The Backpack Saga

So, yesterday after school I took an Uber (car service) to Bravo grocery store. I got my groceries, and then took a taxi that was parked at Bravo (which I've done a million times before) to my apartment. I got up to my apartment with my groceries, and was going to get my tablet out of my back pack when I realized, I don't have my backpack here. It's in the taxi!! I had thought of, "It's gone. Can't get it back." I messaged my friend what had happened, and she said-- Go back to Bravo! So I quickly called an Uber to go back to Bravo (and that's always when it feels like it's taking foreeeeever.). I went back to Bravo, and with my Google Translated message, showed the taxi driver (the car I took wasn't there) my message, and he said he would help me. There were other taxi drivers standing around the parking lot-so he asked them if they knew where he was, and also through the walkie-talkie. My friend had also mentioned that there are video camera's there, so they can check that as well to see which one was there. I mentioned video and after awhile (all of this in jumbled Spanish and hand motions), they said they had found him, and my understanding was that he was coming there. I stood and waited with 3 of the taxi drivers. And twice I asked them with Google translate if he was coming (b/c I still wasn't entirely sure). They used Google translate with Spanish, but it wasn't exactly translating accurate (lost in translation). Somehow through the process I figured out that one of the drivers who was helping me, wanted to take me to him. So I got in the taxi with him. We turned out of the parking lot, and he had been trying to use his phone, but the battery was dead, so he wrote the number on a card, and wanted me to dial it, while he called him. There was no answer, but he continued driving-- we drove about 5ish minutes to another area where there were a whole bunch of taxi drivers waiting. I figured he was there, but the taxi driver said to where there, b/c he was coming. Less than 5 minutes later, the taxi driver pulled up with my backpack!!! I had mentioned to them that I had my Tablet in there, so even before I took it, both of them said to check to make sure it was there, and it was. The taxi driver that had driven me there took me back to my apartment-- and I paid him a lot extra for what he had done! B/c he didn't have to drive me-- he very well could have just made me wait for me to come.
Only in the DR.... Crisis averted. Lesson learned!!!

Rain, Rain, Rain

With living and teaching in the Midwest, I was guaranteed to have a few snow days every year. With living in the Caribbean, it is a bit different to be getting hurricane or 'rain days.' Last year the Dominican Republic was having a drought, and we were praying for rain. This year we're having torrential rains, and we're praying for the rains to stop. The area where I live in Santiago (and also our school) has not been affected much by the rains-- though there are a lot of people with leaky roofs, and b/c of the dampness, there is mold that has started to appear in some apartments. In other areas of the country, and some that are even on the outskirts of the city, there is massive flooding, mudslides, and many people are displaced from their homes. There will probably be more repercussions from all the rain, later as well.
Monday we didn't have school b/c of the rains that had been affecting the area-- the schools were closed, but b/c we have an Accreditation Team here, the staff came to school for the morning. A Team of several school personnel (from Caribbean countries and also a Supt. from the U.S.) were here visiting from Sunday through Wednesday, which is a pretty exhaustive process that is done every five years. There are a lot of preparations that have to be done beforehand, even a year in advance, and then they come to observe the staff/campus and interview the community, teachers, staff, parent's, and student's.
We had a few days relief from the rain Tuesday through Thursday, but then starting last night it started raining again. It has been raining almost all day today. With having an outdoor campus, it does make it somewhat difficult for teacher's and student's. There's never been more of a need to make sure you have an umbrella! Just walking to Specials (Computer, P.E., Art, Music, etc.) or lunch can be a feat with the rain, b/c the classes have to walk outside in the rain. With days like today, the Specials Teacher's have gone to the classes, which makes it safer. Everything is wet here, and with all the tile, it makes it a lot easier to slip and fall. It's things like that you wouldn't ever think of being a issue. It has also been weeks since student's have been able to have soccer practice, b/c the fields have never been dry enough to play. The people that are from here have said they have never seen it rain like this ever before. Please pray for Santiago and the country, as this has affected many, and will affect them for a very long time to come, especially the economy with the crops and buildings. Our school nurse has given us warnings of being watchful of our tap water as well, when it comes to brushing our teeth or cooking with it. We have never been able to drink the water, but with all the rain that has come, it could affect the safety of the tap water in other ways.

Every year it seems that October is the 'magic' time, when the chaos at school slows down, and things start to fall into place. It's when schedules start to become more consistent, and you start to have an idea of what you're doing. Many times I've found myself saying-- Can I just fast-forward to October??? With Special Education/SST, it is very common to have your students more than one year, which is a really nice thing. You get to know your students, and it seems like that 2nd year you're able to prepare for them, and know exactly what you're doing with them-- and their skill level. When you have a new student and you don't know them, or how they learn, it takes a period of time to figure out what strategies/curriculum programs are best for them. And also, b/c my time with them during the day is usually relatively short (30-60 min), it takes awhile to get to know them personally. For some student's, being out of their classroom, and having to go work with another teacher they don't know very well is intimidating. So for some of my student's I have to spend several weeks/months getting to know them on a personal level-- what they're interested in, in order to have them respond to what I ask them to do. For some student's it's really easy. For other's, it takes sometimes a long time to break their "shell" and see their true personality. This year I have only 2 returning student's from last year, so it's been a bit of a learning curve getting to know my students.

This year I have found myself struggling a bit, with having the distance of being away so far from my family. In the past I've lived 7 hrs away from my family, but it was always within manageable driving distance to see them. My family has been having some health issues, which has made it hard to be here away from them-- and not being able to see them makes me feel a bit helpless-- though I know that God is watching over them. A few weeks ago my dad, who is a rancher, was kicked by a cow, and fell and tore his hamstring/tendon in 3 places. He was out in the pasture, 20 miles from town, when it happened, and thankfully, there were several other people there with him. The Dr thought that he was going to have to have surgery to fix it- b/c the muscle was away from the bone-- but a 2nd Dr said that he wouldn't need it, and instead would just have a brace and crutches for it to heal. 5 years ago my dad was mauled by a bull and he broke 6 ribs, fractured his sternum, had 2 punctured lungs-- was in the ICU for over a week, and in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. He thankfully recovered from that,-- but with going through something like that before-- and then having this happen-- it makes you think about the past. He has slowly been healing, and has noticed improvements every day.

Circumstances

One of the things that has always had a big presence in my teaching career is the weight I carry for my students. For me, I take my students' successes and failures very personal. I feel responsible for them when they are not doing well, b/c it is my job to help them make progress. Having that responsibility at times (if not most of the time) is very stressful. I am responsible for their education and whether or not they do well in school. There are a lot of other factors (and people) involved as well, but I feel like my role is even more important. I am shaping their lives, and my lack of effort (or being able to help them), could have a detrimental effect on their lives, setting them up for even more struggles in their lives/education.
You can't control your circumstances-- you just have to make the best of them-- and try your best to adapt to them. Teacher's teach the student's, but it is the parents that know their children best-- Within United States Public Ed Special Education there is a 25ish page document of parental rights. It is something that is required to give to every parent, every time that you meet with them. Parent's have the right to not have their child in special education. It may make the classroom teacher's job more difficult, but those are the circumstances. Teacher's have student's in their classrooms that come from broken homes, neglect, abuse, but it is still their job to teach them, amid the circumstances that they come from. It has been the same here in that there are still circumstances, though they may be different, I have to work around-- and I just have to try to do my best to help my students.

This is week 6 of school- and 4 weeks into my schedule-- I think I have yet to teach a week without a different schedule-- b/c I am constantly tweaking my schedule-- to try and fit more more times with my student's -- and work around the replacement classes I am teaching. We are able to pull student's from 1 Bible class, 1 Spanish Class, 1 Morning Meeting, and 1 day of Sci/S.S. I have 3 replacement classes I'm teaching-- which means I am their Reading/Math teacher (and taking grades)-- and the student's are coming with me during their Reading or Math class time. There are a few classes that have the times I can pull students, when I'm teaching the Replacement classes--so then it get's harder to find a time to see them. I also have a bit of a scheduling crunch in the afternoon, b/c both 2nd and 3rd grade have reading from 12:30-1:30, so providing in-class support is more complicated. In the past I've had para/aides go into classes 5 days a week, whereas here they are going in 2-3 days a week-- and can make a difference with helping students with independent work.

Last year, my Friday schedule was a lot more laid back-- though it was pretty hectic in the morning-- This year I have a back-to-back schedule all day-- with Reading Tests in the morning- and then 2 grade levels with Reading tests, plus my replacement class all at the same time. It definitely give me practice in balance and flexibility!

I haven't had my Spanish classes quite as often during the week, mostly due to scheduling-- (but it's still been a few days a week). Sometimes my teacher hasn't been free when I was able to do the class, or if I've waited too long to sign up for the class, and she doesn't have any open times. Last night we conversed in Spanish-- There are still a lot of words that I struggle with-- and I do need to take the time to sit down and study some of the more common words. I have note cards taped on my wall with words/phrases that we've worked on so far. But I am able to understand more-- and she said I have made improvement, which is encouraging.

There's the possibility of a hurricane coming here in the next several days-- I've been told that hurricanes usually don't affect us here in Santiago-- just a lot of rain-- but since we don't get snow days here-- it would be kind of nice to have a Hurricane Day! The map shows that it will probably go south of the DR, but we can only hope... 

School Has Started...

I'd like to say that this being my 2nd year here, that it's easier-- or that I know what the expectations will be... Well, not exactly....

Ideally, the first week of school is when I would meet with parent's to sign Student Support Teacher (SST) contracts that weren't signed last year, and then start to do baseline assessments with students-- I check students' fluency, phonics, and comprehension level to see where they are at the beginning of the year. The majority of the student's I haven't had before, so it's also helpful for me to see where they are at, to know where to start with their lessons I'll be doing with them. After that, ideally, I would start putting together their resources that I will be doing with them, during the year. I have 3 students that I'm going to be doing an alternate Reading class with them, so I start going through my resources to find a fluency, phonics, and comprehension plan to follow. I'm also trying to find Math resources for students that I will be doing pull-out Math, as well as an alternate Math class. Along with that, I'm trying to create my daily/weekly schedule-- and then figure out push-in services for the students-- with most likely being my aide. Now, it all seems very simple-- in theory-- and on paper... But does it actually go that way? 

Then this happens...

             

I get side-tracked-- and something happens to where I need to go talk to someone, or something needs to be done-- and my goal of what I wanted to get done, gets puts off to the side. 

And then there's scheduling... Scheduling is always something that tends to be stressful-- and for me, just makes my brain hurt-- trying to figure out the times of Reading and Math for all the classroom teachers, and then making sure all the students are covered during those times. You also have it where teachers have their Reading and Math at the exact same time, so you have to be in two (or four) places at once. There's usually 'Take 27' versions of the schedule, b/c something always happens or gets left out. And then somehow, it always seems to come together... 

Special Education in the States has a lot of rules and regulations-- you have the IEP that you have to follow and there are specific things that you can and can't do. But then you get to the day-to-day things, and there gets to be a gray area of "Can I do this/Is this allowable?" Most likely those rules and regulations were created because something was abused, and services weren't being given properly. (Not entirely, but usually rules are created because something has happened to have a rule put in place.)  The Dominican Republic doesn't have standard Special Education rules and regulations. There is no Individual Education Plan for students. What we do is based solely on what Santiago Christian School has created. I have discovered that though not having that 15-page document and the strict guidelines is somewhat nice and more flexible, having those rules and guidelines does make it easier of knowing what to do. There is more gray area here, and without those guidelines, there are a lot more questions. 

Today I'm starting my official schedule with doing my pull-outs and replacement reading and math classes. So now I am more confined to my classroom, and don't have the flexibility to just go see someone when I want to. I'm on more of a schedule/routine! :-) Which means I should get more done now! LOL 

Another example of the language barrier... (and why I need to be practicing my Spanish...)

I can use Uber here for transportation, and is a half as much as a taxi. I have to download an app for my phone, and then put my bank card number. When you want a ride, you request the card, put your location in and where you're going (via Google maps), and then they come and get you, and you don't have to give them any cash. It's deducted from my bank account. When I went to try to use it, it said that my card was invalid. After emailing Uber, they said it's something on my end, where my card isn't able to be used online (It's only my card that has the problem, b/c other teacher's have used their same card and had no problem). It seems like a very simple thing to do-- I need to go to my bank and ask them about the card-- but it gets to be more complex when I need to bring someone with that speaks Spanish to help me with it, b/c I'm not able to speak the language. I have found there are many examples of things like that-- things that seem so simple (or would be simple in the States), are more complex here. Not everything, but just more than I would normally have in the States. 

AC's, Bobbles, and Such Adventures...

This week has been well... a week... I've been continuing to do my Spanish classes, and they've been going well, for the most part. I've finally figured out which tutors to have (I have 2), so as long as I can have them, I think it will go okay. There's at least 30 different tutors, but if you jump around a lot to different tutors, sometimes it's hard to have the consistency and follow-through of the lessons. Neither of them were available on Saturday, so I have a new (though recommended) one. I feel like I've had more opportunities to use my Spanish these last few weeks-- and it may be that I'm (a bit) more confident with trying to speak/use the language. Wednesday I had a movie/dinner night with friends, and then Thursday was back to school inservices. My AC remote has been acting up-- it doesn't have a manual on/off switch-- I have to use the remote-- and I didn't want to turn it on, only to not be able to turn off the next morning-- so I actually opened my bedroom windows-- and slept without the AC. I've been a bit spoiled, b/c this was actually the first time I had slept without the AC. I was able to get the air/fans circulating pretty well, but it still took me awhile to be able to fall asleep. Thursday we had inservice-- with being able to work in our rooms, and then having our director talking about our theme for this year-- "The Story"-- Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration-- and what the Chapel services for Elem, Middle, and HS would focus on. After school, my goal was to get a new universal remote for my AC-- I took a taxi to Bellon (similar to Home Depot) -- and then to Ochoa (another hardware store), with finally finding a remote. When I got home the remote was able to turn the AC on, but I didn't press 'enter' immediately-- so the AC didn't recognize the code (though I didn't quite realize it at the time)-- so it cycled through the codes for about 3 hrs-- with never finding the right one. But thankfully the AC was ON, so I at least had that to sleep with-- it was a really warm night last night-- and for me, it's hard for me to sleep when I'm warm. I was a bit worried though, b/c I didn't want to leave in the morning with having to leave my AC on. I tried turning the breakers off in the morning-- but even that didn't turn the AC off! Miraculously though, about 5 minutes before I was supposed to leave this morning, I tried the old remote and it turned it off!

 Another thing-- If you know me, well, I'm a bit of (well a lot) klutz-- and a friend of mine says that I 'need to live in a bubble.' I seem to find these ways of hurting myself. So this is nothing new but-- I was going to bring the remotes to school to see if someone could help me figure out the whole AC thing-- so I was going to write down the model number of the AC-- which is above my bed. I got on my bed-- wrote down the number-- then looked at the number-- couldn't remember if it was a U or a V-- got back up on my bed, lost my balance, and fell off the bed, landing hard on my elbow, shoulder, and tailbone! After I did that I was actually somewhat laughing (and some frustration), b/c it seemed almost fitting that this would happen to me. Just another one of my klutzy moments! (And yes Mom I know you're reading this, and though I know you're worried about me, I'll be okay... I know you'll worry, but please don't... :-) ) I'm sore now, and probably going to be a bit more tomorrow...

My bus stop today was at 7:25 this morning, and in waiting for it, I forgot to put bug spray on, so I have about 4-5 more bites to add to the 10 (yes 10) that I have on my ankles-- note to self... make sure to put bug spray on in the morning... Next week the official year-long bus stop begins at...wait for it... 6:25 a.m..... :-O Last year the bus picked us up at 6:40. Now, I am a morning person-- in previous years I would actually sometimes leave my house at 6:30 to get to school by 6:45. But there's just something about when it's absolute -- that you must  leave at this time-- that seems to make it worse-- there's not flexibility... It usually doesn't take me that long to get ready in the mornings anyway... but it just seems ... early. Also I must remember that I'm on the bus for a full half hour-- and that I can't drink too much of my coffee beforehand, b/c I'm on the bus longer-- and we can't make a bathroom stop... I didn't move too far away from where I was last year, but just the way the pick-ups (and drop-offs) are-- I'm one of the earlier ones to get picked up-- and one of the last ones to get dropped off... So almost a full hour on the bus every day...

Going to try the AC remote again, and hopefully it'll work-- also going to try to use an app from my phone to see if that will work too. Looking forward to having down time, and trying to recover from (only) two days of inservice. School starts Monday!! I won't be teaching yet-- but meeting with parent's to sign SST (sped) contracts.

This is my 15th year of teaching-- which to me is so crazy-- b/c it doesn't feel like it's been that long-- every year is always different-- and b/c I've been in enough different schools/environments, I'm able to use those previous experiences to build upon the new ones. (Well, I guess that's true for where ever you're at...) Every one of those places/experiences have been a stepping stone God has used to put me where I'm at right now. If one of those 'stones' had been taken out of place, then the 'rest' would not have prepared me for the follow-through. Some years were better than others-- some I look back on, and can't believe I even survived...  But somehow, God got me through it...

Here's to another crazy, never dull, (klutz-free!!) hopefully wonderful year!!

I have been readjusting to be back here in the DR again--and so far it has gone fairly well. I started an online Spanish class on Wednesday- Baselang-- that was recommended to be another SCS family member. They are based out of Columbia (I think)-- I sign up for a 30 min session online up to 3 days beforehand(any day/time that's available with the tutors), with an assortment of teachers to choose from. Then we do the session via Skype. We have lessons that we go through, and I've found that I know more than I thought I did! LOL -- I need to find consistent teachers that I like, in order to help with the continuity of the lessons, b/c we have jumped around a bit. 

Wednesday our SST department met, and I think that I have a better understanding of what students I'll have this year. I will have some of the same students I had last year, as well as some new ones. It will be a different dynamic with a new Elem SST teacher, but I will have the same teacher's aide I had last year-- which will be nice to have the consistency. 

Some music from the DR... Vida Nueva (my church) and staff devotions...

The New Digs... and Settling In...

A Few Pics of the New Digs...

 Kitchen...

Bedroom... 

 Living/Dining Room..

 One of my walls...                          

 

                                        

   

                

The front door of my apartment...                                                           View from my apartment...

 

Views outside my apartment....

Across the street...

I will admit that it was actually a bit harder leaving the U.S. this year than it was last year. It could be that I had no idea what to expect last year, and the "unknown" seemed to be easier to handle. This year I know (somewhat) what to expect-- the heat, lack of transportation, the distance away from family and friends, etc., etc., etc. and it's sometimes overwhelming. 

I arrived in the DR Tuesday evening-- my flights were delayed some, but not b/c of weather. I was a bit nervous about my luggage, b/c all the other times my luggage has arrived relatively early. This time, however, it was almost the last ones for me to pick up. By Wednesday afternoon I had AC and wi-fi, so everything was (almost) settled... I had a leak in both my bathroom sink and shower faucets, and then discovered that when I flushed my toilet, a stream of water would come out onto the floor! Thursday, maintenance from school came to fix my bathroom, leaving for a few hours to get supplies from the store, leaving my toilet torn apart. It definitely makes you thankful for a working toilet! They returned, fixed the sink and shower, but the toilet was still leaking after they left. Thankfully they came again on Friday and it was fixed completely!! I was able to meet my new maid today for the first time, and we were able to communicate fairly okay. She worked for the previous teacher who lived here-- she doesn't speak any English-- so I wrote out everything I needed to tell her, using Google Translate-- which is the best thing EVER!!! 

We start inservices Monday, with a 2nd day of inservices Tuesday, and then actually 5 days off (well technically 7 with the weekend)-- b/c we don't go back until Thursday/Friday of the week after. We originally were supposed to start school Wed the 17th, but it got pushed back to Monday the 22nd. 

All in all it's going well so far... :-)

The Last Days Before Summer...

A week ago Friday was our last day of school. Monday was a work day, and then we had Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I spent the majority of the time packing up my bedroom to move into my new apartment. It's not a lot of stuff, but when you actually have to carry all of it up 4 flights of stairs, it's a lot of trips! A friend of mine told me about women who will come to you to give pedicures, so Wednesday I got a $6 pedicure while I was waiting for her to finish up her work-- Gotta love that!!
 Today (Friday) parent's pick up report cards, and can conference with the teacher if needed. It is still up in the air exactly which grades I'll be doing next year-- 5th grade will be considered Middle School, so the 4th grader's I had will most likely be with the MS/HS SST Teacher-- which makes me a bit sad, b/c I really enjoyed working with them. The other Elem SST teacher is going to be teaching Elem Spanish, so they're going to hire another SST teacher to split the Elementary caseload with me. I've learned to be very flexible, so I guess I will just wait and see what is decided when I come back in the fall! :-) Also, there are also going to be a new 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade teacher (though 4th grade is b/c there will be 3 sections of 4th grade instead of the 2 sections this year), so I will be working with new/different teacher's as well. There is also going to be a new elementary classroom building, so they are moving classroom's around, but thankfully I don't have to move, and can stay in the same spot. :-)
I have to wait until tomorrow to get the keys to my new apartment, and then I can start moving my stuff. It's about 5-6 blocks away, so I will be making some trips back and forth :-D Teacher's can leave tomorrow, but b/c of me moving, I had to wait-- and Sunday flights were very expensive, so I'm leaving Monday. My roommate Sarah is leaving Tuesday --she is moving also, b/c the school didn't want to use the apartment building any more--and the school is moving her stuff on Monday (She's taking all the furniture and kitchen stuff, so she has a lot more to move...). So at least there will be someone else around.
I fly out at 8:25 a.m. Monday, and am getting picked up by the bus at 5:55. This time I fly from Santiago to Miami, Dallas, Omaha, getting in at about 8:45 P.M. I am so excited to be go home for the summer!! I don't have my return ticket yet, but I think it's going to be Tuesday August 2nd. Teacher's have to be back August 6th, and we start inservices August 8th. I'll have to do some unpacking and figuring things out for my new apt, so it will be nice to have a few days to do that.

Counting Down the Days...

There are 10 more days of school left (Kids get out June 3rd), and there's 24 more days until I get to fly home for the summer. In some ways it doesn't seem like a long time, but sometimes it seems like it's taking foreeeeeever to get here! This past Monday we didn't have school b/c of the national elections. Election day was on Sunday, and the public schools were polling places. We were told that all businesses would be closed Saturday at noon through 6 a.m. Monday-- it ended up that there were some places open Saturday, depending upon the place. It was nice to have the day off-- well any day that we have off is nice! LOL For the last few weeks I've been helping a home school family from my church with some reading tutoring. Normally they come on Mondays and Thursdays to school, but since we didn't have school, they came to my apartment.
This week and last week I've been doing end-of-the-year assessments with my kids. I found a really good Reading Comprehension Inventory book- Flynt-Cooter, that I have really liked using. I really wish I would have had it at the beginning of the year to compare, but it'll be good to have for next year as well. I'm just starting to meet with parent's to show them the testing results, and also to sign SST contracts for next year. I will hopefully get them done next week. There will be some changes in SST next year-- the other Elem SST teacher is going to teach Elem Spanish next year. So there will be a new SST teacher next year. It's really hard to find SST teachers here, so not sure how that will all work.
Next Thursday we have off for a Catholic holiday, and then Friday is Field Day. I get to help with one of the games, so that will be another new experience.

April

The last two weeks have been filled with a lot of busy-ness...

Thursday, April 14th I took the bus to the capital, Santo Domingo (about 2 hrs away) to present at a workshop at Domican Americano-- the only English University (I think) in the DR. The other SST teacher teaches a college class there, and the Senior Education majors were putting on a workshop on Targeting Learning Styles with Technology-- and they asked me to present. This was my first time navigating the bus system-- but I was able to do it ok. I sat at the bus station for quite awhile (getting there at 2:45, and then picked up at 4;30), and then they picked me up to go to the University. It started late, and then the first speaker took a little longer than they thought (as well as some technical difficulties)-- she was a psychologist talking about what learning styles are, and the theory behind it. After my presentation, there was another activity, and I needed to wait for them to finish, in order to get a ride back to the bus station. The traffic in Santo Domingo is absolutely terrible, and though it isn't that far to drive, we sat in a lot of traffic on the way there. I had missed the 7:00 bus, so I took the 8:00 bus home, and was home by about 10:30...

Wednesday, April 20th, I flew out very early, to go to my brother' wedding in Omaha, NE (6 a.m.). Evidently taxi driver's do not like to pick people up at 4:00 in the morning, b/c I had a terrible time getting someone to pick me up! I almost thought that I wasn't going to make my flight-- as I got to the airport at 5:00, and was to board at 5:40... My connecting flight to JFK was a bit tense as well, as the line going through security at JFK took awhile, along with the bus shuttle to a different terminal, getting me to my gate just as it was boarding....Once I got to the Minneapolis airport, I had some time to actually sit and eat lunch, but I had to sort out my credit card (which thankfully Minn has free wi-fi!!). With trying to add minutes to my pre-paid phone (and possibly the connection), somehow it appeared as fraudulent charges, and my credit card was deactivated... After I got to Omaha, I rented a car, and drove to Topeka to meet my friend Alicia, who came with her two girls (3 1/2 and 5 mths) and her mom, until driving back to Omaha Thursday evening. They had driven 6 hrs to see me-- and though it was a short time, it was nice to be able to catch up. :-) We were even able to get a little bit of shopping in, but b/c I had only brought carry-on's, I couldn't buy too much... Friday morning my brother drove with me to take my rental car back to the airport, and then we had lunch with Rachel's family and our family.


 We had a few hours to kill before we needed to go to the church to help set up, so I went with Zach, Caleigh, and Dylan to Wehrspann Lake, which is a few miles from Jason's. It has a really pretty trail around the lake.

 The centerpieces...

Later that evening, Dylan and I went to the school park, and challenged me to 2 games of HORSE (Dylan won).... Saturday morning, my niece Caleigh and I had hair appointments before the pictures at 10:00, with the ceremony at 11:00 for immediate family only. The reception was from 1-4, and for me it went by so fast, with talking to family and friends that I hadn't seen for a long time. After the reception my dad's side of the family was able to spend time together at the hotel they were staying at, and later that evening my parent's drove me to my hotel that I was going to stay at, since my flight the next morning was at 5:40 (and close to the airport)! This time my flights were a lot smoother, but still with not very long layovers-- I got back to my apartment by 6:00. This morning came extremely early for me....

We don't have school on Monday, for Dominican Labor Day, which will be oh so very nice, after having such a busy week!!!  :-)

Back to "Normal"

We are back to a full week of school after having 4 days last week, and prior to that was Spring Break. I stayed in Santiago for Spring Break, and taking advantage of having some down-time- (and to having the apartment to myself for a few days) Netflix movies, grocery shopping, picking up packages, La Campagna (coffee)... I'm a bit of a homebody, and really don't get bored being home by myself. On Easter there was a group of us that got together and had an Easter dinner-- pork chops, veggies, potatoes, and Reese's cheesecake, home made ice cream and puppy chow for dessert! Along with the dinner we decorated Easter eggs (which is an American tradition-- it is not something that Dominican's have heard of doing), and hunting for 100 Easter eggs in the apartment.

We have entered the last 9 weeks of school, which is so hard to believe we're there already. I'm finishing up testing another potential SST student, and will start doing end of the year testing my student's and then meeting with parent's to sign contracts for next year. I'm to the point in my schedule, where I can't fit any new SST student's, so if they qualify, then we have to wait till next year to provide services. As many other teacher's know, there's just not enough hours in the day to fit everything in, or get everything done!! One of my student's has alternate Math, and due to my schedule, I couldn't teach her by herself, so I have her with other student's at that time. I've been using Moby Max on the computer with the student, and so far it has been going well. There are also some 7th grader's that are using it for a Reading intervention. I just discovered it this year, and am trying to familarize myself with it. I also have another student that their class was reading a chapter book for Reading, and the book is too hard for him, so we decided to pull him, and he would come to my room during that time, and I have Reading independent work at his level that he'll work on-- I'll be multi-tasking, b/c I will have other student's in my room as well.

I've also been working on a presentation that I'm going to be presenting at a workshop for some college students at the University in Santo Domingo next week. The other SST teacher teaches at the Univ in SD and she told them about me, and a few weeks ago they asked me to present on "Targeting Learning Styles with Technology." I've never done anything like this before, so this will be a new (and a bit scary for me!) experience for me! The workshop is from 4:30-6:30, so I'm taking a taxi to the bus station from school to get the 1:00 bus, and then they will pick me up, and also take me to the station when I'm finished. That's been taking up a lot of spare time working on that, but It's been an exciting opportunity!

T-13 Days till I leave for the States! I fly out here at 6:10 on  Wed April 20th, to go to my brother's wedding. Every day is pretty much planned out with something to do-- it will be busy, but I'm very excited to be able to go, and see everyone!

Easter in the DR

What I've learned about the Easter holiday here (so far):
Next week is 'Semana Santa,' which is "Holy Week." Dominicans celebrate Friday, when Jesus died, rather than on Sunday when Jesus arose. Stores are closed on Friday, people do not travel, or eat meat that day. Thursday is a very busy traveling day, as people are going to where they are going to celebrate the holiday. They do not have Easter candy or the Easter bunny here. The teacher's here will decorate with Easter decorations, but b/c Spring Break is during Easter, there are not Easter parties. Friday, the elementary had a Curriculum fair, inviting parent's, with the grades displaying various topics, and then having a Chapel focusing on the Resurrection.
And let Spring Break begin! :-)

The month of February and the coming weeks till our Spring Break March 21st, has been the longest stretch of school since we started. There has been a lot going on at school the last few weeks, which helped with the days/weeks passing, but it still feels like a really long time. February 27th was the Dominican Republic's Independence. The Elementary had a Cultural program in the evening of February 25th, with Dominican songs and dances, and then that Friday afternoon, there were Dominican foods, and a program of events in the gym. Last night was the International Dinner and Talent show, held in the gym here. The money from the tickets is going towards classrooms in another school. The food served was from various cultures, and it was so awesome to see all the talent SCS has-- elementary, middle, and high school students! 

I'm continuing to stay busy at school testing new SST students, as well as implementing new plans for students. My schedule has condensed quite a bit more, so I have even fewer breaks in the day, but it has still been relatively manageable. Next Friday we do not have school, which will be a nice break as well. :-)

A School Day/Week

Monday and Wednesdays I tutor a student that has siblings that go to SCS, but he does not. He speaks Spanish (though I've been told he's fairly low), and I'm teaching him English. The 1st  semester I did a lot of paper/pencil vocabulary worksheets (which he actually likes doing). The last couple of months I've been doing a lot of bingo games with speech sounds-- and then asking/forming/answering questions/sentences. I've been trying to remember what the speech teacher's I've worked with have used, and use some of those type of activities. We do an activity and then he has a few minutes to watch these videos on Youtube that I found-- Dream English Kids-- Usually I leave there with having the songs in my head! LOL

Wednesday-- The other SST is gone the rest of the week (and possibly some of next week), having surgery, so I am helping out with her students. Two of her students are in my room taking a Math test, while I have my two students out in the hallway doing independent work and practicing fluency. They are given a passage on Tuesday (I don't see them on Monday's), and then every day they practice reading the passage for a minute, but continue reading the rest of the passage. Normally I'm the one that listens to them read, and marks the words. I decided to have them listen to each other, and mark if they missed any words. My students's thought it was fun to be in charge of the timer-- and also to be in the hallway-- something different I guess!

Thursday-- somewhat of a normal day-- though there are subs in 5th grade all week-- there is an exchange program in 5th grade with another magnet school in the Philadelphia area. Ten 5th graders are spending the week here, and then in April, several SCS 5th grader's are going there for the week. The exchange students go on field trips about every day, and one of the 5th grade teacher's is gone every day. Sometimes it makes communication a little fuzzy, especially with the student's b/c you don't always know what's going on!

Friday-- usually chaotic/busy normally, but with Arianny (SST) gone, I'm giving tests to her kids, so it's even more busy.
8:00-8:30--- Spelling/Phonics Test/1 minute Fluency/DIBELS --1 minute short vowel nonsense words/trying-to-get-them-out-the-door-but-they-like-to-chat-conversations (though they are a lot of fun to talk with).
The majority of the time, my  student's I have at 8:30 show up when I'm trying to finish up with them-- mostly b/c they are so chatty....
8:30ish-- 3 Student's show up for Bible Verse test-- I end up needing to print the Bible verse test and the reading test for them. I can't remember how long they stay, but one of them stays till 10:00ish (I think),  and has to come back during Study hall at 10;50 to finish, as well as take her spelling test.
8:45--  1 student shows up to take his Reading test. I read the test and questions aloud to him. I'm in the middle of reading the Reading test for my 3 student's (which I don't always need to read to them, but today I do), and thankfully his teacher's has a student teacher, so she takes him to do the test.
9:15-- Arianny's three student's show up to take their Reading test (they're in different classes/sections)-- they leave at 9;45, and one of them has to come back during study hall to finish.
9:30-  student shows up to do a Reading Assignment. The student wants to do the assignment with Ms. Siri-- she speaks fluent Spanish, and it helps him when she can clarify things in Spanish. I send him back down to class.
9;45ish-- student shows up for Bible Verse Quiz, spelling test, fluency (the room is actually empty then). She finishes, and then comes back to do the same Reading assignment. After doing the assignment, realize that the other student  needs an easier reading passage, so I print out an easier one from Reading A-Z.
10:50- student's come back to finish Reading Tests, Spelling Test, and Bible Verse Quiz
11:30ish-- Lunch- YAWAY-- I love their sandwiches-- they deliver to school!
12:15- 1:30ish student- Spelling/Reading Test, Math/Prefixes worksheet redo.
12:30ish-- Two students show up for Reading test-- thankfully MS Siri can take them for their test.
1:30- SST meeting with SST supervisor and para's. Chit Chat about SST stuff,
2:30- back to my room!! Finish planning for next week-- usually I start planning for the next week on Thursday's-- I have 3 student's that I do their spelling lists for-- and I use edhelper.com to type their lists -- and then have another student that I type out the words for, and uses the worksheets from Edhelper to practice the words. I have 5 student's that practice fluency every week, so I find passages for them on Reading A-Z. Two of the student's aren't able to use the Reading A-Z passages yet (too high), so I have Dolch passages I found for them. I have a new SST student now-- and they will require an alternate curriculum, so I also was starting to do some planning for them. 

It's been raining a lot this week, and Friday it rained all day--which seemed to add to the chaos (though I actually like the rain). I've been told that in February it does rain some, but not usually this much. 

I went to another swim meet today-- this time at Pucamaima-- which is part of the college here. It's and Olympic-size pool. I've watched swimming a lot on tv (mostly during the Olympics though)-- and it's been a lot of fun to see swimming live. Though I had to ask the security guard to tell the taxi people to explain where I was at -- Saying "Pucamaima, La Piscina" (pool) evidently isn't descriptive enough for them to know where I'm at! (I have a number that I call to get a taxi-- I've gotten pretty good at 'Necissito un taxi-- I need a taxi-- La Espinola/Thomas I (Uno)!) 

February Update

This week seems to have been exceptionally busy at school, but it hasn't been too stressful-- at least so far anyway. I haven't had as many of my usual breaks in the day (and out of the ordinary things that I usually work on), so it's made for a lot of last minute working on modifying tests/planning, etc. I usually know what I'm doing with my students everyday (unless I have interruptions or a student doesn't happen to show up--- my 5th grader's have the responsibility of coming on their own, and sometimes they forget...) , but if my students need something in-class-- a test modified, assignment, or to try to schedule a time to take the test(s), I may not know without much notice, so I've gotten pretty good at just "going with the flow...."  Today one of my 4th grader's took a S.S comparing the Midwest and the West (Southwest). They learn about all the regions of the U.S. It feels rather strange to be teaching/explaining about the U.S. when I'm living in a different country! But the kids also get Dominican Republic history-- I think in 4th and 5th grade (and I think upper grades as well). This morning I had another 4th grader that had both a Bible test on Solomon that she took at like 8:15 (after trying to help her teacher get the Science test printed for over an hour...), and then an open book Science test on electricity/lightening she took 30ish minutes later. Normally she wouldn't have taken both tests that close together, but with scheduling, sometimes it ends up being that way... 
The school has someone that does DIBELS testing for the students (1 minute fluency --reading a passage, and then retelling what they read)-- She uses a room that is close to mine-- so when she's here, I see her quite often-- She had to train some teachers how to administer DIBELS (and wasn't used to training teacher's how to do it), and though I hadn't planned on it, I helped her find some video's to show the teacher's, and sat in on the hourish training. 

I got a referral for a student few weeks ago, and was working with her teacher on starting some interventions with her (I love Explode the Code!... The student is working on reinforcing short vowels, along with what the class is doing)-- then last Wednesday met her parent's to sign for testing. She's an interesting case-- struggles with phonics/decoding (ELL also), and found out parent's took her to a neurologist and then did a sleep clinic-- she doesn't go into REM sleep, and therefore doesn't have good short term memory retrieval (I think that's the explanation anyway). Parent's are going to another dr for 2nd opinion--- looking to whether they want medication or not, b/c of side effects. I started testing her this week-- it's with an assessment that I wasn't familiar with, but wasn't too hard to administer. We give the Detroit Test of Learning Aptitude (DTLA), Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT), and the Key Math-- and then I'll probably do some other informal tests as well. 

Besides her I have another student who's in 3rd grade that we signed on Monday to do testing with--I haven't started her yet... very low in reading comprehension and math, and really needs her own curriculum... doesn't have ELL services, but English Language Learner services wouldn't help her anyway. 

I still have several other students that I will most likely get referrals/permission to testing. We actually may have to close SST, and put the qualified SST students on a waiting list until next year, b/c between Arianny (the other SST teacher) and I, we just don't have enough time in our schedule to keep adding students. It has been really nice to be able to pull materials/resources that I brought back with me during Christmas. There are still times where I wish that I had other resources that are sitting in my parent's basement, but I know that I just have to make do--- or I have to try and find an electronic version.... :-) LOL

Last Saturday I watched one of my student's compete in a duathalon-- run/swim/run-- and she came in 1st. This was something separate from what she normally does-- and this was the first time that she's ever done a competition like this before. This weekend her classroom teacher and I are going to go one of her swim events. 

Tonight (Thursday) we have another Open House for parent's. As a sped teacher I'm used to not having parent's come see me, so it's usually a chance for me to catch up on things-- but by this time  of day my brain is fried... so I'm working on a blog post.... :-) 

The last few days (to me) it has felt warmer than it has been (upper 80's)-- I feel like I've been sweating during the day-- which hasn't been the case for several weeks (months)-- though I've been told that these days are just more warmer than usual--- it's usually not into the 90's until Aprilish. I've noticed at night that it hasn't been as cool, or when I wake up in the morning. Today it rained off and on during the day, which made it humid throughout the day.

Valentine's Day is celebrated here (they go all out for it, I'm told...), and tomorrow there will be a lot of classroom parties going on. The kids get to wear red, pink or purple shirts if they want, instead of their uniform shirts.

This last week I've had some new experiences here--
Last weekend I attended a Women's Retreat in Jarabacoa with the theme "Letting Go."

The women from the retreat were from missionary organizations across the Dominican Republic-- There were approximately 75 women in attendance, with both Spanish and English speakers. Saturday afternoon we had some free time, and I was able to visit an orphanage called Kids Alive. The location has several houses where kids from preschool to high school age live with house parent's. Some of the children have no family to take them, while others have been taken out of the home for various reasons. Each home home has approximately 7 children, along with biological children.

The Monday we got back I went with Michelle to PriceMart to help her buy food for a Haitian School that she helps support. The school was started about three years ago by a former SCS teacher (who is Haitian), who taught French there. His last name is "Eves," but I'm not sure of the correct spelling. As soon as we got out of the car, we were greeted by many children that lived near the school (there was no school that day due to the holiday).

The children started helping us unload the food, wanting to carry whatever they could into the school. I got my phone out to take a few pictures, and immediately they "swarmed me," wanting to pose for the camera, and for me to take pictures of them! It was so sweet! The building is a school during the week, and then a church on Sundays. 

Yesterday (Saturday), the other SST teacher Arianny, invited me with her to Santo Domingo to the college class that she teaches there (I was up at 5:15 on a Saturday!). She teaches at an English University where it is a private (I think) school during the week, and then there are college classes on the weekends. The class that she teaches is called "Online Learning." It is designed for students to become familiar with using Moodle (similar to Blackboard) platform. That day they were discussing Blended Learning-- their class meets part face-to-face time-- and the rest of the time using the Moodle platform. There were about 40 students in the class-- Freshman/Sophomores. (all speaking in English) It was interesting to hear the discussion-- it seems like such a simple concept-- but for them, this was something new-- most likely with the lack of technology they had in school (though the majority of them had cellphones and tablets/computers there). 

We were going to go to the mall afterwards, but b/c of the massive traffic jams, we drove back to Santiago. Arianny's husband drove us, and he is a pastor of a church in Santiago. He doesn't speak English, so Arianny interpreted for us. Araianny also teaches a class in San Pedro, which is about an hour further from Santo Domingo, and she invited me to that class as well-- it's an Early Childhood Language Development class, all in Spanish. I'm not sure if I'm going to go or not. We would have to leave even earlier!

I've been working on interventions for a couple of possible SST students-- I have meetings with their parent's on Wednesday to get permission to do the standardized testing with them. After that I will do standardized testing to see if they would qualify for SST services. I've always been one who likes the challenge of "problem-solving," so I have enjoyed coming up with strategies/plans to do for the students, as well as being able to help the classroom teachers. 

The first full of week of school has (almost) been completed. Having two days of school last week was rather nice in transitioning back into the school year. It was fun to catch up with my students and hear about what they did over the break-- one of my students went to New York City to see the ball drop at Times Square! Fridays are usually pretty busy with students having tests. I have two 2nd graders from 8:00-8:30, and then from 8:30-10:30 I may have 5th graders taking a Bible, Math, and/or Reading Test (which today they are taking all 3), a 3rd grader taking a Reading test, and two 4th graders taking a Bible and/or Math test. Thankfully I also have my wonderful aide Ms. Siri to help balance it all out! It's also when having a lot of flexibility (and patience) comes into play.
Besides being able to see my family and friends over Christmas, it was also a blessing to be able to bring back a suitcase (and a carry-on) of school stuff! It's amazing what a difference having resources can make-- though I was doing well with what I had. I've had to rearrange me schedule a bit, but it mostly stays the same, for now. I'm sure it'll have to change some time this semester.

We have three days of school next week, and then we have a 5-day weekend! There is a holiday on Thursday and on Monday, so they gave us Friday off as well. I'm going to a Women's retreat in Jarabacoa with several SCS teacher's, Friday afternoon through Sunday.
The weather has been cooler in the mornings (though not in Nebraska standards!--then it would be balmy!)-- Temps have been in the lower 60's and you need a light jacket. Usually by mid-morning it is up to the 70's, and then high's will be in the low to mid 80's. There are going to be some days coming up where it could get to 90. Knowing that the heat will be returning, I take advantage of the cool weather as long as I can!
I signed my letter of intent for next year, and there was a small 'twinge' in signing it. I do really like teaching (As far as sped goes, I'm very spoiled, and it is so much less stressful) and living here (though sometimes what I wouldn't give for a Walmart/Target nearby....)---I will admit that I am still a bit 'homesick' for Nebraska/Kansas, probably a bit more now than when I first came here in July. But I know that this is where God wants me to be-- And I'm committed to what I'm here to do.

Christmas Surprise!

About a week before Christmas break, I had some dear friends surprise me with paying for a ticket to go home for Christmas! I decided to just tell my brother, and not my parent's... I flew in Saturday the 19th, and it ended up that my parent's were coming up for the day on Sunday, for my nephew Dylan's basketball game. I was able to surprise my parent's when they walked in the door of my brother's house! My nephew's birthday is January 6th, so we were also able to celebrate his birthday. He's really into Lego's and I helped him (or I should say, he told me what to do...) with putting together his Chima Lego's. I also was updated on all the different Lego characters!

I drove 7 hours to southwest Kansas to visit my best friend and her parent's. I had a lot of fun with Alicia and Brian's two daughters Alise and Bell, who are 3 1/2 and 7 weeks. I lived in southwest Kansas for 8 years, so I still have a lot of connections to the area.

I got my fill of snow (and the cold), as my parent's had about 6ish inches of snow, and then at my brother's in Omaha, they had almost 9 inches. I will say, it was nice to be able to wear my hoodies and sweats... something I don't have to do in the DR! 

I flew back Monday, and last night our neighbor Darlene took us to across from the Monument to see the Christmas lights displays and parade. They've been doing it every night since December 18th, and goes till the 7th. The lights were incredible, with several mini shows of dancers and acrobats. 

This morning Sarah and I helped our neighbor Darlene with cleaning. About a week and a half ago, her apartment caught fire, and had total smoke damage. It didn't spread to any of other apartments. She is now going through her stuff, cleaning it, and then packing it up. She's leaving February 1st to go on Furlough, and then will be back in July-- but she will not be back to the apartment. :-( It will take a lot of work for her apartment to be cleaned. We will really miss having her across from us! Please pray for her, as this is a very stressful thing to have to go through! 

School starts tomorrow!