Archives for April 2011

The behavior chart, that is.

It’s not a secret that student behavior is one of the challenges of teaching in the UAE. I won’t say too much, but I will say that it’s hard to stay engaged when you are listening to someone speak in a language you only partially understand. The expectations for students have changed and they are slowly adapting to a new style of teaching.

Managing my girls can sometimes be a real emotional strain. I can not imagine teaching boys. Especially when I see photos like this from Mike’s class.

Just a typical day on the playground.

That level of energy I do not want to deal with.

xo, jill

PS. Giveaway ends April, 29th (tomorrow) at 12pm Abu Dhabi time.

Another day, another party.

My school does not miss an excuse to celebrate. Last week the occasion happened to be Heritage Day, a time to celebrate the traditions of the UAE. I haven’t been able to confirm if this was a nationally observed day, or just something my school chose to focus on. At least one other school celebrated around the same time, but it wasn’t widespread.

The girls wore beautiful traditional kanduras (dresses) with gold jewelry and head pieces. The dresses are tailor made and feature amazing fabric selections. Since I don’t show too much of my students, I thought a textile mosaic would be fun.

The celebration began with the eating of traditional foods. I am all for upholding tradition… but seeing throngs of kids eating communal food with their hands (and licking them!) doesn’t do much for my appetite.

After devouring the food, the girls played traditional games, identified traditional items (such as a dallah), and sat for a presentation in the library.

I love how parties make the day and the week go by so much faster.

xo, jill

PS. There are still a few days left to enter the Giveaway!

Sort of.

Back in March, we had a school wide celebration to mark the 100th day of school. It wasn’t actually the 100th day of school (that was the week before), but no one seemed to mind.

In true Emirati fashion, the party included:

Dancing in animal costumes…

and eating copious amounts of sweets.

We also played “100” themed games like Sarah’s “Race to 100 Milliliters” and my “100 Unifix Cubes Challenge.”

There was even a strange looking cake that we collectively cut as a staff. That was a laugh!

I could not be happier that the end of the school year is just around the bend (at the end of June.)

xo, jill