MINUS the icing...THESE CUPCAKES ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!
yummy to my tummy
yummy to my tummy
Monday, October 22, 2012
Cupcakes
This week many of the students had exams and presentations due for subjects, other than English. My Science class had BOXES of cupcakes sitting in the back of the class for a presentation, and I just so happen to see them... Well OF COURSE I had to say something, because anyone that knows me knows I LOVE CUPCAKES!!!
I told them that I was sad I was not invited to the cupcake party, and they explained it was for their presentations, so I said ok and walked away...At the end of the day after a rough period 8 with my Arts class, I walked into the English office to...A BOX OF SIX CUPCAKES!!!!!
They LOVE ME...They REALLY LOVE ME :)
...Picture Coming
I told them that I was sad I was not invited to the cupcake party, and they explained it was for their presentations, so I said ok and walked away...At the end of the day after a rough period 8 with my Arts class, I walked into the English office to...A BOX OF SIX CUPCAKES!!!!!
They LOVE ME...They REALLY LOVE ME :)
...Picture Coming
Baby Zofia
Last week during 9th period my co-teacher's water broke! Once all students had left the area, all the English teachers that are in our office walked Jasmine to the front of the school to wait for her husband. It wasn't long before baby Zofia was born and joined the Tyler family! Now Jasmine and her husband have two beautiful daughters!
I have not gone to see Baby Z yet, but I plan to have the students all sign a card and will take it when I go see the baby!
Pictures coming soon...
I have not gone to see Baby Z yet, but I plan to have the students all sign a card and will take it when I go see the baby!
Pictures coming soon...
Friday, October 12, 2012
Natural Hair
The other day I took my braids out to let my hair breath before I got some new braids (it is easier maintenance and has my hair growing fast). I warned my kids to expect Miss Britney with different hair so they wouldn't cause a scene...but of course they did anyway! haha
They LOVE the curly, natural hair! Some even went as far as to ask if I had a brother with hair like mine so they could marry him and have babies with the curly hair! haha
As soon as I got the new braids, they liked them as well but of course wanted my natural hair back!
Random: If you want to build your self-esteem, teaching in the UAE is the place to be! There is not a day that goes by that a group of girls, that I do not teach, don't come up to me to tell me how beautiful I am and how much they love me!
They LOVE the curly, natural hair! Some even went as far as to ask if I had a brother with hair like mine so they could marry him and have babies with the curly hair! haha
As soon as I got the new braids, they liked them as well but of course wanted my natural hair back!
Random: If you want to build your self-esteem, teaching in the UAE is the place to be! There is not a day that goes by that a group of girls, that I do not teach, don't come up to me to tell me how beautiful I am and how much they love me!
Putting One Foot In Front of the Other
Every day I learn something new about the Emirates, the UAE, my school, and the curriculum. I have seen my fair share of parents already. And it is because I am tough and will not just give students grades they think they deserve without working for it! (One part of my teaching philosophy I'm STICKING TO.)
I have a co-teacher, Jasmine, who is pregnant and due any day now. I now know after eavesdropping that her purpose was to make sure I could handle a classroom and to see if I was ready to teach on my own!!! REALLY!!! I was pissed at first because they took my looks and experience and completely looked over my education. I am on a team of teachers that are all 10 plus years older than me. Most have kids my age and older. Most are grandparents. From day 1 they always asked "Are you ok?" "Don't be scared?" "What are you going to do when Jasmine leaves?"
To put it frank...I may be young and I may not have as much experience, but my education speaks for itself! I have a higher degree than most of them and worked my tail off to get it! And although I will be living under the bank in loans for the years to come haha, that will in NO WAY impact how well I educate these young ladies. I have never and will never be SCARED! I do not know the curriculum, but will learn it and will make it applicable to all my students on all their differentiated levels!
With that said, I love the girls and they love me. You wouldn't be able to tell by their behavior some of the times, but it's true! haha My Science girls blow my mind by how respectful and on task they always are. Just this past week they asked if they could start reading a novel as a class :) YAY! That's my cup-a-tea! And then there is my Arts girls...they are a different breed of student all together. Let me explain: Grades 11 and 12 are separated into Science and Arts. What does this mean? To an outsider, it would mean that the Science girls have Science based classes and the Arts girls have Arts based classes. But in actuality it means that the Science girls take education seriously and will most likely go on to college. And the Arts girls know that they will have a match soon and be married off so school is just a place to socialize!
haha
Surprised? Well that is how it is...in all Cycle 3 schools!
I am keeping positive and counting down to Winter Break :)
The Half Point of Year 1!!!
I have a co-teacher, Jasmine, who is pregnant and due any day now. I now know after eavesdropping that her purpose was to make sure I could handle a classroom and to see if I was ready to teach on my own!!! REALLY!!! I was pissed at first because they took my looks and experience and completely looked over my education. I am on a team of teachers that are all 10 plus years older than me. Most have kids my age and older. Most are grandparents. From day 1 they always asked "Are you ok?" "Don't be scared?" "What are you going to do when Jasmine leaves?"
To put it frank...I may be young and I may not have as much experience, but my education speaks for itself! I have a higher degree than most of them and worked my tail off to get it! And although I will be living under the bank in loans for the years to come haha, that will in NO WAY impact how well I educate these young ladies. I have never and will never be SCARED! I do not know the curriculum, but will learn it and will make it applicable to all my students on all their differentiated levels!
With that said, I love the girls and they love me. You wouldn't be able to tell by their behavior some of the times, but it's true! haha My Science girls blow my mind by how respectful and on task they always are. Just this past week they asked if they could start reading a novel as a class :) YAY! That's my cup-a-tea! And then there is my Arts girls...they are a different breed of student all together. Let me explain: Grades 11 and 12 are separated into Science and Arts. What does this mean? To an outsider, it would mean that the Science girls have Science based classes and the Arts girls have Arts based classes. But in actuality it means that the Science girls take education seriously and will most likely go on to college. And the Arts girls know that they will have a match soon and be married off so school is just a place to socialize!
haha
Surprised? Well that is how it is...in all Cycle 3 schools!
I am keeping positive and counting down to Winter Break :)
The Half Point of Year 1!!!
Al Jahili
My school...
I was told it is a Vanderbilt Model School, but I have no idea what that means. And no one has really taken the time to truly explain anything!
It's funny...they bring you here under all these false pretenses and tell you "we will be here for you along the way". Well you can throw that out the door as soon as you step foot into your first hotel! You are on your own and must QUICKLY learn this or you will be what everyone here calls A RUNNER (the teachers that leave without telling anyone to go home). You have to learn that not everything you hear is fact and that just because a the date/time is given for ANYTHING, it does not technically mean that that will be the actual date/time applied. An example is the first day of school. Teachers were told the students would leave after they had grade level meetings with the nurses and got their books. Well that was not true! We ended up teaching 1 class and then an announcement came on IN ARABIC and all the girls cried out and started packing. Then one student told me that the day was over. haha
You MUST, MUST, MUST have patience and flexibility and know that you WILL NOT change these students. They live in a different world and refuse to leave it...so all you can do is provide them the tools and hope they use them :(
That has never, and will never, be my teaching philosophy, but for the term of this contract...it will just have to be such.
 |
| Front of the school |
 |
| Close up of name...YES it is spelled differently... NOTHING is ever spelled the same more than once! Students spell their names differently everyday haha Today Emon, Tomorrow Iman |
 |
| First day of school outfit |
My flat MINUS the Ifurniture
Before I would move into the flat I had to have curtains up! I live on the first floor in the middle of the desert...I cannot image a creeper walking by and seeing all through my windows! :(
So I ordered furniture and bought curtains, and asked the maintenance guys to install. They did a good considering the walls are cement hard! haha Unlike the States where you can put push pins and stuff in the walls...here you cannot put ANYTHING in the walls unless you have a HARDCORE drill!
So I ordered furniture and bought curtains, and asked the maintenance guys to install. They did a good considering the walls are cement hard! haha Unlike the States where you can put push pins and stuff in the walls...here you cannot put ANYTHING in the walls unless you have a HARDCORE drill!
 |
| I did the bathroom curtain rod |
 |
| My bedroom curtains |
 |
| Yoga/guitar room curtains |
 |
| Living/dining room curtains |
The Bedaya
Um...Let's See...What is the Bedaya?
I honestly couldn't tell you even if I tried...But let me try...
The Bedaya is when they get all the teachers from the specific regions together (too many teachers for one day so the 3 regions go one 3 different days). They talk IN ARABIC about the coming school year, the changes and expectations, and give out information on various programs that may be beneficial to teachers. Because of the ridiculous signal my headphone, translation set was getting and also because of how often they were changing translators...I just took off the headsets and watched the powerpoint!
One thing to note was how the men and women sat separate...I had never seen it done so drastically! Men were in the bleachers and women were in seat on the ground level. And when a group of women went and sat up in the bleachers, the men that were close all dispersed like roaches and found new seats...crazy yet pretty cool!
Well I did not learn anything more than I already knew about the program, the schools and whats expected. The only good part was the FOOD :)
I honestly couldn't tell you even if I tried...But let me try...
The Bedaya is when they get all the teachers from the specific regions together (too many teachers for one day so the 3 regions go one 3 different days). They talk IN ARABIC about the coming school year, the changes and expectations, and give out information on various programs that may be beneficial to teachers. Because of the ridiculous signal my headphone, translation set was getting and also because of how often they were changing translators...I just took off the headsets and watched the powerpoint!
One thing to note was how the men and women sat separate...I had never seen it done so drastically! Men were in the bleachers and women were in seat on the ground level. And when a group of women went and sat up in the bleachers, the men that were close all dispersed like roaches and found new seats...crazy yet pretty cool!
Well I did not learn anything more than I already knew about the program, the schools and whats expected. The only good part was the FOOD :)
 |
| Me |
 |
| Yum Yum Time |
 |
| Me and the Ladies |
 |
| If only the YOUTH cared as much as their elders... |
 |
| Having fun on the Police thingy...that you will NEVER see on the streets! haha |
Hotel #2
After returning to Dubai it was only a couple of days before all the teachers were moved to a hotel closer to our apartments. Which for me meant that I was moved from Abu Dhabi City to the "oasis city" of Al Ain.
Side note: I have no idea why they call it the "oasis city". It is just as dry as Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but minus all the humidity!
So we were moved to the Danat Hotel. It was a nice hotel, but it had NOTHING on the Intercontinental Abu Dhabi! I missed the staff and the perks of being in the center of the city...although not one day passes that I miss that humidity :)
Quick story about the Fun Pool...One night I went down because it was a long day and I just wanted to get wet and kick my feet a little bit. Well once I got I saw this little Emirate boy trying to fix his goggles. Once he fixed them he started to swim under the water closer and closer and closer to me! As I would swim away, he would FOLLOW! A little creeper! I guess he was enjoying the view of my hind parts under the water haha! At the time it was not funny, so I got out and waited for his family to leave and then got back in!
Strange...
Side note: I have no idea why they call it the "oasis city". It is just as dry as Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but minus all the humidity!
So we were moved to the Danat Hotel. It was a nice hotel, but it had NOTHING on the Intercontinental Abu Dhabi! I missed the staff and the perks of being in the center of the city...although not one day passes that I miss that humidity :)
Quick story about the Fun Pool...One night I went down because it was a long day and I just wanted to get wet and kick my feet a little bit. Well once I got I saw this little Emirate boy trying to fix his goggles. Once he fixed them he started to swim under the water closer and closer and closer to me! As I would swim away, he would FOLLOW! A little creeper! I guess he was enjoying the view of my hind parts under the water haha! At the time it was not funny, so I got out and waited for his family to leave and then got back in!
Strange...
 |
| Bedroom with nice balcony...where there was a birdy who woke me up EVERY morning! I hated it at first, but he grew on me :) |
 |
| My Bathroom at the Danat |
 |
| Amazing pool right??? WRONG...the Olympic pool always had lap swimmers in it, so couldn't get in there. And the other pool ALWAYS had a gang of kids in it...ALWAYS! |
Where has the Time Gone?
I know I have only been in the UAE for 2 months, but it feels like so much more! I know I have only been teaching in the UAE for a little over a month, but it feels like so much more!
The time has been flying and soon it will be time for winter vacation, then spring vacation and then a year will have come and gone :)
I have not forgotten about you all and will have images and stories posted before the weekend is out...so check back soon!
The time has been flying and soon it will be time for winter vacation, then spring vacation and then a year will have come and gone :)
I have not forgotten about you all and will have images and stories posted before the weekend is out...so check back soon!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)