So, I guess that my last visitor is gone now, on their way back home. My grandma and cousin Courtney were here for a week and we had a good time (at least I think). There was the usual coffee finca tour, ruins visit, bird park, card games, Casa Villamil hang out time, and then the all special homework time with Courtney. Something about math teachers is mean, her math teacher gave her homework to bring with her on the trip.
I had a series of epiphanies this week while they were here my two favorite being that the seventh graders had to write a letter home to their parents from themselves. The letter was dictated by me and told their parents that they need help and their asking for their parents to help them because the fifth graders beat them in a challenge on decimal addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Now that’s just not right. Seventh graders should not be getting a class average of 7 out of 10 on decimals…so we wrote a letter to their parents asking for their help.:)
The second is for the eighth graders to help each other on their homework, but they are responsible for their partner. On the quiz Monday the partners will each earn the average score of their two quizzes. I’m pretty excited to see how it turns out. Those were my two great epiphanies.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Irony of Strengths Finder
I took this quiz over Christmas break to help find my "strengths in teaching" and I have found one of the results to be quite humorous. Now think about my personality...then read this section describing my strength of "self-assurance."
"You know that you are able-able to take risks, able to meet new challenges, able to stake claims, and, most important, able to deliver. But Self-Assurance is more than just self-confidence. Blessed with the theme of Self-Assurance, you have confidence not only in your abilities but in your judgment. When you look at the world, you know that your perspective is unique and distinct. And because no one sees exactly what you
see, you know that no one can make your decisions for you. No one can tell you what to think. They can guide. They can suggest. But you alone have the authority to form conclusions, make decisions, and act. This authority, this final accountability for the living of your life, does not intimidate you. On the contrary, it feels natural to you. No matter what the situation, you seem to know what the right decision is. This theme lends you an aura of certainty. Unlike many, you are not easily swayed by someone else's arguments, no matter how persuasive they may be. This Self-Assurance may be quiet or loud, depending on your other themes, but it is solid. It is strong. Like the keel of a ship, it withstands many different pressures and keeps you on your course."
Has there ever been anything more true written about me? And it wasn't even written about me...or was it?
"You know that you are able-able to take risks, able to meet new challenges, able to stake claims, and, most important, able to deliver. But Self-Assurance is more than just self-confidence. Blessed with the theme of Self-Assurance, you have confidence not only in your abilities but in your judgment. When you look at the world, you know that your perspective is unique and distinct. And because no one sees exactly what you
see, you know that no one can make your decisions for you. No one can tell you what to think. They can guide. They can suggest. But you alone have the authority to form conclusions, make decisions, and act. This authority, this final accountability for the living of your life, does not intimidate you. On the contrary, it feels natural to you. No matter what the situation, you seem to know what the right decision is. This theme lends you an aura of certainty. Unlike many, you are not easily swayed by someone else's arguments, no matter how persuasive they may be. This Self-Assurance may be quiet or loud, depending on your other themes, but it is solid. It is strong. Like the keel of a ship, it withstands many different pressures and keeps you on your course."
Has there ever been anything more true written about me? And it wasn't even written about me...or was it?
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Chaos of the aniversario
School this week is "anniversary week" which is the rough equivalent of homecoming week but on a little kid crazy scale. As Gabe just put it (talking on Skype by me), "Once you embrace the fact that you have no control over your kids and they are crazy it's great. That's just the way it's going to be." They don't wear their uniforms this week, we had a tournament all day on Monday for basketball with the students, today we had students vs. teachers in basketball and soccer. Blair bet his class thirty minutes of free time or time to stay in from recess with his kids on each game. He gave them a 30 point line on the basketball game but seeing as how we were dominating I think the game was called short and he lost the 30 point line to his kids. I think we won by like 22 or something like that. It was fun to play that. Then we played soccer and I of course was the goalie (they don't allow me to do anything else). I was like a brick wall with four holes in it and we ended up winning 6-4! That means Blair cancels out losing the basketball bet and Nora (director of the school) owes each of us in our apartment (Blair, Tyler, and myself) a cake!:) I think I could get used to this betting on games versus the students thing. It's working out great for me today. Tomorrow is fun day which is yet another code word for "crazy day with no control over anything that happens at school."
Apparently at this "fun day" we are playing an alleged game of "marriage and divorce." This is not a game supported by James Dobson but it does sound fun. Kids can pay for two other people to be "married." When they are married they are taped together on their wrists. In order to be separated they then have to pay to be "divorced" from each other. It should be entertaining (assuming I don't get married).
In the past couple weeks of no activity on here I have enjoyed a great visit from my parents in which we spent 2 days in Antigua, Guatemala and a week here in Copan. I don't think that I have much of a future in being a tour guide, but it was fun. I think we all made it out with the important things accomplished; a wide variety of baleadas eaten, hikes to places we don't know where they are, avoidance of ticks, sitting in the park eating ice-cream, and a wide variety of other important Copan activities.:) This next week I'll be joined by my grandma and cousin Courtney. It should be a blast of a week, but with less testosterone and more shopping than last week with both my parents.:)
Apparently at this "fun day" we are playing an alleged game of "marriage and divorce." This is not a game supported by James Dobson but it does sound fun. Kids can pay for two other people to be "married." When they are married they are taped together on their wrists. In order to be separated they then have to pay to be "divorced" from each other. It should be entertaining (assuming I don't get married).
In the past couple weeks of no activity on here I have enjoyed a great visit from my parents in which we spent 2 days in Antigua, Guatemala and a week here in Copan. I don't think that I have much of a future in being a tour guide, but it was fun. I think we all made it out with the important things accomplished; a wide variety of baleadas eaten, hikes to places we don't know where they are, avoidance of ticks, sitting in the park eating ice-cream, and a wide variety of other important Copan activities.:) This next week I'll be joined by my grandma and cousin Courtney. It should be a blast of a week, but with less testosterone and more shopping than last week with both my parents.:)
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