While you sit and work away on schoolwork, tidy the house or just want something to pass the time, get yourself in the holiday spirit with some of your favourite movies!
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/christmas/articles/64/title/watch-101-classic-christmas-videos-online
Thanks to my colleague, Jayson, for sharing the link! I'll tune into one of them now, as I prepare for the second last week of school before the break! Yay!
Happy Sunday, everyone! :)
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Dating a Teacher...
So, a fellow "Blogger" posted this and I think it's fantastic. For the most part, it's true. But, being a teacher is kick-ass...and I am pretty stoked to do the job I do. Many of these statements are true though. Now, I must get back to making a master copy of a colour-coded highlighter graffiti-ed math curriculum document while I watch a Christmas movie! :)
Love, Teach Blog
Love, Teach Blog
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Things About Living Abroad...
I just saw this on Facebook and wanted to share and comment. It's very true, what's written, and one of the most frustrating things I find in being an expat and living away from home, is my ability to discuss my experiences with my loved ones at home. Many of them can't relate. Many of them just don't care. Some of them even think that my stories are only being told to make them jealous. So, what ends up happening is that I just revert back to my 21 year old self and fit right in like I never left. Don't get me wrong, part of this is amazing - I love having this relationship with my friends and family where I feel time hasn't changed us...but part of it's a lie as I've grown so much, I've experienced the world and I can't share these experiences with them. So, I keep them bottled up. This is part of the reason why I started a blog but as I haven't had many of these life-changing experiences recently, I've not been so active. So, for all those of you out there who have a loved one living abroad, take a second to ask them something about their life abroad. I know you appreciate them and you probably even admire them for the courage they have to make such a big leap across the pond or the planet, but think about the day-to-day things they're faced with and don't forget to drop them a line to let them know you're thinking of them...since they're probably always thinking about you! :)
http://thoughtcatalog.com/rachel-rae/2013/11/10-things-about-living-abroad-no-turning-back/#Cb4S9IzD0P2Mls6p.01
http://thoughtcatalog.com/rachel-rae/2013/11/10-things-about-living-abroad-no-turning-back/#Cb4S9IzD0P2Mls6p.01
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Remembering to be Thankful... :)
Tomorrow (11/11) is Remembrance Day in my native country, Canada. As a teacher at an international school, I strive for my students to be globally-minded learners. It is also my duty as a representative and employee of MIS and the international teaching community, that I embody being globally-minded myself. I should be open-minded and responsible to learn and experience the traditions and cultures of my colleagues, my students and the world around me. While in Canada, tomorrow is a holiday to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting for Canada's freedom in various battles/wars, it's also a time to be thankful for what we have. Thank you to all the troops who fought and are still fighting to make the world a better place.
As we as individuals embody a variety of cultures, beliefs and diverse backgrounds, we all have one thing to be grateful for - the gift of living another day. Be it a rainy, cold Sunday or a difficult Monday full of challenges (and maybe even snow!), it's another day; it's another gift that we're lucky to have. So, as we celebrate Remembrance Day however we will and wherever we are, I hope that you make the most of your day, this gift, and that you take a minute to be grateful for all that you have; sometimes it's easy to forget! If you have 10 minutes, this is an uplifting video that will help you do just that:
As we as individuals embody a variety of cultures, beliefs and diverse backgrounds, we all have one thing to be grateful for - the gift of living another day. Be it a rainy, cold Sunday or a difficult Monday full of challenges (and maybe even snow!), it's another day; it's another gift that we're lucky to have. So, as we celebrate Remembrance Day however we will and wherever we are, I hope that you make the most of your day, this gift, and that you take a minute to be grateful for all that you have; sometimes it's easy to forget! If you have 10 minutes, this is an uplifting video that will help you do just that:
Monday, November 4, 2013
I love Halloween!
Halloween rocks! I always loved it growing up because I always got to celebrate - big time! :)
My friend's birthday was on Halloween so we often celebrated with a Halloween theme one or two days before the main event which involves trick-or-treating with pillowcases and coming back with two full of candy and treats. Sidebar: I'm realizing this isn't PE teacher-ish at all to talk about copious amounts of treats, but when your parents control/limit your intake, it's okay...it's Halloween! :P
As debatable as the candy bit is, Halloween is a cultural celebration in North America. In Nova Scotia, I loved my traditions of carving pumpkins, having Halloween parties at school and just getting to show people how awesome (or ridiculous) your costume might be, even with a giant snowsuit on underneath it! As I got older, my love for this crazy celebration grew stronger. I often babysat and then eventually worked at the store owned by the family that I babysat to make a little cash throughout middle and high school. I would save money from these two jobs and when Halloween stock hit the shelves, I'd buy an array of decorations - pumpkin lights, black lights, garbage bags to make the basement all black, scary music (cassette tapes), these awesome, flickering green skeleton lights...so much awesome Halloween paraphernalia! I decked out my parents basement to try and give trick-or-treaters a fun, and maybe a little scary, experience...who doesn't love a scare?! I also planned a few Halloween parties back in the day and at previous schools and I have to say, I'm a big fan of the haunted house business! :)
Now, the only thing that I really get to do as an adult living a foreign country that doesn't really celebrate Halloween, is to dress up and go out and find other people in the same position - you can usually find them as they're dressed up! The following video showcases my best Halloween costume result ever...I still marvel at how great it is...and my sick dance moves! I LOVE HALLOWEEN! :)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=96346580286
My friend's birthday was on Halloween so we often celebrated with a Halloween theme one or two days before the main event which involves trick-or-treating with pillowcases and coming back with two full of candy and treats. Sidebar: I'm realizing this isn't PE teacher-ish at all to talk about copious amounts of treats, but when your parents control/limit your intake, it's okay...it's Halloween! :P
 |
| This wasn't Halloween but a kid's parade during the Pictou Lobster Carnival...I no doubt rocked this space girl as a Halloween costume at one point though! :) |
Now, the only thing that I really get to do as an adult living a foreign country that doesn't really celebrate Halloween, is to dress up and go out and find other people in the same position - you can usually find them as they're dressed up! The following video showcases my best Halloween costume result ever...I still marvel at how great it is...and my sick dance moves! I LOVE HALLOWEEN! :)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=96346580286
 |
| Same costume as in the video...the school was all decked out in decorations as well, there's a shop called "Halloween" in Korea and was I ever pumped to find it. I'm sure I also spent a chunk of my pay there as well! :P |
 |
| Last year's idea...and my friend Toya was a Ghostbuster. I'm not usually a fan of 'store-bought' costumes but this one looked great! :) |
Friday, November 1, 2013
The Perfect Cookie...
This past week, MIS teaching staff (sorry Lydia) had their fall break and it was well deserved for many. I dedicated a large chunk of time working on activating my employment website...but not before experimenting in the kitchen!
Living in Germany has finally afforded me with an oven. A regular sized, regular heated oven...as opposed to a large or glorified toaster oven. It's been years and I've so been waiting for an oven! So, I took up baking. I bake for my teammates in the PE Department and I've mastered a carrot cake and a caramel apple cheesecake. They're my best tasting efforts, no fail! I also make a mean moist nd dense chocolate cake. But, my cookies, quite frankly, suck. By cookies, I mean, my chocolate chip cookies; chocolate chip cookies are THE cookies (Reference: The Cookie Monster, Sesame Street, Cookie of Choice, 1984...ish?). The thing that Germany does not have, however, is packable, finely ground brown sugar. Here, it's in bigger chunks and it has to be melted first, to allow the cookies any chance of being chewy (Reference: +Jayson Bowerman). But, even with the sugar melted, my chocolate chip cookies have not been very good. I needed to take action, so, when I went home two weekends ago, for one of my dearest and bestest friend's wedding, I made a point of getting some packed brown sugar, even if it meant a couple extra pounds in my luggage. It'd be worth it...On Tuesday evening, I discovered just how worth it!
I use allrecipes.com for my baking recipes - it's amazing - so I'm posting the recipe I used (a new one, but obviously chose it for the rave reviews and the product lived up to its namet!):
The link to the recipe is also here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx
Paired with some TollHouse chocolate chips (thanks Courtney) and the 'good' brown sugar, these cookies turned out awesomely! I shared with mates the next day when they weren't fresh but they were still a bit chewy which is a big improvement compared to the rock hard (but still delicious) cookies I've been formerly producing. It was a great feeling of success! So, if you've got 'good' brown sugar and like THE cookies, then try out this awesome recipe! :)
Living in Germany has finally afforded me with an oven. A regular sized, regular heated oven...as opposed to a large or glorified toaster oven. It's been years and I've so been waiting for an oven! So, I took up baking. I bake for my teammates in the PE Department and I've mastered a carrot cake and a caramel apple cheesecake. They're my best tasting efforts, no fail! I also make a mean moist nd dense chocolate cake. But, my cookies, quite frankly, suck. By cookies, I mean, my chocolate chip cookies; chocolate chip cookies are THE cookies (Reference: The Cookie Monster, Sesame Street, Cookie of Choice, 1984...ish?). The thing that Germany does not have, however, is packable, finely ground brown sugar. Here, it's in bigger chunks and it has to be melted first, to allow the cookies any chance of being chewy (Reference: +Jayson Bowerman). But, even with the sugar melted, my chocolate chip cookies have not been very good. I needed to take action, so, when I went home two weekends ago, for one of my dearest and bestest friend's wedding, I made a point of getting some packed brown sugar, even if it meant a couple extra pounds in my luggage. It'd be worth it...On Tuesday evening, I discovered just how worth it!
I use allrecipes.com for my baking recipes - it's amazing - so I'm posting the recipe I used (a new one, but obviously chose it for the rave reviews and the product lived up to its namet!):
Paired with some TollHouse chocolate chips (thanks Courtney) and the 'good' brown sugar, these cookies turned out awesomely! I shared with mates the next day when they weren't fresh but they were still a bit chewy which is a big improvement compared to the rock hard (but still delicious) cookies I've been formerly producing. It was a great feeling of success! So, if you've got 'good' brown sugar and like THE cookies, then try out this awesome recipe! :)
 |
| Cookies...nom, nom, nom! |
Thursday, September 26, 2013
PE UoI Link - Conflict Resolution
So, as a PYP classroom turned PYP PE teacher, I really value the ability to make a non-contrived link to a classroom Unit of Inquiry. It's great! And my first unit of the year with my Grade 3 students offers a great opportunity to do just that - link to the classroom!
"Successful relationships are built upon communicating, understanding perspectives and compromising." has been the first unit of the year for the third graders this year and last. The main focus of the unit lies in 'conflict resolution' which I feel is great for establishing some ground rules in PE...let's face it, PE sets the stage for some conflict and resolution. The current PE unit to kick off the year has been "Games" so it's been great for getting the kids to bond as a class, getting them doing lots of teamwork but also getting their heads around learning lots of new games involving strategy...and that create situations where conflict could arise. I've been trying to teach (and learn myself) 2-3 new games each class that has the students burning lots of energy...and hopefully exuding lots of sweat! In between games, and as a transition, I've been bringing the students back to the middle to talk about any conflicts that arose, how we can solve the conflict (rock-paper-scissors and obvious choice) and how we can possibly avoid conflict in that same game in the future. As the students got more comfortable with each other, and as they understood more about conflict, they began to participate more and share more of their thoughts and experiences.
During our second lesson of the unit, and to get students thinking deeper, we played a game called "Dragon Tag". We played once where students had to hold on to each others' bodies in a line and run around and then again when they held on to a pool noodle. To introduce the pool noodle, I had the students sit on the spot (after the whistle) with their groups and just handed them out and said "try hanging on to this." This offered two ways to play the game so students could compare and contrast during our chat. Now, students are able to offer suggestions to change the game without playing it two different ways; however, students are given the chance to offer ways to change a game and then try it out i.e. using scarves or tails to play a number of different tag games to eliminate pushing and limit body contact
For their "Games" summative assessment task, they'll have to choose a game, demonstrate conflict in it and then suggest and apply improvements that they think would limit conflict in the game. They will do this in groups and use iPads to record their outcomes.
Here's a video I took early on during the unit, after playing Dragon Tag and having a chat about the two different versions of the game:
https://vimeo.com/73910064
This is one of my favourite units to teach! I love exploring new games with the students and building up my repertoire! It gets them excited to try new things and they've been pretty good at following instructions when I'm introducing a new game. The other great part is that I can use a number of the games as short warm-up games before teaching other units throughout the year as they incorporate a range of skills...win all around! :)
"Successful relationships are built upon communicating, understanding perspectives and compromising." has been the first unit of the year for the third graders this year and last. The main focus of the unit lies in 'conflict resolution' which I feel is great for establishing some ground rules in PE...let's face it, PE sets the stage for some conflict and resolution. The current PE unit to kick off the year has been "Games" so it's been great for getting the kids to bond as a class, getting them doing lots of teamwork but also getting their heads around learning lots of new games involving strategy...and that create situations where conflict could arise. I've been trying to teach (and learn myself) 2-3 new games each class that has the students burning lots of energy...and hopefully exuding lots of sweat! In between games, and as a transition, I've been bringing the students back to the middle to talk about any conflicts that arose, how we can solve the conflict (rock-paper-scissors and obvious choice) and how we can possibly avoid conflict in that same game in the future. As the students got more comfortable with each other, and as they understood more about conflict, they began to participate more and share more of their thoughts and experiences.
During our second lesson of the unit, and to get students thinking deeper, we played a game called "Dragon Tag". We played once where students had to hold on to each others' bodies in a line and run around and then again when they held on to a pool noodle. To introduce the pool noodle, I had the students sit on the spot (after the whistle) with their groups and just handed them out and said "try hanging on to this." This offered two ways to play the game so students could compare and contrast during our chat. Now, students are able to offer suggestions to change the game without playing it two different ways; however, students are given the chance to offer ways to change a game and then try it out i.e. using scarves or tails to play a number of different tag games to eliminate pushing and limit body contact
For their "Games" summative assessment task, they'll have to choose a game, demonstrate conflict in it and then suggest and apply improvements that they think would limit conflict in the game. They will do this in groups and use iPads to record their outcomes.
Here's a video I took early on during the unit, after playing Dragon Tag and having a chat about the two different versions of the game:
https://vimeo.com/73910064
This is one of my favourite units to teach! I love exploring new games with the students and building up my repertoire! It gets them excited to try new things and they've been pretty good at following instructions when I'm introducing a new game. The other great part is that I can use a number of the games as short warm-up games before teaching other units throughout the year as they incorporate a range of skills...win all around! :)
Monday, September 16, 2013
...Breaking Up is Hard to Do...
I feel like I've been on hiatus from my blog for a long time and haven't really known how to start up again with a regular routine of posting and attracting followers that want to read about my adventures, my teaching endeavours and my life in general; I'm gonna carry on with a post about the latter.
So, those of you who know me, know about my relationship with an amazing Korean man. Those of you who don't, are about to...
Seven and a half years ago, I was living in South Korea teaching English in a city near Seoul called Bucheon. With a colleague, I'd frequently visit Outback Steakhouse to get some steak...and to creep on this incredibly hot waiter named Donki. Man, he was hot. After several visits to Outback with different friends, one of them ran into him outside of TGIFridays one Friday night (where we all met for drinks after work), and invited him in to join us. He did...and from that moment on, Donki became a big part of my life...I just didn't know it yet.
I had two weeks left in Korea after I had first met Donki outside of his work. We had managed to go on a couple of dates but as I was leaving, any sort of future was pretty slim. We said our goodbyes with a few tears and thoughts of 'what if' and I got on a plane to Canada...something I had eagerly looked forward to for months and months as I had a difficult first overseas experience in Korea and once told friends they couldn't pay me a million dollars (not won :P) to come back. I proved myself wrong though...
After an awesome summer at home in Canada with friends and family (whom I had missed so much over the year away), I decided to come back to Korea...but just for a bit. I had also enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Education program at James Cook University in Australia for January 2007, but I'd return to Korea for the five months leading up to that. I called Donki the second day back, we met up and after one or two more dates, we realized this was going to be a full on boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Me and this Korean guy I was seriously crushing on from Outback were going to be an item. Life was good.
After five months of seeing each other, and his parents/family still not knowing about us because it was a big deal to be dating a foreigner, it came time for me to move to Australia. Because Donki (who now had a new English - Angus - because I told him I didn't want to date a 'jackass' despite the reasoning behind the name which was that he liked Don Quixote's story), and I had a great relationship up to this point, we decided to do long distance for the year while I was away. It was a long year but we kept in touch frequently and stuck it out. A year later, I was back in Korea again, working and living in Northern Seoul...and I was back with BokYoun again.
The year and the half flew by that I was in Seoul. I dealt with the death of my grandfather and BokYoun was there for support...as were two other friends that I was grateful to have in Seoul that year +Robert Young. I had met BokYoun's parents, we took our first trip together (to Beijing) and we learned a lot about each other and what made us compatible...oh, and we changed his name to "Beau" because it's close enough to "Bo...kYoun" and let's face it, he's handsome. Now, I was feeling it was time for me to make a change and explore my teaching options outside of Korea. I decided the place to do that would be China...not incredibly far from Korea...but it'd still mean a distance between us. BokYoun and I decided our relationship was strong enough to try things out...but first, he made a visit to Canada to meet my friends and family. To say they loved him, would be an understatement.
So, we had a great summer together in Canada, I found myself in China and low and behold, there was a position for BokYoun at my school. So, he came and we lived together in our first home together...a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom pimp pad on the 32nd floor. It was an awesome year but it had its challenges...especially for BokYoun with his job. After a year, he decided he'd go back to Korea and work on his personal training career. I already felt indebted to him for giving me the freedom to move to China initially but also for giving up his plans to move to Australia with a friend that year to work and explore a country that I had also loved. He came back home to Canada with me for the summer and again, we had an amazing time. During the year, I made three trips to Korea to see BokYoun and things were going well...but I felt I needed another change and I didn't want to stay in Asia.
An opportunity to work in Germany presented itself and after weighing some of the other options I had on the table, I decided Germany was where I'd be moving. Again, BokYoun was ultra-supportive in urging me to go and to keep living my dream to explore and teach around the world. It was a hard, hard first year though. After not seeing BokYoun for another whole year, I spent the summer in Korea with him. I struggled with the decision of whether or not we should continue to pursue our relationship and after a lot of thought and an indepth conversation with BokYoun about it (that could easily be another blog post), I left Korea and my new fiance for another year in Germany. Our engagement I hoped would bring the added incentive that I needed to convince me that this relationship was it for me...that BokYoun was the one and that my life with him would continue for the rest of our lives.
My next year in Germany was brilliant. I had my footings in my school, I had established an incredible circle of friends and life in general, was great. But BokYoun wasn't here...and I was still happy and living my life without him. He was doing the same in Korea and saving money for a trip to visit Germany in August but I felt that our paths had diverged a bit. He came to Canada for Christmas (we met there) and it was awesome because we both fell into the lives/roles we're expected to play when we're there. It was comfortable and felt normal and everything was perfect...but it didn't change the fact that I was living a new life in Germany that he wasn't a part of, even though we still talked nearly everyday...and even though I still loved him. When BokYoun came to visit me in August, it didn't feel right. My two worlds collided and ultimately, when asked, I decided my professional life...the life I had built here without BokYoun...was more important to me at this point in time than our relationship. I struggled with this a lot because I knew I was valuing a job over an incredible human being who loved me more than I think anyone ever could. I loved him back...there's no way you couldn't love someone as amazing as BokYoun; he's friendly, outgoing, personable, considerate...he's BokYoun. He's the guy that helps a stranger with his/her bags up the stairs...in fact, he's helped a lady carry her groceries all the way to her house! He's quite possibly one of the most genuine and special people I've ever met in my life.
...But it wasn't right for us anymore.
So, four weeks ago, we decided to break up. We rebooked BokYoun's flight back to Korea to an earlier date than scheduled and as he walked through security at the airport, he took a part of my heart with him. I think we'll still stay in touch and I hope we will because after seven years, you get to really know someone...regardless of the long distanceness of a relationship. I think I'll still always think of him and how much he meant/means to me but at the same time, I'm glad that I can stop struggling with the distance bit of our relationship and follow my career path guilt free for putting this stress on us both. I hope a part of him is relieved too, that he can do what he loves without feeling pressure from me. He deserves the best of the world.
I'm not sure if all my friends and family at home know about this yet...so here I am just putting it out there for the world to read. Unlike our engagement, I wasn't sure how to go about telling people...a phone call didn't seem quite right especially since it was definitely hard to talk about it for a while...especially knowing that the people I'd be telling loved BokYoun. A lot. With a break-up, (not that I've had many being as I've been with BokYoun since I was 23) there comes some risks, like, will my family/friends love anyone as much as they loved BokYoun? The bar is pretty high! I didn't have someone lined up for a replacement (just my job in the passenger's seat) so I'm starting a new journey and a new life this year, in exploring my options. From here on out, I'm going to work harder at posting on here, sharing my life experiences in teaching and travel...but now there'll be a new spin on things as I look at the world through a new lens. I hope you'll continue to follow and support me...
So, those of you who know me, know about my relationship with an amazing Korean man. Those of you who don't, are about to...
Seven and a half years ago, I was living in South Korea teaching English in a city near Seoul called Bucheon. With a colleague, I'd frequently visit Outback Steakhouse to get some steak...and to creep on this incredibly hot waiter named Donki. Man, he was hot. After several visits to Outback with different friends, one of them ran into him outside of TGIFridays one Friday night (where we all met for drinks after work), and invited him in to join us. He did...and from that moment on, Donki became a big part of my life...I just didn't know it yet.
I had two weeks left in Korea after I had first met Donki outside of his work. We had managed to go on a couple of dates but as I was leaving, any sort of future was pretty slim. We said our goodbyes with a few tears and thoughts of 'what if' and I got on a plane to Canada...something I had eagerly looked forward to for months and months as I had a difficult first overseas experience in Korea and once told friends they couldn't pay me a million dollars (not won :P) to come back. I proved myself wrong though...
After an awesome summer at home in Canada with friends and family (whom I had missed so much over the year away), I decided to come back to Korea...but just for a bit. I had also enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Education program at James Cook University in Australia for January 2007, but I'd return to Korea for the five months leading up to that. I called Donki the second day back, we met up and after one or two more dates, we realized this was going to be a full on boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Me and this Korean guy I was seriously crushing on from Outback were going to be an item. Life was good.
 |
| One of our first photos together on a date to Seoul Land in 2007 |
The year and the half flew by that I was in Seoul. I dealt with the death of my grandfather and BokYoun was there for support...as were two other friends that I was grateful to have in Seoul that year +Robert Young. I had met BokYoun's parents, we took our first trip together (to Beijing) and we learned a lot about each other and what made us compatible...oh, and we changed his name to "Beau" because it's close enough to "Bo...kYoun" and let's face it, he's handsome. Now, I was feeling it was time for me to make a change and explore my teaching options outside of Korea. I decided the place to do that would be China...not incredibly far from Korea...but it'd still mean a distance between us. BokYoun and I decided our relationship was strong enough to try things out...but first, he made a visit to Canada to meet my friends and family. To say they loved him, would be an understatement.
So, we had a great summer together in Canada, I found myself in China and low and behold, there was a position for BokYoun at my school. So, he came and we lived together in our first home together...a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom pimp pad on the 32nd floor. It was an awesome year but it had its challenges...especially for BokYoun with his job. After a year, he decided he'd go back to Korea and work on his personal training career. I already felt indebted to him for giving me the freedom to move to China initially but also for giving up his plans to move to Australia with a friend that year to work and explore a country that I had also loved. He came back home to Canada with me for the summer and again, we had an amazing time. During the year, I made three trips to Korea to see BokYoun and things were going well...but I felt I needed another change and I didn't want to stay in Asia.
An opportunity to work in Germany presented itself and after weighing some of the other options I had on the table, I decided Germany was where I'd be moving. Again, BokYoun was ultra-supportive in urging me to go and to keep living my dream to explore and teach around the world. It was a hard, hard first year though. After not seeing BokYoun for another whole year, I spent the summer in Korea with him. I struggled with the decision of whether or not we should continue to pursue our relationship and after a lot of thought and an indepth conversation with BokYoun about it (that could easily be another blog post), I left Korea and my new fiance for another year in Germany. Our engagement I hoped would bring the added incentive that I needed to convince me that this relationship was it for me...that BokYoun was the one and that my life with him would continue for the rest of our lives.
 |
| Our first photo as an engaged couple in 2012...I hated my nail polish so I cropped out the ring...typical me. |
...But it wasn't right for us anymore.
So, four weeks ago, we decided to break up. We rebooked BokYoun's flight back to Korea to an earlier date than scheduled and as he walked through security at the airport, he took a part of my heart with him. I think we'll still stay in touch and I hope we will because after seven years, you get to really know someone...regardless of the long distanceness of a relationship. I think I'll still always think of him and how much he meant/means to me but at the same time, I'm glad that I can stop struggling with the distance bit of our relationship and follow my career path guilt free for putting this stress on us both. I hope a part of him is relieved too, that he can do what he loves without feeling pressure from me. He deserves the best of the world.
 |
| Reunited in Germany |
Sunday, August 18, 2013
2012 - 2013 Teaching Reflection
After a fantastic summer with all of its ups and downs, I figure now
is as good as any time to reflect on the school year that has come and
gone. I'm back at school now getting ready for the year ahead, but
thought I'd use +andy vasily's
"Twenty End of Year Teacher Reflection Questions" to help get me
started with planning, organizing and preparing for the upcoming year.
Here goes:
1. What were my most successful areas in teaching PE this past school year?
I did a great job of getting kids to smile - I think this is definitely my forte. My approach to teaching and the relationship that I'm able to establish with (the majority) of students is my most 'successful area' in teaching PE, and along with that, is getting the kids to have fun and establish and/or maintain a love for PE.
I also thought that I built positive rapport with the classroom teachers and other staff at the school so communication about students was easy. I attended student support meetings whenever possible and I think that helped to emphasize the role and importance of PE within the school. Within the PYP Curriculum Team, I helped to revise and tweak the PSPE Scope and Sequence so that there's a solid set of outcomes and guidelines to help us with teaching PE in our department.
2. How am I a better teacher this year compared to where I was at the same time last year?
I am another year experienced in teaching PE! Last year, I had just wrapped up my first year of teaching PE and came into year two a lot more confident. I grew through experience and felt more solid about my skills and abilities as a PE teacher having taught the units two times now...and having made changes where needed. So, I'm definitely better because I'm more confident.
3. How can I better involve students in giving me feedback about my teaching?
I'm thinking through some sort of app. You know when you're at an airport bathroom, you can select the happy face stating your satisfaction with the cleanliness of the bathrooms? I think it'd be helpful to have something like that...something quick and easy for my younger students. To elaborate on that, maybe feedback forms can be completed or just question and answer sessions before or after class. This year, our school had a focus on feedback and I used an iPad to record some of their verbal feedback about me, other colleagues and PE in general...but by having me stand there with the iPad, I'm sure they weren't as honest as they wanted to be...and the most constructive feedback I received was that we need to play more football/soccer. :P This is a question I'll continue to consider...
4. During the last year, how did I take initiative to become better at my teaching practice?
First of all, I started getting online and looking around for PE Blogs and found PYP PE with Andy as well as a few other blogs that offered some ideas for teaching PE for younger students. I got some great new ideas from them. I also joined Twitter after Kath Murdoch visited the school and shared her experiences with it through a professional perspective and I started my own account. As this happened kind of late in the year though, I didn't get on and use it as much as I would have liked, but for this upcoming year, I'll be sure to participate in more of the #PEchat forums which I found useful. I also discovered the #PEPLC through Twitter and signed up to be a part of that, so my fingers are crossed that will happen as well!
5. How can I improve upon the physical environment in which I teach?
My team is exceptional so already, the physical environment of being around them, teaching and learning with them is at a high. Our campus is also beautiful and has a lot of great outdoor space and fields for outdoor lessons. While the gym space itself is nice, it's not big enough to accommodate the number of classes we have most of the time so that impedes some lessons, especially for me as a junior school teacher, as I tend to get defaulted to the smaller space(s). BUT, we make it work so it's not so bad. To improve upon it, we could plan our units better and I could just have a bigger repertoire of rainy day games outside and smaller space games and activities that still involve getting the students to be very active. Suggestions are welcome!
6. What were the strengths of the assessment that I used in my instruction?
Assessment is still an area I'm working on improving with my classes. I've tried self-assessments and peer-assessments (with a partner and as a whole class) but they don't always work out well because of the level of understanding of my students...and of course the bias they carry when evaluating their friends...or not friends depending on what day of the week it is. We also have benchmark checklists that have been created for the units we teach and I go through them, give a letter (based on the junior school grading criteria) and then write comments that I can look back on when it's time to input grades for report cards...which is just a letter without any comment. I also submit portfolio pieces that I've experimented with over the past two years until I find a unit that the kids love and can assess themselves on accurately and I tend to write comments about the students' learning with regards to that unit. As a former classroom teacher, and having always written lots of comments, I wish I could write report card comments...though I'm sure that's not the case with the other single subject teachers and my team. I see value in them though and I like having that communication with the parents...as opposed to just a meaningless letter.
So, strengths? I guess that I used a range and I tried new things!
7. What types of assessment did I use?
I guess I kind of said that above.
8. Which areas of assessment should I better develop next school year?
Again, I kind of elaborated on this above but I'm going to work on making assessments easier and online using iPads which I'll try to incorporate more into my teaching.
9. What behaviour management strategies worked well for me?
This year, I had a lot of firsts in behaviour management, including having my pants pulled down. Yes, that happened...twice! I handled that situations well because I didn't hit the first kid (when I think back, if anyone in any other setting (like in public) ever tried to pants me, I'd probably slap them) and I had already experienced it by the second time around. The first parent meeting was rather awkward, though. This first third grade offender went on to be one of my favourites (not that we have them) by the end of the year. The second pant-ser was just a young girl in my EC 4/5 class that tried it out after seeing her dad and brother fooling around. Her mom was also quite embarrassed.
I have to experiment a lot more with strategies to find ones that work and am always open to suggestions and trying new things. Having time-outs and carrying on with overly fun games works well for extreme situations (and as bad as it may sound, sometimes when you've got 20 other kids, that's what works). I'm excited for the start of a new school year to make essential agreements and establish a positive learning environment in PE. I want to get more input from kids about positive reinforcements instead of negative ones to start off as a major behaviour management strategy. I will blog about how the start of the year kicks off in regards to classroom management!
10. What specific behaviour management strategies should I improve upon?
I need to focus on positive rewards and motivation in the class instead of negative reinforcement and punishment...I have to get the students on my side and, although sometimes unavoidable, act as though punishment won't be needed when I start the year...who knows, maybe next year I'll only have angels in my PE classes! :P
11. What students were hard to connect with? Why were they hard to connect with? What can I do to better understand these students and work toward better connecting with them next school year?
It's always hard to connect with the ESL/EAL kids in the beginning, especially when they're adjusting to a new life and language at the school. They're freaked out by everything that's happening and when they're only seeing me minimally, I find that hard. However, after a few sessions, and when they start to see me in a different light (and hopefully as the 'fun' teacher), that no longer becomes an issue. If there are naughty kids that ride my patience, that can be tiring...but at the same time, these kids normally end up being in my favourites group by the end. Students that are really reserved, quiet and shy are hard to connect with as well, because they see me as energetic, outgoing and loud so that can be scary-ish...I have to remind myself to not be so intimidating even though most of them discover in the end that I am fun, approachable and loud in a good way (yes, that's totally possible, right! :P). Another group I find somewhat difficult is the group of students that are athletically inclined and who play one or two sports outside of school (or in the school) competitively. They tend to think activities in class are boring and 'hate' the activities that the majority of the class still loves. To fix this, I need to work on differentiating more (I do find this challenging with big groups in small spaces) so that I can keep everyone happy. I'm also going to make myself more visible in the homeroom classrooms. I want to observe more of what's happening in the classes so I can connect their learning to my PE class where possible. I think sacrificing my planning time to do this, will benefit me but also my relationship with the students and the teachers. Hopefully this will help to establish better connections.
12. Which PE units worked well for my students this school year? Why did they work well?
I taught a couple of fantastic units this year. I had a "Games" unit to kick off the year with my third graders and they loved it. It was a good way to get them all active, smiling, involved and on mixed teams while they were still getting to mesh and establish themselves in their new classes. I also had a "Dance" unit in Grade 1...we used a lot of YouTube Wii dance videos to involve the kids and they REALLY enjoyed this; for them, it's cooler to learn a dance from a Smurf than from a teacher who isn't blue or nearly as animated! :P Another high this year was a celebration day where we celebrated the Chinese/Lunar New Year in class and had a bunch of stations with a hint of Asian culture. We had big kids helping little kids and everything went perfectly...I want to try to incorporate more cultural learning into my lessons as our school's motto is "Excellence in Education for Globally Minded Students"...we need to foster the globally minded bit and PE is a good outlet for that...they remember everything too because they're doing it!
13. Which units did not work well? Why? How can these units be modified, tweaked and improved upon next school year?
"Adventure Challenge" units always have a lot of potential and I love them but I really need to work on getting a better repertoire of activities that engages the kids...here's going to be where I use iPads and QR code scavenger hunts around the school and gym with physical challenges! I love teaching this unit across all the grade levels! I also want to get them using compasses and maps and since it's the way of the future, do it on iPads as well as on just compasses and paper maps.
I'm also gonna work to improve dance units across the school...get some set songs and dances for the different year levels and then be committed to changing them up so things aren't repeated and don't get boring every year.
My Grade 2 "Games" unit really got the short-end of the stick this year. It was my favourite (and theirs too) last year but because it was at the end of the year this year, we had interruptions, Sports Days and other events that took away from getting the students to create their own game. One class did it but another didn't. I've moved the unit so it happens earlier in the academic year now so that should prevent this from happening again!
Finally, in not teaching all the classes in a grade level myself, the assessment differs from teacher to teacher. So that students get the best deal, my main goal is to moderate with the rest of my team to ensure that we're doing the same/similar things and that the assessment tasks are the same.
14. Where am I currently at in regards to integrating technology within my instruction and PE program?
Ouuu! I'm getting there and trying more and more! This year, my team is lucky enough to have iPads so I've been looking at apps to check attendance, write lessons and just plan my everyday of teaching. I use Spotify, which I totally recommend, to create playlists for my classes and they add songs to the playlists for us to listen to during class, but more importantly for our dance unit and its final assessment tasks. I use the projector to beam up Wii dance videos from YouTube. This year, we're going to have projection screens permanently mounted on the walls so we can use projectors to beam up dances and other demonstrations that could help get across key concepts/skills that are expected in class - so much better than setting up a portable screen with limited time between classes! This also works really well in displaying student skills and abilities on the wall; a great way to showcase student learning! I've also used iPads to have students record different skills (mostly gymnastics, and so far a lot of forward rolls) for the student to see where he/she can improve and what he/she is doing well/needs to work on. I get really excited thinking about how much we can do with more iPads and outlets for integration! :)
15. How is the environment in which I teach conductive for integrating technology?
It's adapting and opening itself up, that's for sure! :)
16. How did the used of technology enhance the learning of my students?
I think that by students being able to record and then see their own movements is invaluable and the biggest perk of technology in PE. There are so many apps out there that I still need to make a bigger effort to try out, where students can analyze their movement. They're not comparing their movement/skill to other people in the class, but to themselves which is awesome. The capability for students to record their progress and growth with certain skills is also pretty awesome with technology.
Secondly, and this is really important, but with integration of tech into PE, we can teach kids about healthy use of technology. We can show them how technology can be healthy (and how too much is unhealthy!) and excite them to get outside and exercise, if we show them the right apps. We live in a technology dominated world. Kids don't just go outside and play and have ONLY their imagination to lead them anymore. They have tons of computer games and video games that imprint on them and influence their imagination. I mean, yes, Super Mario for NES and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on TV may have added a flair to mine and my brother's playtime, but not as much as technology does today. It's everywhere. Kids need to get out more and hopefully we can promote a healthy lifestyle that still incorporates tech into out lives to model for the students we teach. Balance is key and we have to show them that!
17. Which areas of technology integration do I need to learn more about?
I need to experiment more with what I have learned. I learn about great apps and things to try but always feel like there's no time to really try it out for myself and then get into it in my classes. I want to dedicate a couple of hours every week to try out new apps that could really benefit my teaching and students' learning. I need to learn more about how QR codes work but first on my list, are the EasyPortfolio, EasyAssessment and EasyAttendance apps that I've only heard good things about...and they were developed by a PE teacher!
I'm also going to get into EduBlogging (outside of this) so I can blog about student learning, reflect on my teaching but also give photographic and video evidence of student learning to the parents (and students themselves) more frequently than in a newsletter at the end of every unit. I'm really excited about this!
18. What opportunities existed for collaboration with the classroom teachers? How did I take advantage of these opportunities?
At our school, we have cross-curricular meetings every Thursday for different grade levels and the units they'll be teaching. I attend these and give insight into what we'll be doing in PE during the unit but lining things up and getting units to correspond, doesn't work as ideally as I would like. With multiple classes on, space and equipment restrictions, sometimes if there are 3 classes on at the same time, we can't all be doing the same unit. Scheduling for space dictates, for the most part, what we teach and when. But, when I can, I try to make a connection, no matter how small, to draw on something that's being learned in the classroom.
19. What feedback did I receive from administration regarding my teaching practice?
I received some great feedback this year from my principal. It's really reassuring that he, and my previous principal, knows I'm trying to be more collaborative and integrate classroom units into PE and vice versa and my efforts have been praised. I also think I have a great relationship with the students (well, 98% of them anyways) and this was something both principals have commented on. He wants me to stick around, I have a permanent contract and the efforts I put into my teaching, into bettering my teaching and to giving the kids the best PE experience I can have been noted.
20. What are 3-4 professional growth goals that I have going into next school year? How can I monitor whether of not I am staying on track?
1. Collaborate more within my team - Get us on the right track, team teach and assess at the same level with the same expectations.
2. Write ALL of the PYP planners that I need to write. I've been saying this for two years and something always creeps up that needs more attention. Sure, we have planners, guidelines and lots of stuff informally to help us plan and whatnot, but this information needs to be put into the IB planners. I need to do this. Mostly for my own sanity...although finding the time might make me insane.
3. Integration. I want to integrate more tech. I want to integrate more classroom learning. I want to integrate more cultural awareness into my PE lessons. I want to foster the idea of cross-curricular learning and really make it obvious, all the while boosting the reputation of our awesome subject!
4. I really want to get involved in the PEPLC. I think I have a lot to share but so much more to learn...and I'm keen to learn. I stand to learn a lot more about PE in general, but as I said before, behaviour management is something I need to work on. I've done some great assessments but want to add more to the mix. I love learning new things and trying them out first hand and as a PE teacher, I'm so lucky to be able to just whip out a new game and give it a go. The students love it too...except when it's a bust...because they love having new games to play; the best is when it's a 'fun' game that teaches them a new skill that they don't notice. Ahhhh, the joy! :)
I'll monitor my progress on these with the help of my team. We set goals as a department for ourselves, for our program and for the school and we check in with each other from time to time. I'm so lucky to be so well supported in achieving my goals and am confident in myself too...but I'll keep you posted, too! :)
1. What were my most successful areas in teaching PE this past school year?
I did a great job of getting kids to smile - I think this is definitely my forte. My approach to teaching and the relationship that I'm able to establish with (the majority) of students is my most 'successful area' in teaching PE, and along with that, is getting the kids to have fun and establish and/or maintain a love for PE.
I also thought that I built positive rapport with the classroom teachers and other staff at the school so communication about students was easy. I attended student support meetings whenever possible and I think that helped to emphasize the role and importance of PE within the school. Within the PYP Curriculum Team, I helped to revise and tweak the PSPE Scope and Sequence so that there's a solid set of outcomes and guidelines to help us with teaching PE in our department.
2. How am I a better teacher this year compared to where I was at the same time last year?
I am another year experienced in teaching PE! Last year, I had just wrapped up my first year of teaching PE and came into year two a lot more confident. I grew through experience and felt more solid about my skills and abilities as a PE teacher having taught the units two times now...and having made changes where needed. So, I'm definitely better because I'm more confident.
3. How can I better involve students in giving me feedback about my teaching?
I'm thinking through some sort of app. You know when you're at an airport bathroom, you can select the happy face stating your satisfaction with the cleanliness of the bathrooms? I think it'd be helpful to have something like that...something quick and easy for my younger students. To elaborate on that, maybe feedback forms can be completed or just question and answer sessions before or after class. This year, our school had a focus on feedback and I used an iPad to record some of their verbal feedback about me, other colleagues and PE in general...but by having me stand there with the iPad, I'm sure they weren't as honest as they wanted to be...and the most constructive feedback I received was that we need to play more football/soccer. :P This is a question I'll continue to consider...
4. During the last year, how did I take initiative to become better at my teaching practice?
First of all, I started getting online and looking around for PE Blogs and found PYP PE with Andy as well as a few other blogs that offered some ideas for teaching PE for younger students. I got some great new ideas from them. I also joined Twitter after Kath Murdoch visited the school and shared her experiences with it through a professional perspective and I started my own account. As this happened kind of late in the year though, I didn't get on and use it as much as I would have liked, but for this upcoming year, I'll be sure to participate in more of the #PEchat forums which I found useful. I also discovered the #PEPLC through Twitter and signed up to be a part of that, so my fingers are crossed that will happen as well!
5. How can I improve upon the physical environment in which I teach?
My team is exceptional so already, the physical environment of being around them, teaching and learning with them is at a high. Our campus is also beautiful and has a lot of great outdoor space and fields for outdoor lessons. While the gym space itself is nice, it's not big enough to accommodate the number of classes we have most of the time so that impedes some lessons, especially for me as a junior school teacher, as I tend to get defaulted to the smaller space(s). BUT, we make it work so it's not so bad. To improve upon it, we could plan our units better and I could just have a bigger repertoire of rainy day games outside and smaller space games and activities that still involve getting the students to be very active. Suggestions are welcome!
6. What were the strengths of the assessment that I used in my instruction?
Assessment is still an area I'm working on improving with my classes. I've tried self-assessments and peer-assessments (with a partner and as a whole class) but they don't always work out well because of the level of understanding of my students...and of course the bias they carry when evaluating their friends...or not friends depending on what day of the week it is. We also have benchmark checklists that have been created for the units we teach and I go through them, give a letter (based on the junior school grading criteria) and then write comments that I can look back on when it's time to input grades for report cards...which is just a letter without any comment. I also submit portfolio pieces that I've experimented with over the past two years until I find a unit that the kids love and can assess themselves on accurately and I tend to write comments about the students' learning with regards to that unit. As a former classroom teacher, and having always written lots of comments, I wish I could write report card comments...though I'm sure that's not the case with the other single subject teachers and my team. I see value in them though and I like having that communication with the parents...as opposed to just a meaningless letter.
So, strengths? I guess that I used a range and I tried new things!
7. What types of assessment did I use?
I guess I kind of said that above.
8. Which areas of assessment should I better develop next school year?
Again, I kind of elaborated on this above but I'm going to work on making assessments easier and online using iPads which I'll try to incorporate more into my teaching.
9. What behaviour management strategies worked well for me?
This year, I had a lot of firsts in behaviour management, including having my pants pulled down. Yes, that happened...twice! I handled that situations well because I didn't hit the first kid (when I think back, if anyone in any other setting (like in public) ever tried to pants me, I'd probably slap them) and I had already experienced it by the second time around. The first parent meeting was rather awkward, though. This first third grade offender went on to be one of my favourites (not that we have them) by the end of the year. The second pant-ser was just a young girl in my EC 4/5 class that tried it out after seeing her dad and brother fooling around. Her mom was also quite embarrassed.
I have to experiment a lot more with strategies to find ones that work and am always open to suggestions and trying new things. Having time-outs and carrying on with overly fun games works well for extreme situations (and as bad as it may sound, sometimes when you've got 20 other kids, that's what works). I'm excited for the start of a new school year to make essential agreements and establish a positive learning environment in PE. I want to get more input from kids about positive reinforcements instead of negative ones to start off as a major behaviour management strategy. I will blog about how the start of the year kicks off in regards to classroom management!
10. What specific behaviour management strategies should I improve upon?
I need to focus on positive rewards and motivation in the class instead of negative reinforcement and punishment...I have to get the students on my side and, although sometimes unavoidable, act as though punishment won't be needed when I start the year...who knows, maybe next year I'll only have angels in my PE classes! :P
11. What students were hard to connect with? Why were they hard to connect with? What can I do to better understand these students and work toward better connecting with them next school year?
It's always hard to connect with the ESL/EAL kids in the beginning, especially when they're adjusting to a new life and language at the school. They're freaked out by everything that's happening and when they're only seeing me minimally, I find that hard. However, after a few sessions, and when they start to see me in a different light (and hopefully as the 'fun' teacher), that no longer becomes an issue. If there are naughty kids that ride my patience, that can be tiring...but at the same time, these kids normally end up being in my favourites group by the end. Students that are really reserved, quiet and shy are hard to connect with as well, because they see me as energetic, outgoing and loud so that can be scary-ish...I have to remind myself to not be so intimidating even though most of them discover in the end that I am fun, approachable and loud in a good way (yes, that's totally possible, right! :P). Another group I find somewhat difficult is the group of students that are athletically inclined and who play one or two sports outside of school (or in the school) competitively. They tend to think activities in class are boring and 'hate' the activities that the majority of the class still loves. To fix this, I need to work on differentiating more (I do find this challenging with big groups in small spaces) so that I can keep everyone happy. I'm also going to make myself more visible in the homeroom classrooms. I want to observe more of what's happening in the classes so I can connect their learning to my PE class where possible. I think sacrificing my planning time to do this, will benefit me but also my relationship with the students and the teachers. Hopefully this will help to establish better connections.
12. Which PE units worked well for my students this school year? Why did they work well?
I taught a couple of fantastic units this year. I had a "Games" unit to kick off the year with my third graders and they loved it. It was a good way to get them all active, smiling, involved and on mixed teams while they were still getting to mesh and establish themselves in their new classes. I also had a "Dance" unit in Grade 1...we used a lot of YouTube Wii dance videos to involve the kids and they REALLY enjoyed this; for them, it's cooler to learn a dance from a Smurf than from a teacher who isn't blue or nearly as animated! :P Another high this year was a celebration day where we celebrated the Chinese/Lunar New Year in class and had a bunch of stations with a hint of Asian culture. We had big kids helping little kids and everything went perfectly...I want to try to incorporate more cultural learning into my lessons as our school's motto is "Excellence in Education for Globally Minded Students"...we need to foster the globally minded bit and PE is a good outlet for that...they remember everything too because they're doing it!
13. Which units did not work well? Why? How can these units be modified, tweaked and improved upon next school year?
"Adventure Challenge" units always have a lot of potential and I love them but I really need to work on getting a better repertoire of activities that engages the kids...here's going to be where I use iPads and QR code scavenger hunts around the school and gym with physical challenges! I love teaching this unit across all the grade levels! I also want to get them using compasses and maps and since it's the way of the future, do it on iPads as well as on just compasses and paper maps.
I'm also gonna work to improve dance units across the school...get some set songs and dances for the different year levels and then be committed to changing them up so things aren't repeated and don't get boring every year.
My Grade 2 "Games" unit really got the short-end of the stick this year. It was my favourite (and theirs too) last year but because it was at the end of the year this year, we had interruptions, Sports Days and other events that took away from getting the students to create their own game. One class did it but another didn't. I've moved the unit so it happens earlier in the academic year now so that should prevent this from happening again!
Finally, in not teaching all the classes in a grade level myself, the assessment differs from teacher to teacher. So that students get the best deal, my main goal is to moderate with the rest of my team to ensure that we're doing the same/similar things and that the assessment tasks are the same.
14. Where am I currently at in regards to integrating technology within my instruction and PE program?
Ouuu! I'm getting there and trying more and more! This year, my team is lucky enough to have iPads so I've been looking at apps to check attendance, write lessons and just plan my everyday of teaching. I use Spotify, which I totally recommend, to create playlists for my classes and they add songs to the playlists for us to listen to during class, but more importantly for our dance unit and its final assessment tasks. I use the projector to beam up Wii dance videos from YouTube. This year, we're going to have projection screens permanently mounted on the walls so we can use projectors to beam up dances and other demonstrations that could help get across key concepts/skills that are expected in class - so much better than setting up a portable screen with limited time between classes! This also works really well in displaying student skills and abilities on the wall; a great way to showcase student learning! I've also used iPads to have students record different skills (mostly gymnastics, and so far a lot of forward rolls) for the student to see where he/she can improve and what he/she is doing well/needs to work on. I get really excited thinking about how much we can do with more iPads and outlets for integration! :)
15. How is the environment in which I teach conductive for integrating technology?
It's adapting and opening itself up, that's for sure! :)
16. How did the used of technology enhance the learning of my students?
I think that by students being able to record and then see their own movements is invaluable and the biggest perk of technology in PE. There are so many apps out there that I still need to make a bigger effort to try out, where students can analyze their movement. They're not comparing their movement/skill to other people in the class, but to themselves which is awesome. The capability for students to record their progress and growth with certain skills is also pretty awesome with technology.
Secondly, and this is really important, but with integration of tech into PE, we can teach kids about healthy use of technology. We can show them how technology can be healthy (and how too much is unhealthy!) and excite them to get outside and exercise, if we show them the right apps. We live in a technology dominated world. Kids don't just go outside and play and have ONLY their imagination to lead them anymore. They have tons of computer games and video games that imprint on them and influence their imagination. I mean, yes, Super Mario for NES and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on TV may have added a flair to mine and my brother's playtime, but not as much as technology does today. It's everywhere. Kids need to get out more and hopefully we can promote a healthy lifestyle that still incorporates tech into out lives to model for the students we teach. Balance is key and we have to show them that!
17. Which areas of technology integration do I need to learn more about?
I need to experiment more with what I have learned. I learn about great apps and things to try but always feel like there's no time to really try it out for myself and then get into it in my classes. I want to dedicate a couple of hours every week to try out new apps that could really benefit my teaching and students' learning. I need to learn more about how QR codes work but first on my list, are the EasyPortfolio, EasyAssessment and EasyAttendance apps that I've only heard good things about...and they were developed by a PE teacher!
I'm also going to get into EduBlogging (outside of this) so I can blog about student learning, reflect on my teaching but also give photographic and video evidence of student learning to the parents (and students themselves) more frequently than in a newsletter at the end of every unit. I'm really excited about this!
18. What opportunities existed for collaboration with the classroom teachers? How did I take advantage of these opportunities?
At our school, we have cross-curricular meetings every Thursday for different grade levels and the units they'll be teaching. I attend these and give insight into what we'll be doing in PE during the unit but lining things up and getting units to correspond, doesn't work as ideally as I would like. With multiple classes on, space and equipment restrictions, sometimes if there are 3 classes on at the same time, we can't all be doing the same unit. Scheduling for space dictates, for the most part, what we teach and when. But, when I can, I try to make a connection, no matter how small, to draw on something that's being learned in the classroom.
19. What feedback did I receive from administration regarding my teaching practice?
I received some great feedback this year from my principal. It's really reassuring that he, and my previous principal, knows I'm trying to be more collaborative and integrate classroom units into PE and vice versa and my efforts have been praised. I also think I have a great relationship with the students (well, 98% of them anyways) and this was something both principals have commented on. He wants me to stick around, I have a permanent contract and the efforts I put into my teaching, into bettering my teaching and to giving the kids the best PE experience I can have been noted.
20. What are 3-4 professional growth goals that I have going into next school year? How can I monitor whether of not I am staying on track?
1. Collaborate more within my team - Get us on the right track, team teach and assess at the same level with the same expectations.
2. Write ALL of the PYP planners that I need to write. I've been saying this for two years and something always creeps up that needs more attention. Sure, we have planners, guidelines and lots of stuff informally to help us plan and whatnot, but this information needs to be put into the IB planners. I need to do this. Mostly for my own sanity...although finding the time might make me insane.
3. Integration. I want to integrate more tech. I want to integrate more classroom learning. I want to integrate more cultural awareness into my PE lessons. I want to foster the idea of cross-curricular learning and really make it obvious, all the while boosting the reputation of our awesome subject!
4. I really want to get involved in the PEPLC. I think I have a lot to share but so much more to learn...and I'm keen to learn. I stand to learn a lot more about PE in general, but as I said before, behaviour management is something I need to work on. I've done some great assessments but want to add more to the mix. I love learning new things and trying them out first hand and as a PE teacher, I'm so lucky to be able to just whip out a new game and give it a go. The students love it too...except when it's a bust...because they love having new games to play; the best is when it's a 'fun' game that teaches them a new skill that they don't notice. Ahhhh, the joy! :)
I'll monitor my progress on these with the help of my team. We set goals as a department for ourselves, for our program and for the school and we check in with each other from time to time. I'm so lucky to be so well supported in achieving my goals and am confident in myself too...but I'll keep you posted, too! :)
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
MIS Tanzania Projects 2013 - Days 9 - 11 - Sponsored Student Day & Kambi Ya Chokaa, Maasailand
Day 9 - Sponsored Student Day
Today started off differently than expected. We had our breakfast at 8:00 (after a 6:30am run...and time-out to watch monkeys play in trees) and were told that sponsored students would start to show up anytime after 9. This wasn't the case though...people didn't really start trickling in until 1pm! This wasn't such a bad thing though - it gave the students (and adults) time to relax and chat...even though we were still wondering what was going on and where all the people were!
Around 12:30, a number of students finally showed up (some with friends and family members, others alone) and we had lunch together in the ISM cafeteria. The MIS students mingled with the sponsored students, got to know them and interviewed them so that we could keep record of who was in attendance, what they looked like (with photographic evidence provided from a student run photo booth) and what they were doing. Any special messages for their sponsors were exchanged as well and they received gifts from their sponsors as well. After lunch, more mingling took place and a football (soccer) match was initiated by some of our students against the sponsored students. In the dorms where we were staying, some MIS students arranged shirts, ties, scarves and other dressy items so upon departure, the sponsored students had a choice of these donated items to have for dressy occasions.
Despite the day starting later, the day was a success in that many smiling faces left campus and our students enjoyed the interaction with these native Tanzanians. After dinner, we had an impromptu meeting with Dr. Ole Kuney who was on hand to answer some student questions about the ways of the Maasai before our early departure the next morning for a surprise that would be waiting for us in Kambi ya Chokaa!
Day 9 - Kambi ya Chokaa
Rise and shine...well not the shine part because we woke up at 3:30am for a 4:00am departure for Maasailand! Dr. Ole Kuney promised us that we'd have a surprise, that only happens every 15-20 years, waiting for us and our 6am arrival in Kambi ya Chokaa. All of us were curious as to what this surprise may be and many predictions were thrown out there - I thought it may have been something to do with an early sunrise with a giant sun...but I was wrong.
After a long drive through bumpy, bumpy dirt roads (although they weren't really roads!), we arrived at Dr. Ole Kuney's home in the bush. We were greeted by several curious kids and a fast approaching sunrise. We dropped our bags and had some time to kill before Dr. Ole Kuney came back for us after getting a shave and his Maasai leader wardrobe on; we interacted with the kids, took some photos of the sunrise (not a giant sun and not the surprise) and finished up our packed breakfast bags. When Dr. Kuney returned, he was looking very chiefish and he led us all out into the bush where we were greeted by a large group of Maasai people. Cue the National Geographic mind warp...and cameras!
So, the surprise? It was a very special ceremony where junior tribe members were being converted to eldership status. Like Dr. Kuney said, this only happens every 15-20 years so it was really special and I felt honoured to be a part of this ceremony. Words can't really describe the feelings and emotions that ran through my mind as I stood by watching everything happening around me. Even just seeing the Maasai in their traditional wardrobe was a completely new experience for me and to see that many people, all standing by watching this happen, was incredible. There were a number of speeches in Maasai that I obviously couldn't understand and my senses were overwhelmed. As they were talking and going through the ritual of this ceremony, there were a number of cows and goats standing by and at one point, a couple of men started to stab and then extract blood from a couple of the cows' necks. A number of Maasai children were also hanging around and were just as distracted by us as we were by everything that was happening around us. The kids, like the ones at Muungano Primary School, were grabbing at our cameras, watches and anything else that could be removed from our bodies. For me, it was my Ardene sunglasses bought specially for my Macho Man Randy Savage costume and my camera; they all wanted pictures of themselves with the glasses on but wanted to take the photos as well. I love the innocent curiousity.
After an hour and a bit, we were then taken by a group of women to separate huts: the boys and girls. Here, we were taken into rooms and fitted into our own Maasai clothing. Very cool. We then hung out for some time, wandered around taking photos and admired the bush landscape. A few students saw a cow being killed which I'm glad I missed. We headed back to Dr. Kuney's house around 12 for lunch and after an early morning, this was a recipe for a siesta - I think all of us passed out in chairs, on tables...wherever we were sitting for over an hour! It was much needed though after the work project and early mornings since arrival in Tanzania. When we woke up, we went off to explore again until Dr. Kuney summoned us back to the celebration area where we got to see the traditional Maasai dance (can they ever jump high!) which was awesome. We then met in a group again for the students to hand off their cattle donations; all of the students fund-raised enough money to individually donate a cow, that they also named, and gave to Dr. Ole Kuney.
Next up, and whilst the sun was beginning to set, we headed over to visit the village's school that had quite a bit of support from MIS and mainly one other man that gave a hefty, one time donation to help out Dr. Kuney. On our walk back, we got a lot of great photos of the sun setting and witnessed a number of children herding up cattle and getting them back home for the night. We had a delicious meal, compliments of Dr. Kuney's wife, and then watched the stars outside - a lot of stars! Most of the boys slep outside along with a group of 3 girls, and given our early early morning departure that day, it's safe to say we all slept pretty well.
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| They look much better on them than on me! :P |
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| Some of the elders during the ceremony...they used these things to flick water on people...similar (to me) as the palm leaves at church. |
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| Maasai ladies at the ceremony |
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| Looking on...check out the earrings! |
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| Still ceremony action...but all so fascinating! |
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| Dr. Ole Kuney - Maasai Chief |
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| The water flicking things...with flies needing to be flicked! |
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| So much jewelry! |
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| How old is this girl? Not very old...and so much responsibility for these young kids at such a young age. Unbelieveable! |
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| :) |
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| I thought these guys were pretty cool! :) |
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| More Maasai ladies who helped us to get outfitted in our Maasai clothing |
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| :) |
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| Maasai dancing...hard to capture in photos so I'll try to get a video up! |
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| White Maasai...with a pretty incredible backdrop! |
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| At the school...bathrooms...and a tree! Guess what they try to teach here...! |
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| One of my favourite captures! :) |
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
MIS Tanzania Projects 2013 - Days 5 - 8 - Work Project
I've finally just gone through all of my photos and videos of the trip...I feel at ease knowing that I've had time to review it and reflect on everything through photos. Phew. Now onto it...
MIS started doing the work project at Muungano Primary school in 2011. Money to support the work project (and all projects) is raised through drink and snack bars for school events like plays, musicals, etc.; a stall that sells purchased items/souvenirs from Tanzania; specific fundraisers set up by the students and general donations made by people associated with the MIS community. The money raised then goes towards purchasing materials needed to do the work and a 'fundi' (a foreman) who overseas all of the work we do, mixes the paint and helps the students get organized and on track.
Day 5 - Muungano Primary School: Day 1 of Work Project
So we had visited the school yesterday and learned about what we'd be doing. Today, we rocked up and had a bit of downtime to start while a few last minute things were being purchased for our work. In this downtime, a few curious students approached us and introduced themselves. At about 10:30am, we got into the school and started doing some sanding on the walls of the staffroom, hallways and director's office. Sadly, I forgot my camera on this day and wasn't able to get any before photos of the place but will try and add some later. To sand, we used straight up sandpaper without sanding blocks, and it wasn't the easiest of tasks...especially since I thought I'd be the tough guy and not buy work gloves for the trip. I'm that hardcore. As there were 28 of us, some students also had the opportunity to teach a couple of lessons in the classrooms - I really enjoyed watching these! We stopped for lunch around 1pm and it was another delicious ISM treat - who knew a take-away lunch could still be that tasty? A student ended up being sent back to ISM because he wasn't feeling well so at 2pm, I headed back to campus to accompany him. The rest of the students carried on with sanding and putting some base coat on the walls and then interacting with the students outside for a game of soccer to wrap up the day.
Day 6 - Muungano Primary School: Day 2 of Work Project
We were straight back into work again on day 2 - finishing up base coat painting and then beginning the first layers of oil based paint - yellow - on top of the old light blue and white walls. The fumes got to be a lot for some students to handle at times so they were warranted a number of breaks to get some fresh air outside. Along with these breaks came engaging with the students which included anything from getting our hair played with, to slapsies and games of tag. I loved this bit. Interacting with the kids was just such a heartwarming experience and my favourite bit of every project we worked on...I guess it's a good thing I'm a teacher so I have lots of these opportunities! :P After a hard day's work, most of us participated in a soccer game against the Muungano students on the big dirt field behind the school. It was awesome.
Day 7 - Muungano Primary School: Day 3 of Work Project
Today we found out that we wouldn't actually be building a gate for the school - the money we raised wasn't quite enough. I think we were all a bit bummed by this as we had seen the number of random people that would pass through the school grounds (including a number of motorbikes) and could see how helpful the gate would be. The good news, however, is that we know they need one and we can work on getting the materials and funds together to build one next year. Work continued as normal and a couple of other students taught classes today and I taught "Skinamarinky Dinky Dink" to the kids...a very random song choice but it was the first to pop into my head! They all loved it though and it followed me around for the rest of the day and the next one.
We finished up the bulk of our painting today and started doing some details with some brown paint on the doors and floor borders. Because of the leaky ceiling, a lot of moisture seeps into the walls and has destroyed the bulletin boards...as I mentioned in my last post, this school would no doubt be shut down if it was anywhere in the Western world because of mold. With some of the money we had left for the project (but not enough for a gate), we were able to buy some cork board to install in the rooms which really increased the aesthetics (and probably health) of the rooms! A separate fundi would come in tomorrow to help install this for us and we'd finish up the painting along with wrapping up the project. I walked to a tree and plant area (it was literally on the side of the road...a bunch of trees and plants together) with three students and Mr. Huber to look at trees to green up the playground a bit. After a long and busy day, we were ready to get back to ISM for showers and chill time so our daily soccer match (sadly) didn't happen.
Day 8 - Muungano Primary School: Day 4 of Work Project
The past three days have been fantastic! The students have worked so hard and it's been so rewarding to watch them interact with the kids and see how invested they were in everything they did at Muungano Primary School. We finished up the brown trim today and fixed up some spots we missed with yellow paint. After lunch, the students paired up, named and planted trees in the school yard...with the help of some eager student helpers! We hung out with the kids a bit, some other members of the school board/district arrived and we had a presentation from them to thank us for our efforts. MIS also donated some textbooks to the school so we saw a sample of what these books. Three of our students gave a presentation (as they do at all projects) and said some words of thanks for the hospitality we had from the school and for the great experience the project offered us. We said our goodbyes to the Muungano students, which was a challenge, as many of them had grown some good friendships with the MIS students over the four days.
MIS started doing the work project at Muungano Primary school in 2011. Money to support the work project (and all projects) is raised through drink and snack bars for school events like plays, musicals, etc.; a stall that sells purchased items/souvenirs from Tanzania; specific fundraisers set up by the students and general donations made by people associated with the MIS community. The money raised then goes towards purchasing materials needed to do the work and a 'fundi' (a foreman) who overseas all of the work we do, mixes the paint and helps the students get organized and on track.
Day 5 - Muungano Primary School: Day 1 of Work Project
So we had visited the school yesterday and learned about what we'd be doing. Today, we rocked up and had a bit of downtime to start while a few last minute things were being purchased for our work. In this downtime, a few curious students approached us and introduced themselves. At about 10:30am, we got into the school and started doing some sanding on the walls of the staffroom, hallways and director's office. Sadly, I forgot my camera on this day and wasn't able to get any before photos of the place but will try and add some later. To sand, we used straight up sandpaper without sanding blocks, and it wasn't the easiest of tasks...especially since I thought I'd be the tough guy and not buy work gloves for the trip. I'm that hardcore. As there were 28 of us, some students also had the opportunity to teach a couple of lessons in the classrooms - I really enjoyed watching these! We stopped for lunch around 1pm and it was another delicious ISM treat - who knew a take-away lunch could still be that tasty? A student ended up being sent back to ISM because he wasn't feeling well so at 2pm, I headed back to campus to accompany him. The rest of the students carried on with sanding and putting some base coat on the walls and then interacting with the students outside for a game of soccer to wrap up the day.
Day 6 - Muungano Primary School: Day 2 of Work Project
We were straight back into work again on day 2 - finishing up base coat painting and then beginning the first layers of oil based paint - yellow - on top of the old light blue and white walls. The fumes got to be a lot for some students to handle at times so they were warranted a number of breaks to get some fresh air outside. Along with these breaks came engaging with the students which included anything from getting our hair played with, to slapsies and games of tag. I loved this bit. Interacting with the kids was just such a heartwarming experience and my favourite bit of every project we worked on...I guess it's a good thing I'm a teacher so I have lots of these opportunities! :P After a hard day's work, most of us participated in a soccer game against the Muungano students on the big dirt field behind the school. It was awesome.
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| First layers of crisp, new yellow paint going on the walls in the staff room! |
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| Getting every nook and cranny! |
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| On the stairwell walls... |
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| Mr. Munissi's office... |
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| The hallway's looking brighter already! |
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| Bart was a hit with the boys! |
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| The soccer pitch |
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| Love this guy...George! |
Day 7 - Muungano Primary School: Day 3 of Work Project
Today we found out that we wouldn't actually be building a gate for the school - the money we raised wasn't quite enough. I think we were all a bit bummed by this as we had seen the number of random people that would pass through the school grounds (including a number of motorbikes) and could see how helpful the gate would be. The good news, however, is that we know they need one and we can work on getting the materials and funds together to build one next year. Work continued as normal and a couple of other students taught classes today and I taught "Skinamarinky Dinky Dink" to the kids...a very random song choice but it was the first to pop into my head! They all loved it though and it followed me around for the rest of the day and the next one.
We finished up the bulk of our painting today and started doing some details with some brown paint on the doors and floor borders. Because of the leaky ceiling, a lot of moisture seeps into the walls and has destroyed the bulletin boards...as I mentioned in my last post, this school would no doubt be shut down if it was anywhere in the Western world because of mold. With some of the money we had left for the project (but not enough for a gate), we were able to buy some cork board to install in the rooms which really increased the aesthetics (and probably health) of the rooms! A separate fundi would come in tomorrow to help install this for us and we'd finish up the painting along with wrapping up the project. I walked to a tree and plant area (it was literally on the side of the road...a bunch of trees and plants together) with three students and Mr. Huber to look at trees to green up the playground a bit. After a long and busy day, we were ready to get back to ISM for showers and chill time so our daily soccer match (sadly) didn't happen.
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| Teaching a class about body parts... |
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| He loved slapsies! |
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| This guy's English was great...such a lovely kid...but then again, they all were! :) |
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| Waving goodbye on our second last day! |
The past three days have been fantastic! The students have worked so hard and it's been so rewarding to watch them interact with the kids and see how invested they were in everything they did at Muungano Primary School. We finished up the brown trim today and fixed up some spots we missed with yellow paint. After lunch, the students paired up, named and planted trees in the school yard...with the help of some eager student helpers! We hung out with the kids a bit, some other members of the school board/district arrived and we had a presentation from them to thank us for our efforts. MIS also donated some textbooks to the school so we saw a sample of what these books. Three of our students gave a presentation (as they do at all projects) and said some words of thanks for the hospitality we had from the school and for the great experience the project offered us. We said our goodbyes to the Muungano students, which was a challenge, as many of them had grown some good friendships with the MIS students over the four days.
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| Lovely young ladies :) |
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| Kid in the front...what a hoot! A cheeky lil guy! |
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| James and Max with their tree! |
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| All smiles! |
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| Our farewell photo...sad to go! |
Friday, July 19, 2013
MIS Tanzania Projects 2013 - Day 3 & 4
Day 3 - HIV Affected Teens Fun Day
Today, we spent the entire day on campus at ISM. The campus is beautiful so it was actually a treat to be able to hang out here for the day! We had breakfast at 8:00 and then waited for groups of people to trickle in. By 10am, a number of teens and their families and/or friends began to populate the ISM campus. We met them and organized a couple of games of pick-up basketball and soccer. Some just stood by and watched (despite my efforts to try to get them involved) and others did their own thing. At about 11ish, we gathered as a big group (I bet close to 100 people) on the ISM field and were listening to music and heard a number of introductions from the people who work at the clinic that helps these students - while not all of those in attendance had HIV, all of them have been affected by it in some way, shape or form.
The MIS students were all active in participating in the activities planned for the day, such as dancing (an African version of the electric slide), chugging cola, tug of war, a rap, a bboy performance, sack races and the most unique activity - chasing a chicken...a live chicken...well four live chickens. There were four 'heats' of chasing the four different chickens around the field until each one was caught: the Tanzanian boys, the Tanzanian girls, the MIS boys and the MIS girls. It was entertaining to watch, to say the least, although you couldn't help but feel a little bad for the chicken when it got caught...what is the best way to hold a live chicken anyway? The students who had caught the MIS chickens donated them to two students who would have really appreciated the eventual dinner treat for their families. And guess what was for lunch...chicken! :P
After lunch, we had a chance to sit down with an American lady named Annie who spoke to the group about HIV/AIDS and answered any questions that the MIS students had about the illness. She works at the clinic from where all those in attendance came from and/or families/friends came from. She shed some light on some myths that may be associated with the illness and the treatment options that are available for patients in Tanzania. I learned that the medication for the disease is provided free to patients but also that the medication is not as advanced and are hand-me-downs (so to say) from the western world. She was an optimistic lady, though, and I know the clinic must appreciate her and her efforts to promote HIV awareness and to provide assistance to those suffering from this illness.
To wrap up the day, some kids jumped in the pool, myself included. There were three girls that didn't know how to swim and were adamant that I teach them - what a workout! One of them had a death grip on my arm the whole time and my shoulders felt the effects of that the next day. After an hour in the cold water (yes, the water was quite chilly because it is 'winter' there), I had to retire from my role as a swim instructor but was proud of what I had accomplished in even getting one of the girls into the water. At about 5, most of the visiting crew had left and we had yet another delicious dinner at the ISM cafeteria to celebrate a successful day.
Day 4 - KCMC Occupational Therapy Department & Hospital
After another delicious breakfast with good company from Afzal, we headed off to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center Hospital. This project was one that I was looking forward to because the Junior School at MIS raised a lot of money towards this. In February, students from EC to Grade 4 participated in a Sit-Up-A-Thon which was organized and run by my colleague, Dan, and myself. Students took home pledge sheets and then spent some time at the beginning of a PE class doing as many sit-ups as they could in one minute. Then, they recorded how many they did (a partner should be holding their feet and counting for them), took this paper home and brought it back with a monetary donation. This year, the students were successful in raising just over 4,000Euros which is pretty incredible! The top five earners then got to choose some medical equipment to be purchased and brought with us to donate at the hospital while 3,000Euros of the raised money went towards helping the students with their tuition fees to study at the hospital's campus.
We sat with some of the aspiring Occupational Therapy students and learned a bit about why they've chosen to study OT and what they hope to do with it. It was very inspirational to hear what they felt and, despite the challenges they face with OT and it not being well-recognized in Tanzania just yet, they're determined to make a difference in the lives of those who struggle with simple physical activities of daily living. After the chat, we had a tour of the clinic and the MIS students gave a quick thank you speech and donated some other equipment that their personal fundraising had afforded them. Although there wasn't a lot involved and we were sitting around quite a bit, I enjoyed this project and felt a great sense of pride for my Junior School students and in seeing where their hard-earned money went.
We headed back to ISM for lunch and in the afternoon we headed to Muungano Primary School where we'd be starting our work project the next day. We met Mr. Munissi, the director of the school, and he showed us around the school and what we'd be working on in the next four days. If this school had been located in a western country, it wouldn't be a school. Mold was visible in all corners of every room and you could tell the roof had a leak because of the amount of water damage (and mold) that was located on the walls. This school was in bad shape. We'd be doing some painting (to cover up the mold) and we were also told we'd be building a gate to help limit the amount of traffic crossing through the school grounds; sadly, a lot of stuff gets stolen because of the lack of locks and security on the school grounds! We knew straight away that the painting bit was a bit of a waste of time seeing as how the leaking roof would ruin the paint in a matter of months but as we aren't construction workers and had no idea how to fix the roof (and we also had a limited amount of money to work with), it was going to have to do.
After our visit, I headed into Moshi with a handful of students who wanted to buy some souvenirs - the most popular being a Tanzania soccer jersey. We shopped a bit then sat down for a Coke before heading back to ISM for dinner and an evening of chilling out before our labour-intensive four days began!
Today, we spent the entire day on campus at ISM. The campus is beautiful so it was actually a treat to be able to hang out here for the day! We had breakfast at 8:00 and then waited for groups of people to trickle in. By 10am, a number of teens and their families and/or friends began to populate the ISM campus. We met them and organized a couple of games of pick-up basketball and soccer. Some just stood by and watched (despite my efforts to try to get them involved) and others did their own thing. At about 11ish, we gathered as a big group (I bet close to 100 people) on the ISM field and were listening to music and heard a number of introductions from the people who work at the clinic that helps these students - while not all of those in attendance had HIV, all of them have been affected by it in some way, shape or form.
The MIS students were all active in participating in the activities planned for the day, such as dancing (an African version of the electric slide), chugging cola, tug of war, a rap, a bboy performance, sack races and the most unique activity - chasing a chicken...a live chicken...well four live chickens. There were four 'heats' of chasing the four different chickens around the field until each one was caught: the Tanzanian boys, the Tanzanian girls, the MIS boys and the MIS girls. It was entertaining to watch, to say the least, although you couldn't help but feel a little bad for the chicken when it got caught...what is the best way to hold a live chicken anyway? The students who had caught the MIS chickens donated them to two students who would have really appreciated the eventual dinner treat for their families. And guess what was for lunch...chicken! :P
After lunch, we had a chance to sit down with an American lady named Annie who spoke to the group about HIV/AIDS and answered any questions that the MIS students had about the illness. She works at the clinic from where all those in attendance came from and/or families/friends came from. She shed some light on some myths that may be associated with the illness and the treatment options that are available for patients in Tanzania. I learned that the medication for the disease is provided free to patients but also that the medication is not as advanced and are hand-me-downs (so to say) from the western world. She was an optimistic lady, though, and I know the clinic must appreciate her and her efforts to promote HIV awareness and to provide assistance to those suffering from this illness.
To wrap up the day, some kids jumped in the pool, myself included. There were three girls that didn't know how to swim and were adamant that I teach them - what a workout! One of them had a death grip on my arm the whole time and my shoulders felt the effects of that the next day. After an hour in the cold water (yes, the water was quite chilly because it is 'winter' there), I had to retire from my role as a swim instructor but was proud of what I had accomplished in even getting one of the girls into the water. At about 5, most of the visiting crew had left and we had yet another delicious dinner at the ISM cafeteria to celebrate a successful day.
Day 4 - KCMC Occupational Therapy Department & Hospital
After another delicious breakfast with good company from Afzal, we headed off to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center Hospital. This project was one that I was looking forward to because the Junior School at MIS raised a lot of money towards this. In February, students from EC to Grade 4 participated in a Sit-Up-A-Thon which was organized and run by my colleague, Dan, and myself. Students took home pledge sheets and then spent some time at the beginning of a PE class doing as many sit-ups as they could in one minute. Then, they recorded how many they did (a partner should be holding their feet and counting for them), took this paper home and brought it back with a monetary donation. This year, the students were successful in raising just over 4,000Euros which is pretty incredible! The top five earners then got to choose some medical equipment to be purchased and brought with us to donate at the hospital while 3,000Euros of the raised money went towards helping the students with their tuition fees to study at the hospital's campus.
We sat with some of the aspiring Occupational Therapy students and learned a bit about why they've chosen to study OT and what they hope to do with it. It was very inspirational to hear what they felt and, despite the challenges they face with OT and it not being well-recognized in Tanzania just yet, they're determined to make a difference in the lives of those who struggle with simple physical activities of daily living. After the chat, we had a tour of the clinic and the MIS students gave a quick thank you speech and donated some other equipment that their personal fundraising had afforded them. Although there wasn't a lot involved and we were sitting around quite a bit, I enjoyed this project and felt a great sense of pride for my Junior School students and in seeing where their hard-earned money went.
We headed back to ISM for lunch and in the afternoon we headed to Muungano Primary School where we'd be starting our work project the next day. We met Mr. Munissi, the director of the school, and he showed us around the school and what we'd be working on in the next four days. If this school had been located in a western country, it wouldn't be a school. Mold was visible in all corners of every room and you could tell the roof had a leak because of the amount of water damage (and mold) that was located on the walls. This school was in bad shape. We'd be doing some painting (to cover up the mold) and we were also told we'd be building a gate to help limit the amount of traffic crossing through the school grounds; sadly, a lot of stuff gets stolen because of the lack of locks and security on the school grounds! We knew straight away that the painting bit was a bit of a waste of time seeing as how the leaking roof would ruin the paint in a matter of months but as we aren't construction workers and had no idea how to fix the roof (and we also had a limited amount of money to work with), it was going to have to do.
After our visit, I headed into Moshi with a handful of students who wanted to buy some souvenirs - the most popular being a Tanzania soccer jersey. We shopped a bit then sat down for a Coke before heading back to ISM for dinner and an evening of chilling out before our labour-intensive four days began!
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| Goooooo CHICKEN! |
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| Poor bugger didn't have a chance...but, Bart didn't escape unscathed! In his epic chicken grab, he scraped his rear end and knee pretty badly! |
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| Sarah's bringing whole new meaning (and reward) to the favourite PE Game "Capture the Chicken"! |
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| And they're off... |
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| This chicken wasn't too happy...and I can't imagine his wings felt too great in that hold! |
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| Rap star Max and beat box king Flo with special guest bboys, Mike and Roland! :P |
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| The Electric Slide...Tanzania style! |
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| A beautiful flower with the KCMC College building behind |
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| On the bumpy road back from the hospital...can't imagine an ambulance cruising too fast down here! |
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| An incredible view of the roof of Africa! |
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