First Week: Survived

Well, first week of the school year completed. It was way more exhausting than I thought it would be, but a great start. Teaching elementary here is very different from teaching in the states. The schedule wasn't finalized so we taught all of our specials this week. We supervise our own lunch and don't get a planning period. I was craving adult conversations at the end of each day. But, all in all it was a great to start to the year and I'm looking forward to many other great weeks!

2012-2013 School Year: Here We Go!

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year! If decorating and setting up the classroom was the hardest part of the year I would be all set. Unfortunately, it isn’t, but at least my room is ready and it looks like learning can take place inside. Here is a little tour…

(The picture are a little out of order from how I wanted them but it took all day to upload due to horrid internet so I'm not risking even moving them around a little)

Classroom library. 

View from the front of the room. 

Place for book recommendations. "I liked this book, maybe you will too."

Math strategies. Two walls are all windows so those become bulletin boards.

View from the back of the room.

Birthday poster and class rules by the door.

My rendition of a classroom facebook. Kids will draw pictures of themselves the first day and I'll put that next to their "staus" box. We may have a prompt each week and they can change their status. The boxes are laminated construction paper so they can write on them with dry erase markers. 

Class jobs (Superhero theme) and the calendar (also the handy-dandy potable drinking water jug)

Writing wall. 

Weekly Objectives. i can write on the frames with dry-erase markers the objectives for each subject that week. 

My Jeopardy board. I didn't like the chalkboard so I turned it into another bulletin board. :)

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Tomorrow the kiddos will have their first day. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. Looking forward to a fabulous year in sixth grade.

Update: Back in Haiti for Round Two

Oh hey, this old blog thing. I guess I should dust it off and get back to updating. I am back in Haiti and about to begin round (year) two here at Quisqueya Christian School. I had a great time back in the states over the summer. I got to see friends and spend some time in Dallas. I was able to visit my friend Katie, along with my friend Jill, in the Seattle area. We did the tourist thing, saw Les Miserables, watched one day of the U.S. Olympic Track & Field trials, soaked up the cool weather, and enjoyed each other’s company. I went to a teaching conference in South Carolina and then got to spend time with family after that. All in all the summer was filled with friends, family, fun, relaxing, and soaking in all the comforts and ease that America provides. 

But, it was time to come back to Haiti...and I’m so glad to be here! I felt sort of out of place in America without an apartment or house, or even a bedroom to really call my own. I so appreciate the friends and family who opened their homes to me and were so gracious and accommodating, but I am definitely glad to be back in my own space and back in the craziness of Port-au-Prince, Haiti that I call “home” right now. 

I came back to Haiti a bit earlier than some of my coworkers. I joined up with some friends of mine from Watermark Chuch in Dallas who were in Haiti on a mission trip spending time at Mission of Hope. I enjoyed getting to visit and catch up with them and witness them experience life in Haiti. After that I came back to the hustle and bustle of the city to get settled back in my apartment and begin setting up my classroom. 

That’s right...my classroom! I am teaching 6^th grade this year and have my own class and my own room. I’m so excited (and a little nervous) about what this year will be like. 

It feels strange to think that a year ago I was brand new here. A know-nothing noob fumbling around trying to interpret Creole and convert dollars to gourdes. How much I’ve learned and changed in a year, who knows where I will be and what I’ll know a year from now!

I’m pumped for the school year, fun with old friends and making new ones, getting to know my students and their families, and hopefully more travel around the country. 

Some things to pray for:

*The upcoming school year at QCS, that it would be a time of growth and change

*Continued stability (and improvement) in the country

*Protection from weather in the current hurricane season

*All-around safety and protection from illness

Thanks for following along for another year, I will definitely get better at updating now that I’m back!