Observation/Evaluation Time of Year

This week was a little nerve-wracking!! It was time for Formal Observations to start in preparation for Evaluations coming up. While I am used to being evaluated by principals or assistant principals showing up in my classroom, these observations are different. For the first 14 years of teaching, observations were a simple satisfactory or unsatisfactory, but NOT here. These are much more detailed and the evaluators are looking for many minute details which makes these much more complex. Since these observations were to be unannounced, the stress level went up simply for all the minute details they were looking for. 

Fortunately, I was very excited about my lesson on Tuesday and was hoping and praying that the evaluators would come in. Well, God is good!!! The evaluators came. I had everything ready. Both evaluators, my Principal and the English Head of Faculty, were very impressed and I was extremely happy with the way my girls were responding to questions asked and their engagement in the lesson. So, now I feel really good about the observation and it is time to gather all my documentation in a notebook to prepare for the Evaluation that will happen later. I will let you know how that goes whenever it may happen. 

Fruit Day

Fruit day was interesting!! All the girls brought in various fruits. Some of them I have seen in the stores and others I had no idea about. So, my class and I gather in the courtyard and sit on a rug. They bring me different pieces of fruit to peel and for them to eat. For those of you who know me, I don't like my hands to be dirty. However, this day, my hands were GROSS!!! All for the sake of the girls. My hands were dripping with various juices from various fruits...YUCK!! But the girls had a blast and honestly, I did too!!

 

Since I was encouraging them to try new fruits, I had to do the same. So I decided since I see this fuzzy, "porcupine" looking fruit in the store frequently, I would try it. 

As you can tell by the picture, I'm not so sure about this fruit. You crack the shell and eat the inside that is the texture of a grape but has a seed in the center of it. I liked the juice but didn't like the texture with the seed in the middle. Anyway, it was an experience. 

I also tried mangosteen that day too. Once again, interesting and I can say that I've done it. At first, I saw one of my girls eating it and eating several of them. She could only tell me the Arabic word for it which didn't help me know what it was. So, I asked an Arabic teacher. She said it was "sweet garlic" which was a little strange to me. But I had my "adventurous" hat on that day and decided to try it. When you crack open the hard, purple shell, inside is the fleshy fruit that looks like the cloves of garlic. I ate a couple of them and it was ok. Not bad, but not good! 

                                                   

The girls really enjoyed sitting around peeling and eating the fruit.  It really was a nice day!!

                                      

Mom's Blog

As you know, my parents were here from December 21 until January 4. They had a blast and I really enjoyed them being here. While I never shed a tear when I left Atlanta in August, I cried half the way home from Dubai when they left. It was much harder than I expected. 

We went to the store the first day and she had to buy a Journal "to record" all that we would be doing. I thought it was a joke when she said she would be taking notes. After the first day out, I learned quickly that she was not joking. The first day, she had 4 pages of notes. Dad and I continued to laugh at her through the two weeks about her notes. I think she had used half the journal by the time they left. So, her blog is much more detailed about the things we did and what we saw. 

Here is the link to mom's blog about all the things we did while they were here. 

http://www.randyandclarabrown.blogspot.com

Feel free to read and enjoy her blog too.

Vegetable Week

The last few weeks have been crazy. Things at school have been busy with Vegetable Week and Milk Week. Coming up will be Fruit Week. During these weeks, classroom instruction is to be devoted to the subject (vegetables, milk, fruit) in all curriculum areas. Doesn't sound so crazy except that on one day during each of the weeks, the girls bring in the item of the week (vegetables, milk, fruit) and we spend about an hour have a "free for all" when it comes to the item. So during Vegetable Week, the girls all brought in various vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, lemons, and much more). So, during our lunch and fourth period, we all gather in the courtyard and the girls share their vegetables. Doesn't seem so bad! The "strange", for lack of a better word, part is that the girls brought their own knives from home and were cutting up the vegetables and making salads for anyone and everyone. Here are a few pictures of the organized chaos.