I've been so busy and so exhausted when I get home that I haven't even thought about blogging! My classroom had more manipulatives in it than my entire elementary building last year. I spent the first 4 days in my room sorting and sending manipulatives and resources to storage. It was a little overwhelming.
The old teachers joined us newbies this week, and I was able to meet my teaching team. I think we're going to get along really well. There are 8 second grade teachers- 2 from South Africa, 2 from England, 1 Scottish, 1 Irish, 1 Canadian, and me. It takes me a few minutes every morning to muddle through the accents and understand what is being said. They like to socialize once a month and are very helpful in answering my questions. I am more fortunate than some of the other newbies whose teaching teams are not as open and welcoming.
The second grade team has a few nannies that help us out with little things- Laminating, copying, organizing, etc. It's basically a teacher assistant, but we all share them, and they don't spend time in the classroom. It's awesome!
The school schedule is RIDICULOUS. I am used to spending all day from 8-3 with my students with a 30 minute break once a day and an hour long break twice a week. Here, Arabic teachers come into the class and teach Arabic, Islamic studies and UAE history for 2-3 periods a day (out of 10 periods). I have that time out of my classroom to do whatever. Also, PE is once a week for 90 minutes- 45 minutes of swimming, 35ish minutes of running around PE. The kids also get a snack/run around time as well as a lunch time later. I don't have to stand out in the heat and load kids in the cars- AWESOME- their parents or nannies come into the classroom and pick them up at the end of the day!
It takes me 8 minutes on the teacher bus to get to and from school. It's amazing. I love it. At the end of the day, I am home by 3:45.
I am fortunate enough to live in a teacher compound with about 10 other teachers from the school. We all help each other out with things- rides, laundry, internet, etc. Last night, we went to dinner across the parking lot at a friend's apartment. I think we are actually going to be able to socialize more here than we did back home!
There are so many things to do before school starts next Tuesday!
Masaa Alkhair wa Ma:a Salaamah
Rachel
We miss you at Treetops. Benchmarks in Full swing, hot weather settled in, and all the things that go along with the first few weeks of school.
ReplyDeleteGlad all seems to be going well there. Hope your first day was amazing.