I survived my first week teaching. The other teacher came back on Wednesday so I got her to teach for the afternoon while I observed! I haven't seen her again though. Apparently she is going to come in and do all the assessment for me so I hope so.
I did pick up some tips on how the girls behave. Everything has to be micro managed or you lose control of the class. Transitions from one subject to another take so much time and exhaust you. As we teach 3 subjects per class a lot of time is wasted trying to move the girls around between activities. It may be a case of showing the planning and doing something else.
I had my first run in today with an Arabic teacher in the room next to me. Every class has beautiful display boards outside them and mine was grotty, torn and only had a few sheets of paper on it. I was told it was mine by the Head of Faculty and given paper and borders to redo it. So on Thursday I ripped it all down. This morning at 9am the teacher comes banging on my door and tells me off, while I'm trying to teach. Apparently for the last two years it has been hers and I didn't ask if I could change it. She was very upset and no amount of apologising or explaining would fix it. Sometimes I wonder how much the language barrier is a barrier or used when it suits others. Anyway I spoke to my HOF who said, "Keep smiling," which I did and she'd talk to her. Which she did. Now I have half the board to put some work on. The board didn't fit with her image or her immaculate classroom or the rest of the school so naturally you'd think it belonged to someone who no longer cared. i.e my teacher.
I also found out that I have to do break duty on a Thursday. It got up to 34degrees and was very hot outside in the concrete courtyard where the girls eat and play. It is sheltered by a tin roof which I feel adds to the heat. I had to buy extra water that day. Lucky for the two air conditioners in my room. I jumped into the pool back at the hotel once I got home.
In terms of resources our school is well resourced for here. We use PM Writing books and can photocopy worksheets. There is even someone to do that for us, provided we get them down to them in time. We have a Collins Maths workbook for each student and a Science workbook also. Parents like to see what their children are doing and expect homework. Kids take their workbooks home each night to show what they have done. We are expected to take guided reading sessions but there isn't much in the way of resources for that. So not sure how I'll incorporate that into my lesson.
It is a challenge to teach such high level maths, science & english when the girls have little vocabulary and less understanding of english words. The curriculum would be on par or even higher than ours yet this is in their second language. Parents expect their children to pass, usually with an A or perhaps a B. Try explaining neurons (science) & orientation (recount writing) to a class of 8 year olds who don't speak much English. I'm finding maths the easiest to teach as long as I'm just handing out worksheets and not working in small groups.
We are awaiting our accomodation and hopefully some pay this week. Once we get our furniture allowance of 20,000 AED we have five days to move out of the hotel. Hopefully we have our apartments by then or we will be sleeping in comfort on the street. Perhaps I could move in two doors down where the buiding has filled up with Pakistani men. You see them walking down the street with their bed frames and blankets. I am unsure how so many men live together in harmony as they just seem to all get along all the time. They are all very respectful although they stare a lot but they don't make me feel unsafe even if I am out at night on my own. I learned very quickly to cover up, especially when on the bus.
I've been taking taxis to work each day. It takes around 15-20mins from the hotel and costs between 7.50-11.50 AED which is around $2.50-3.50 NZ. I'm not sure if I will rent a car, it will depend on where I live. A rental car (not the big 4WD) is around 1500-1900 AED a month depending on the cc rating and year. For a 2012 Nissan Tida it's 1600AED so divide that by 3 roughly. It's also a lot less hassle than buying with insurance and repairs. Even easier to terminate than trying to sell it when you leave.
We've got monthly bus passes for 40 AED which allows us to ride the bus as many times as you want and as far as you want. I think I've said that it's 1AED for a bus trip, regardless of the distance. You can spend a fair amount of time waiting though sometimes. I don't think I'll be doing that in the heat but at the moment it's fine.
Life is settling into a rhythm much like at home. The main difference being that we eat out every night, usually very cheaply. You can pay 5-10 dirhams for a takeaway meal at the supermarket. 20AED is expensive for our dinner and for that you can get a piece of grilled fish, chips, salad, pickles, breads & sauces. Or a huge piece of fish (2 meals for me), way too much flavoured rice, salad, pickles & 3 sauces. Everything comes with pickles that are very salty to our taste.
As our cooking and kitchen facilities are limited I have been buying fruit packs with the fruit already sliced and salad packs. They have such a variety and flavours that you can always find something different to try. My favourite mall for food is Mushrif Mall on Airport Road or 2nd Road. That is the one we are staying on and we catch the 32 or 52 bus down there. The Lulu's supermarket has an amazing variety of food stalls inside it. They sell just about everything you want, including tvs, computers, clothes, bags etc.
Still no update on school for Lochie. They are very difficult to get into and have no chance of getting into once halfway during the year. We've applied to the American International School but haven't heard anything yet. I'm waiting for the NZ Correspondence School to reopen its enrolments so that he can reapply as an International Student there. Then hopefully he'll get some work to do. There is a Catholic School close by here which I looked at but it's a Pakistani School and they run a different school year so he'd be at school while I'm on holiday. So it's a waiting game.
Apparently another kiwi has arrived today so I'll look forward to meeting her tonight or tomorrow. People have been arriving in drips and draps and they don't seem to know what to do with them. Today the last lot have been in schools shadowing teachers. Lucky them. I'm missing my two friends but they are coming in to stay at the weekend and we're getting glammed up to go to ladies night. Free drinks in return for being leered at! Watch this space for an update.
I did pick up some tips on how the girls behave. Everything has to be micro managed or you lose control of the class. Transitions from one subject to another take so much time and exhaust you. As we teach 3 subjects per class a lot of time is wasted trying to move the girls around between activities. It may be a case of showing the planning and doing something else.
I had my first run in today with an Arabic teacher in the room next to me. Every class has beautiful display boards outside them and mine was grotty, torn and only had a few sheets of paper on it. I was told it was mine by the Head of Faculty and given paper and borders to redo it. So on Thursday I ripped it all down. This morning at 9am the teacher comes banging on my door and tells me off, while I'm trying to teach. Apparently for the last two years it has been hers and I didn't ask if I could change it. She was very upset and no amount of apologising or explaining would fix it. Sometimes I wonder how much the language barrier is a barrier or used when it suits others. Anyway I spoke to my HOF who said, "Keep smiling," which I did and she'd talk to her. Which she did. Now I have half the board to put some work on. The board didn't fit with her image or her immaculate classroom or the rest of the school so naturally you'd think it belonged to someone who no longer cared. i.e my teacher.
I also found out that I have to do break duty on a Thursday. It got up to 34degrees and was very hot outside in the concrete courtyard where the girls eat and play. It is sheltered by a tin roof which I feel adds to the heat. I had to buy extra water that day. Lucky for the two air conditioners in my room. I jumped into the pool back at the hotel once I got home.
In terms of resources our school is well resourced for here. We use PM Writing books and can photocopy worksheets. There is even someone to do that for us, provided we get them down to them in time. We have a Collins Maths workbook for each student and a Science workbook also. Parents like to see what their children are doing and expect homework. Kids take their workbooks home each night to show what they have done. We are expected to take guided reading sessions but there isn't much in the way of resources for that. So not sure how I'll incorporate that into my lesson.
It is a challenge to teach such high level maths, science & english when the girls have little vocabulary and less understanding of english words. The curriculum would be on par or even higher than ours yet this is in their second language. Parents expect their children to pass, usually with an A or perhaps a B. Try explaining neurons (science) & orientation (recount writing) to a class of 8 year olds who don't speak much English. I'm finding maths the easiest to teach as long as I'm just handing out worksheets and not working in small groups.
We are awaiting our accomodation and hopefully some pay this week. Once we get our furniture allowance of 20,000 AED we have five days to move out of the hotel. Hopefully we have our apartments by then or we will be sleeping in comfort on the street. Perhaps I could move in two doors down where the buiding has filled up with Pakistani men. You see them walking down the street with their bed frames and blankets. I am unsure how so many men live together in harmony as they just seem to all get along all the time. They are all very respectful although they stare a lot but they don't make me feel unsafe even if I am out at night on my own. I learned very quickly to cover up, especially when on the bus.
I've been taking taxis to work each day. It takes around 15-20mins from the hotel and costs between 7.50-11.50 AED which is around $2.50-3.50 NZ. I'm not sure if I will rent a car, it will depend on where I live. A rental car (not the big 4WD) is around 1500-1900 AED a month depending on the cc rating and year. For a 2012 Nissan Tida it's 1600AED so divide that by 3 roughly. It's also a lot less hassle than buying with insurance and repairs. Even easier to terminate than trying to sell it when you leave.
We've got monthly bus passes for 40 AED which allows us to ride the bus as many times as you want and as far as you want. I think I've said that it's 1AED for a bus trip, regardless of the distance. You can spend a fair amount of time waiting though sometimes. I don't think I'll be doing that in the heat but at the moment it's fine.
Life is settling into a rhythm much like at home. The main difference being that we eat out every night, usually very cheaply. You can pay 5-10 dirhams for a takeaway meal at the supermarket. 20AED is expensive for our dinner and for that you can get a piece of grilled fish, chips, salad, pickles, breads & sauces. Or a huge piece of fish (2 meals for me), way too much flavoured rice, salad, pickles & 3 sauces. Everything comes with pickles that are very salty to our taste.
As our cooking and kitchen facilities are limited I have been buying fruit packs with the fruit already sliced and salad packs. They have such a variety and flavours that you can always find something different to try. My favourite mall for food is Mushrif Mall on Airport Road or 2nd Road. That is the one we are staying on and we catch the 32 or 52 bus down there. The Lulu's supermarket has an amazing variety of food stalls inside it. They sell just about everything you want, including tvs, computers, clothes, bags etc.
Still no update on school for Lochie. They are very difficult to get into and have no chance of getting into once halfway during the year. We've applied to the American International School but haven't heard anything yet. I'm waiting for the NZ Correspondence School to reopen its enrolments so that he can reapply as an International Student there. Then hopefully he'll get some work to do. There is a Catholic School close by here which I looked at but it's a Pakistani School and they run a different school year so he'd be at school while I'm on holiday. So it's a waiting game.
Apparently another kiwi has arrived today so I'll look forward to meeting her tonight or tomorrow. People have been arriving in drips and draps and they don't seem to know what to do with them. Today the last lot have been in schools shadowing teachers. Lucky them. I'm missing my two friends but they are coming in to stay at the weekend and we're getting glammed up to go to ladies night. Free drinks in return for being leered at! Watch this space for an update.
Great to hear all your news Gaylene. Was great chatting a couple of weeks ago. Will look out for you again on sykpe. Last day of ERO tomorrow, just the reporting back to go.Been hardest on management I think, lots of meetings but they apparently said nice things about what they saw in our rooms.Nice get it over with.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you often
Karen
Wow! Things seem really different but very interesting to! You are not missing much here - except ERO!!!!hee, hee. I am home this morning with Eric which is a bit strange, but made an apple crumble for tea and had time to read your ramblings so bonus!!!
ReplyDeleteLook after yourself. Stay in a group when you go out!!!
Miss ya
Trace