Friday, October 30, 2015

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.

I have to start off this entry first by saying that this has probably been the longest week for me since I have arrived in Doha. It was a three day week for the kids because Wednesday and Thursday were parent teacher conferences. I did an unbelievable amount of preparing for the two days where I met with the parents. Those two days are all that I have been thinking about all week- borderline obsessing over. What I wanted to address to the parents, discussing my goals for their child, what my objectives are for them by the end of the year- I like to have everything planned and organized. It is part of who I am and how I function best. I think it will be easier for me next year (and many years to come!) because now I have some experience with it and have some ideas of what to expect. I had my hefty binder stuffed to the gills with paperwork for each child.

You know nothing Jon Snow!
Here is what I had in the files for each child:
1.  Assessments: one for math, one for the alphabet, and one for sight words/reading level
2. Student work samples: this includes work that they have completed in class. I had one page that had some of their letters, one page that had sight words they had written, and one math page to show their written numbers 1-25 and drawing shapes
3. Glow and Grow worksheet. For the glow you write something positive about the child and the grow you write something that they need to work on.
4. Sight words flash cards. This way they can play different games and have that extra practice at home to help them learn and remember their sight words.
5. Number chart to 100. This allows the parents to practice counting to 100 with their child and they can use it for skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s and make different games out of it.
6. Leveled book. Yay Fountas and Pinnell! I assessed them to see what reading level they were at and starting this week they will have a take home book to read each night. First the parents read the book to them a few times to get them familiar with the words and then the kids read it, with assistance from their parents as needed. Then each week I will rotate the books and they will get a new book every week.

The hefty binder! I am going to have the most boring and grown up
Christmas list ever. I want school supplies! More binders! And 3 ring binders.
They seem to only have 2 ring binders here. And other random stationary
supplies that you don't think about until you need them!
These Glow and Grow took a lot of effort but I am happy with how they turned out. They took a lot of time because you really need to sit down and focus on each child and what you want to say. I am very fortunate here at GEMS because the parents here are incredibly supportive and always ask how they can help and want to assist me in any ways they can. They want their child to have reinforcement at home to help them succeed and do their best in school. And some of them are so sweet that after I finished talking she asked, "You know, so often we get wrapped up in ourselves and talk about ourselves all the time. How are you doing and how are you liking Doha so far?" I feel very fortunate to have a strong partnership with such awesome parents.
This is similar to what I gave to parents at the conferences. It is no easy task doing 20 of these!
It gave me good preparation for report cards in December!
One of my favorite parts of the conferences was... when they were over! Just kidding! Kind of. One of my favorite parts was hearing the parents share what their child remembers from school. I love hearing stories about how they clap and cheer for different sight words (b-l-u-e blue b-l-u-e blue yay blue!). Or one mom told me her daughter was singing a song about the teen numbers- while she was trying to brush her teeth. Another told me about how when they went to the zoo and saw bats and their son excitedly said "That's a fruit bat!! They eat fruits like apples!" It just gives me a happy jolt in my stomach like "hey I taught them that!" You are the topic of conversation at home when you teach kindergarten. What also is really helpful is getting some back story to their home life. Some of the kids are so shy that I do not know much about what goes on at home. Then I am having a meeting talking with their mom or dad and I learn "What!?! They have 3 brothers?!" "They just moved to Qatar 4 months ago??" It really helps to fully paint a picture of who they are and why they might be acting a certain way.

Funny story time. Tariq, our manager of school operations, came into my room after I was finished with conferences. He just stared at me for a few seconds. He looked really serious and of course when someone looks all stern and pauses before saying anything your first thought is "I'm in trouble. What did I do?" Here was our exchange:

"We need to talk about your e-mail signature."

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"Your signature is perfectly fine. Except for the fact that the mobile number listed is my number."

"Oh my god I am so sorry! I thought it was just the school number!"

"It's ok! I figured you must've copied and pasted mine and forgot to change the number. I was getting some WhatsApp messages from parents asking for Miss Kellie. Sorry it took me a while to track you down and tell you. I just thought I should tell you so you can change it and get any messages you might have missed."

We have to do a signature for our school emails. Tariq sent out an e-mail explaining how to do it and provided a sample. Well I copied and pasted his sample, assumed it was just the school numbers, and did not think anything else of it. We were both cracking up and now of course my e-mail signature is fixed and has my number now! Tariq will not be bothered with messages from any KG2D parents anymore!! He jokingly threatened (at least I hope he was) to change my number into HIS e-mail signature and that I could screen his calls! Which I would definitely not want to do because I feel like as the manager of school operations he must have a never ending to do list with endless amounts of phone calls.

The past weekend was very fun. We celebrated one of my coworker's birthdays at the St. Regis on the beach because we are classy like that. We thought it was going to be reggae night- nope! Apparently we picked the one Friday night of the year that this classic rock cover band plays. We still had fun though because they play the music right on the beach and you are literally sitting at different chairs and tables and these pod things in the sand. You have to take your shoes off before you go and they stay on a rack while you relax barefoot on the beach listening to music drinking adult beverages.

The St. Regis is one of the coolest looking hotels in Doha. In my opinion. 
They have a full sized Olympic pool. The St. Regis is huge and absolutely gorgeous!
This is what it looked like from the beach relaxing in the sand. The chairs and tables were for people who had reservations. We sat more on the outskirts in these circular bed/pod things? It was really relaxing and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The atmosphere is so relaxing. And I want to go back when it actually is Reggae Night! 
This past weekend I also got to experience the awesomeness that is Lulu's Hypermarket. People in Barwa City have it good! Lulu's is much better than Ansar. They have a wider selection of food and different brands and labels that I recognize from home. Plus they have a Starbucks- yay for Pumpkin Spice!

Hello beautiful. You are what I have been looking for in my life. 
The barista even spelled my name right! Well
she also might have asked me how it was spelled
but it was still cool! And I love how they gave me
silverware when all I got was a muffin. 
There are a lot of fun things going on in Doha this weekend. Last night I went to a Turkish festival that was near the Museum of Islamic Art. It was really fun. I got henna done on my hands and wrists that turned out so cool! I was in awe and watched her as she quickly made all these swirls and different patterns. I think the kids will get a kick out of it when they see my arms on Sunday! There is also a jazz music festival at the Katara village and the Paralympic Games have been going on all week and end on Saturday. I will definitely be checking these out. But in the meantime here are some pictures from the festival, a bunch of my henna filled hands, and also some pictures of the skyline. A big shout out to my fellow GEMS coworkers for the pictures! Some of them went paddle boarding and on a cruise last weekend and got these awesome skyline shots.

My hands are small, I know but they're not yours they are my own… mine are on the right!

Ta da the finished product after I peeled it off! Sorry Jersey Shore but this beats
the hennas you get done on the boardwalk by a longshot. The flower is my favorite.

Waiting for the henna to finally dry took a while but totally worth it!
The henna lady got a little handsy with me. Let's give her a hand for such a great job! I am so punny, right?
Turkish festival 2015! They had so many different tents set up with things you could buy.
And all these booths with different Turkish foods and drinks. 


                                         I hope this video will work but this guy making
                                         ice cream and entertaining the kids was one of my
                                         favorite parts of the festival.

Yes I get to live here for the next 2 years. Aren't you jealous?
I love this shot. And look there are actually clouds in the sky! The sunsets always look incredible out here in the desert. 
This school week really ended on a happy note. I had so many different parents telling me that their child is so excited to come to school every day to learn and see me. Some even say their child likes our school more than their previous school. It just makes you so happy to hear that. When you have those long days where you feel like you are drowning in paperwork and assessments and trying to get everything done and planning all your lesson plans for that week and holding back tears and doing the best you can to keep your head up- it is those comments that make it all worth it. It reminds me that yes. This is why I am here. I always give my best effort and bring a positive attitude to work and it shows. I am still learning a lot but I just keep moving forward even when the days are tough.

My treat for the end of the week!
Treat yo' self! 

Thursday, October 22, 2015

In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

Another week has gone by! An eventful one too. Wednesday was United Nations Day at the school (technically it is the 24th but that would be the weekend) and it was an incredible day. I was so excited to see all the kids in their costumes representing colors from their countries. My class did not disappoint! I have kids in my class from the United States, Canada, Indonesia, Poland, Palestine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Germany, Australia, Nepal, and El Salvador. At last I finally took down my sailboat bulletin board and made it KG2D Around the World. I took a picture of each child in my class holding a picture of the flag of their country.

I figured their faces were far enough away that I could share this picture. I love how this turned out. A big thank you to my TA Iolinda for setting it up for me! 
Me representing the USA and Iolinda representing Mozambique! 
UN Day is a day I won't forget. It was amazing seeing everyone dressed up representing their countries. The pride and excitement they had as they talked about where they were from and showed off their outfit. The kids' faces just lit up. They were all just so excited to share a part about themselves and their culture. All day I related my lessons to the different countries. We went through a slide show of pictures that showed how students from various countries get to school. We watched a video and sang a song about how to say hello in different languages. They loved Guten Tag and Konnichiwa best. We talked about some of the different countries our friends were from and drew pictures of the flags of our countries.


They loved when I took them to the front of the school/lobby area to look at the different tables that were set up. The parents are fantastic at this school. They organized everything and it all went very well. Each table had a different country where they had food dishes, some had arts and crafts, music was playing, pictures, and so much for the kids to see. It was almost sensory overload at times but the kids absolutely loved it. And I am proud of how well behaved my class was. They had a rough day yesterday and had some of their recess time taken away twice. They got a bad report from gym and I just had problems all day with them listening to me. Today I gave them a firm lecture before we walked down the hall and informed them to be on their best behavior, otherwise they would miss out on the fun and would sit in the classroom with my TA. I am pretty sure that when we walked down the hall that it was the quietest line I have had all month!! They listened to me and stayed together as a group. No one wandered off (I was constantly doing a head count as we made our way around!) and we slowly strolled around and went from table to table to hear about the different countries (and get free food). They were excited when we got to the table that was their home country. They all really seemed to enjoy it. Even the boy who threw up. He was fine- I think he just overindulged in the ice cream and other treats that were available because he was running around at recess later on!

One of my coworkers posted these on Facebook and I had to share. Turkey!! One of my parents got me a whole plate filled with Turkish food (including the Red Lentil Kofte dish she made me before!) and it was so good. 
Yummy Turkish food! I feel like I am always eating. My TA took some pictures of me when we were walking around from table to table and in almost every single picture I am shoveling food into my mouth. Everything was so good! My family won't recognize me the next time they see me because I will be enormous and they will have to roll me around to get me from place to place.

Oh hello there Qatar. 
Tunisia! Funny story- only some of my kids got some of those balloons as little souvenirs. Right after we went to the lobby area my kids went right to art. For the art teacher's sake I collected all their balloons and the flags they gave out at another table and took them back in the room. I promptly told my TA that we needed to make these balloons disappear ASAP because I couldn't remember who got a balloon and who didn't. I didn't want them fighting over them. I don't like the sound of balloons popping so I hid them in the cabinet in my room and then put them in the trash later after the kids left for the day. Then when maintenance came around later and I left my room there were balloons in the hallway and some in his bigger trash bag (I guess some of them fell out?). He gave me the strangest look when I left and I laughed and apologized for the balloons. 
South Africa! They gave out bracelets to the kids made out of colored pasta. 
I just love the attitude of kindergarteners. They are accepting and kind and positive and so many other wonderful things. It sounds cheesy and you can roll your eyes but some days I think I learn more from them. My TA took some pictures of my kids on the playground at recess time and I really wish I could share my favorite one on here. It is a picture of 4 of my kids standing together holding hands. At first I didn't even realize they were holding hands I thought it was just a group shot and thought "oh that's a nice picture they're all looking the same way." And when I looked at it again and noticed they were holding hands it just melted my heart into a pile of mush. It just makes me want to freeze time so they don't grow up and just stay that sweet and kind and loving.

This week I started this website called Class Dojo and it is a great way to stay connected with parents. Basically it works like a classroom Facebook page. You can use it for attendance or for behavior management, but I am only using it to upload pictures onto our classroom wall or classroom story. I like using the pictures to show the parents what is going on in our classroom to keep them in the loop. It's a great resource and I highly recommend it!



We got our ID badges today and now I feel even more GEMS official! And in traveling news... in November I will be doing my first journey outside of Qatar! I bought my plane ticket for Thanksgiving for... wait for it... Bahrain! Probably not the country you expected right? It is a little island not too far off the peninsula of Qatar. Seriously it is super close the whole flight is about 50 minutes. I am still reading up about it but from what I have heard Bahrain has some beaches and water parks. Who would've thought I would be spending Thanksgiving on a beach or going down a water slide? Bahrain also has a lot of history and it sounds like the Bahrain National Museum is definitely worth visiting. The Al-Fatih Grand Mosque is one of the biggest mosques in the region. There is also the Saudi Causeway Restaurant Tower where the only land border Bahrain has with Saudi Arabia is these bridges that are 25 km long and the view from the restaurant is incredible. I will be sharing lots of pictures on here with you! And I bought my plane ticket for the holidays in December to come home. I plan to see as many people as I can those 10 days I am in Jersey!

I wonder if they think my middle name is MC? Yes. Kellie MC Hammer McCreery. 
Here's a map for the geographically challenged. I honestly did not know much
about Bahrain (and am still learning lots) until I moved here to Qatar!
Another week down and a 3 day teaching week next week due to parent teacher conferences. November is right around the corner I cannot believe it! And I will just leave this note here that I got from one of my students as a belated teacher appreciation gift because it made me smile:

A picture of me, him, and a snowman. Sounds like a good combo to me! 

Thursday, October 15, 2015

In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.

We are now halfway through October can you believe it?! I am continuing to make more adjustments in my classroom. My TA and I moved things around and now there are 5 tables instead of 4. Kind of necessary because I have 20 kids... having 5 kids squished around a small rectangular table while they are trying to do a foundational skill like handwriting seemed a little cruel am I right?! So now they have more space and all is well. Things are especially well because I came up with a new system to organize their papers! When I first got here, I noticed that a lot of teachers had this piece of furniture with little containers for kids to put their papers/folders in. Of course my room did not have one! So I resorted to using a small table to pile up the kids' work throughout the week. Yeah that got old real fast. Well I got a present Sunday morning and finally got my own cubby/bin holder thing! Not sure what the real name for it is... so cubby/bin holder thing it is!

From dealing with this hot mess for 1 month...
To this wonderful, beautiful creation. Each one is now labeled with their names... and they put their own papers in the bin with their name on it. Makes life so much easier. Yay for organization! 
We just got through week 2 of our after school activities... dismissal went better than last week. Instead of all the kids after school going down to the reception/lobby area, they now come down to the classroom where their child's club is being held. My roommate and I are doing a board game club. We have some basic games like Connect 4 and Uno. One of the first graders has been bringing in games from his house, and it is really funny to watch because I don't think they are his games and they have the most complex rules I have ever seen. One game had all these mazes and you put the pieces on the board. There is one extra maze piece that you can use to shift the maze. You are moving your player across the maze, and of course you can get stuck if someone moves the maze. You draw a card and are trying to collect different objects. I forget what it was called but they gave up playing it after about 5 or 10 minutes. The game he brought today was called Sushi Go. They each get 7 cards. Then they pick one card and turn it over. Then they switch cards. Again they pick one card and turn it over. You keep going back and forth until you run out of cards. Each card is worth a certain amount of points and I think you add them all up? The one kid was clearly only doing it because his friend was because he did not understand the game and was like "...is there a way to win or lose?" And his friend was like "Well yeah you do this!" and went into an elaborate description of what to do with your cards.. and his friend looked more confused than ever. So then they stopped and played a game of Uno. The confused friend was like "I LOVE Uno!!" and was probably elated to play a game he actually understood.

The most adorable sized version of Connect 4 ever. Seriously the yellow and red pieces are about the size of dimes. It is
clearly a travel sized game. But it works since we mostly have KG1 kids in our club. Tiny games for tiny humans!
A kiddie version of Jenga! I think it's called Bug Builder or something like that. 
This is like a Qatar version of Hungry Hungry Hippos. They shoot the chips and try to get them in the yellow slots. We don't really know what the game is called. It has pictures of Tom and Jerry on it so we just refer to it as the Tom and Jerry game! 

In my classroom things have been going as good as they can go. I know I am doing the best that I can. I continue to remind them of the rules in the classroom. I swear they almost seem TOO comfortable and at home in my room at times. They have needed more reminders than usual about how to act in the classroom. No we do not run around the classroom we walk. Take your feet off the table. Stop rolling around the rug. No you cannot sit on the bean bag chair right now. So I just take another deep breath and move on. Just keep swimming is my motto in KG2! I have definitely been learning a lot this week about effects that changes have in your classroom. Things as simple as seating arrangements are important. I have even started giving them assigned seats when we sit on the rug because when I let them choose their spots of course they sit next to their friends and chat the entire time. It was better this week when I split them up. Especially a set of twins in my room who speak mainly Arabic. I think it was also best to have them split up because that way they can each branch off a bit and make their own friends instead of just talking to each other.

Preach it Dory! 
True story. 
One of the parents in my class brought in a Turkish food dish that was so good. The families here are so friendly and eager to make partnerships with you in the classroom. I am very grateful for all of their help and contributions. Parent teacher conferences will be here before I know it! The end of this month. And then report cards in less than 2 months! Time flies in the life of a school teacher. Things have gotten better for me though. In the beginning of the year I felt like I was doing everything I could just to keep my head above water. When it came to decisions about what to do for a math lesson or to try a certain activity, it was almost like a part of me wanted and expected there to be another teacher in the room to turn to and ask them "Do you think this is ok if we do this for math? What do you think about this for the morning circle on the rug?" "Should I do handwriting after this?" but then finally I had the realization that yeah no this is my classroom- I am the one that has the final say. Things are changing now. It feels more like my room and I feel more confident about my decisions. I am the one that is always in there so of course I know what will work best for my kids!

I believe it is called mercimekli kofte. It has red lentils, with onion and garlic and probably other things I am forgetting. You squeeze the lemon juice on the patties and it is so good! And she said it is healthy too. Well that is good because those Oreo's and other junk food I ate later on in the day... not so much! 
Over the weekend I went to an Indian food buffet at a placed called Choices at one of the hotels. It was pretty good. As a picky eater I am proud of myself for venturing so much out of my comfort zone! I had paneer, butter chicken marsala, red mutton curry, and some other meats like chicken and steak. I am not sure what is in store for this weekend. My big plan so far is to go to one of the movie theaters and see the movie The Martian. I really liked the book (I highly recommend it if you have not read it!) and want to see how the movie will compare.

School wise I am working on getting my class set up on this website called Class Dojo. Basically it seems like a Facebook page for your classroom. You can post pictures with captions like "Today we talked about volume and worked with sand and water!" I thought it could be a fun way for me to post pictures on there to show what we are doing in the classroom. It has privacy settings and the ones who would be able to see the photos are who you invite to the page, which would only be the parents. The kids were having fun during throughout the week while I was snapping photos of them. A lot of them definitely seem to love the camera! Stay turned for more stories about my life in the desert and in a kindergarten classroom!

Friday, October 9, 2015

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow.'

Whew what a transition going from these short school weeks to a full week with Back to School Night and after school activities starting this week! It was rough at times but nothing I could not handle. I just learned to appreciate the little things. In the beginning of the year in kindergarten I find it really really important to compartmentalize and celebrate the small moments. And I mean small. Some days it was cheering over the fact that my students had a quiet and straight line on the walk to gym. Some days it was celebrating the fact that my students were quiet during the read aloud for 5 pages and not grabbing and touching each other. You need to break it down. Focus on those small positive moments and not get caught up on the negative and being distraught over what they are not able to do yet.

2 of my favorite gifts that I've gotten. It's nice to have these little keepsakes
to glance at from time to time to remind me to stay strong and help put
a smile on my face =) 

Because there are definitely times at the end of the day where I am sitting at my desk and I beat myself up and am so hard on myself. Am I getting through to them? Am I making a difference? For the ones that I am having trouble communicating with because they don't know much English- will we find a way to work through this barrier? And that is when I need to stop and remind myself that they are kids. It is October and I am working with 5 and 6 year olds. Yes there are certainly some days when I am so drained physically and mentally from trying to keep up with the energy of these 5 and 6 year olds.

But then there are such sweet moments that make it all worth it. When the kids are at recess, sometimes this is my first time to sit down all day. It is nice even if it is only for 5 minutes to sit at my desk and do some menial task like check emails, and sit in silence with no interruptions. At least until the kids open the door to come back in for a quick drink of water. To get to the playground outside, I literally just have to open the door and they go play. One day this week while the kids were at recess and I was running around doing some tasks like making copies or getting papers organized for my students' folders. Then afterwards for the last few minutes of recess I sat at my desk to check my emails. Not even a minute after I sit down the door from outside swings open and one of my students comes in. I assume they are coming in for water and do my best to keep a smile plastered on my face and pretend I am not bothered by the interruption. And then the student turns to me and says "Miss Kellie I just missed you soo much!" and pops their head back outside. And every ounce of annoyance that I felt before I heard those words instantly ebbed away. They are just so loving and accepting and kind of everything and everyone in their little worlds at this age. It is incredible. Their biggest problems are "Miss Kellie my friend _____ knocked down my tower of blocks!" Build the tower again. "Miss Kellie my friend _____ says she's not my friend anymore!" and then they promptly make up and are talking again a minute later like nothing happened. So what if they need multiple reminders throughout the day to keep their hands and feet to themselves? So what if they need multiple tries transitioning to and from their tables onto the rug? So what if they need multiple reminders that only one person talks at a time or that we do not call out? We are not perfect. They are kids. It is October. These are big details I need to keep reminding myself of. These kids in September and October will not be the same kids when it comes to May and June. Overtime these routines will stick and they will begin retaining more and more and they will be ready to move onto first grade. These tiny human teacups are capable of so much and I am just laying the foundation for their futures. Ok now it is getting cheesy and sentimental- but it is the truth! They are all so sweet and I love all their personalities and getting to know every one of them. It is so exciting to see the more shy and reserved ones starting to come out of their shells and open up and talk to me.

As promised, the We Love Apples bulletinboard! I was so happy with how this turned out. 

Wednesday night was Back to School Night. I survived a 13 hour day at school and lived to tell the tale! And I have to say it went very well. Hooray for caffeine helping me get through the afternoon and evening- first soda I have had here! I am fortunate to have so many unbelievably supportive parents who want to work with me and help out in any way they can. Because of course we all share the common goal of wanting the best for their child and for them to succeed in every way possible. They want to know how they can reinforce at home what I am teaching. Yes of course it was nerve wracking since it was my first Back to School Night as an educator, but I prepared for it as best as I could, and did not let my worries overcome me. I knew I did all that I could- all I could do is wait to talk to the parents and tell them how lucky their kids are to have me as their teacher =)

First BTS night! 
Last weekend was fun. One of my coworkers is in a Gaelic Football league and her team made it into a tournament. There were teams from Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. This was the first time the tournament was hosted in Qatar. Gaelic football is very interesting... it is a combination of many sports. It is similar to rugby and can be very aggressive. Lots of elbowing and pushing to get the ball! It is played with a soccer ball and you can use your hands and feet. Every 4 steps you either have to bounce it like you are dribbling in basketball, serve it like in volleyball, or do a kick off your feet into your hands- which looks very tough and I do not think I would have the coordination for it! Basically it is like playing aggressive soccer with your hands. Each half is about 7 minutes long (due to the heat) and they get a 2 minute break in between. I cannot even imagine playing in the heat- the games started around 9:30 and ran until 5! Reminded me of my all day soccer tournaments when I was little. I was barely in the sun watching the games and got burnt. Ironically enough I think it was when I was walking from the field to the mall to buy some sunscreen. Afterwards we went to the Doha Rugby Club and watched some of the boys matches. The girls matches were at Aspire Park by the Villaggio Mall and the boys played at the club. At the club I got to have REAL bacon! A bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich never tasted so good.

Some action from the game. Green is Abu Dhabi and Maroon is Qatar. Our girls won 2 of the 3 games! They made it to the semi finals of the tournament. We got to watch them play at the Doha Rugby Club but unfortunately they lost and did not make it to the finals.
If you kick the ball into the net it is 3 points. If the ball is kicked or thrown between the posts it is 1 point.
Last weekend was also one of my coworker's birthdays! It seems every weekend is someone's birthday. Seriously. Another one this weekend and the next! I guess that is what happens when you work with 50+ people! Last weekend we went to Trader Vic's (I kept wanting to call it Trader Joe's) at the Hilton to celebrate and do some salsa dancing. It was a blast. Always fun to relax and kick back after a week of work. After spending the day watching the football matches I started mulling over the idea of getting involved in something outside of school. Not that I don't love my GEMS family but it would be another way to make friends outside of school.

Trader Vic's is the only place in Doha that has Latin music. The dance floor was
a little small but it was still lots of fun! This is not my picture but I thought it was a good
picture. Some of the couples on the dance floor when I was there were really talented!
We shall see what fun this weekend brings. One of these days I really want to check out their movie theaters! I doubt I will find pretzel bites there but it would be cool to see what a movie theater is like over here. Plus there are some movies that I want to see like The Martian. Happy news- I finally got my internet banking set up! Anyone who has talked to me knows that I have been trying to get this set up for weeks. Almost a month now actually. Now I can finally send some money to my bank account home. Speaking of home I also bought my ticket for the holidays- I will be home from December 18-December 29. I would love to see as many people as I can while I am home! I am giving myself a few days to get used to the jet lag when I come back to Doha... and I am also toying with the idea of celebrating New Year's in Dubai! I think it would be an amazing experience. I am even considering traveling somewhere during the Thanksgiving break. Time will tell!

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Courage is grace under pressure.

It is strange how short work weeks can seem long or longer than a normal work week. It makes me a little bit wary about how I am going to feel at the end of next Thursday! We had a three day week after the Eid holiday and it looks like no days off until Thanksgiving. Bring it on kindergarten, bring it on. Or maybe I should be careful what I wish for! They do keep me on my toes my little kindergarteners. I said it before and I will say it again- more often than not I find that lessons that I think of spur of the moment go better than the ones I planned. I constantly feed off what the students give me and learn to go from there. Sometimes the language the kids use when they answer a question I ask them triggers a whole discussion or gives me ideas for something I want to focus on next. I have to go at a pace that works for them, and of course make sure I still challenge them.

Last Friday I went with a big group to a brunch at the Marriott hotel. Let me first just say how completely different brunch is compared to brunches at home! No eggs or omelettes at all which was a little disappointing. Maybe they should just call it linner because there was definitely more lunch foods compared to breakfast. Although I did hit up the crepes and waffle maker a few times. The food was unbelievable. They had every food you could think of! Chicken, ribs, a sushi bar, pasta, Indian food, quesadillas, guacamole, seafood, pizza, desserts galore- you name it, they probably had it. We got there around 12:30 and were there until around 4ish. A lot of people were planning to meet up at other places afterwards and then go to the Irish Harp at the Sheraton later... I needed a break! Eating and drinking off and on for almost four hours... and yet there were moments where I was so disgustingly full that I was still thinking "hmm well those quesadillas were really good... maybe I will just get one more waffle with ice cream..." I love food. I may be a picky eater but I have no problem shoveling down lots and lots of food! I got to have mashed potatoes at brunch. That was the first time I have had them since my dinner the night before I left for Qatar! It truly is the little things in life. Brunch is a little pricy. Not something I plan on doing every weekend, but definitely a nice treat every now and then. As Tom Haverford would say- treat yo self!

Marriott. Sweet Marriott. 
Palm trees are everywhere at the hotels. 
They had these fans all over in the lounge areas to keep you cool. Maybe I have just
been watching  too much Doctor Who but they totally looked like they could've been a villain
on the show. Exterminaaaaate!
After we got back home and I laid in bed digesting the ridiculous amounts of food I consumed I decided I wanted to go out and do something. So later that night my roommate and I went to the Katara Cultural Village (the name makes me think of Avatar every time!) because they were having fireworks a few nights to celebrate the Eid holiday. We got there just in time because the fireworks started earlier- they said they were starting at 9:30! Afterwards was the coolest part- we saw this shadow show where people made different shapes and designs with their bodies. They could spell out words, they made a car, a dragon, and acted out different scenes from Aladdin- I was in awe! And it gave me a craving to watch Aladdin which sadly is not one of the Disney movies on Netflix. We also found Burgeri aka the first ever food truck in Qatar! I read some articles about it and then was so excited when we got out of the cab and there it was right in front of us. I got cheese fries and they were delicious. We wandered around Katara for a few hours and it is really beautiful there. I know that there is still so much more that I did not get the chance to see. But it was late and my feet were throbbing from all of the walking. Guess that means I will have to go back!

Shadow show! Seriously impressive stuff. 

Shadows were the theme of the night for us! We started talking to this guy who has been doing photography for 7 years. His instagram is elfar3on you should check him out! And we probably talked to him for almost an hour and he took some cool photos of us. This one is one of my favorites! I am the bottom part if you can't tell. 
My school week went pretty well. I got one new student. I am still expecting a few more and hope the rest of my teacup humans arrive next week! I really do love my class I think they are such a great group. Part of it is because I love the fact that unlike subbing, I have the same kids every day. I just do my best to keep it as interactive and engaging for them as possible. I am happy because I finally got my word wall up. Probably a good thing since I introduced 2 sight words this week. I also want to put their names on the word wall too. I made these little index cards and put a little photo of each child on them. This way they know how to write their friends' names. Yesterday and today we were talking about sorting in math. It was a big moment for them because for the first time ever I let them use my Activboard! I found a website where it showed different objects and the students had to sort them into these 3 boxes by color- red, green, or blue. They were so unbelievably excited that they got to use the Activboard that I am constantly reminding them not to touch. Mainly I tell them not to touch it when I am playing music because if they do it pauses it. And they got really into it. I need to make sure I keep making different flipcharts and using the Activboard as much as I can. Not only does it save paper but they love when we do stuff on there. However they do also like to make shadow puppets sometimes on the screen from the projector!

My super colorful word wall! You have to get a little creative when it comes
to hanging things up because we aren't allowed to put anything on the walls. 
One of my goals for the week was to work on something with my kids to hang up on display in the hallway. I finally found one I really liked! We have been talking about apples this week and Johnny Appleseed- they love this Youtube video I found that is this short animated video that talks about Johnny Appleseed and who he was. So for a little art activity I had them make apple trees with their handprints and they made the apples with their fingerprints. I am so thankful for Pinterest and all the ideas you can find on there! I had them make the apple trees with a combination of construction paper for the trunk, and then the actual tree part was with their handprints... with paint. I was a little nervous about this because of the mess and I didn't want there to be massive chaos in my room. I borrowed green paint from the art teacher and she practically snorted when I explained what I was doing and went "You're brave." All in all it went really well. I definitely would not have been able to do it without my TA Iolinda. We each sat with the kids at one table and did it one child at a time. I found the best way was to actually paint their hands directly with a paintbrush (I was determined to have as much control over the situation as possible!). "Miss Kellie that tickles!" "Miss Kellie that is kind of cold!" And they turned out so cute. I am so excited to get them hanging up in the hallway before Back to School Night. I will have to post the finished bulletin board on here!

The finished product! On the apple in the middle of the trunk it reads: Cute little apples hanging from my tree. I made them with my fingerprints; they're a special part of me. The 10th one will be the last, listen now and I'll count them fast! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10." Much thanks to teachwithme.com for the idea!
Overall I definitely feel better than my first week. I felt like I was struggling to keep my head above water. It can be so hectic because there is just so much to take in. Not that I don't still feel that way sometimes. It is a lot to process and balance but you just learn to make it work. I have my ups and downs. It was a little rough for me being away from home for my sister's 15th birthday. Probably because it was the first one out of the family I was missing. But I had a great Skype chat with my mom and I finally got my birthday box filled with all kinds of goodies! Hooray!
I felt like I was reenacting the movie Seven as I stared at the box on the bus ride home. "What's in the box!? What's in the box?!" 
This entry probably isn't as thrilling as the last one with all the dune bashing so my apologies. I can't wait during some breaks in the future to travel to some places and see more of the world. I really want to go to Dubai. Gotta fill that passport with stamps! Although there are still some parts of Qatar outside of Doha that I want to explore. I have heard that out west in Zekreet is another great camping area and stone buildings to see. Al Khor Al Udayd looks beautiful from pictures- it is an inlet of the Persian Gulf and the water looks so unbelievably blue. Plus that would be another opportunity to do dune bashing again and reunite with the camels. Stay tuned for an update next week!