Crossroads in Abu Dhabi: School

I have had many requests to write about school, so here goes.

I do not plan to go back and talk about how terrible my first month was. Suffice it to say I was pretty miserable!! As I teach longer, though, I realize that many of the times I thought my girls were being disrespectful and talking when it was inappropriate, they were actually discussing what I was teaching, but in Arabic.

This was really made apparent to me on Thursday when I had Arabic observers in my classroom. I was teaching a science lesson on "hot springs." I had gotten a hot plate and pot of water to show what happened when water is heated up: steam

I then told the girls about a special place in my country, the U.S., called Yellowstone. (They always get very excited when they hear anything about "Miss Lynn's home.") I showed a video of Old Faithful and the various spots around Yellowstone with the thermal springs. They talked throughout the experiment and the video. I just assumed many of them weren't paying attention, but after the class was over my visitors were telling me that the girls were so excited that this was where "Miss Lynn" lived and were talking in Arabic about what they were seeing. The observers were impressed with what the girls had been learning so far. So.....I need to chill and remember there are many different paths to knowledge....and one of them is through Arabic conversation.....

I was SO excited with my writing class on Thursday. Each week, the girls are supposed to write a "paragraph." The first week was about 3 sentences and each sentence had about 3 words. The next week, a little better, and so on.

This week, I had them write about what they did over the Eid holiday. We also worked for the first time with phonetic spelling. Previously, we had brainstormed words on the board so they could use them as they wrote, but I realized I was getting the same paragraph from each girl because they ONLY used the words on the board. So I explained to them that when I taught little children, Grade 1, back in the U.S. (ha-ha!!) my students NEVER had words on the board. They sounded out the words for themselves. I wanted them to do the same thing this time. You should have seen the paragraphs I got!! I wish I had brought their journals home so I could copy some of their precious spellings. I will try to do that tomorrow and add to this blog. You HAVE to see what they wrote!! I got as excited over their sweet little sentences as I used to get back home when my students came up with a really creative figurative language usage.

We have a spelling test every Thursday, but my scores are not improving. We have a list of 10 words (most of which are only 3-5 letters) and a week to learn them. I have tried practice sheets, letting them compete to spell them on the board each day, prizes for whoever gets 9 or 10 correct on the test, etc. Nothing has worked. I still have some girls who make 0 out of 10. Any suggestions from you teachers out there???

I am totally exhausted at the end of each day. I have yet to sit my rear end in a chair. I am on my feet all day long because that is the only way I have found so far to keep the girls engaged. It is so easy to tune me out (speaking in a foreign language....blah....blah....blah...) so I move constantly to bring each girl into the lesson. The floors are hard tile, and my feet ache. I worry that I am going to develop some kind of foot problem. I tripped over a bookbag one day and twisted my foot (not my ankle). I cannot see a bruise or anything, but that foot aches constantly. (It happened about a month ago.) I think I may have to go to a doctor soon to look at it.

The classroom is very crowded. I have 27 girls in one class and 28 in the other. They all have bookbags that they keep beside them all day. There is literally no room to walk unless you step over something. I have not yet helped them develop the understanding of "independent" work. Their idea of working is to wait and let one girl get the answer and then just "copy" her work. Then they all call my name so I will give them a "red check" with my red pen to show that they have the correct answer. If they copied incorrectly and I do not give a red check, they pout and say, "No, Miss!" This is apparently what they have been used to for the last 3 years, so it is a long cycle trying to break these habits. Things are SLOWLY improving in this regard. Most will now raise their hand instead of calling out. They will also now keep their books on their desk instead of waving it in my face while I am trying to check another child's work!

They also delight in sharpening pencils all day long and playing with stickers. My first words as I begin a lesson are, "NO stickers!" I have taken up so many by now that as soon as they hear these words they hide them back in their bookbags!! This does not work as well with their pencil pouches. Each girl has a "Hello Kitty" or "Barbie" pencil pouch, and in this pouch is everything I do not want them to have during a lesson!! They have stickers, colored pencils, scissors, glue, etc. They use these materials all during the lesson when they are supposed to be getting direct instruction. Then, when it's independent work time, they have no idea what to do. I have quite a nice collection of pencil pouches by now, but when I take these up, they cry.....quite loudly....and for show!

If a girl begins to cry, all the other girls feel quite sorry for her and keep telling me, "Miss Lynn, Fatima is crying!" I reply, "Yes, I know, she is very loud!!!!" Then they beg for their items to be returned and will not work on the lesson until I promise it will be returned later.

I have started talking to myself...... "Really......you're crying because you cannot put a sticker on all the girls in your group.....??" "Do you seriously need 5 pencils and 6 erasers on your desk to copy this sentence?" I will be worried when I start answering.....

Even though it sounds as if I'm complaining, I'm laughing as I write this! I am re-living my daily classroom experiences. As I said earlier, things improve every day. You should be glad I did not write what my day was like 2 months ago!!!!!!!

There are so many more highlights to my day now than there are low moments. That is a reverse of my first experiences. My girls, for the most part, are hard-working and eager to learn. I do have a few in each class who try my patience. I just try to remember how I feel when I sit in an Arabic meeting for an hour.

I am posting a few pictures from one of my science lessons on magnets. This was a day when the girls got to "play" with the magnets to see what they attracted. We had a lot of fun......and had excellent scores on our science CAT (Continuous Assessment Test). :)