Last Sunday, our orientation group went to another church in Santiago-- Iglesia Christiana Oasis-- I really enjoyed the praise and worship music- there were some songs that I recognized the melodies, but I didn't know the names of them. The Senior Pastor is on Sabbatical in the states, so it was the Associate Pastor that preached. We had an interpreter that we listened to on a radio station with our cell phones.  On a side note, there was a car alarm that kept going on during the service-- those have become white noise to me, as they are continually going off all the time... But it was noticeable while we were in the service.
This next Sunday, we were going to go to a different church, but that fell through, so we're free to decide where we want to go. I haven't quite decided yet which church I want to go to yet....
This week I was again meeting with parent's to sign contracts, testing students, planning schedules, trying to learn my new curriculum, and start to put together materials for my student's. On Mondays, all the faculty and students meet at the flag pole at 8:00, one of the classes is in charge of raising the flag, and then we sing the national anthem. Also on Mondays and Wednesdays, all faculty and staff meet at 7:30 for devotions, where we have songs, prayer, and a devotional message. I have spent quite a few hours this week staring at a computer screen trying to make sure all my student's pull-out Reading and Math services were scheduled for the correct times, as well as trying to cover their push- in services for Reading and Math. I have several student's that I'm doing grades for, so I'm also trying to find independent work for them to use. I've been so used to being able to just go online, order something, and have it be here in 2 (Thanks to Amazon Prime) or even 5 days. With the way the mail system is here, it isn't that easy.... which can be a bit stressful (and frustrating), so I've been trying to be more "creative," with trying to find things online and downloadable PDF's. I feel like I've gotten pretty good at finding resources online, as much googling as I've done! LOL With not having school on Friday due to the hurricane, it kind of put a damper on testing some of my student's and also working on planning the curriculum that I'm going to be teaching. Good thing I'm flexible! :-)
We finally got our bank accounts this week (they came to school for us to sign the paperwork and to give us our ATM/Debit cards), so we now don't have to cash our checks at the bank, and they can be automatically deposited. I went today to the bank (which is in La Sirena) to get my online account set up, but I found out due to the hurricane, all the banks in DR had closed at 1:00!
Thursday, the nurse from school took me to the chiropractor, which I was actually extremely excited about going to. In the states I was going to the chiropractor at least once a week, so not going for over six weeks has taken a toll on my body. There have been several other SCS teachers that have gone to him before, and thought that he had helped them. Before I could get an adjustment, I had to get x-rays, so we drove to a radiology place several minutes away (in rush hour traffic). I was surprised how fast I was able to get in, and it took maybe 30-45ish minutes to get back to the chiropractor. The adjustment wasn't quite the same as the previous chiropractor I went to (Nicole at Wellsville Chiropractic is awesome!) but I was able to get some relief, so that was definitely a plus!
The last several days, a lot of the conversations have been about hurricane Danny and Erika. Unfortunately we didn't get anything from Danny, but everyone was hoping we would get something from Erika. On Friday, we were on the bus, on the way to pick up the last staff member, when the bus driver received a call that school had been cancelled!! It was a pretty funny moment, as everyone cheered, and we were in disbelief that they actually cancelled school! -- It had started raining while we were on the bus, but not that hard. Evidently the Ministry of Education had called off school for the nation due to the hurricane.
It felt weird to be dropped off at 7:30 in the morning, walking back from the bus, and it wasn't even raining then! I ordered water from the colmado, and then after it was delivered, we walked to the grocery store Nacional (It was a very hot walk, and it wasn't even raining). Next to Nacional is a home goods and office store, so while we waited for them to open at 10, we decided to stop for a coffee drink at Santa Domingo. :-)

Pasion de Chocolate (or something like that)

So good!! It was hard to not drink it in an instant!

It seemed that everyone needed groceries at Nacional, b/c it was insanely busy. Also there was a couple from SCS, and they were kind enough to give us a ride home. In a typical snow-day fashion, why stay home when you have the day off? (and it was barely even raining or windy)-- so we went over to friends' apartment, eat Wendy's and play a trivia game. 

At some point, it got hazy enough that we couldn't see the buildings across the city from the rain, but when we left late afternoon, it was only lightly raining. 

I've been trying to find poster Command strips to hang some pictures, so I went to Baillon (the Home Depot store) only to find out that they were closing as well.... I'm guessing that there were quite a few businesses that closed early.

And finally.... RAIN!! (Though this was from the evening before it got to us.) Last night and this morning the weather has been absolutely PERFECT!! Kyla and I watched a movie on Netflix in our living room, and for the first time since we've been here, it was not warm! During the night I woke up and closed my windows a bit, because I was getting rain on my face (my bed is right below my windows), and then woke up again, b/c they weren't closed enough. So I finally just closed them up tight. When I woke up this morning, the weather was again the best it's ever been. So happy!!! :-)
It's wonderful that we got rain-- I don't know how much we got, but I'm guessing it wasn't nearly enough, and we still need a lot more.

It was nice to have a break yesterday (almost like a Labor Day, since we don't have that day off!), and now to the weekend....

The 1st Week of School

This week I met several of my student's parent's to have them sign the SST contracts. I also began meeting my students, with getting to know them and doing some assessing of their skills (Phonics, using a Quick Phonics Screener, Comprehension using Reading A-Z-- I'm able to get a paid subscription with school funds, but in the mean time I'm using a trial subscription, which has a limited downloads. Math with Common Core Sheets). I have two of my student's still to meet.
Next week I will continue assessing my students, as well as meeting with the classroom teachers to talk about our students and scheduling. Each student that has a contract also has a Student Support Plan, which has previous/current testing results, their strengths/needs, their plan (what they will be working on/program used), accommodations for instruction, assignments, and testing. I've been typing the new plans for my students as well.
 I read through the Visualizing and Verbalizing manual (for Reading Comprehension), and I've been trying to understand how to put together the program. It's not like anything that I've taught before, so trying to grasp it has been a bit complicated. The previous SST teacher, who is in the states, has been great about answering questions that I have, and I was able to talk to her on the phone. That really helped, and I think that I understand the program better. It's still going to take awhile to put it all together, with not being able to visually see anyone teach it. The manual does lay it out with sample lessons, but it's different when you're spontaneously teaching it! Next up is reading the On Cloud Nine- V/V Math, which I have at least two students I will be working with... The Wilson Phonics I'm somewhat familiar with, and for me, teaching phonics is a lot easier than teaching Reading Comprehension.
Monday I was actually excited (???) that I was going to be able to go to the gym!! The school has it worked out that we can use a gym - VIP Fitness, that is relatively close to the school. It's about $300 U.S. dollars a year. One of the other teachers is kindly giving me a ride there and home, and she went with me. It took awhile to fill out the paperwork-- in Spanish!! She doesn't speak Spanish very well either, so it was interesting filling it out! LOL The gym has 3 floors-- 1st floor with arm weights/free weights, middle floor with ellipticals, treadmills, leg weights, class room, and 3rd floor with ab weights.
Tuesdays we have faculty meetings from 3:30-4:45. Some weeks we meet divisionally, and others we meet as a whole staff. Wednesday, I successfully ordered from puntodelivery.com. It's a delivery website that has at least 20 different restaurants that you can order from. I had tried it last week for a pizza place, and the activation email was sent to my spam folder, so the food never came. Then I tried ordering ice cream from Bon, and it never came either. Finally Wednesday, I tried a 3rd time, and we successfully had a Hawaiian pizza from Brixx! :-) Last night, we were invited out to Mari Cakes, which is owned by a couple that goes to the church Vida Nueva. I had the best vegetable pizza I think I have ever had. I think it's my favorite pizza now! I've also been told that they have really good cinnamon rolls too. :-)

Friday, our bank came to our school, and we signed paperwork to finalize our bank accounts. So, I now have a bank account and a debit card. I have to say it's actually been kind of nice not to have to worry about balancing a checkbook!! 

Last night, Kyla, Sarah, and I had dinner at Brixx with Darlene, our absolutely wonderful apartment neighbor. She is a missionary that has been in DR for 39 years. Darlene has helped us so much since we have moved here. She knows a lot of the teachers at SCS, and it seems that so many of the teachers know her as well! We ended the evening with ice cream at Bon. 

Today I'm going with several of the teachers to Pricemart, which is comparable to Costco-- a bulk store, that you have to have a membership for. Sunday we're going to another new church, which is where our high school principal attends. We will have a translation on the radio, using our cell phones. 

One of things that I've found that it's all too easy to complain about circumstances-- It's so hot. Our shower doesn't work. (We have 2 showers and the one that I call the good shower, the handle broke, so we can't use it), The copying machine is jamming again! But it's also been a lesson in seeing about being grateful for what you do have, and what God has provided. The weather is what it is. It's not going to change. So it's better to just accept it, and move on. (Though sometimes easier said than done!) Our shower may be broken, but we do have water to use. There are people that don't have water. We haven't had our water out for an extended period of time (yet). We at least have copying machines to use. At our partner schools, they don't have copy machines, so they have to make their worksheets, by copying each one by hand!! It gets very easy to think about stuff and possessions-- things that I don't have, things that I want. But I've found that here in DR, b/c people don't have a lot of money to buy stuff, there's more of a focus on relationships. Family is greatly valued, and very important (as well as time). It's not always the case in every circumstance, but for the most part, it's what I've gathered. 

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

 I Thessalonians 5:18

1 Month in the DR!

It's hard to believe that four weeks I was on a plane to Santiago, Dominican Republic. It seems like such a long time ago for me. A lot of people have asked me if I've been homesick, and I can honestly say I really haven't. I've also been asked about what I've been surprised about since coming here, and for me it's hard to answer that question. I don't (or haven't had) any expectations, and am just taking everything in. Everything is new (other than the American fast food places! LOL)-- the driving, the language, the culture, living abroad....
It still doesn't seem quite like "home" yet here-- as I still feel like I'm from Kansas-- But I'm sure it will take a bit. I mentioned to someone today that I wanted to start doing some decorating for our apartment, and in the states I would know exactly which places to shop at, but here it's "foreign" to me to know what places to go--- and they don't have dollar stores unfortunately. :-( I'm so used to being self-sufficient-- and though I've started out in new places several times-- it's a lot different with the lack of immediate transportation and the language barrier. Normally when I've moved the things I needed, I just went to the store and bought them (within reason), whereas here I (a) don't have the transportation to carry it all, and (b) can't afford (or need to save) what I want to buy. Our apartment still looks very, um "pale?" with furnishing and decorations! But that will come, and isn't necessarily a necessity. (Also on the list a microwave -- which we're getting from an SCS teacher couple, hopefully soon), blender, bookshelves, curtains, etc. etc. etc. We do have a toaster oven though!) I've already found that you do learn what you can live with, or without.
**Side note-- I did order water from the colmado on Wednesday, and it was a lot easier-- and I think they understood what I was asking --- and I understood (some) what they were asking/saying. (or they've just figured out that I'm an American, and I'm just going to keep repeating the same phrase over and over! LOL) I haven't had chance to practice taking a taxi by myself yet, but hopefully that will come soon. I need to write down the Spanish words for "left" and "right." I've found that I do better with remembering a Spanish word if it's written down for me to see. If someone says, I will forget how to say it, and I can halfway read the Spanish words.
It is very hard to describe exactly what it's like here, though the first thing that does come to mind is "HOT" and SUNNY! It is like living in a city (though not in a city like Omaha or Kansas City), with the traffic-- you do have be an aggressive driver (which is probably why I won't be getting a car anytime soon!), but it seems the attitude of the Dominicans is very laid back and if someone cuts in front of you, or makes a two-lane into a three-lane, you honk, and it's no big deal. When you're on the busy streets (not in the housing areas), and your stopped at a stoplight, you'll see people walking down the aisles of the cars, selling chargers (of some sort?), sports drinks, foods, etc. Motorcycles basically have no boundaries. They will weave in and out of the lanes of traffic. There are fruit stands, people selling flowers, and other food stands-- though we've been told not to eat from the meat stands, b/c they cook with grease used multiple, multiple times, and will usually make you sick.
I'm slowly figuring out where things are, and walking helps with that the best (if I'm not talking too much and focusing! LOL). Though there are still a lot of times I get turned around. This week we had a bus route with the new and returning teachers, so I've gotten to see where they live (though I'm not sure I could tell you yet how to get to everyone's place). We get on the bus at about 6:40ish, and then can leave on the 4:00 or 4:45 bus.
I've learned that it's very common for the water and electricity to go out-- though I haven't had to deal with water out for an extended period of time (yet). I'm sure that will be coming, but I'm guessing we will become pros at figuring out to handle that. We need to stock up on water, which is on the to-do list... Our washer was leaking when Sarah used it on Wednesday, but the maintenance guy said he looked at it today, and it should be working fine now. I think we will be buying some fabric softener (and some different laundry detergent), as the washer made the clothes extremely "stiff!"
Things at school are slowly coming together. I met with the SST team, and then also met to divide the caseload. It works out that I have 2nd-5th graders, and the Level 2 students (those that need more support) with Language Arts support, and then two students that need both Language Arts and Math. With Ms. Siri's (my aide) translation help, I called my parent's to set up times to meet with them on Monday and Tuesday for them to sign the SST contracts. I'm also starting to meet with teachers to talk about our students. There's still a lot of unknown as to what I should be doing, but at this point my philosophy is "go with the flow...!"  and "Take it as it comes!" LOL
I am feeling better, but it's taken a little while for me to get back to normal. There were several of us that got sick-- it's hard to know exactly what it was from-- as it could be just trying to adjust to the food/environment here.
Last night several of the new teachers were invited over to another teacher's house for pasta-- gnochi-- great food and conversation! Tomorrow I'm going to the salon with some teachers, so that will be another experience for me!
Another side note-- please pray for my Mom's family-- My 97 year-old grandmother passed away yesterday. She had been in hospice care for several days prior, so it was somewhat expected. It's hard to believe that she lived to such an age, and what she was able to see over that expanded time period. I was able to see her a few months prior to coming here. Though it was somewhat expected, it is still hard to not be there to support my family.

Friday, a group of us went to the restaurant Marisco Caribeno, to hear a SCS staffer sing-- she was filling in for the regular guy that sings there. I'm not sure how to upload Youtube video's directly into my blog, so I just have a link to the video I took. (If you know how, please let me know!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP3lV5rvvGY

Saturday, Kyla, Sarah and I walked to Lumijor, a very wonderful bakery, to have doughnuts (and I had a chocolate milk as well). It was so delicious!! The doughnut and chocolate milk was like 45 pesos-- which is a little over a dollar-- the doughnut was only a quarter! I also bought some cornbread, and I will be going back to get more, b/c it was also very good!

Saturday I finished the Harry Potter book that I had checked out from the school library. There were several of the teachers that had read the books, so I decided to check it out. It might be a series that I'll continue working on this year. We'll see how it goes once school starts! LOL

That evening, I went to my first official movie in the DR-- Mission Impossible-- the picture of the mall is a bit blurry-- but the theater was inside the mall. The movie was in English, with Spanish subtitles. It was a popular movie, b/c it sold out! I would highly recommend the movie as well. :-)

Before the movie we ate at the food court, and had Dominoes-- I thought it was funny/interesting that the majority of the food places were American-- Pizza Hut, Dominoes, KFC!

Sunday, we went back to the first church we had attended -- Vida Nueva, and then that evening the director, Seth Cohen hosted a Welcome Back dinner at his house with all the staff. It was a chance for us to meet some of the returning teachers and their families. Sunday was also, according to weather.com a 100% chance of rain, but unfortunately that didn't happen. ;-(

Monday, we met as a whole staff, beginning with worship, singing several songs in both English and Spanish-- and then Dr. Cohen going over the vision and goals for SCS staff and students. In the afternoon, we met divisionally, so I was able to meet all of the Elementary staff. I thought that I was going to be doing 1st-3rd students, but evidently not-- I will be doing all the student in Language Arts, and then one of the other SST teachers will be working with the students that need Math support (I think). For the next week or so, after school starts, we will be meeting with the families to get permission for their child to be in SST. We have to have the contracts signed in order for them to be in the program.

Monday evening, my roommates, and another friend Heather went over to Carrie and Kelsey, teacher's at SCS, for some homemade pizza and homemade ice cream! They live on the 4th floor, the top of their apartment, and have a gorgeous view at night of the city.

On Tuesday the teachers and aides were split into teams to go to the partner schools (there are 4 of them within the area, one of them being Palo Alto, which we saw in the mountains), and help with various projects. Unfortunately, I was sick yesterday and was not able to go-- which I was very sad about, as I was really looking forward to going. I am feeling better today, but it just may take a bit for me to feel all the way better.

Today we were informed about earthquake and lock down drills-- the earthquake information is quite new for me, since I've never lived in earthquake territory-- and other odds and ends, and the afternoon we were able to work in our classrooms. I have a teachers aide-- Everg Siri-- who has been an aide for I think 3 years, but has been at SCS a bit longer.

We have workdays tomorrow and Friday. Also tomorrow, Yoalba from the business office is going to take me to the bank tomorrow to cash my check, as we don't have bank accounts yet. (I was told that it takes a long time for them to get set up.)

Last night I also successfully ordered water from the colmado-- It came very easily this time. ;-) Today was another good chance of rain, and so far, it hasn't rained yet. Please pray for rain!!

The Danger of a Single Story

https://youtu.be/D9Ihs241zeg

Sped/ESL, La Sirena, and our Maid

Yesterday, we had some SCS staff talk about the ESL/ELL (English as a Second Language/English Language Learners)-- as well as SSL- Spanish Language Learners, and the SST (Student Support Teacher-- Special Education) programs.
For the SST program there are two levels:
Level 1- Students can meet the standards-- need support to do that-- extra time, take tests in SST, lessen amount of work/homework (15 problems instead of 25), etc.(Accommodations)
Level 2- Students need a different goal, and their goal is changed--  they have pull-out to work on additional instruction, or possibly alternate classes.
Student plans come with a contract that parent's have to sign in order for students to receive those services-- they also pay a fee to receive SST services. It is a contractual agreement with parent, teacher, and the school.
*** Side-note-- The student plan consists of 1-3 pages-- The first page is the history of the student's academic testing done by the SST Teacher or school psychologist (which is in Santo Domingo 2 hours away). The 2nd page has 3 sections of accommodation for the Classroom, Homework, and Testing. 2nd/3rd page is the signature by the classroom teacher to adhere to the agreement.
There are 650 students at SCS and 7% are the SST population.

At SCS, the ESL population is 90%. In order to qualify for ESL services, they go through the process of observation, collecting data, testing (department made testing + the WIDA-ACCESS testing-- results are compared to other SCS students, not other ESL students in the states), conference with parents/teachers. There is also a fee for these services.
There are 4 levels in ESL:
Level 1- Monitoring-- monitor grades, communicate with parent's about progress
Level 2- Support- in-class remediation strategies, support in/out 2 times a week
Level 3- Coaching- individual organization/study skills, support 3 times a week
Level 4- Instructing- one on one instruction, direct support meeting with student, support 4-5 days a week (as needed), conference with parents to discuss student's progress.

I got to meet with Mandi Pharis-- who is the High School SST teacher, and also the SST coordinator (my supervisor)-- I have more details as to what I will be doing -- I will have 1st-3rd grade students-- My first job as soon as school starts (or maybe sooner, I'm not sure) will be to get my students' contracts signed by their parent's. It is a very relational culture, so it won't be "send the contract in the backpack home and have them sign it." (Which is what I'm used to) Parent's will come in and talk with you and sign them. Thankfully, either Mandi or Stacey, my principal will be able to help with those.
I know I'll be teaching Wilson Phonics, a Visualize/Verbalize program (can't remember the exact name of the program), and maybe a Visualize/Verbalize Math program. The IT assistant came and got my computer set up, so I can now use my computer-- his English was very limited-- but we managed to communicate ok. Much of the Maintenance staff only speak Spanish, so it may be a bit challenging to communicate with them!

Today and tomorrow we have a former SCS teacher here (from Michigan) teaching about SIOP (Sheltered Instructional Observational Protocol)-- A framework to work with ESL/ELL students. When I was at Lakin (High Plains) we had quite a bit of training on SIOP, but it has been five years since I have used any of the information (thus there is quite a bit I've forgotten, but it's a good refresher), and Kathy our presenter, has done a wonderful job of making the information user-friendly.

My classroom-- I'm still in the very early process of getting it ready!! Monday is when the returning teachers will come back. We got our bus schedule, and we get picked up at 6:40. Some teachers get picked up as early as 5:50!-- to get everyone to school by at least 7:00.

Yesterday, Sheila (who is so wonderful at offering to drive us around, and taking us places), the Middle School principal, took a group of us to the La Sirena downtown. It is an absolutely huge store, with two stories and an escalator! The first floor is groceries, and the second story is clothes, household goods, etc. You could spend a lot of time in the store-- twice as big as a Wal-Mart!

Our maid Murielle came yesterday, and we can't seem to get the system down! (The week before, we didn't have a scrub brush, and she didn't see our rags, so she borrowed them from Darlene) We have a wonderful neighbor Darlene that we left the key with, for Murielle to pick up. Kyla and I had a gone to Baillon the day before to get it copied, and evidently, one of the keys didn't work. So Darlene called Max, the SCS maintenance guy, to come and bring a key to let her in-- and she didn't get started till after 9. We have a washing machine, but it is not working right, so she was using Darlene's machine-- taking our wash over to her place, and then hanging it up at our place. We just got a key to our roof the day before (which has a very pretty view), where we can hang wash (but Murielle didn't have the key)-- we had a clothes line hung in our apt, but its very small-- so she borrowed a clothes hanger from Darlene-- we have a porch area, but I guess we're not supposed to hang it there. We got home from La Sirena I think after 5, and she was there (which usually she's not). Hopefully next week will be a bit more smoother! I put a ticket in for maintenance to look at our washer, so I'm praying that something will be able to done with it.

A Few Things...

Saturday, a returning teacher invited Sarah, Kyla, and I out for lunch and to take us around to do some errands. She took us to Squeezed, a very good juice/sandwich bar.

I had the egg omelette and an "Africa"-- chocolate and peanut butter-- very good!

Afterwards, we went to La Sirena, and got a few things for our maid to use, as well as a couple of chairs for our patio.

That evening, we were invited over to a couple from our school-- Selina works in purchasing and her husband Hugo works for an architecture company in Santiago-- for an authentic Dominican meal. (I didn't take pictures of the meal, but took pictures from their view from their rooftops-- very pretty!)

           Plantain trees

We had fried eggs, fried cheese, salad, mongoo (not sure of spelling)-- plantains, butter, and cheese-- very good!, beef bologni (I think), and for dessert arroz con leche (rice with milk and raisins-- also very good--sweet!). It was so much fun to talk with everyone, and also to learn more about the Dominican culture!

Sunday, we went to another church-- I can't remember what the name of the church was-- We sat with the congregation for the songs, and then went up to a box area where, the sermon was translated in English. Also that Sunday there was 10 baptisms that were done-- there were going to be another 10 next Sunday. We ate at a restaurant for lunch, and I had the most fabulous strawberry frozen drink-- I'm finding that the DR has the best juice and frozen drinks!!

In the evening, Kyla and I went over to our friend Heather's house, and along with another new teacher Allison, played Spanish Clue. It had been years since I had played original Clue, but it wasn't too hard to get the hang of it (thanks to some Spanish speakers)!

Yesterday, we met with our principals, and we learned about Responsive Teaching practices, which is an approach that the elementary level uses. Today we had a presentation about the Dominican lifestyle-- how to dress, behaviors, dos and don'ts, as well as the must see places to visit. We also talked about culture shock, and how to handle it. 

Kyla and I had another outing this afternoon with walking to Baillon-- similar to Home Depot, to make copies of our keys. It was a successful outing for the both of us!!

A few things....

• All the buildings are made of cement, because there are not good trees for building- it is also the reason why central air is very hard to have here.
• Lunch times are not interrupted by disturbances-- it is time to talk and spend time with the people you are eating with. Dinner/Supper times are usually very late (compared to other North Americans)-- 9:00. (And lunch is usually later as well)
• Breakfast is not pastries- -it is usually something "sturdy"
• The DR is the only country with the Bible on it's flag- -with the Bible verse John 8:32
• One of the forms of transportation is Concho (which is different than a taxi)-- the cars have a special route they take in the city-- 4 people sit in the back, and 2 other people in the front besides the driver -- approximately 20 pesos (I think). 
• Motoconcho's are transportation with motorcycles-- and can have multiple people on them as well. 
• For taxi's, you call them up, and they come to your house, or wherever you are, and take you to your destination- -this can be a few dollars

Please pray for rain here. We are in a drought here, and if it does not rain soon, the water will be rationed.

 

Gran Ventana

Back to reality, after 3 days of relaxation, and spending time with new friends...