Well friends, I’ve officially been here for one month. I can hardly believe it’s been that long other than the fact that I have bills due at the end of this week. Oh, the joys of being a grown-up. Just a quick recap of what’ s been going on in my life as of late.
We’ll rewind all the way back to August 3rd and stepping into my house in the Dominican Republic. On August 3rd the water wasn’t working…we fixed that. I had no internet no big deal; the school had it so life was grand.
Skip ahead to August 8th…internet still isn’t working. Anna has moved in and things are going pretty well. The next week the internet came and went shortly after arriving. We got it in back in working order for all of maybe 5 days before our first tropical storm. Now we had no power, no running water, and no internet…fantastic.
August 18th-29th- School starts, internet is working, life’s going well. Natalie arrives with wireless. Good news for Anna and Natalie…I’m still wired at this point. Kelsey arrives alongside of Hurricane Gustav. No power, no internet, no running water. Power returns as does our wireless; we have it fixed only to experience a power surge. We lose our Vonage and wireless; thankfully not our modem. One blessing.
So after trying to reconfigure everything we are just accepting the fact that we do not have wireless and must do things stationary, one person at a time.
So we have some connection to the outside world…the next thing that goes wrong is our plumbing…evidentially we have an abnormally small septic tank…the tank was just emptied last spring and already most likely needs to be emptied already. Our house is teaching me especially to just go with the flow…I am not a very “fly by the seat of your pants” type person and this is really really really stretching me. Stretching and growing are very difficult when you are already going through some sort of culture shock. During this whole ordeal I wrote out why I’m here…I’m hoping that having it posted by my bed I can remember daily my purpose.
1. I am here to teach.
2. I am here to love my students and the other teachers.
3. I am here to be broken.
4. I am here to let God grow me as He sees fit.
5. I am not here to run away from dealing with past issues in my life!
Living in the DR has definitely grown me in so many ways already. One area besides flexibility I need to grow in is the ability to stand up for myself. I often find myself being overly responsible for everyone’s problems. I think that not have siblings I missed on out the whole over protection thing and I’m exhibiting those skills too late. There is a reason I get called “mom” on a daily basis. I am trying so hard to adjust to living with 3 other girls. Having never lived in a house with more that 1 other person I am finding new adjustments have to be made daily.
I also need to learn how to find joy in small situations of inopportunity. I know I’m not an outwardly exuberant person but I need to be to live here. The seriousness is literally making me tired…I need to learn how to have a balance…also a weakness.
Anyways, enough with the serious portion…here’s some fun glimpses into my school life. I love my students as I’ve mentioned several times. I wish that I had more resources to offer them and that I could have students observed for LD/ADD, etc…but that’s not the case. I am so thankful for my background knowledge about special ed; it has helped get me this far into the year. J
My day starts at 7:30 with staff devos and prayer…a truly unique experience and definitely a needed one.
7:55- roll outside. We greet Mr. Peterson “Gooood Morrnning Mi-st-er Pe-ter-son” [the kids pronunciation] and then do our morning announcements and the national anthem.
8:05-8:30 a little thing called seatwork or bellwork
8:30-9 Bible (still adjusting to having to teach this…to kids who only own Spanish Bibles)
9:00-9:50 Reading
9:50-10:05 Break time (aka eat yummy pastelittos from the cafeteria)
10:05-10:35 PE/Art – my prep time
10:35 – 11:05 Sociales (Dominican history) – more prep time
11:05- 11:50 Spelling
11:50-12:30 Lunch (I have lunch duty once a week)
12:30-1:10 Spanish – wait…another prep period [in all I get just about 1hour and 45 minutes of prep daily]
1:10-1:50 History (United States naturally…but with a slightly more global twist)
1:50-2:30 Language Arts
2:30- 3:00 Math
3:00 – 3:10 Read- Aloud
And thus goes my day; everyday…I love my prep time because I rarely have to plan my lessons at home. J At home all I do is grade and grade and watch Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman with my housemates…pretty sweet.
Currently I am fighting a cold so hopefully it will go quickly as I can not really afford to be sick right now.
This weekend we are going to the beach! J Super excited to go the coast since I’ve only been there once and it was to get on an airplane.
Here is some pictures and some classic examples of why I love my 3rd graders.
We’ll rewind all the way back to August 3rd and stepping into my house in the Dominican Republic. On August 3rd the water wasn’t working…we fixed that. I had no internet no big deal; the school had it so life was grand.
Skip ahead to August 8th…internet still isn’t working. Anna has moved in and things are going pretty well. The next week the internet came and went shortly after arriving. We got it in back in working order for all of maybe 5 days before our first tropical storm. Now we had no power, no running water, and no internet…fantastic.
August 18th-29th- School starts, internet is working, life’s going well. Natalie arrives with wireless. Good news for Anna and Natalie…I’m still wired at this point. Kelsey arrives alongside of Hurricane Gustav. No power, no internet, no running water. Power returns as does our wireless; we have it fixed only to experience a power surge. We lose our Vonage and wireless; thankfully not our modem. One blessing.
So after trying to reconfigure everything we are just accepting the fact that we do not have wireless and must do things stationary, one person at a time.
So we have some connection to the outside world…the next thing that goes wrong is our plumbing…evidentially we have an abnormally small septic tank…the tank was just emptied last spring and already most likely needs to be emptied already. Our house is teaching me especially to just go with the flow…I am not a very “fly by the seat of your pants” type person and this is really really really stretching me. Stretching and growing are very difficult when you are already going through some sort of culture shock. During this whole ordeal I wrote out why I’m here…I’m hoping that having it posted by my bed I can remember daily my purpose.
1. I am here to teach.
2. I am here to love my students and the other teachers.
3. I am here to be broken.
4. I am here to let God grow me as He sees fit.
5. I am not here to run away from dealing with past issues in my life!
Living in the DR has definitely grown me in so many ways already. One area besides flexibility I need to grow in is the ability to stand up for myself. I often find myself being overly responsible for everyone’s problems. I think that not have siblings I missed on out the whole over protection thing and I’m exhibiting those skills too late. There is a reason I get called “mom” on a daily basis. I am trying so hard to adjust to living with 3 other girls. Having never lived in a house with more that 1 other person I am finding new adjustments have to be made daily.
I also need to learn how to find joy in small situations of inopportunity. I know I’m not an outwardly exuberant person but I need to be to live here. The seriousness is literally making me tired…I need to learn how to have a balance…also a weakness.
Anyways, enough with the serious portion…here’s some fun glimpses into my school life. I love my students as I’ve mentioned several times. I wish that I had more resources to offer them and that I could have students observed for LD/ADD, etc…but that’s not the case. I am so thankful for my background knowledge about special ed; it has helped get me this far into the year. J
My day starts at 7:30 with staff devos and prayer…a truly unique experience and definitely a needed one.
7:55- roll outside. We greet Mr. Peterson “Gooood Morrnning Mi-st-er Pe-ter-son” [the kids pronunciation] and then do our morning announcements and the national anthem.
8:05-8:30 a little thing called seatwork or bellwork
8:30-9 Bible (still adjusting to having to teach this…to kids who only own Spanish Bibles)
9:00-9:50 Reading
9:50-10:05 Break time (aka eat yummy pastelittos from the cafeteria)
10:05-10:35 PE/Art – my prep time
10:35 – 11:05 Sociales (Dominican history) – more prep time
11:05- 11:50 Spelling
11:50-12:30 Lunch (I have lunch duty once a week)
12:30-1:10 Spanish – wait…another prep period [in all I get just about 1hour and 45 minutes of prep daily]
1:10-1:50 History (United States naturally…but with a slightly more global twist)
1:50-2:30 Language Arts
2:30- 3:00 Math
3:00 – 3:10 Read- Aloud
And thus goes my day; everyday…I love my prep time because I rarely have to plan my lessons at home. J At home all I do is grade and grade and watch Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman with my housemates…pretty sweet.
Currently I am fighting a cold so hopefully it will go quickly as I can not really afford to be sick right now.
This weekend we are going to the beach! J Super excited to go the coast since I’ve only been there once and it was to get on an airplane.
Here is some pictures and some classic examples of why I love my 3rd graders.
Spelling Word Sentences
Spelling words are in italics…just a quick glimpse into the minds of Dominican 3rd graders…and their knowledge of American pop culture!
Marlyn is fuzzy.
At recess I played with the Jonas Brothers.
We are on the globe.
I am frosty.
I am fuzzy.
At school Hannah Montana stepped on my foot.
Before school the Jonas Brothers hug me.
Joe Jonas have fuzzy hair.
Prayer Requests
- the rain will hold off long enough for the septic tank to be fixed if needed.
- i will continue adjusting to life with multiple roommates.
- i will learn to be flexible.
Praises
- no one has gotten Denge like last year :)
- my legs are still eaten alive; but not to the point they were at spring break.
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