Former Expat Teacher Acclimating to the American Way!

about the impending yacht party. great weather great food and drink great people great times Ive been waiting for this... Hope its well worth the wait!!!! oh, and let me not forget, great price!!!!!!!!!!! #ballonabudget  OR #youllbebroke lol

another mini rant. There's A and there's Z. One could always meet somewhere around M or N...but that would mean you aren't right and since that's clearly impossible, you stay at A and the other at Z. It can be quite ridiculous. Ill elaborate a little, though Im so tired it may not even make sense right now. There is not one pedagogies. There are many. Some are die hard fans of their selected or learned pedagogy. Some don't really remember one in particular and just do what is fun or feels right. Some slide into whatever the school is doing by choice or because its mandatory. Some mix a few of them and change what they do based on the students. There are so many trains of thought here about the right way. And Ill be one of the last to argue a point when I know it wont change another's point of view. To take it even further, I can be a little apprehensive to discuss a point without going back to look at the information to make sure Im not behind the re...

Weeeeelll...the lesson plan template(s) are in the car and the car is away till past my bedtime. My feet were hurting so bad I left all bags in the car. Now that Im coherent, I realize I need that bag but no such luck. ugh! I wish I had it in my email. Ill work on that. In the meantime I remain the student of my very own class. Personal vocabulary words? learning curve change routine (continued) patience determination/perseverance (or should I say to myself "take your *bleeeeeep* to the gym!!!)

School has started. I took Kava Kava the first two days because they can be stressful. You feel sort of inadequate as parents sit in the room and you have no idea what they are thinking and whether they wonder why you arent full on teaching the first day. I guess we will never know,lol. So anyway, today was easier than yesterday as I was in a room with other teachers today. I got more kids in today but not by much. Sooooo... First impressions: M is quiet and listens to the teacher, even when she wants to do something different. You can see the internal struggle with what she wants and whats going on at the time.She is also orderly and straightens things without much prompting. I have a couple boys who I was so proud of...yesterday they wanted to go home after a couple hours but managed to control themselves and listened to me regarding not being able to go home and not being able to leave the room and run around. No tears and, though they got bored,regrouped with vari...

Every professional should critique him or herself on a regular basis. A nice honest critique and then make changes accordingly. While doing so you wonder: Did I give it my best? What were my strengths? Weaknesses? What does the research say? What did the children leave with? How did they respond to me and the classroom? Also how did they begin to respond to each other? Am I only looking at research that supports what I believe? What changes should I make? Are my expectations realistic? Am I delusional? lol Have I bitten off more than I can chew? ...and a lot of others I cant think of right now Im currently looking at a program that is a bit different from what I did the second year. Reading it makes me understand more why I chose to teach the way I did ( a mixture of whole language and cooperative learning).At the same time, I don't want to do the easy thing and shun something because its "not what I like" or not what Im used to. I just started looking ...