Right now I'm in my classroom getting ready for open house to begin. Elementary open house is only an hour long and most parents have to meet with more than one teacher because they have multiple children in grades pre-school through fifth. There is also Middle and High School open house starting at 7, so parents then have to go there. Parents here are also notoriously late for everything, so I assume my 20 minute blocks will already be cut short, people will wander in and out as they please and everyone will ask me questions again tomorrow anyway.
School has been going pretty well, though today was filled with poor listening and some children getting in quite a bit of trouble with the P.E. teacher. There were time outs, and tears, and notes sent home. I do feel that the P.E. teacher does not know how to handle younger children and this is a large part of the problem, but when he gives me a bad report, it is my job to keep it from happening again.
Other than that, we've just been starting "serious" school and getting into our routine. The kids are definitely used to the full day, some even wanting to stay longer. =) We've been language arts instruction following the reading a-z program. (The school doesn't have any set program, its up to me to decide how to teach it) I chose this program because it has "decodable" books. These books begin very simply and tell a story using only 3 sight words and words made from 3 letters. They are stories kids can sound out. Each week, we gain another letter or two and two-three more sight words and another new book to read. This is great for the kids because these books they can begin to read and gain confidence with what they are doing. I think that children learn to read, not from memorizing sounds and spellings, but from practicing. So, I really enjoy that this program lets them start reading right from the start.
In math, we're still largely reviewing, but spending lots of time perfecting our teen numbers. We're also learning place value on a very basic level by making groups of ten, then figuring out what number blocks we have to add to get the teen number we want. I am hoping that this will really improve children's number sense for the rest of the year and when they get older.
Science and social studies are still just learning rules and routines more than anything, but its a lesson that is greatly needed, especially at this age.
I don't have much else to talk about besides school at the moment since that's about all that's occupying my time and nothing too exciting is happening in Anaco. There is still shortages of things though, but not so bad. I also found almost everything that is shortages here in Puerto La Cruz last weekend, so maybe Anaco will get toilet paper back soon... Just in case, Dereek and I ordered a whole bunch from some friends in Margarita. It is now in Puerto La Cruz and we may take a day trip up there for the beach and to pick up our toilet paper. I'm starting to run low and that is NOT something you want to run out of.
***Now that Open House is over and its 24 hours, I have LOTS to write about, but I may keep things vague because I do not know exactly who may find my personal blog that is meant for my family and friends at home. That being said, during Open House I got an absurd amount of questions about curriculums spanning multiple countries. I got criticized for our schedule repeating some things that we did in pre-school. Despite explaining that things are repeated because we must assume kindergarteners come in with the most minimal knowledge and this has to be accessible to EVERYONE and that center time in the afternoon is my time to work individually (or in small groups) with kids on individual needs, the matter was continuously pressed. I also had parents comparing younger siblings to older siblings, despite the fact that these are different children and they will progress at different rates and find different strengths and weaknesses just as my own sister and I (and all other siblings) have. I also got critiqued about how I would improve a students art, despite not being an art teacher and fully admitting that I, myself, am not artistic. The art is typical kindergarten art. I thought putting their adorable, painstakingly created "self-portraits" out at Open House would be a cute keepsake for parents so they would be able to show them to their kids when they're older and say to them "look at what you thought you looked like in kindergarten" and have a good laugh; apparently they just spurred questions about what I was teaching... I also got told that a child whom I had taught last year didn't get into an international school in Mexico and felt very much accused that this was my fault. So... all that being said, it was kind of stressful, especially considering we are NOT EVEN TWO WEEKS into KINDERGARTEN.
After all this, I decided to talk to my director this morning about what he thought. He was very reassuring and assured me I am an excellent teacher, that all my kids who have left for other schools have ended up getting into excellent other schools, that if we both stay next year he completely trusts his son to be in my class, and various other things that made me feel much better. He also told me that any problem that has to do with curriculum should be sent to straight to him since I don't decide the curriculum, I just teach it; which is great to hear that some of these issues can just be deflected onto him.
I had a lovely day with my children today though despite everything. They are all great kids and I really enjoy the class I have. They all have their own individual talents and I am really enjoying seeing how they are turning into a little family after being together for so long. I am trying my best not to let anything that was said get to me, because I know parents who change countries every couple of years will naturally worry if their kid will be okay in a school in another country, but it was just a rough way to start. I felt like I wasn't even given the chance to do my job and critiqued on things that I don't control. Sorry to all for such a long post. If you actually got through this whole thing I'll give you a gold star when I get home.
School has been going pretty well, though today was filled with poor listening and some children getting in quite a bit of trouble with the P.E. teacher. There were time outs, and tears, and notes sent home. I do feel that the P.E. teacher does not know how to handle younger children and this is a large part of the problem, but when he gives me a bad report, it is my job to keep it from happening again.
Other than that, we've just been starting "serious" school and getting into our routine. The kids are definitely used to the full day, some even wanting to stay longer. =) We've been language arts instruction following the reading a-z program. (The school doesn't have any set program, its up to me to decide how to teach it) I chose this program because it has "decodable" books. These books begin very simply and tell a story using only 3 sight words and words made from 3 letters. They are stories kids can sound out. Each week, we gain another letter or two and two-three more sight words and another new book to read. This is great for the kids because these books they can begin to read and gain confidence with what they are doing. I think that children learn to read, not from memorizing sounds and spellings, but from practicing. So, I really enjoy that this program lets them start reading right from the start.
In math, we're still largely reviewing, but spending lots of time perfecting our teen numbers. We're also learning place value on a very basic level by making groups of ten, then figuring out what number blocks we have to add to get the teen number we want. I am hoping that this will really improve children's number sense for the rest of the year and when they get older.
Science and social studies are still just learning rules and routines more than anything, but its a lesson that is greatly needed, especially at this age.
I don't have much else to talk about besides school at the moment since that's about all that's occupying my time and nothing too exciting is happening in Anaco. There is still shortages of things though, but not so bad. I also found almost everything that is shortages here in Puerto La Cruz last weekend, so maybe Anaco will get toilet paper back soon... Just in case, Dereek and I ordered a whole bunch from some friends in Margarita. It is now in Puerto La Cruz and we may take a day trip up there for the beach and to pick up our toilet paper. I'm starting to run low and that is NOT something you want to run out of.
***Now that Open House is over and its 24 hours, I have LOTS to write about, but I may keep things vague because I do not know exactly who may find my personal blog that is meant for my family and friends at home. That being said, during Open House I got an absurd amount of questions about curriculums spanning multiple countries. I got criticized for our schedule repeating some things that we did in pre-school. Despite explaining that things are repeated because we must assume kindergarteners come in with the most minimal knowledge and this has to be accessible to EVERYONE and that center time in the afternoon is my time to work individually (or in small groups) with kids on individual needs, the matter was continuously pressed. I also had parents comparing younger siblings to older siblings, despite the fact that these are different children and they will progress at different rates and find different strengths and weaknesses just as my own sister and I (and all other siblings) have. I also got critiqued about how I would improve a students art, despite not being an art teacher and fully admitting that I, myself, am not artistic. The art is typical kindergarten art. I thought putting their adorable, painstakingly created "self-portraits" out at Open House would be a cute keepsake for parents so they would be able to show them to their kids when they're older and say to them "look at what you thought you looked like in kindergarten" and have a good laugh; apparently they just spurred questions about what I was teaching... I also got told that a child whom I had taught last year didn't get into an international school in Mexico and felt very much accused that this was my fault. So... all that being said, it was kind of stressful, especially considering we are NOT EVEN TWO WEEKS into KINDERGARTEN.
After all this, I decided to talk to my director this morning about what he thought. He was very reassuring and assured me I am an excellent teacher, that all my kids who have left for other schools have ended up getting into excellent other schools, that if we both stay next year he completely trusts his son to be in my class, and various other things that made me feel much better. He also told me that any problem that has to do with curriculum should be sent to straight to him since I don't decide the curriculum, I just teach it; which is great to hear that some of these issues can just be deflected onto him.
I had a lovely day with my children today though despite everything. They are all great kids and I really enjoy the class I have. They all have their own individual talents and I am really enjoying seeing how they are turning into a little family after being together for so long. I am trying my best not to let anything that was said get to me, because I know parents who change countries every couple of years will naturally worry if their kid will be okay in a school in another country, but it was just a rough way to start. I felt like I wasn't even given the chance to do my job and critiqued on things that I don't control. Sorry to all for such a long post. If you actually got through this whole thing I'll give you a gold star when I get home.
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