Woke up a little after 4. I went back to sleep until 6, but not until after they finished the morning call to prayer (sometime after 4:45).
There was a nice breeze blowing as Mary, Sarah, and I walked to school. The curriculum coordinator came into my classes to get after the students who haven't turned in any homework. It is not the method I prefer, but some of the kids seem to need a third-party authority figure telling them that homework is important. As Mr. B walked in the room, several of the students had Coke cans on their desks. (I let them drink in class as long as they aren't disruptive.) Mr. B made each student on my "missing assignments" list stand up, then asked them why they hadn't completed their homework, "What are you here for? ... To drink Pepsi?" I could have laughed if I hadn't been so disappointed in my students. Mr. B was gracious enough to let me be the "good cop." He told me in front of the students that it would be fine with him if I gave them zeroes on all missing assignments, but gave me the option to accept assignments until the end of school that day. I told him I would like to let them have a little more time (I really just meekly nodded my head, afraid to say anything that might break the stern tenure of his lecture.) After he left, I told the students that when they get in trouble, I feel like I am in trouble too. I want them to do well, but I can't make them turn in their homework (though I'm sure many would appreciate it if I would just do their homework for them!) Several students piped up, "Miss, you DO help us! We just don't do the work." That was encouraging. I don't want them to think this is an "us versus them" situation. I hope they will see that I am there as their teacher and advocate.
Though the classes were a little chatty today, we made it through the lesson and I gave them their phase averages. Both 5th grade classes responded well to Mr. B's reprimand. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, I still had students who didn't turn in any of the assignments. I went to each class to make sure students who completed the assignments could turn them in.
I graded papers in the teacher room until school let out. It is fun to pick up on pieces of the teachers' conversations. They love answering questions and I am always able to learn a lot. Talked to a few of my students on the way out. I took a taxi to the chicken man at the corner of our street, so we could have a chicken for dinner tonight. After I got home and had a bite to eat, I shredded the chicken to help Sarah make a recipe she picked out - chicken tetrazzini. It got really hot in the kitchen with the stove and oven on! Squeezed in some grading during the half hour before our team meeting. At 5pm, we ate a delicious meal together. Sarah's main dish was a hit. Lisa made sauteed vegetables and garlic bread. For dessert Mary made All-American Apple Pie! We had a good Skype call, albeit short due to a late start. We had a fun time together as a team, teasing each other and breathing a unified sigh of relief as we anticipate a weekend away. We leave for Erbil tomorrow after school ... looking forward to American Burger, shopping, a possible coffee shop trip, and a fun roadtrip together.
After the Skype call, I went home and graded more papers. Finished off the gradebooks and sent them to Mr. B with a grateful heart. I've been praying a lot this week that I wouldn't get bogged down with all the grading that comes at the end of the phase. God blessed the work and it wasn't nearly as tiresome or lengthy as I thought it would be.
As I close this entry, the mosquito count is over 30 in the last 24 hours!
Thursday, October 4th:
It was muggy this morning as we walked to school. Lisa joined us since it is one of her days to teach art. She told us about her lesson for the day and the art project she worked on to prepare. Then Mary mentioned how she had watched the lecture she is reading to her class today (the videos are part of her curriculum, but there aren't any TVs in the classrooms yet). It was amusing to think of a snapshot featuring our lesson planning methods ... Lisa bent over an art project, Mary scribbling notes as she watches a lecture, Sarah reading a book and writing notes in the margin, me with an open math book on my lap researching learning styles on the computer.
Since phase grades were due today, I told my kids they got to spend their period giving me a grade! They filled out a teacher evaluation, marking "always," "sometimes," or "never" for statements like "Miss Helen comes to class prepared," "Miss Helen uses good examples." They also answered questions like, "what could Miss Helen do differently in class to make it better?" Though some of the students didn't really understand the purpose and kept trying to find the "right" answer, most provided constructive feedback. Interestingly enough, the data trend followed my results from the multiple intelligences test. More math games, more jokes in class, more math songs (I sang "10 little monkeys jumping on the bed" as an example of a "some went away" problem) reflected their musical, kinetic learning styles. I asked the students to also tell me their favorite thing about my teaching, so I would make sure to keep that in mind while making changes based on their feedback. Some of my favorite comments: "your examples are cool, funny, smarty," "when you laugh," "she work hard a lot," "your sensitivity." One student even told me,"when you don't go through all the problems and you make sure we understand the lesson."
Feeling generous (or at least tired of grading), I wrote "Happy Thursday" on the board and didn't assign any homework for the weekend as long as they could stay focused on the teacher evaluation. They like the "dashes on the board" game, where each time they get noisy, I fill in a dash, which is one letter closer to spelling out the homework assignment. In my sixth grade classes, I added that they didn't have any homework since Miss Julie (their lit teacher last year) had her baby. The kids were really excited, "can we skip our math lesson and visit Miss Julie in America to see the baby?" :)
My breaks were filled with excitement. I was exhausted by the time I got home. During one break, a teacher and student got into a fight. After the principal got involved and sent the student away, I had to keep him (one of my 6th graders) from going back in. It was pretty tense in the teacher room for awhile. During the next break, I went to Sarah's class to make sure she didn't need me to sit in and help with discipline. As I walked in the door, John was bent over a student that had passed out on the floor. While John took him to the nurse and Sarah got the class organized, I started administering the quiz for John's students. John came within a few minutes and I went to the nurses station to check on the student, Chris. After getting some more information from Chris, we realized that another student had hit him on the head with a textbook in a moment of anger. Interrupted Sarah's class to get the student and finally worked out the situation. It made for a long day!
I don't know if I've mentioned him before, but the man who runs the snack shack is someone I hope to remember from the school. He is the principal's son. I think he has a slight mental disability. The students will sometimes tease him about it, so I have tried to be extra friendly. When the students are throwing money in his face, demanding their daily quota of chips, candy, and soda, I stand at the window, reminding them to wait their turn and say, "Supas" or "Thank you." The "snack guy" is always very patient with the kids. He often tells me, "No miss. No money" when I try to buy a snack. He always has a smile on his face, even when he is running around the garden picking up the empty pop cans and candy wrappers. His enthusiastic and untiring servitude reminds me what I ought to be to the students as well.
I stayed until the end of school to grade papers, then talked with some of my kids as they headed for home. One of my students from last year came up to me (in front of all the parents and drivers, which is unusual for the boys) and gave me a HUGE hug. That was a great ending to my school week!
On the walk home, I picked up drinks and snacks for our road trip. All my things were packed, so Sarah and I visited as we waited for our ride. I loaded up the van with mixed feelings. Even though I wouldn't see my kids over the weekend anyway, I was sad to think I would be "leaving" them.
We picked up A, L and the kiddos around 3:30 and started our adventure to Erbil. As always, it was fun to be with the crew. We had snacks, shared stories and started a quote book. For the first time ever, I heard Mary complain about driving too SLOW! (The driving here is fast and at times hazardous. we almost got in an accident twice.) Anyway, just outside Erbil they have their city landfill. The smell was awful and enough to make all of us wish we could fly through that section of the road.
Once in Erbil, we drove straight to American Burger for dinner. it was delicious. Unfortunately, several of us had upset stomachs afterwards. Guess we're not used to greasy American food anymore. The SGI family (K, K and their two daughters) working at CSM in Erbil met us for dinner. Afterwards, we taxied to the house and got settled in.
