It was very different coming to Mumbai this year! I wasn't new!! I knew what to expect and India wasn't as intimidating. My apartment was in good shape when I got back - no mold! Jessie, my helper, had food waiting for me and everything was ship shape.
Our school went under major construction and things weren't quite as ready as we had expected. The last week has been a lesson in patience and flexibility. We were trying to get things ready for kids while tons of Indian workers were still trying to do construction. Each day we would come to school and see improvement - ceilings finished, walls painted, boxes moved, shelves put in, etc. My room is in pretty good shape. Once all the furniture gets there and I can organize supplies, it will be great!
That white board is being taken away because apparently it belongs to the elementary school :( but I will get one someday.
Those white board/glass doors slide and open into Jordan's classroom. We are teaching one really big 8th grade class and we'll open the doors and spread out to differentiate.
The window by the desk overlooks the area where the construction workers are living. They sleep outside right by the piles of plywood and other materials they are using to build. The other day as i was sorting out materials I saw some shirtless men with their hands downs their pants scratching their crotch like Indian men do. I was thinking that might be a little distracting to my sixth graders. I didn't say anything about it until yesterday. I had my back to the window and the friend that was talking to me said "that guy doesn't have pants on" HA! I would see different things when I looked out - sometimes they were working, sometimes laying on the wood with their legs splayed out oh so attractively, sometimes sleeping, sometimes scratching and shirtless and/or pantsless. I don't know when we'll get blinds on the windows. I was just going to put some math posters over the two windows that are the most problem, BUT our poster container is one of the supply boxes that we are missing! so I had to talk to my principal and they are going to put paper over it to start the year.
um. yeah. there are mosquitos. You can't see how swollen my feet are, but there is one bite on each foot. I covered them in calamine and that helped the pain some.
Our school went under major construction and things weren't quite as ready as we had expected. The last week has been a lesson in patience and flexibility. We were trying to get things ready for kids while tons of Indian workers were still trying to do construction. Each day we would come to school and see improvement - ceilings finished, walls painted, boxes moved, shelves put in, etc. My room is in pretty good shape. Once all the furniture gets there and I can organize supplies, it will be great!
That white board is being taken away because apparently it belongs to the elementary school :( but I will get one someday.
The window by the desk overlooks the area where the construction workers are living. They sleep outside right by the piles of plywood and other materials they are using to build. The other day as i was sorting out materials I saw some shirtless men with their hands downs their pants scratching their crotch like Indian men do. I was thinking that might be a little distracting to my sixth graders. I didn't say anything about it until yesterday. I had my back to the window and the friend that was talking to me said "that guy doesn't have pants on" HA! I would see different things when I looked out - sometimes they were working, sometimes laying on the wood with their legs splayed out oh so attractively, sometimes sleeping, sometimes scratching and shirtless and/or pantsless. I don't know when we'll get blinds on the windows. I was just going to put some math posters over the two windows that are the most problem, BUT our poster container is one of the supply boxes that we are missing! so I had to talk to my principal and they are going to put paper over it to start the year.
These doors open in the middle school commons - big open space for kids to work.
I'll take more picture of the new middle school when I can.
I have definitely changed! Karen, who lives in my building and has been doing this international teaching thing a long time said she was so proud of me. This time last year, she was taking me out and buying me a brownie because I was having a meltdown! Going to the MAET program this year definitely helped. Last year I had no idea about technology. People would talk and I wouldn't understand any words coming out of their mouths! I'm definitely no expert, but I am actually helping people with technology things. Showing them shortcuts on the mac, giving them ideas of tech tools to use etc. Today the other math teachers were having an in depth conversation about a very cool tech thing - Apple TV. I told Will that I understood about 3/4 of the conversation! last year, my eyes would have glazed over and I would have been near tears because I didn't understand anything.
um. yeah. there are mosquitos. You can't see how swollen my feet are, but there is one bite on each foot. I covered them in calamine and that helped the pain some.
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