Decision day for me was supposed to be tomorrow as far as if I’m going to stay or not next year. I’m not ready to make my decision by tomorrow when Mr. Lara and Jake leave for the States, so I sat down with Mr. Lara to ask for more time. He said I could tell him when he gets back from recruiting, which is 2 weeks from now; I have a little more time to make my decision and with my parents being here, it hasn’t been the most fore front in my mind. I also asked him some questions about if I stayed for next year, did I have to teach fifth grade or could I teach the older kids, what could I teach, and other questions like that. So now the countdown begins again. My parents came to see the school and my class just before lunch. My kids had finished their science projects and were presenting them today and tomorrow, so my parents were able to see their dioramas and oral presentations. My kids were really excited to have them visit; at first they didn’t know what to call them and asked for their first names, which are difficult to say for those who speak English as a second language. After class, they ate lunch in the cafeteria with me and saw more of the school. I had some free periods in the afternoon, so we just chatted about the school and my kids until my last hour.
At the end of the day we were going to catch the bus with the kids down to town so I wouldn’t have to call a mototaxi, but then I was told we had a meeting, which turned out to be not true, but I didn’t find that out until the bus had already left. I was really frustrated with the administration at that point for the miscommunication, especially since my parents were here, so my parents got to experience the ‘fun’ of that. I called a moto and we ended up waiting about an hour for one to come up (when we could have gone in the bus), but eventually got down to town. My parents really liked Guancascos, so we ate there for dinner and I had a great conversation with them about what I should do for next year. We talked about my goals for the next few years, what I liked about living and teaching here, what I didn’t, what I could do if I went home as far as a job, housing, and other related subjects. I went back with them to the hotel just as we lost power and I was about to go up the mountain. It came back on though by the time I arrived at my house. Another experience my parents got to have being in Honduras!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21
Today my parents came up to Villa Verde, but first I met them down in Gracias for lunch and to get a few things from town. We had lunch at Guancascos, ran a few errands and then my parents had their first mototaxi ride! I was afraid my dad wouldn’t fit in it because his legs are so long, but he fit alright in the back with my mom and I sat up front on our way up the mountain. It was a bumpy ride, quite jarring for my parents, but they made it. I brought them to my house, showed them around and brought them to the comedor to meet the Melgars and some other neighbors. They met all the rest of the teachers living up here as well. We climbed in Celaque for a little bit so my parents could see the beauty of it, but with the elevation and heat and hills, we made it about half way up to the visitor’s center. We had a family style dinner with everyone having dinner over at the comedor. They made(baleadas), which my parents loved. I had made them for my family over Christmas break, but Sonia’s are the best by far. I wanted them to stay for church to get that experience, but I didn’t want them to get back too late to town, so they headed back after dinner. It was awesome to have my parents actually come and see where I live, the people I live with, and how beautiful it is up here.
Later that night, we heard this HUGE boom outside and everyone came outside to see what had caused it. The neighbors were saying it was a bomb in the mountains somewhere. The kids and all of us were talking about it the next day, trying to figure out what this huge boom was. My dad told me that the space shuttle was supposed to land at Cape Canaveral that night and then all the sudden it made sense. The noise we heard was the shuttle entering the atmosphere! How cool is that…I got to hear the space shuttle enter the atmosphere in Honduras; another great experience to add to my growing list.
Later that night, we heard this HUGE boom outside and everyone came outside to see what had caused it. The neighbors were saying it was a bomb in the mountains somewhere. The kids and all of us were talking about it the next day, trying to figure out what this huge boom was. My dad told me that the space shuttle was supposed to land at Cape Canaveral that night and then all the sudden it made sense. The noise we heard was the shuttle entering the atmosphere! How cool is that…I got to hear the space shuttle enter the atmosphere in Honduras; another great experience to add to my growing list.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Saturday, February 20
My parents and I had breakfast at the hotel, checked out and then started to head towards the bus terminal when one of our friends from Gracias called saying they were coming to San Pedro with their big van and could take my parents and I back instead of taking the buses. We thought about the offer, but in the end decided it would be better overall for my parents to take the buses. One for the experience, second because we would still arrive in Gracias earlier with the buses, and third then my parents would have experienced the buses so they could do it on their own when they went back to SPS to go back to the States. We met Kirsty at the bus terminal and found the bus line we wanted to take to Santa Rosa; we had to wait an hour for it to arrive, but since I knew this line was nicer, I was willing to wait. My parents just took it all in: all the craziness of the bus station, the people constantly asking them if they want to buy things, the heat and smells. A few buses came that we thought were ours and weren’t, but finally ours arrived. We got back towards the back of the line and ended up sitting towards the back. Kirsty and I were in the very back, while my parents were a few chairs in front. My poor dad had to sit in a chair that over-reclined and wouldn’t sit up for the whole ride! And behind him was a lady with some kids so he couldn’t even sit back in the over-reclined chair if he wanted to. I got to talk to Kirsty the whole time, which was great to catch up on more than surface level stuff in our lives.
We made it to Santa Rosa, made a quick stop while me and Kirsty found a bus to Gracias, and then headed out. For me and Kirsty, the bus was a normal ride to Gracias in a normal bus. For my parents it was an old school bus on a windy mountain to Gracias. My dad handled it ok, but my mom was done when we finally arrived in Gracias. They’re so great and brave for doing it! We dragged their suitcases to their hotel (new ones by the way, they’re not so nice and new now!) and I helped them get settled in. Their hotel is one of the best in Gracias and they really liked it. We all went to Bella Celaque where they had a tipico cena, their first Honduran meal in Honduras. They were wiped out after that, so I headed back up the mountain with Kirsty and found Laura Beth trying to fix our sink.
See our sink has been broken in some form since we got here, but now the pipes were basically holding up the sink and the thing holding the sink into the wall was loose. So Laura Beth took it upon herself to try to fix it (since we were having company J), but she was having some trouble. There was a pipe that water was constantly coming out of and since we didn’t know how to turn off the water, she had to hold that pipe at all times to avoid water going everywhere. Well it had happened a few times already so our bathroom floor was soaked. I felt bad and went in to help her, but changed into my bathing suit first J We tried to fix this thing for an additional hour or so, but the sink wouldn’t stay up on the wall, which meant the pipe with water couldn’t go into it. We finally stuck the pip in the outgoing hole in the wall and kept the sink on the floor. Our neighbor Juan Carlos finally came and showed us how to turn off the water, but not after our floor was literally flooded. It took another hour to clean up the water. It was a sight to see though, two Dutch girls holding their thumb on this pipe to keep the water from coming out and trying to fix a sink and limited tools. At least we’re becoming resourceful here in Honduras.
We made it to Santa Rosa, made a quick stop while me and Kirsty found a bus to Gracias, and then headed out. For me and Kirsty, the bus was a normal ride to Gracias in a normal bus. For my parents it was an old school bus on a windy mountain to Gracias. My dad handled it ok, but my mom was done when we finally arrived in Gracias. They’re so great and brave for doing it! We dragged their suitcases to their hotel (new ones by the way, they’re not so nice and new now!) and I helped them get settled in. Their hotel is one of the best in Gracias and they really liked it. We all went to Bella Celaque where they had a tipico cena, their first Honduran meal in Honduras. They were wiped out after that, so I headed back up the mountain with Kirsty and found Laura Beth trying to fix our sink.
See our sink has been broken in some form since we got here, but now the pipes were basically holding up the sink and the thing holding the sink into the wall was loose. So Laura Beth took it upon herself to try to fix it (since we were having company J), but she was having some trouble. There was a pipe that water was constantly coming out of and since we didn’t know how to turn off the water, she had to hold that pipe at all times to avoid water going everywhere. Well it had happened a few times already so our bathroom floor was soaked. I felt bad and went in to help her, but changed into my bathing suit first J We tried to fix this thing for an additional hour or so, but the sink wouldn’t stay up on the wall, which meant the pipe with water couldn’t go into it. We finally stuck the pip in the outgoing hole in the wall and kept the sink on the floor. Our neighbor Juan Carlos finally came and showed us how to turn off the water, but not after our floor was literally flooded. It took another hour to clean up the water. It was a sight to see though, two Dutch girls holding their thumb on this pipe to keep the water from coming out and trying to fix a sink and limited tools. At least we’re becoming resourceful here in Honduras.
Friday, February 19
I had a busy day today with my longer day at school and then heading out early at lunch to meet my parents. My last class with my fifth graders we had a spelling test and I told them I needed to make sure I left on time so if they could be quiet and finish the test quickly, I would let them out early for recess; it did the trick! They were so good and I was able to leave on time. Kirsty and her brother Matthew came with me because Matthew goes back to the US on Saturday. So after Kirsty brings him to the airport, she’ll meet my parents and me at the bus station to ride back to Gracias with us. We hopped on a bus around 1 pm, got through Santa Rosa alright and on a bus to San Pedro. When we arrived in San Pedro, I said bye to Matthew and Kirsty and caught a taxi with a nice old man to the hotel where my parents were staying. I was a little nervous to take a taxi by myself, but it worked out fine.
I arrived and asked for my parents at the front desk and down the stairs they came! It was so surreal to see them in Honduras after we’ve been talking about them visiting for a few months and now they’re actually here! I went to their hotel room to freshen up before we went to the mall to Applebee’s to eat dinner. My parents told me about how things went for them getting from the airport to the hotel on Thursday night. They found what looked like a taxi, but we’ll never know for sure it was a registered one or not! The guy charged them about $15 USD to get to the hotel , but there weren’t any other options for them and that was about what I expected. We chatted over dinner and I did my best to help them order their food and stuff, for which they were very thankful. My parents were glad I gave them some phrases to use when they arrived, but now that I was there it was a lot less stressful. They kept telling me things they noticed about Honduras that I didn’t realize had become normal to me, such as trash on the roads, how dirty and dusty it was, and other things like that. I (well, my parents) splurged and got a steak, mashed potatoes and veggies, which was amazing, along with dessert. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, figured out some details for tomorrow and got some needed rest.
I arrived and asked for my parents at the front desk and down the stairs they came! It was so surreal to see them in Honduras after we’ve been talking about them visiting for a few months and now they’re actually here! I went to their hotel room to freshen up before we went to the mall to Applebee’s to eat dinner. My parents told me about how things went for them getting from the airport to the hotel on Thursday night. They found what looked like a taxi, but we’ll never know for sure it was a registered one or not! The guy charged them about $15 USD to get to the hotel , but there weren’t any other options for them and that was about what I expected. We chatted over dinner and I did my best to help them order their food and stuff, for which they were very thankful. My parents were glad I gave them some phrases to use when they arrived, but now that I was there it was a lot less stressful. They kept telling me things they noticed about Honduras that I didn’t realize had become normal to me, such as trash on the roads, how dirty and dusty it was, and other things like that. I (well, my parents) splurged and got a steak, mashed potatoes and veggies, which was amazing, along with dessert. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, figured out some details for tomorrow and got some needed rest.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday and Thursday, February 17 & 18
Wednesday
Pretty good day; I did the chapel message for 5th, 6th grade and Nivelacion (our ESL class) on the tower of Babel, which went as well as it could. I felt like it related with the ESL kids (at least what they could understand of it) because it talked about how God changed the languages. Leonela and Adolfo had been giving me attitude all day and I was getting very frustrated with it and finally took them in the hallway to find out the reason for the disrespect. We talked it out and got things figured out, but it was just hard. Later that day Adolfo told me he’d change his attitude, which made me really happy he wanted to come to me and tell me that. It was redeeming for me. I love my kids, but sometimes I just don’t know how I’m doing with instilling respect and discipline while still keeping open those friendly lines of communication.
Thursday
Good day…my kids were good and listened pretty well which always makes things go smoother and I had tutorias after school to review prepositions for language. There was a boys futbol game (teachers vs. students) that I wanted to see and the kids did too, so I promised them if we could work well for 30 minutes, I would let out early so we could see the game; they worked well so we went to see the end of the game, which the teachers won. Afterwards, the teachers and administrators played another team of the men who work construction at our school. That game was more intense and the administration/teachers lost, but they had already been playing for an hour at higher elevation than some of them were used to; they were so tired and beat up! We walked up after the game and made and ate dinner, which we invited Kirsty and her brother Matthew who’s visiting, to eat with us.
We had progress reports due tomorrow, so I spent much of my time doing that as well as learning the difference between matter, mass, weight and gravity. I have to teach my kids this tomorrow in science and I definitely can’t teach them something I don’t understand clearly! I looked up some more information on the internet and my housemates gave me some really good examples, so I understand it now! I feel somewhat stupid that I had trouble understanding the difference between matter, mass and weight, but it’s not something I’ve studied lately in college or high school for that matter. Hopefully I can communicate it alright tomorrow!
Pretty good day; I did the chapel message for 5th, 6th grade and Nivelacion (our ESL class) on the tower of Babel, which went as well as it could. I felt like it related with the ESL kids (at least what they could understand of it) because it talked about how God changed the languages. Leonela and Adolfo had been giving me attitude all day and I was getting very frustrated with it and finally took them in the hallway to find out the reason for the disrespect. We talked it out and got things figured out, but it was just hard. Later that day Adolfo told me he’d change his attitude, which made me really happy he wanted to come to me and tell me that. It was redeeming for me. I love my kids, but sometimes I just don’t know how I’m doing with instilling respect and discipline while still keeping open those friendly lines of communication.
Thursday
Good day…my kids were good and listened pretty well which always makes things go smoother and I had tutorias after school to review prepositions for language. There was a boys futbol game (teachers vs. students) that I wanted to see and the kids did too, so I promised them if we could work well for 30 minutes, I would let out early so we could see the game; they worked well so we went to see the end of the game, which the teachers won. Afterwards, the teachers and administrators played another team of the men who work construction at our school. That game was more intense and the administration/teachers lost, but they had already been playing for an hour at higher elevation than some of them were used to; they were so tired and beat up! We walked up after the game and made and ate dinner, which we invited Kirsty and her brother Matthew who’s visiting, to eat with us.
We had progress reports due tomorrow, so I spent much of my time doing that as well as learning the difference between matter, mass, weight and gravity. I have to teach my kids this tomorrow in science and I definitely can’t teach them something I don’t understand clearly! I looked up some more information on the internet and my housemates gave me some really good examples, so I understand it now! I feel somewhat stupid that I had trouble understanding the difference between matter, mass and weight, but it’s not something I’ve studied lately in college or high school for that matter. Hopefully I can communicate it alright tomorrow!
Tuesday, February 16
My kids have been enjoying science more this week because they get to work on their projects instead of just taking notes. I don’t blame them for disliking notes, but sometimes it’s the best way for me to communicate the information they need to know for the tests. I’m going to try to do more projects or at least in-class demonstrations so science is more interesting. I also might add more charts/drawings instead of just straight notes. Today is one of my longer days with my kids and they’ve still been talking too much in class. So during penmanship I had the last straw when they kept talking when they were supposed to be working so they wrote lines for me today. They know what they’re supposed to do (show respect, not talk when others are talking, raise your hand to speak, etc), so I ask them what they should write and then combine some of those for them to write. I didn’t have tutorias after school because Mr. Lara needed them for math, so I stayed and did some work instead. I was going to work out, but the weather has not been motivational this week with cooler, cloudier, misty weather so I went home and took a nap instead.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Monday, February 15
I assigned a science project for this week; the kids are to make a diorama of one of the animals we talked about in our last science unit, which was on the sea. I assigned them their animal, for which there was information in their book to look at. They need to make a written report of their animal and then make a diorama of their animal in its habitat with its predators and prey. The kids are really excited to have a project to do, but it’s been interesting to see how they go about obtaining their information and research for their animal. Some kids look up stuff on the internet, while some kids just copy everything down from the book. I’ve had to teach them that they need to find only the important information they need to answer the questions I asked them. I don’t think there’s been consistency in the way the kids have been taught, so they don’t know some skills their counterparts in the US know by now; for example, how to do a research project, how to do a simple bibliography, etc. Some of my kids have also been using their reading vocab they’ve learned during school. For example, they weren’t listening very well one day so Estela pipes up and says they were being impertinent (having rude behavior; they’ve also used their vocabulary word absurd (ridiculous) as well. It makes me proud. Unfortunately for me, the time is getting closer to decision time for next year. I need to basically let them know if I'm staying by February 23 because they are going to the States then to recruit for next year. I’m still not sure what to do, so if any of you who read this can be in prayer for me about that, I would appreciate it. I know that if I stay, I want to know that God wants me here for another year; otherwise I may motivation or focus when I need it most.
Weekend February 12-14-Happy Valentines Day!
Friday
We had a shorter day because of PT conferences today, so the kids left early and we got ready to meet the parents and give them their kids’ grades. It went better than last time with parents. Last time, most parents asked so many questions about why their kids’ grades were so low, how they could help, etc. This time, most of my kids improved their grades from last quarter, which is awesome. I think that helped ease some of their fears or worries from last quarter. It was another long day this week, but it went pretty quickly. Earlier in the day, we had asked Mr. Lara if we could have Monday off because we had had two long days this week and were all tired in every way. They said they’d call Teguz and see what they could do, but it might be too late of notice. They understood our reasons though, so at least that’s some comfort that they didn’t totally dismiss the idea. We ate at the comedor for dinner, which was amazing since no one really wants to cook after a long week and day. Best way to unwind after a long week: be mindlessly entertained by movies.
Saturday
We took our weekly walk to town in the morning and as we were heading down we met some cows in the road! It was a whole herd, including some bulls. Tad and I were walking ahead of Laura Beth and Julia so we passed through the herd first, but then decided we should wait for the other girls to make sure they made it through alright! Once we all got past them, they started running down the road and veered off onto another path. I’m not really scared of cows, but ever since Jacki and Kirsty were chased by one, I’m a little more wary when I pass them. It was an absolutely perfect day: sun, blue sky, little breeze; perfect to walk down. We had lunch at Bella Celaque (bolibaleadas), then ran our errands: supermarket, market, and other random stores for random things. We wanted to get some cake or other little pastries at a store we had often passed, but it was closed. Instead we went to Guancascos and got some ice cream and coffee. Our day was completed by normal weekend things: chilling and movies.
Sunday
We had the grand idea yesterday to make French toast for breakfast this morning, so we did…and it was great! It was another beautiful day, so Tad, Julia and I went to the river for the afternoon. There’s tons of great flat rocks, so we laid out in the sun…in February…love it. The rocks are also great for jumping around and exploring, which we did. We went upriver quite a bit and found this great natural pool surrounded by rocks. I decided to jump in (why not?) and although it was cold, it was really refreshing, too. After our afternoon by the river, I did some grading/planning, then had dinner, and went to church.
We had a shorter day because of PT conferences today, so the kids left early and we got ready to meet the parents and give them their kids’ grades. It went better than last time with parents. Last time, most parents asked so many questions about why their kids’ grades were so low, how they could help, etc. This time, most of my kids improved their grades from last quarter, which is awesome. I think that helped ease some of their fears or worries from last quarter. It was another long day this week, but it went pretty quickly. Earlier in the day, we had asked Mr. Lara if we could have Monday off because we had had two long days this week and were all tired in every way. They said they’d call Teguz and see what they could do, but it might be too late of notice. They understood our reasons though, so at least that’s some comfort that they didn’t totally dismiss the idea. We ate at the comedor for dinner, which was amazing since no one really wants to cook after a long week and day. Best way to unwind after a long week: be mindlessly entertained by movies.
Saturday
We took our weekly walk to town in the morning and as we were heading down we met some cows in the road! It was a whole herd, including some bulls. Tad and I were walking ahead of Laura Beth and Julia so we passed through the herd first, but then decided we should wait for the other girls to make sure they made it through alright! Once we all got past them, they started running down the road and veered off onto another path. I’m not really scared of cows, but ever since Jacki and Kirsty were chased by one, I’m a little more wary when I pass them. It was an absolutely perfect day: sun, blue sky, little breeze; perfect to walk down. We had lunch at Bella Celaque (bolibaleadas), then ran our errands: supermarket, market, and other random stores for random things. We wanted to get some cake or other little pastries at a store we had often passed, but it was closed. Instead we went to Guancascos and got some ice cream and coffee. Our day was completed by normal weekend things: chilling and movies.
Sunday
We had the grand idea yesterday to make French toast for breakfast this morning, so we did…and it was great! It was another beautiful day, so Tad, Julia and I went to the river for the afternoon. There’s tons of great flat rocks, so we laid out in the sun…in February…love it. The rocks are also great for jumping around and exploring, which we did. We went upriver quite a bit and found this great natural pool surrounded by rocks. I decided to jump in (why not?) and although it was cold, it was really refreshing, too. After our afternoon by the river, I did some grading/planning, then had dinner, and went to church.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thursday, February 11
Thursdays are my easier days, so my classes with my kids went pretty well. We’re learning about positive, comparative and superlative in language right now, and some of my kids just don’t get it. So I’ve been trying to review and review it in class and practice it, do word equations to help it make sense. English grammar is just not the easiest to teach with all its exceptions. I promised my kids another hour for GAME DAY since we didn’t on Tuesday, so I have them our seatwork hour for it today. Afterwards, I had tutorias for reading and language, which ended up being a flop. I tried doing this ‘word equation’ to help them understand the positive, comparative and superlative (ie: tall, taller, tallest), but they didn’t get it. Maybe it was too complicated or advanced for them. I also had a meeting with Mr. Calderon about my GAME DAY strategy. He basically said if I wanted to do something like that, I needed to let the office know ahead of time (which I can’t because it depends on my kids behavior when they get it). He also said instead of doing it the way I was, instead I should do it that if all the kids get above (for example) an 80 on test or quiz, then I give the class a letter. The problem with this is that some students, no matter what, will not get that grade. So because of one student, I won’t give a letter? How will that student feel then? While I understood what he was trying to say, that if I motivate with academics, there will be a double benefit (higher grades and a game day), I don’t know how well he understands how to motivate an entire class to have good behavior. I already have an individual reward system, which works pretty well. I don’t know; we’ll see how I can honor what he was asking while still doing what’s best for my classroom. The power went out tonight at our house for the first time in a while, so I had to grade some stuff by candlelight; I felt like I was back in the olden days doing my homework by candlelight. Oh Honduras….
Wednesday, February 10
School today went pretty well. The administration decided to switch how my fifth graders would do chapel. From now on we’re going to be with sixth grade and Nivelacion (the ESL class we have until the end of the school year). I was in charge of the songs and the promesas (pledges), and then Mrs. Lopez gave the devotional part in Spanish so the Nivelacion kids would understand. Pastor Evelio came to Gracias yesterday because he is going to give a conference to the parents of our students tonight. So as teachers we are expected to be there to meet and greet and participate in the service. I’ve never actually heard him speak, so while I was not looking forward to the longer day that this brought, I was curious to hear him speak and what he was going to speak on. He spoke on building strong families and had a lot of good things to say. It was a long service though (5-7pm) and he reviewed what he said for a good ten minutes, which by that time I was just ready go and eat dinner. After the conference finished we picked up the chairs and Don Humberto gave us a ride back, but not before we stopped and got some street food: cheap tacos and baleadas. I ate one on the way up I was so hungry! We were so pooped when we got back up to our houses, we just crashed and got some much needed rest.
Monday and Tuesday, February 8 & 9
Monday
Pretty good day overall, except at the very end of the day Mr. Calderon came to me and told me I needed to put a verse on my back wall, redo my border along my whiteboard, and take down drawings that weren’t beautiful. Why all the fuss? Because the people from Teguz were coming tomorrow so my room had to look better. It was fine, it was something I probably needed to do anyway, but it was just annoying that he told me at the end of the day. So because of this, I stayed late at school to decorate and then worked out after that. I ended up getting home around 5:30-6pm. My kids were so excited today, too, because they finally finished their GAME DAY. They’ve been working on this as a class since November and they received their ‘Y’ today. So tomorrow will be GAME DAY for a few hours where my kids can just play games. Needless to say, they’re excited.
Tuesday
I’ve mentioned this before, but the sun has been a problem in my class. My kids complain of burning up so I move them and it takes time away from my class to get everyone in a place where they aren’t in the sun, which usually aren’t the best places to see the board from either. Finally, I went to talk to Mr. Lara about it and he had some of the men come to put something to block it. It helps immensely, but now I can’t open windows, which will prove unfortunate on any hot days we have the next few weeks. We’re supposed to get tint in the next few weeks, so it hopefully won’t be on for long. We had GAME DAY today, so the kids played for 2 straight hours and had a blast. Then people from Teguz came, so I didn’t let them play the last hour, just in case for appearances sake. I’m going to give them another hour this week instead. We had tutorias, but Mr. Lara took most of the kids for math, so I corrected papers, then stayed to work out. Afterwards I did my normal night stuff. I’m definitely in a routine now with working out a few times a week, but it takes up so much more time. I know its worth it, but now I don’t have as many nights where I just chill at home and do nothing.
Pretty good day overall, except at the very end of the day Mr. Calderon came to me and told me I needed to put a verse on my back wall, redo my border along my whiteboard, and take down drawings that weren’t beautiful. Why all the fuss? Because the people from Teguz were coming tomorrow so my room had to look better. It was fine, it was something I probably needed to do anyway, but it was just annoying that he told me at the end of the day. So because of this, I stayed late at school to decorate and then worked out after that. I ended up getting home around 5:30-6pm. My kids were so excited today, too, because they finally finished their GAME DAY. They’ve been working on this as a class since November and they received their ‘Y’ today. So tomorrow will be GAME DAY for a few hours where my kids can just play games. Needless to say, they’re excited.
Tuesday
I’ve mentioned this before, but the sun has been a problem in my class. My kids complain of burning up so I move them and it takes time away from my class to get everyone in a place where they aren’t in the sun, which usually aren’t the best places to see the board from either. Finally, I went to talk to Mr. Lara about it and he had some of the men come to put something to block it. It helps immensely, but now I can’t open windows, which will prove unfortunate on any hot days we have the next few weeks. We’re supposed to get tint in the next few weeks, so it hopefully won’t be on for long. We had GAME DAY today, so the kids played for 2 straight hours and had a blast. Then people from Teguz came, so I didn’t let them play the last hour, just in case for appearances sake. I’m going to give them another hour this week instead. We had tutorias, but Mr. Lara took most of the kids for math, so I corrected papers, then stayed to work out. Afterwards I did my normal night stuff. I’m definitely in a routine now with working out a few times a week, but it takes up so much more time. I know its worth it, but now I don’t have as many nights where I just chill at home and do nothing.
Saturday and Sunday, February 6 & 7
Saturday
It was a lazy day because of rain and cloudy weather. I felt like my Saturday was my Sunday this weekend. We finished the third LOTR, so I won’t need to watch those movies for a long time! I didn’t do much today; I worked on some of my school stuff, spent time reconnecting with family and friends, cleaned the house, relaxed and rested. I really needed one of those type of Saturdays where I did nothing.
Sunday
We walked to town today since we didn’t yesterday. We did some errands, but it was quite busy on Sunday mornings, just as much as on Saturday morning. We tried to eat at our favorite place, Bella Celaque, but it was closed, along with another one of our favorite places. So we went to a restaurant we haven’t been to lately to eat lunch and it was so good. Afterwards we headed back up and decided to make some snacks for the Superbowl at night. Since Mr. Bran and Tad have cable, we were able to watch the game! The commentary was in Spanish, but we still enjoyed watching it. We had bought pizza from a restaurant in town, made a version of puppy chow, and had chips and salsa to eat. It was a fun night watching American football, but I definitely missed America in those moments.
It was a lazy day because of rain and cloudy weather. I felt like my Saturday was my Sunday this weekend. We finished the third LOTR, so I won’t need to watch those movies for a long time! I didn’t do much today; I worked on some of my school stuff, spent time reconnecting with family and friends, cleaned the house, relaxed and rested. I really needed one of those type of Saturdays where I did nothing.
Sunday
We walked to town today since we didn’t yesterday. We did some errands, but it was quite busy on Sunday mornings, just as much as on Saturday morning. We tried to eat at our favorite place, Bella Celaque, but it was closed, along with another one of our favorite places. So we went to a restaurant we haven’t been to lately to eat lunch and it was so good. Afterwards we headed back up and decided to make some snacks for the Superbowl at night. Since Mr. Bran and Tad have cable, we were able to watch the game! The commentary was in Spanish, but we still enjoyed watching it. We had bought pizza from a restaurant in town, made a version of puppy chow, and had chips and salsa to eat. It was a fun night watching American football, but I definitely missed America in those moments.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5
Pretty good for a Friday, I teach 3 straight hours with my 5th graders and they behaved well over all so they got their ‘A’ back. They’re working on GAME DAY, and they have up to the second ‘A.’ We get so close and then one day will set us back; for this day I’ll give them probably 2-3 classes to play games instead of class for their good behavior. During penmanship, most of my kids had to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water, so I said we can go if we line up in 2 straight quiet lines and walk quietly to the bathroom. It took a long time for them to be straight and quiet, so we wasted half of our penmanship class reviewing how to walk quietly in a line. Jacki even came over and showed them how to put their hands like her K4 kids so they didn’t touch each other while walking. It was kinda funny, but I was also frustrated that it took that long to have 2 quiet, straight lines to go to the bathroom with 9 and 10 year olds. I still decided though that since it was Friday I would play some music for them at the end of class; they chose Jonas Brothers and Black Eyed Peas…love it. I stayed after to grade spelling tests and rearrange my seating chart. We had our normal Euchre crew (Julia, Kirsty,Tad and I) and we played Euchre for 2 hours, then decided to TRY to watch all three of The Lord of the Rings in a row! We tried and got through two, but couldn’t finish the third one tonight, so we’ll finish it in the morning. Another life goal accomplished!
Friday, February 5
Pretty good for a Friday, I teach 3 straight hours with my 5th graders and they behaved well over all so they got their ‘A’ back. They’re working on GAME DAY, and they have up to the second ‘A.’ We get so close and then one day will set us back; for this day I’ll give them probably 2-3 classes to play games instead of class for their good behavior. During penmanship, most of my kids had to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water, so I said we can go if we line up in 2 straight quiet lines and walk quietly to the bathroom. It took a long time for them to be straight and quiet, so we wasted half of our penmanship class reviewing how to walk quietly in a line. Jacki even came over and showed them how to put their hands like her K4 kids so they didn’t touch each other while walking. It was kinda funny, but I was also frustrated that it took that long to have 2 quiet, straight lines to go to the bathroom with 9 and 10 year olds. I still decided though that since it was Friday I would play some music for them at the end of class; they chose Jonas Brothers and Black Eyed Peas…love it. I stayed after to grade spelling tests and rearrange my seating chart. We had our normal Euchre crew (Julia, Kirsty,Tad and I) and we played Euchre for 2 hours, then decided to TRY to watch all three of The Lord of the Rings in a row! We tried and got through two, but couldn’t finish the third one tonight, so we’ll finish it in the morning. Another life goal accomplished!
Wednesday and Thursday, February 3 & 4
Wednesday
The sun has been a problem in my classroom the whole year in some shape or form. The reason is because it shines in my windows and covers the kids so they get hot and have to move their seats. Its just annoying to redo the rows or seating every period in the morning so someone is not in the sun. I think I’m supposed to get some sort of tint on my windows, but it hasn’t come yet; hopefully soon! I did chapel today and talked about Jesus and the healing of the paralytic man in Bethesda. It went pretty well; I had Marcos and Elias help me by being Jesus and the paralytic. Lately, lots of kids have been getting sick as well, so pray for health at school for the students and teachers.
Thursday
Not too bad today; Kirsty, LB, me and Tad all have free hours the first few hours on Thursday so we all meet in the cafeteria to plan together and talk. In the afternoon, Mrs. Castanella switched my seats around, but I like it that way. It’s in a U-shape with two rows in the middle so I’m gonna try it and see what happens. My kids were asking to be switched back or change with someone or something, but it seems to work better for now.
The sun has been a problem in my classroom the whole year in some shape or form. The reason is because it shines in my windows and covers the kids so they get hot and have to move their seats. Its just annoying to redo the rows or seating every period in the morning so someone is not in the sun. I think I’m supposed to get some sort of tint on my windows, but it hasn’t come yet; hopefully soon! I did chapel today and talked about Jesus and the healing of the paralytic man in Bethesda. It went pretty well; I had Marcos and Elias help me by being Jesus and the paralytic. Lately, lots of kids have been getting sick as well, so pray for health at school for the students and teachers.
Thursday
Not too bad today; Kirsty, LB, me and Tad all have free hours the first few hours on Thursday so we all meet in the cafeteria to plan together and talk. In the afternoon, Mrs. Castanella switched my seats around, but I like it that way. It’s in a U-shape with two rows in the middle so I’m gonna try it and see what happens. My kids were asking to be switched back or change with someone or something, but it seems to work better for now.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Monday and Tuesday, Feb 1 & 2
Monday- First day of February!!!
Today was pretty good for a Monday; my kids and I worked together well and the classroom ran pretty smoothly. We did have some craziness go on in our science class. We started out the class when Nohemi screams and is saying there’s a bug or animal by her desk. So the whole class gets up to see what it is and it’s a gecko running around. We tried to chase it out the door, but then it ran back inside. Finally Tulito picks it up by its tail and brought it outside. After we had just settled down from that, here came a little scorpion, running across the floor of our class! So I get my shoe out and crush it and throw it out the door. That took up about half of our science class. At least we’re experiencing the different animals and insects of Honduras!
Tuesday
Today was a frustrating day with my kids, especially after recess with 3 straight hours with them. It didn’t start out so bad; I was serious with one of my boys, Husai, because he was talking. I reprimanded him and he was still smiling so I was like ‘this is not funny, take the smile off your face.’ He immediately did and he looked so funny. I tried so hard not to crack a smile, but I couldn’t help it and started smiling and laughing myself because he just looked so funny with how quickly he took his smile down. The thing that was frustrating was that it just took too long to get their attention to start class, even after trying a few times. It consistently happened every class, too. Hopefully I can get things under control, or be more relaxed or something. I had my eighth graders write letters in Bible pretending they were Paul. It was so interesting reading them afterwards; some were very creative in their letters while still fulfilling the requirements, while others were too creative and forgot to include what I asked of them.
I also gave my 7th grader’s a Bible quiz and I stepped out for a moment to get my computer from my room. When I got back, Tad was standing up outside of 7th grade watching them for me. Class was almost done and he had class with them next, but proceeded to tell me and tell them that no cheating would be tolerated. Apparently, while I had stepped out for that second they were whispering, turning around in their seats, etc. I thought I could trust them for a second; apparently not! I had tutorias, where I tried to be more creative with them and had them draw what we were learning and then describe it. It was shortened though by a teachers’ meeting about random stuff (bathroom, grades, Pastor Evelio coming to preach). LB, Kirsty and I stayed after longer to work out, although we felt so tired. I’m going to try to keep up on that through the rest of the year…
Today was pretty good for a Monday; my kids and I worked together well and the classroom ran pretty smoothly. We did have some craziness go on in our science class. We started out the class when Nohemi screams and is saying there’s a bug or animal by her desk. So the whole class gets up to see what it is and it’s a gecko running around. We tried to chase it out the door, but then it ran back inside. Finally Tulito picks it up by its tail and brought it outside. After we had just settled down from that, here came a little scorpion, running across the floor of our class! So I get my shoe out and crush it and throw it out the door. That took up about half of our science class. At least we’re experiencing the different animals and insects of Honduras!
Tuesday
Today was a frustrating day with my kids, especially after recess with 3 straight hours with them. It didn’t start out so bad; I was serious with one of my boys, Husai, because he was talking. I reprimanded him and he was still smiling so I was like ‘this is not funny, take the smile off your face.’ He immediately did and he looked so funny. I tried so hard not to crack a smile, but I couldn’t help it and started smiling and laughing myself because he just looked so funny with how quickly he took his smile down. The thing that was frustrating was that it just took too long to get their attention to start class, even after trying a few times. It consistently happened every class, too. Hopefully I can get things under control, or be more relaxed or something. I had my eighth graders write letters in Bible pretending they were Paul. It was so interesting reading them afterwards; some were very creative in their letters while still fulfilling the requirements, while others were too creative and forgot to include what I asked of them.
I also gave my 7th grader’s a Bible quiz and I stepped out for a moment to get my computer from my room. When I got back, Tad was standing up outside of 7th grade watching them for me. Class was almost done and he had class with them next, but proceeded to tell me and tell them that no cheating would be tolerated. Apparently, while I had stepped out for that second they were whispering, turning around in their seats, etc. I thought I could trust them for a second; apparently not! I had tutorias, where I tried to be more creative with them and had them draw what we were learning and then describe it. It was shortened though by a teachers’ meeting about random stuff (bathroom, grades, Pastor Evelio coming to preach). LB, Kirsty and I stayed after longer to work out, although we felt so tired. I’m going to try to keep up on that through the rest of the year…
Sunday, January 31
We had breakfast (tipico) then left hotel and went to Espresso Americano one last time. These kids kept coming up to us to buy stuff, like peanuts or popcorn or something. They had old, dirty clothes on, no shoes and were just wanting me to buy this stuff. I wasn’t hungry because I already had stuff from the coffee shop, but it just really got to me. Like here I am eating pastel and coffee and I won’t/can’t/don’t buy popcorn or peanuts from these kids. Theyy break my heart, but I don’t know when to say yes and when to say no. I mean I could buy all the peanuts they had and their lives still wouldn’t be better because they would be out doing again the next day. I almost lost my appetite for my coffee and stuff by contemplating about their situation. After that, we left around 11 and then got to Gracias and got some lunch to go. We had a horrible time trying to find a taxi to take us up the mountain. We called all our neighbors and other drivers we knew and they were either busy, couldn’t, or didn’t answer their phones. As we were walking toward the road to Villa Verde, we kept stopping empty motos to bring us up (not many will go up to Villa Verde). We finally found one and headed back up the mountain. We just unpacked, relaxed, graded/planned, and talked the rest of the evening after our fun weekend.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Saturday, January 30
Santa Rosa this weekend! Laura Beth, Mr. Bran, Kirsty, Tad and I are the ones who went, the other girls decided to stay, which allowed the British girls working at our school to come up for the weekend. We got up early enough to be down before bank opened and had some coffee at Guancascos. After the bank, we took the short bus ride to Santa Rosa, but had to stand up on the bus. It was a nicer direct bus, so it just quickly stopped in Santa Rosa, but this way we didn’t have to wait for the next bus. Once we arrived there, we went directly to Espresso Americano for some good coffee and plan where we were going to stay. We took taxis to Central park and proceeded to try to find one of the hotels in our guide book. After walking around a while, we found a random one instead; we stayed in two huge rooms, each of us got a full bed, free breakfast and cable TV. Aweseome. We decided to eat a cheap lunch of pupusas, then explore Santa Rosa. We tried to do La Flor Cigar factory, but it wasn’t open; instead we relaxed in the central park and church for a while. It was a gorgeous day and serene to just sit and enjoy the weather, people watch, and chat.
On our way back to the hotel for a nap, we found these chocofrutas, in other words fruit covered with chocolate. They had strawberries so that was the end of that; we had to get some. They were delicious and only $.50 for four chocolate-covered strawberries. After relaxing and napping, we went for pizza at this place we had heard about and it turned out to be pretty good. We went to this cute little Italian restaurant for dessert, wandered around Santa Rosa a while longer, then headed back to the hotel to play cards, watch TV, and relax.
On our way back to the hotel for a nap, we found these chocofrutas, in other words fruit covered with chocolate. They had strawberries so that was the end of that; we had to get some. They were delicious and only $.50 for four chocolate-covered strawberries. After relaxing and napping, we went for pizza at this place we had heard about and it turned out to be pretty good. We went to this cute little Italian restaurant for dessert, wandered around Santa Rosa a while longer, then headed back to the hotel to play cards, watch TV, and relax.
Friday, January 29
Today was a long day, just because it was the end of the week, but also because I had to cover math for Mr. Lara so I had no free periods. I made my last period a free for all playing games because of science recup tests, which the kids definitely enjoyed. I stayed after school and graded/planned some more then worked out til 5. I’ve started to work out at least 3 times a week, running about 20 minutes and then doing some ab workouts, just to keep myself in shape. I like running, but running up Mount Celaque is really hard and gets old after a while. It’s nice to run on the flatness of the basketball court and soccer field at the school. Then I did my normal walk home, called Mandi, had dinner late, and did some more grading so I wouldn’t have as much this weekend. We’re going to Santa Rosa to celebrate Kirsty’s half birthday and have a mini-vacation.
Thursday, January 28
Today was the first day of recuperation tests and the kids were kinda crazy today. It didn’t help that lots of my kids had to make things up or take things early. It worked out the best to do recups during the last part of day (seatwork) so the person who does my seatwork could watch my kids and I could be with the ones who needed to take the tests. But earlier in the day during Reading it was a little more hectic because it was like I was running 2 classrooms at once. The office also sprung progress reports on us which didn’t make sense since our grades for the previous quarter were due on Tuesday and we had recuperation tests on Friday as well. But we just had to put the most current quiz or test, so it wasn’t as much work as it normally may be. During tutorias, my kids took the spelling recup while the others made flashcards or did Mad Libs. I never realized how language based Mad Libs are and since we just learned about adverbs and adjectives, it was good practice. After tutorias, I stayed after longer to grade things, but still had stuff to do at home for tomorrow. When I got home, Jacki and Sarah told me that Sonia had invited us for baleadas at comedor for free! What a blessing to not have to cook after a long day; it was so sweet of them and the baleadas really hit the spot!
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