oh India

there are often things about India that are not rational and it drives me crazy!  I am a math person - i like order!

My visa is running out and I have to go to FRRO - the Foreign Regional Registration Office.  It is the office that gives us our resident card too.  It's riduclous.  When I went there in July it was chaos.  We had to fill out these forms on the computer, then go to another station and fill all the same info out on paper, then another station where they copy the information on another piece of paper and so on!!!  augh!!! 

Anyway they give you a 10 work day window to go.  I talked to my principal to see if i could go during our standardized test day so that I would not miss any class.  I arranged for that.  Sree told  WHY THE HECK NOT????  If you are open I should be able to come.  So I had to change the day and am now missing school and a meeting with a consultant!  augh!  Not looking forward to a day of FRRO!

My internet stopped working and they said my plan ran out.  You buy these plans for 6 months with a certain MB amount.  You have no idea how much you are using etc.  They don't give you a bill so you can keep up with it.  they just turn your internet off and show up at your house one day demanding 7000 rupees.  Which I don't have just laying around!!  augh!!  so They came in nov or dec.  Friday my internet didn't work and page popped up on my computer that said I ran out.  I figured out how to pay it then called the company to see when it would come back on - 24 hours!  augh.  but now I have it set up online - if only they would have told me to do that in the first place!!!

My friend Rachel and walked to a friends house that was having a clothing swap party.  We nearly got hit by rickshaws multiple times.  If you put your hand out when you are crossing the street they usually stop.  Rachel put her hand up and the rickshaw actually touched her hand so that she was pushing the rick away.  it is ridiculous!  pedestrians have zero rights.  and they just speed towards you and honk at you to get away instead of slowing down or stopping.  BUT if someone hits a pedestrian badly, a mob of people will put him out of his rickshaw/car and beat the crap out of him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  so bizarre.  You wouldn't think they'd be so harsh - it's a miracle everyone hasn't hit a pedestrian!!

As people were pushing and shoving a queue today I was thinking how excited I will be to stand in a proper line in the states this summer.  A nice grocery store line where people wait their turn in a civilized manner!

Spring Break - Aamby Valley City

Aamby Valley City

One of our staff members has a house in Lonavala which is about an hour and a half from Mumbai.  It is quiet and peaceful with lots of land to drive 4 wheelers and climb mountains etc.  I enjoyed it a lot.  My friends were doing lots of different things for Spring break and I had options to go with people, but I just wasn’t feeling like major adventure.  I thought about going back to Lonavala and hiking etc.  My friend Madeline suggested going to Aamby Valley City which is close to Lonavala.  Her husband is the works with the resort there.  I looked up AVC on line and it is a planned community with a hospital, International school, lots of activities to do etc. I decided to come spend a few nights up here.

Carol is a teacher at our school who has worked here for 20 years.  She married an Indian actor and speaks Hindi so she is a great help.  The school said I couldn’t hire one of their drivers to take me because they were busy doing airport runs for teachers for spring break. I asked Carol if she could recommend a driver.  Her personal driver asked around and found Alam.  He came to the school to meet me and find out where I live etc.  He agreed to pick me up Sunday morning and drive me 2 hours to AVC, stay there until Wed and drive me back.  The hotel charges about 30 USD a day for a driver to stay and get 3 meals. 

I was feeling really sick the morning I was supposed to leave.  I called the driver to see if we could leave later.  All he kept saying was 9 am.  Ah. Language barrier.  I packed plastic bags in case I had to throw up in the car and prayed I wouldn’t need to find a bathroom on the way up there.  I laid down in the back seat and it wasn’t too bad.  Even though I couldn’t see out the windows I could tell when we crossed the bridge to the mainland (Mumbai is on Islands) the car starts moving faster and there is less honking.

I have not been around wealthy people much in my life and it unnerves me a little.  I’m getting a little more comfortable with it here because so many of my kids have really wealthy parents etc.  but I am still not at ease with it.  We get to AVC and it is a like a fortress.  I had to prove I had reservations to get through the first gate. Then we pull up to security rivaling Israel.  We had to take everything out of the car and scan it.  They checked the car and deemed I had no bombs so off we go.  A guard gets in the car ahead of us and escorts us to the hotel!  The hotel staff was so nice!  They gave me juice upon arrival and went out their way to accommodate me because their my friend’s husband had set this up for me.  I got the top floor of a timber chalet – it is gorgeous.  They are built kind of like log cabins and the stairs to my room smell like it and creak like an old house.  I spent Sunday exploring the grounds after I made sure Alam was taken care of.  I walked to the “town plaza”  which was farther than I thought.  And it was over 100 degrees F.  HOT.  Mumbai is hot, but we are closer to the water and because it is a big city it feels cooler because buildings block out some of the sun etc.  Here it is wide open spaces with the sun blazing down like in a desert.  I had lunch at the Four Seasons there.  They had some good Indian food even though it is not my favorite.  Really the only culinary things I will miss from India this summer is garlic naan, fresh lime soda and pineapple juice.  I had a great lunch with great dessert and drank my weight in fresh like soda because I was so hot.  I went to the “store” they have there and got some water for the long walk back.  I took a nap and then did some more exploring in the evening. I saw lots of Indian worker walking everywhere in long lines.  I’m wondering if they stay here in this city and where.  Walking is great here.  It is hotter than heck, but I don’t have to watch out for rickshaws, and poop, and people sleeping on the sidewalks!  I ordered pizza in my room and called my dad – haven’t talked to him in awhile. 

I slept well.  The shower had way better hot water than I have at my flat!  I walked to the Four Seasons again but it was cooler in the morning. Breakfast was good – There were omelets, yogurt, fruit etc.  Along with Idli, dosas etc.  A good balance since I cannot stand Indian breakfast food.  The waitress was very nice to me – she remembered me from the day before.  I am used to eating alone on vacations but they always make you feel bad – taking away the extra plates, glasses and napkins and making a big deal that you are alone. At least she took the stuff away while I was getting food.  I walked back, took some pictures, took a nap, read a magazine on my ipad, finished a book.  I wanted some ice cream in the afternoon but didn’t want to walk all the way out there.  I hadn’t talked to Alam since yesterday when he dropped me at the hotel. I am not used to having a driver.  I know he is staying here to drive me anywhere I want to go, that is his job, but I felt bad just needing ice cream!  Ha!  I offered ice cream, he wouldn’t take it. I asked him to drive down a road I hadn’t been down so I could take pictures.  He kept saying it was beautiful.  On the way back he drove holding his phone up so he could video!  Not the safest, but there are very few cars on the road so I let him.  I asked if he was recording to show his wife. He said “I have girl 13 years and boy 7 years”  He wanted his family to see what life outside of Mumbai looks like.  I felt awful that I am keeping him from his family for 3 days just so I can read, hike, lay at the pool.  One night at this hotel costs more than what I am paying him for 4 days.  Ridiculous!  I have never stayed at a hotel this expensive myself – usually split it with someone.  It is nice to get away and it is nice to not have to watch every penny here like I did in the US. 

On Tuesday I walked some more, went on a boat ride on the lake and laid out at the pool.  I actually got some color!  You can spend hours outside in Mumbai and not get any color.  Alam came to get me to take me to dinner and ice cream J

On Wednesday I went walking, swimming and then headed home around 11:30.   It was really weird being waited on and being treated so well.  Not sure I'll get used to staying at places this nice.  I had a really restful break and I think I will hire Alam to drive me to Pune in a few weeks J

seeing a movie in mumbai

In my first few weeks here I saw a Bollywood film in Hindi - we stayed for half of it.   That is my only moviegoing with a lot of really nicehere.

Yesterday I decided to go see The Hunger Games at the Phoenix mall.  Rickshaws can't go that far so I had to walk 15 minutes in this ridiculous heat to the hospital where I could get a taxi.  It rattled and shook and I though it was going to shatter!  When I got in he said "sealink?"  going across the sealink is faster but has a toll.  When we got there he said if I bought a return ticked it would be cheaper.  He was very concerned that I keep my ticket and get my discount :)  sweet taxi driver.

I got to the mall  - it's really a complex of malls with nice stores.  The movie theater is really nice with comfy chairs.  The tickets are $2 before noon, $3 from noon to 6, and $4,50 are the most expensive tickets at night.

other differences -
They give you assigned seats.
you stand for the national anthem before the movie starts
it is totally acceptable to talk during the movie and discuss it :)
there is intermission at all movies.  so right when Katniss got into the arena for the games, the movie stopped!
    it's nice you can go to the bathroom without missing anything and get some more snacks.

I had a nice pizza at california pizza kitchen and got a cab home.  It cooled down in the evening and the ride home was nice - watching the sun set over the sea link :) 

Amazing teachers - 100th post

According to blog spot this is my 100th post!  Thought it should be special so I am writing about the amazing teachers here.  My goal is not to offend anyone but in US public schools it is really hard to be a great teacher.  In  a district as large as Cy-fair - we were told exactly what to teach and we had to do pretty much the same things as the other teachers on our teams.  There was very little room for creativity.  All of our professional development was through the district so we didn't get to see ideas from other teachers.  Teaching curriculum was basically the same for everyone.  Some teachers were better with kids and following the school rules than others and that was how we determined who was a "good" teacher.  Elementary and Middle school teachers are mostly women.  All the men I've worked with were ok or bad.  Most of them want to coach and they put up with teaching to do the coaching.  Just stating facts.  I do have a friend from high school that is an amazing 4th grade teacher but those are few and far between in my experience.

This school has a lot of male middle school teachers. They hired 6 new middle school teachers this year - I was the only female.  There are 8 core MS teachers - I am one of two women.  I am surrounded by male teachers ... but these are much different than I am used to!

I had to confess to Jordan that when I heard my teaching partner was a young Canadian hockey player that I was a little bit afraid that he fell into the "I teach so I can coach field" and when I heard he taught at 4 different schools in 6 years, I was a little scared!  no need to be!!  He's awesome!  He didn't seem too offended about my preconceived notions.  He's probably run into a few of those himself.  Ha!  :)   He comes up with some pretty cool things to do with his kids and we stay after school every day but Friday to work with struggling students or to coach high kids.

There is a science teacher here who lives and breathes science.  Don't know if I've ever met anyone so passionate about science.  He loves teaching the "knuckleheads" like I do!  He is really into videos games and has created this elaborate system of homework on a video game and actually presented at an international conference about it.  cool.

There is a really intense Social studies teacher here.  I have never seen anyone more into school committees and passionate about every aspect of education.  I can't keep up with him - sometimes I just stare at him while he talks at lunch and think "I can never be involved in all this school leadership - I'm barely surviving teaching!"  He is also really good at incorporating tech.

The band teacher is amazing.  This is his second year - he is my resource on all things India.  He is so passionate about music and the kids LOVE him.  I worked at Habitat with one of his high school girls and she was gushing that he was her hero.  One of my Japanese boys who is on my math counts team and LOVES math was really distracted the other day.  He said " I am sorry Miss Staley, I just keep thinking about this music we did in band - it was soooo amazing - I cannot do math now"  ha!!

There is a high school math teacher who is the tech coordinator but is going back to teaching math next year.  I have never seen him teach but I know he's good because he's good with me when I ask him to teach me tech things!  He is passionate about math and plays really cool games with his kids.  Jordan and I have gotten a lot of inspiration from him this year.  He helps us coach the puzzle club and it is fun.  It's me and three guys coaching that and it is a funny sight!!!

The other guy that helps coach the puzzle club is Will and he teaches a 10th grade math class, a tech class and an 8th grade math student.  He has also been brought in to help me with one of my 6th grade classes.  He has been a Godsend.  It helps having another body in there and he has amazing ideas for lessons.  They are having him do MS full time next year to be an extra body for Jordan and I - help us with differentiation and pulling kids out.  We fight like an old married couple because how fast I learn technology and how fast he THINKS I should learn it are two different things!!  ha!

The PE teacher is new too and he is awesome.  He rides our bus and we are always in awe when he talks about PE.  I have never seen someone so passionate about PE and not just about the kids that play organized sports. He's really into getting the kids to try new things and grow as leaders etc.

Of course there are some great women teachers too, but I feel like men teachers need to be highlighted a little :)  and I didn't want to bore you with too much.

I am not an amazing teacher yet, but I am headed in that direction.  I would have stayed the same had I not moved here.  My predecessor said he grew more here as an educator than anywhere else.  I can see why.  I came here completely lost.  My experience in US public education is far different than here.  I have a curriculum to follow of course and my kids are expected to learn math, but I can do it in any manner I chose.  I'mhaving a hard time letting go of the idea of planning everything for weeks at a time and not straying from it.  Jordan usually decides the night before what he's doing!  ha!  I can't do that.  and I feel I need to be prepared in case I wake up vomiting :(  I felt so intimidated at first  - many of these teachers have published articles, written chapters of books, spoken at international conferences, did major project based learning units, incorporated amazing technology into their lesson.....  I haven't done any of that.  I started crying at the tech training in Memphis before I even got here!!!  because I had so little experience with computers every word anyone said to me was foreign.  Some people had a lot of problems adjusting to Mumbai - I was fine with Mumbai.  Less than 6 weeks into school we had a MS faculty meeting focusing on like three more tech based things we had to do.  Tears started sliding down my cheeks and the tech people were trying to tell me how "easy" it was but I didn't understand anything they said.  I started sobbing.  so hard my principal had to remove me from the meeting!!  ha!   She said "It's only been a few weeks and if technology is stressing you out this much, drop it.   Make the kids use paper.   Add technology it when you feel like you can.  What you do best is love kids.  so love them and don't worry about anything else"  So that's what I did.  At parent conferences so many parents thanked me for the relationship I have with their kid and the positive  relationship I got them to have with math. and for how hard I push them in math.  Not one of them complained about my lack of technology skills or not being published.  Several have suggested that I present at a conference about building relationships with kids. Some of the teachers that I admire for so many reasons have complimented me to say they wish they were able to reach kids like I do.  I had the talent in Houston - I just didn't get to use it fully due to constraints. Here I can.  I'm still working on the other things.  I'm doing small technology things, I'm learning about how NESA and Math Counts works.  TTP is a committee I'm on. Our school partners with NGOs and helps train Indian teachers.  A different set of teachers run the Saturday program each time - mine was a few months ago.  but one of the teachers doing the next one asked me to present soon because he heard I did a lot of differentiation.  It will be small - like a half hour and to a very low stakes group, but I figure it will help ease me into it.

I'm still really far behind :(  I constantly have to ask a million questions because I don't know what the heck is going on!!!!!!!!!!  Andrew, the principal that hired me (he moved to another school), called me the "question queen"  He said I asked more questions than any new hire but that it showed that I wanted to make sure this was a good fit for me and that I wanted to do a great job.  Will gets frustrated with how little I know, but he didn't work with me at the beginning of the year!!!  Jordan knows that even though I have much farther to go, I have made drastic improvements!!  I need to realize it isn't going to happen overnight and baby steps count. As long as I keep moving forward, I will be as great as these teachers some day.  Hopefully :)

Festival of nations

America - 2nd biggest group at ASB

Sisters from Finland - I teach the youngest on the left

two of my german 6th graders

India - biggest group

The other side of her sign said " I represent the PEOPLE of Iran" 

The very serious Israeli contingency :)

The not so serious Japanese and Korean contingency

The UK

they are trying to be a unicorn with the statue of liberty being the horn.  yes they are 6th graders :)

Anchel

My school is an American school, but kids from all over the world attend our school. Every year we have a Festival of Nations where the kids wear the dress of some country special to them.  Some kids have never lived in their passport countries or they are of mixed nationalities so the can pick whatever country they want.  It is a lot of fun!  for teachers too!  Some of the pictures that were taken sideways on my iphone will not save on computer the right way but they are appearing on here that way so Yea!!

Some Texas women in the back - aunts of a teacher!

Corey - a Language Arts teacher

 Corey is new this year too.  He is from all over but used to teach in Chicago.  I don't see him much, but he is a lot of fun.

Will and I

Will and I never had much interaction until he started helping out in one of my 6th grade classes.  He is from WI and  he and the French teacher came here from Morocco.  She teaches in my classroom.  Will is very "techy" and helps me with school stuff and my iphone :)

Jordan - My Canadian Math teaching partner

Jordan is the best teaching partner I could ask for.  I believe we were divinely brought together.  We interviewed at all the same schools and were offered jobs at the same schools and both chose this one. We have very similar teaching styles so we get along great!  We have enough differences to challenge each other too. I honestly don't think I could have gotten through this year without him.  He has taught me a lot about international teaching and has put up with a lot of tears, insecurity, and ignorance from me!  ha!  He has also endured many Charlie pictures and videos like a champ!  And he feeds my chocolate addiction.  Perfect partner!

Madeline and Ethan - Italy  

 Madeline and I share an advisory and I wouldn't have lived through this year with out her!!  She has been here 6 years and knows tons about the school.  She has had to put up with a lot of my tears and insecurity too! We have 12 very rowdy advisees and she helps me wrangle them!  Her son Ethan is adorable and I help her with him a lot.

Nancy - Portugal

 Nancy is a counselor here and I have traveled with her and her husband multiple times.  They are great fun!  I did not go trekking with them this spring break because the altitude was just too much.  Zach and I go Alligator and Cobra hunting all the time together.  I will be bummed if he finds one without me on this trip.  They are moving to Thailand next year so hopefully we will have many more adventures together.

Bryan and I - Texas

Bryan lives in my apartment building but we rarely see each other.  We are bound by Texas though.


Some of my kids....

Americans - in my advisory

Belgians (my advisees) - no they didn't bring the mug for the parade

The sweetest French boys ever

Germany and the UK

Sudan and India - in my advisory

my 8th graders