Character Building

We seem to be having some difficulties sharing in 4th grade... so we're going to have many opportunities over the next few days :). We'll see how that goes...

A couple of my girls also seem to be very critical of others. We'll be working on this as well.

Funny how the things my students need to work on are the things I also need to work on.

I think I'm turning into a football coach. My classroom windows open right across the hall from the library, so I think (actually, I'm pretty sure) that anyone in the library can hear me teaching at all times. I have this loud teacher voice... I kind of bark, ha. I vary the volume to keep student's attention; however, when I'm barking, I'm barking... if you were to sit in the library, you would know what I mean.

I was teaching the history lesson today about the Vikings and explorers who discovered America before Columbus, and I got all excited and really animated and acted like a Viking with a good pirate accent... "Ya know, I'm pretty surrrrrre that the Vikings werrrrrre what we callllll .... (dramatic pause) PIRATES!" Just then I looked down in the library, and some of the high schoolers were cracking up, looking right up at me.

All for the expense of teaching. My current character building: not caring what other's think, no matter what. My students are loving it. I haven't decided how I feel about it yet.

Only in Costa Rica (or at least not in the States!)

Only in Costa Rica does a teacher have to remind her students not to flush their toilet paper. "Throw it in the wastebasket by the toilet so the pipes will not be clogged!!" I think I've said this too many times already.

Only in Costa Rica are there several minor earthquakes per day. With a bookshelf connected to the wall, my students put a marker standing on its end on the top shelf. Every time it fell to the floor, the students would yell "Earthquake!"

Only in Costa Rica are thunderstorms every afternoon. On a regular basis, I find myself competing for my students' attention with the noise of thunder and the light show of lightning.

Only in Costa Rica do ants get to your food before you do. I ate most of my lunch and then set it down to help a student... next thing I know, there's ants thoroughly mixed in with my gallo pinto. Bummer.

Only in Costa Rica do taxi drivers not let on that they know English until you arrive at the destination. And of course, Trish and I have made fools out of ourselves by commenting (in English) about the driver's race car steering wheel (no kidding, this one drove like he was in the Indy 500!). Then to discover that he understood every word we said.

Only in Costa Rica are you excited (like me :)) to go to the Post Office and have an entire interaction in Spanish, completely understood. I bought stamps and asked where to put my letters. The clerk asked what I was doing in Costa Rica and I told her about teaching and where I was from. Ha, such an accomplishment!

Only in Costa Rica does the city wake up completely at sunrise around 5:30 am. No kidding. The trucks and taxis are already honking.

Well, maybe all these things aren't only in Costa Rica... but they're certainly only in my Costa Rica experiences :).

Puntarenes y Mis Amigos Ticos

Whew! This was quite the weekend of experiencing Costa Rican life in its truest form. I was able to join my friends Ale and Priscilla to visit her family in Puntarenes. I met Ale and Priscilla in March 2006 when I came with the Judson mission project. I stayed with Ale's family while we were working in Lourdes, and he thought an American boy was coming to stay with him, but obviously I'm a girl. He called his girlfriend Priscilla and said "What do I do with this girl??" so Pri came over and practiced her English. :) ha, that was two years ago, and we would have never guessed we would be spending a weekend together!

We went to the beach :) of course and ate lots of good tico food. Gallo pinto and arroz con leche are two of my new favorites. I will learn how to make it Mom and I will teach you when I am home again! :) Scripture is everywhere, even on the grocery store!
A puffer fish... poor guy.
Pri likes to take photos like me, so she always wanted to take photos of me. :) I didn't complain!
Pri & Ale are always being funny. They are good together.
At the beach! Debbie, Valeria, Tati, me. I think this was my first time ever at the Pacific Ocean!! (Correct me if I'm wrong, Mom!)
Lots of fishermen at the dock!
Debbie and Valeria on the dock. They are very beautiful girls.
I tried this drink ... gazoricados (something like that...) con dos leches. It was almost too sweet for me, can you imagine that??
Pri & Ale & me. I'm glad I could join them this weekend!

Donya Yanette's home. It is open air, very simple.

The view from the front living area. Beautiful, huh??

Donya Yanette. She is an amazing cook and hostess. She asked if I would take her photo, and I of course was honored!

The nice light from the window next to my bed.

Coral on the rocks. Tati was catching tiny crabs, but they all got away before I could take a picture.
Hey look!! A banana boat! It only cost a mil ($2) to ride. I wanted to, but I couldn't convince the other girls.
There are birds in Costa Rica :).

at the beach, looking cool. Ale, Tatiana, Valeria, me!, Debbie.

Then the car broke down... twice. All I knew was that smoke = not good.

So while the car was broken down, I took some good photos of the landscape. Muy bonita montanas!!
and then I figured out how to blur the background with moving cars... a great breakthrough in my photography career, ha!

I won $10,000 today!!! :)

At the end of today, I found a folded piece of notebook paper on my desk... What is this? I thought. I opened the wrinkled document and it said:

"Congratulation!! You have won $10,000 for being the best teacher at Sojourn Academy! From: Mrs. Reilly. Your money will arrive in 10 days."

Ha, it was definitely student handwriting, and since Mrs. Reilly is our principal, I figured it probably wasn't really going to happen. Ha, I certainly have a clever student though... :)


I'm going to Puntarenes this weekend with Priscilla and Ale, so more posts on Monday!!! I'm not sure what time we are returning on Sunday evening, so if you're lucky, perhaps I'll be able to post a photo or two! :)

life and more life

Today was discouraging. I didn't teach the math lesson very well, and then I taught the history lesson according to the book (which was incredibly boring, in my opinion). Then the principal popped in for a surprise observation right at the end of history and watched the transition of lining up (we need to work on our line more!). When the students came back from PE this afternoon, they were extremely chatty and I raised my voice for the first time in a stern tone.

Then Trish and I went to the bank with a tica teacher to help us translate so we could open an account. I was so overwhelmed with the rapid Spanish, and I almost wanted to cry.

I know I'm exhausted from a long week of planning and preparing. I think that's the main issue here. I need to grade papers... and then sleep.

And something else to check out...

Here's another roommate's blog here. Kim will be living with us at least through November while she is student teaching, and maybe she will be staying next semester as well... those plans are in the works.

No more falling out of bed so far this week. :) I'm not jumping on the bed, Dad!!

I'm going to Puntarenas (in other words, out of the city!) this weekend with a friend, Priscilla, that I met in March 2006 when I came for the Judson mission project. I'll have lots of photos to post after that trip!! :) I'm working hard this week on plans for next week so I don't have to take much teaching paraphernalia this weekend.

Funny moment yesterday. Two of my tico students were have a heated discussion in rapid Spanish. I could tell they were arguing about something but had no clue as to what. I placed my hands on top of their heads and said, "English please!" Valeria looks up at me and, just like a light switch, changes from Spanish to English. Wow! They can change languages so quickly! (The problem was that he thought she had taken his pen... typical.)

We have an "End of Day Cheer" in 4th Grade. It goes something like this: I say "Have a great" they say "DAY!" I say "Watch out for" they say "CARS!" I say "I love" they say "YOU!" ha, it's probably hard to read and imagine what it sounds like, but it's loud and great, trust me.

Alright, time to finish getting ready for school. (I love you, Mom and Dad!)

Introducing... my class!!

I tried to upload this video last night, but the file was too big. My good neighbor Steve taught me how to compress the file to upload on here... so we're trying again.

My students were so excited when I said I wanted to make a quick video to send to my family :). I wrote the questions on the board for their "interviews" (name, age, where you're from, where you're moving, your favorite thing about 4th grade), and then they read and answered the questions during their 15 seconds of fame :). Enjoy!!!