Week 14

What we've been doing: In writing we are working on argumentative pieces.  It took me awhile as a teacher to do some research and really figure out what is the difference between persuasive and argumentative writing.  The boys took notes, completed a graphic organizer, and learned how to properly cite evidence.  I should have started the year with a persuasive piece to show them the differences, but oh well.  I need to read over them this weekend and they will publish them next week!

We are reading La mascara de la muerte roja, or in English, The Death of the Red Masque.  It is an Edgar Allan Poe piece.  The boys really like his writing.  Probably because it is creepy and intense.  The short story is all about symbolism, so we created our own red and black masks this week while we read. 

In Science we learned about the skeletal system, and the boys made skeletons out of pasta to label and learn the parts. 

We learned about Proverbs in Bible this week.  I had the boys pick a Proverb to read and make a poster using the themes of the chapter.  They turned out GREAT!

Next week is a short week due to Thanksgiving.  My second time celebrating this holiday without my family.  Bittersweet.  Good thing they get here in 27 days.  But who is counting... :) 

Trips

Trip #1: Cabarete

From October 24-26 Amanda, Megan, Joanna, and I spent the weekend at the beautiful beach of Cabarete.  We ate Gorditos all weekend, we got to sleep with air conditioning, we played games, and I read.

Saturday we were on the beach, and an older gentleman came up to us.  He was selling wooden animals.  I asked him if he had a perezoso, or a sloth in English.  I LOVE sloths, so I didn't think it was a weird thing to ask.  He started laughing, and laughing, and laughing.  He said, "This girl...she wants a sloth?!" and started laughing once again.  He said when I come back and find him he will make a sloth for me.  Hopefully we see him when mom, dad, sis, and I are at Caberete for Christmas.

Trip #2: Sosua 

I have been teaching a 3-year-old English for the past two months.  Amalie is a firecracker with a strong personality, but man is it special to hear her speak English.  Their family invited me to go to Sosua with them for the weekend of November 7-10.  I thought Caberete was beautiful, but Sosua was incredible.  It is one of the most beautiful places I think I have ever been.

We stayed at Sosua Ocean Village.  They have an apartment there.  We spent the days lounging by the pools.  There are over 7 pools to choose from.  We ate yummy food, played Rumi, and I worked on my Spanish.  Lots of Spanish.  

I loved that trip because I was constantly surrounded by people.  I felt like I had a family.  It felt a little like home. 

Trip #3: Constanza 

I miss the cold weather SO much.  Excitement filled me to the core during our weekend getaway from November 15-17.  The mountain retreat is not only cold, but beautiful.

Saturday morning we woke up and fog covered the whole property.

  

We spent the days relaxing, reading, and best of all, hiking.  We found horses, and as we were trespassing on a man's property he showed us his fish and swings that sat at the very top of the world. 

We spent the evenings eating yummy food, and playing games.  I got over 6 hours of sleep each night.  

Success for a first-year teacher. 

On our last day we saw over four rainbows.  If that isn't a sign of good luck and something good on the way, I don't know what is. 

Oh the places you'll go... 

Con mucho amor. 

Weeks 12-13

What we've been doing: Week 13 of The Reyes Academy just wrapped up.  We are getting started on a huge service project for Christmas.  We are reading like crazy.  We are wrapping up our Rome unit.  We are learning about the body systems in Science.  Busy.  Stressful.  Fun.

Pizza Party
I've been doing a point system with the boys.  If they get their materials out the fastest, or if they win at a game, or if they get 100% on a math test I give them points.  When they reach 400 they can "purchase" a pizza party from the store.  They can purchase other items too, like retaking a test, listening to their music in class, etc.  We got to enjoy pizza for lunch.

Clothes Pin Timeline
To start our Rome unit we looked at a timeline of their civilization.  I had the boys each pick three events and draw them and put them in order on a piece of ribbon.  I wish I would have referred back to the timeline more often throughout the unit.  I should have made sure they did good drawings and explained the drawings on the back.  Oh well.

Digestion in a Bag
Food related learning seems to go really well with the boys.  We created the blood model out of marshmallows and red hots.  This week we did digestion using sprite and soda crackers.  This illustrated the concept of mechanical vs chemical digestion.

Thank you to Science Matters for this wonderful idea!

Who killed Julius Caesar?
I set up the classroom like a crime scene.  I turned on CSI music and had a dead body sculpted out in green tape on the floor.  I covered the place in caution tape.  It took me all morning to set up, but it was SO cool.  The boys seemed to like it.  They weren't as outwardly excited, but I am sure they were thinking that on the inside.  Making learning fun, exciting, and engaging will always be my primary goal.

Thank you to Mr Roughton for this wonderful idea!

Field Trip #2
We went to the Monument for our second field trip.  The boys have lived in Santiago for years, and they have never been up it.  We talked about the history of the country (which I had to quickly learn).  We looked at statues, talked about carnival, learned about Mama Tingo, analyzed art, laughed, and took silly pictures.

We ended the field trip with a horse carriage ride to get Sweet Frog.  It has become a new Reyes Academy tradition.  Although I was slightly frightened going through DR traffic in a horse buggy, it was SO much fun.  He pulled right up in front of the store for us.

Song Parody
We are finishing up learning about Rome.  We did close reading on an article listing some of the reasons why Rome fell, then I had the boys create a song parody to Passenger's "Let her go."  They sing the song every single day, so it was fitting for them to choose that one.  

Reading
We finished books #10 and #11 as a class today.  The boys are loving their independent reading books.  It is so exciting to watch them love reading.  Sometime soon I want to have a reading marathon day where we curl up and read for an hour with popcorn or some sort of treat.

Take risks in teaching.  The extra mile is worth it.

3 Month Mark

What I've been learning: Yesterday marked 3 whole months here in the DR.  I cannot believe I've made it this far.  Each week is full of so many highs and lows.  Here's a list of what God has been teaching me.

1) God is present.

Even though there have been SO many times when I have curled up in bed crying, or laid on my floor with tears running down my cheeks, I know that God is still here.  He is still with me.  Which makes those hard moments just a little more bearable.
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2) It's okay to be alone.

I love being around people.  I love cuddling.  I love it when people play with my hair.  I love watching TV with people.  I feel so full and complete when I am surrounded by others.  Here, in the DR, none of those things happen.  And it feels SO lonely sometimes.  But, it's okay to be alone.  I don't need to always have other people around me.  I feel so much more content in that than when I first arrived in August.

3) Love.

Every Thursday I go to a girl's home and volunteer.  Those days are easily my favorite.  I love spending time with these beautiful girls.  I get to love them and play with them every week.  I have the most amazing students.  They make the job challenging, but I sure love them.  Love makes life special.  Love makes people feel good.  Everyone is searching to be loved.

4) Celebrate the little victories.

I made it to the store and back on my own? √ I made it through a conversation in Spanish with someone who cuts off the ending of every single word? √ I made it through week 1 of the plank challenge? √  I understood all of the church service? √  I'm ahead on lesson planning? √

5) It's okay when things aren't perfect.

I had this amazing pottery idea do connect art and characters from one of the novel's we read, but who knew that dough doesn't work well with humidity.  It completely flopped.  But you know what, the boys still liked playing with the dough.  They were still sort of thinking about how the pot would reflect their character.  I should have had them draw out their plan before sculpting, but that's okay.  I am not going to be a perfect teacher.  I am not going to have perfect students.  I'm not going to have a perfect classroom, but that's okay.  We live in an imperfect world.

Countdown: 35 days till the fam arrives in the DR!

Sangre, Pottery and Paper making

What we've been doing: It's been a busy few weeks at The Reyes Academy.  Two weeks ago we made blood in Science.

This week we finished books #9 and #10 of the year.  One of the books is A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park.  We attempted to make dough and sculpt it into pots that represent the main characters, but unfortunately because of the humidity the dough never turned into a solid.  So it was an epic fail with good intentions.  

We also made paper while we were learning about Ancient China.  This also gave me an opportunity to talk about recycling and living in a sustainable manner.  Combination of history and Science.  Perfect!

You Light Up the Sky

What happened on Sunday: After taking over 200 pictures, I got these shots.

 

The lightning flashed all around our little apartment.  Thunder shook the building and set off car alarms.  Amanda and I pull chairs up to the window and watched the rain fall sideways.  I was so thankful I was not alone.  I'll admit it.  I was scared.

Amanda said something that hit home.  She said the thunder and lightning didn't scare her.  It reminded her how BIG God is.  It made me think of this song by The Afters.

Light light light up the sky 
You light up the sky to show me You are with me 
I I I can't deny 
No I can't deny that You are right here with me 
You've opened my eyes 
So I can see You all around me 
Light light light up the sky 
You light up the sky to show me 
That You are with me 

Even when I feel alone here in the DR, I know that I have a HUGE God who is watching over me.  Protecting me.  Guiding me.  Loving me.  And how amazing is that.

Con mucho amor.

Weeks 5-7

What we've been doing:  I've been meaning to post for awhile now.  We are just wrapping up week #10.  Although teaching is so overwhelming at times, things seem to be going well.  We have read seven books as a class so far.  Next week we will finish up books #8 and #9.  Each day I have a read aloud book, and the boys also have a book they are reading independently.  The more books the boys read, the better they will get at reading, writing, and spelling.  We finished a plant unit in Science, and now we are moving on to the systems of the body.  In Social Studies we are learning about ancient Asia, mainly focusing on China and India.  Within the next few weeks we are learning about Rome.  

Here are some pictures from weeks 5-7.  The boys created a video where they proposed what would happen if the characters from two books we read met.  It was set in ancient Egypt.  It also contained a fight scene or two.  Below is a picture of Andrew doing some sort of Egyptian dance. 

We had an afternoon of PE where the boys and I got to swim.  There were a few competitions, like who could jump in the funniest, and who could find the penny at the bottom of the pool the fastest. 

The boys did a This I Believe project.  They wrote about an event and what it taught them in their lives.  Their papers and poems are posted to this kid blog account if you would like to read what they've wrote.  Below are pictures of This I Believe statements from the boys and I.

Hopefully I'll get better about posting more frequently.  PS. See you in 58 days mom and dad.

Con mucho amor.