a boy dressed as a policeman with questions on the back.

"Boys, who's paper is this?" ..nothing.. "Who's Arabic work is this?"....nothing..."When did you do this worksheet?" "Sunday"...."Why is it on the floor?".....nothing..."Fine, I'm throwing it away!" and just as I start on a rant about keeping our classroom nice and neat, four boys shout "Miss, Miss, Haram! Haram!" Thank goodness my teacher assistant was there! She came over and explained that the story included "Allah" or God, and I threw it away....I threw away God. Whoops! I explained to the boys that I had no idea, that I did not do it on purpose, and I put it in the recycling basket. From now on, I will put all Islam and Arabic work in the recycling basket! I learned it's also "haram" to waste food, so we usually give left over, uneaten food to the maids. Another sensitive subject is music-no music special, no music clubs and we're really not supposed to have music in the classroom. I sometimes sing songs for instruction-last week we sang a doubles addition song. Yesterday I played classical while they worked but I asked my TA first. Of course yesterday was an exception-it was last period on a Thursday...no matter what age or gender, our kids go bonkers last period on Thursday!


As you know, Arabic has different characters for writing so everything is spelled phonetically. There are a few different spellings for the Arabic words I wrote. It's also the reason English words are spelled so funny here such as "Hair Saloon."

Boys will be boys

Tomorrow you might here a girl yelling TGIT across the Atlantic! Thank goodness it's Thursday!! This week was tough-mainly trial and error and lot's of pre-assessing. Sunday I had a few great lessons planned, tried them and realized it was way too much for the kids. I didn't take enough time to teach writing the date, writing their name, how to read directions etc. I'm also learning that I have to talk very slow and use visuals. So I have slowed down the pace and am taking time with each step of an activity. Modeling and guided practice x100!

And of course boys will be boys. Twenty-four in a room makes for a lot of noise. Today we worked on keeping our bottom in the chair! Of course lots of noise usually means lots of talking and I love how social they are! 

This is how I feel by the end of the day!

I'm hoping we will get used to our routines and procedures. My favorite is giving the American sign language letter for "B" to ask to use the bathroom and "W" for water. They are doing a great job at looking to see if the hall pass is available and asking silently! 

We have three rules: The Golden Rule ("Treat others the way you want to be treated"), "Only talk when you have been called on" and "Only get up when you have permission." It's very common to speak to the teacher by getting out of your seat and yelling Miss Miss! Unfortunately, when it's happening all day long with 24 boys. the teacher can get irritated hence the 2nd and 3rd rule : )

So I mentioned all of the planning time I have each week, which is wonderful! Here is what the boys are doing:
Every week they have five Arabic classes, two Islam classes and two Lifeskills classes. The Arabic of course is just like English Language Arts. Lifeskills is a great course-today they talked about why they are special which fits right in with my social curriculum! The teacher for Islam has a beautiful voice-I love to hear him teach the prayers and of course listening to my class sing in their sweet 7 year old voices is lovely! He is also an amazing storyteller....I find myself just sitting and listening for 10 minutes at a time, even though I don't know what he's saying!

Prayer request: Michael's looking for a job! 

We went on the yacht last weekend and swam in the Gulf! It was extremely salty and the current was so strong we resorted to hanging on a rope while the others jet-skied. 

I had great pictures of Michael and I swimming at sunset and I accidentally hit "Delete all"!! boo

Well I'm going to go enjoy a cup of green tea and look over my lesson plans for next week! If I haven't mentioned before it's common to drink tea and coffee after every meal. 

Next post you'll learn all about fills and KD and the few Arabic words!

First Day of School!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!! I loved FaceTiming with my family! And Sissy emailed me a video of Reece in her walker! Can't wait to see her walk!

Today, I had my very first day of school as a full time homeroom teacher! It was amazing!! I thought I would be nervous, but instead I was excited! Here are my classroom photos : )

In case you forgot, here is a before..

And here's the "after."

This is my classroom library, ALL of the books were left in the class from past teachers. 

My welcome bulletin board. (class theme-2A All-Stars!)

A closer look

Content vocabulary word wall

The boys were great today. They have A LOT of energy, but when I sat them in a circle and asked them to say their name for everyone, they barely whispered it! The biggest challenge today was listening. This may be because the kids did not speak a lot of English at home all summer. It may also have to do with their behavior expectations at home. Apparently the children here are very privileged and the boys can basically do and have anything they want. I'm not sure if this is true, but I guess we'll see!

Also, the orientation, dropping off the students and picking them up has been a family event! Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and maids all come, but they tell me usually only the maid comes in to pick them up after the first week. And the maids wear uniforms which looks bizarre to me.

Today during one of our icebreakers I learned that all of the students in my class had at least 2 siblings, most had 4 or 5!

Get ready..next post will be my Kuwait fashion post!

Classroom Prep!

As I mentioned before, I am teaching 2nd grade on the boys' campus! Here are a few "before" photos of my classroom:

Main entrance to the Boys' Campus

One of the entrances in the school.
The sign says "Our goal is for a creative and gracious generation
that loves its religion and country."

My classroom!

Playground, under a canopy but still very hot.

Hallway to my room. The signs are in Arabic on one side and English on the other.
They say things like "Our language is Arabic."

The first day was overwhelming! Of course, as a first year teacher, setting up my classroom is a slow process! Fortunately, I have a wonderful teacher assistant!!! Eman (pronounced e-mon) came in, started getting things done right away, and helped me figure out what to start with and what can wait a few days. She is bilingual and she helps communicate with the Arabic and Islam teachers and maids.

First day's progress.

Check out the top left hand corner-they installed an interactive projector!

Me and Eman

The bus that takes us to our apartment.

The early bus gets pretty full!

Sorting through boxes and filing cabinets can be a nightmare...but today it was like a treasure hunt! Teacher friends will appreciate my find: Reading A to Z books, all assembled with coordinating lessons, and all are organized! For a first year teacher excited to implement literacy stations this is a great resource!!

I was also given my schedule with Arabic, Islam and specials included. We're assigned periods that are blank, and we decide what they are used for.  For example, periods 1 and 2 are for my instruction, so I chose to teach Language Arts for both. We have 10 Language Arts periods (one being library), 5 Math and 5 Science/Social Studies. Here's my schedule!

If you can't see it, yellow is LA, green is S/SS, and blue is Math. And if you really can't see it, let me summarize....I have so much planning time!!!

So, I have TWO days left to get ready for Parent Orientation on Sunday : ) Don't forget, the weeks are Sunday to Thursday! Can't wait to show some "After" photos!